Tezuka In English Discussion Forums

It seems as if Vertical is publishing Black Jack in both hardcover and softcover, with the hardcover version being exclusive to Diamond (the comics distributor) and the softcover going to bookstores.

The July Previews catalog only has the hardcover listed, at $24.95, and claims that this edition has an extra 20-page story that's not in the softcover edition. See this link:

http://previewsworld.com/public/default ... 71206&ssd=

Amazon.com only has the softcover listed, at $16.95:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Jack-1-Osam ... 93428727X/

This is somewhat bothersome, as it means that if you want the complete edition, you have to spend an extra $8. That's not so bad for one book, but this is going to be a 12-book series, so the total price difference becomes $96! It also raises the question of whether future volumes of the hardcover edition will also have exclusive content.

I'm thinking that I'll go with the softcover, for economic reasons, but I'm unhappy that I'll be missing the extra content.

Need the Hardcover O_O Why doesn't Amazon have it?

The preview doesn't say the 20 page extra is only in the hardcover. It says:


"A Previews Exclusive! Features a previously unpublished 20-page Black Jack story by Tezuka

I just hope the hardcover will become widely avaiable...

The mystery deepens a bit...

I found the following on

June 30, 2008
Is There a Doctor in the House?
Perhaps you

This is really confusing. I mean, the "never before published in the US" story could refer to most Black Jack stories, but the previews synopsis implies that the exclusive story is one of those ultra-rare stories. So if it's the latter case, I'm sure as hell buying the hardcover. But I wonder if the hardcover series spans all 12 or so volumes, or it's just a one-off thing, which would be annoying because I would have one hardcover and 11 paperbacks.

Perhaps putrocca could ask her Vertical contacts to clarify this?