When the human engineers at a robot factory become overly lazy, a large, unfinished robot named "Frankenstein" is prematurely activated and it begins to run amok. Going on a rampage through town, Frankenstein eventually falls in with some gangsters who use him to commit crimes. This proves to be the spark that enflames a group of robots who feel they've been mistreated by humanity into launching a coup d'état - taking Dr. Ochanomizu and Kenichi prisoner in the process. Deciding Frankenstein is the key to stopping the madness, Astro defeats him in battle and has him repaired. Now a "good robot", Frankenstein rescues Dr. Ochanomizu and Kenichi, and reveals that the robot rebels are, in fact, human beings. After the dust settles, it's decided that the whole mess was caused by humans and Astro Boy is proclaimed a hero.
When Astro's friend Tamao starts acting crazy, Kenichi takes him, kicking and screaming, to see Dr. Ochanomizu. He examines Tamao and discovers a strange vapor-like mist emanating from the boy's head. After capturing it in glass bottle, they discover that gaseous beings from the upper stratosphere have descended to the ground on a mission of conquest. As a gas, the brings are able to enter human bodies and manipulate them against their will. When Astro discovers a plot to poison the water reservoirs, he stops flow of water through the pipes. However, the public misunderstands the situation and attempt to destroy Astro Boy in retaliation. Eventually, Dr. Ochanomizu develops a plan to freeze the gas people, and, after Astro detonates a bomb in the stratosphere, they fall to the ground as harmless snow.
Osamu Tezuka's take on the French literary work, Cyrano the Hero (1953) was originally published over 7 monthly instalments, from April to November 1953, in Shonen Illustrated [少 年画報] - sandwiched in between the first and second runs of Tezuka's cowboy adventure, The Cactus Kid (1951-54).
Astro Boy's final regularly serialized series began 1980, to coincide with the release of the new animated television show. This new Astro Boy (1980-81) manga series began appearing in Second-Grader [小学二年生], a monthly magazine targeted at young students learning to read.
After all the regularly serialized manga series featuring Astro Boy came to a close, Astro was featured in a series of "one-shots" and other special editions.
After Mushi Productions' monthly Mighty Atom Club ceased publication altogether in 1966 and the primary serialization in Shonen [少年] finally concluded in 1968, The Astro Boy Chronicles (1967-69), being published in the Sankei Newspaper were the sole source for the regularly serialized adventures of the boy robot.
Published from August 1964 to November 1966, Astro Boy Fan Club members received a monthly publication known as Mighty Atom Club [鉄腕アトムクラブ] featuring exclusive "members only" Astro Boy stories and other Mushi-related content that weren't available to the general public.
Also sometimes referred to as Milkhall Territory, Osamu Tezuka's cowboy adventure, Mr. Cactus (1951-54) was originally printed in the pages of Shonen Illustrated [少年画報], published by Shonen Gahosha. It began serialization in April 1951 and concluded its first run in March 1953.
Originally serialized in Shonen Illustrated [少年画報] from May 1965 to August 1967, Ambassador Magma (1965-67) is Osamu Tezuka’s most recognizable entry in the long line of “giant robot” or mecha stories in Japanese manga adventures,
Ongoing Serial: a series of episodes, published over a span of weeks/months/years where the story plot is connected from chapter to chapter and must be read in chronological order for it to be understood properly.
Chapter Serial: a series of episodes, published over a span of weeks/months/years where the story plot is self-contained to a single chapter. There may be an overarching plot, but the stories can generally be read in any order and be understood
Book: an all-in-one self contained story published as a one-off.
Supplement: an an all-in-one self contained story published as a stand-alone supplement to a regular weekly/monthly periodical.
Short Story: an all-in-one, self contained story that was published in a regular weekly/monthly periodical
Anthology: a collection of all-in-one, self contained stories that were published in a regular weekly/monthly periodical but are generally grouped together.
