The image, framed and hung to catch the eye as one first enters the gallery, is a suitably characteristic one: dynamic in composition and tone, with an inky fluidity to its line, it seems at once both organic and futuristic, not to mention kind of cute. In it, Astro Boy, that iconic and sprightly boy child robot who for decades now has served as the avatar of Japanese anime and manga in the West, is fighting a goofy-looking human adult, whose expression of bewildered astonishment can be glimpsed as his sinewy body somersaults backwards through the air, soundly pummeled and clearly beaten.
Matthew Clayfield
Matthew Clayfield is a journalist, critic and screenwriter.
You Might Also Like
