Lamp, Acetylene
Also known as アセチレン・ランプ (Asechiren Ranpu)
Hello, My Name (in English) is…
Lamp’s name in Japanese is derived from the English words “Acetylene Lamp” – a logical reference to an early source of portable light that used a gas with the chemical compound C2H2 as a fuel source.
Distinguishing Features
By far, Lamp’s most distinguishing feature is the candle that appears at the back of his head whenever he’s surprised or feeling extremely confident about something. Lamp is nearsighted and usually appears wearing glasses. Also crime must not actually pay, because he almost always appears wearing the same striped suit and necktie – possibly the only clothes he has.
Like many of Tezuka’s oldest Stars, Lamp is based on a friend of Tezuka’s from elementary school. According to Tezuka, a tall boy in his class with the family name Kinoshita had enough of a dent in the back of his head that it was possible to put a small stick there and make it stand upright – usually to Kinoshita’s displeasure. Schoolyard rumour had it that Kinoshita would sneak into a shrine in the hills behind the school every night and light a small fire behind his head. While obviously untrue, it nevertheless gave Tezuka the idea for Lamp’s most distinguishing visual feature – the candle at the back of his head.
Status: Major Star (★★★★)
One of Tezuka’s best-known and most often cast villains, Acetylene Lamp is an unscrupulous and unsavory character whose ruthless nature means he will stop at nothing to see his sinister plots succeed – including killing anyone, be they enemy or ally, who stands in his way.
Although Lamp is so detestable that he is universally cast a villain, he is not without his redeeming qualities. Despite his worst intentions, a little goodness and humanity sometimes peek through. In fact he’s so bad, he’s almost good. Although he sometimes acts as a henchman for an upper echelon villain like Duke Red, he often acts on his own or in an uneasy alliance with Hamegg.
Notable Roles
Although, due to the name recognition of the work and the fact that they were published so close together, he is often credited as making his commercial debut in Lost World (1948) – something even Tezuka himself confused when he put together his own Star System Directory in the 1950s – Lamp actually made his debut in The Jungle Kingdom (1948) as “a member of the crew”.
Since his debut, he has made countless villainous appearances in almost every Tezuka manga series – ranging from the truly cold-blooded, such as the prison escapee in the Astro Boy (1952-68) chapter “Crucifix Island”; to the “bad man who’s good on the inside” as “Professor Ohwada in Chief Detective Kenichi (1954-57); to the nearly insane as a member of the Gestapo in Message to Adolf (1983-85). He even had a rather strange but memorable female role as the landlady of a Hot Spring Inn in The Crater (1969-70).
Even when he’s not particularly evil, such as his role as Bokutaro’s father in The Kokeshi Detective Agency (1957), or as XXX in I am Sarutobi! (1960-61), his mere presence in the story will cause longtime Tezuka fans to feel a certain sense of dread waiting for the shoe to drop – a useful meta dramatic tool and one of the greatest strengths of the Star System itself.
Manga Appearances
If you spot an appearance not already listed, please let us know in the comments section below!
1946
Lost World as “a newspaper reporter”
Lost World [Private Edition] as “a newspaper reporter”
1947
The Man from Mars as “one of Omega’s Minions”
1948
The Jungle Kingdom as “a member of the film crew”
Tobi’s 20 as “a member of the gang”
King Rocket as “one of King Rocket’s lackeys”
The World of the Queen from a Thousand Years in the Future
The Moony Men [Fuji] as “a reporter”
Lost World as “a newspaper reporter”
1949
Men with Tails as “a detective”
Metropolis as “a member of the Red Party”
1950
The Golden City as “a passenger”
The Wonderful Journey as “the psychiatrist”
The Plain of Abusegahara as “Yagyu Shu-ba”
Manga University as “a newspaper reporter”
Jungle Emperor as “Lamp”
1951
Next World as “Lumpen”
Queer Arabian Nights as “a guard”
Age of Adventure as “one of Hamegg’s minions”
1952
A Man From Mars
The Adventure of Rock as “one of the delegates at the Bird Men conference”
The Cactus Kid (“Cactus, Get your Gun!”) as “Brian”
1953
X-Point in the South Pacific as “Max Crested”
The Monster of the 38th Parallel as “a police officer”
Cyrano the Hero as “one of the tax collectors”
1954
Chief Detective Kenichi (“The Case of the Century Monster”) as “Professor Ohwada”
Queen Eggplant
1955
Astro Boy (“Youth Gas”) as “a member of the audience at the robotting competition”
Astro Boy (“The Frozen Human”) as “a grave robber”
Chief Detective Kenichi (“The Case of the Gorilla”) as “a member of the circus staff”
Chief Detective Kenichi (“The Transparent Man Incident”) as “Police Detective Lamp”
The Story of Tonkara Valley as “one of the bullies”
The Age of Great Floods as “an escaped prisoner”
Ms. Gentle Breeze as “a teacher”
1956
Astro Boy (“Atlas”) as “the white man”
Lion Books (“Space Airport”) as “the hotelier”
1957
Lion Books (“The Multiple-Eyed Devil”) as “the killer”
Lion Books (“A Bullethole in the Wilderness”) as “a member of the gang”
The Kokeshi Detective Agency as “Bokutaro’s father”
Whirlwind Z
The Earth War as “Lieutenant Lamp”
1958
Astro Boy (“Crucifix Island”)
The Three Who Glimpse the Future as “one of Duke Red’s subordinates”
Super Taiheiki as “one of Kizuroku‘s friends”
1959
Merchant of Venice as “Shylock”
Hikari
Cave-in as “Maebashi”
Zero Men as “a newspaper reporter”
Dr. Thrill
1960
Astro Boy (“Uran”)
Captain Ken as “the work camp boss”
Secret Order No.3
Dream of the Universe
When the Wild Rose Sings
I am Sarutobi!
1961
Astro Boy (“The Third Magician”) as “a customer at the circus”
The Strange Boy as “a drug trafficker” and “a bystander”
1962
The Iron Road as “a member of Tan Men’s gang”
Two, Minus Two, Equals Two
Brave Dan as “one of Dr. Zogel’s’s henchmen”
1963
S.F. Fancy Free (“Green End”) as “Abe”
1964
Astro Boy (“The Bad-Guy Robots”) as “the villain”
The Great Zeo as “the Minister’s secretary”
1965
Astro Boy (“Slippery Catfish in Imminent Danger”) as “a member of Spector”
Wonder 3 as “The Captain of the Secret Police”
Ambassador Magma as “a member of the human resistance”
Empire of Japan America Prefecture as “the suicide victim”
1966
Flying Ben as “the teacher”
1967
Astro Boy (“Zolomon’s Jewels”)
Astro Boy (“Beginning of the Contradiction”) as “the industrial spy”
Dororo as “the magistrate”
1968
Swallowing the Earth as “Zephyrus’ husband”
Burunga I
Norman as “a man in the crowd”
1969
The Crater (“The Octagonal Mansion”) as “one of the gangsters”
The Crater (“Sergeant Okuno”) as “the government official”
The Crater (“The Two-Headed Snake”) as “a member of the double-headed snake gang”
The Crater (“The Bell Tolls”) as “Hamegg’s wife”
Land of the Tigermen as “the World moderator of the cruelty show”
The Runaway Tanker as “The Vice-President of Baghdad Petroleum”
The End of Green
Rubbish Poetry as “a member of the audience”
1970
Gachaboi’s Biography
The Crater (“The Greatest of all Thieves”) as “the teacher”
Phoenix (“Resurrection”) as “the man from Tsukiuji Space Transport”
1971
Lion Books (“100 Tales”) as “one of Shinji’s brother’s subordinates”
Lion Books (“Serenade of a Pig’s Navel”) as “a member of the He-do Lu set gang”
1972
Lion Books (“Mother River”) as “Ichimura Yoko design”
Lion Books (“A March Covered in Mud”) as “one of the reporters”
Lion Books (“The Sweet Smell of Success”) as “a police officer”
1973
Lion Books (“A Distant Star”) as “a New York City police officer”
Akuemon as “a servant of left Gen”)
Black Jack (“Is there a Doctor?”) as “the crooked cop”
Black Jack (“A Girl who became a Bird”) as “a spectator at the man-powered flight contest”
1974
Black Jack (“Sealed Memory”) as “the crew boss”
Black Jack (“Twice Dead”) as “a member of the jury”
Black Jack (“Sometimes Like Pearls”) as “a passenger on the train”
Black Jack (“Lion-Face Disease”) as “the Inspector”
Black Jack (“Two Loves”) as “a customer at the sushi bar”
Lunatic Japan as “a reporter”
Shumari as “Ango Sekiguchi”
1975
Black Jack (“Stradivarius”) as “a passenger on the airplane”
Black Jack (“Needle”) as “a patient”
Black Jack (“Smithereens”) as “the President”
Black Jack (“A Transient Love”) as “the father”
Black Jack (“Con Man, Aspiring”) as “the father”
The Three-Eyed One (“The Secret of Ghribe”) as “the CIA Chief”
The Lower Angel as “a laborer”
Astro Boy (“Astro Boy II”) as “the Prime Minister”
Rainbow Prelude
1976
Black Jack (“Pinoko goes West”) as “the police officer”
Black Jack (“Third Time’s The Charm”) as “Fuzen’notomoshibi President”
Black Jack (“Vibration”) as “a passenger on the Shinkansen train”
Black Jack (“The Promise”) as “the police officer”
The Three-Eyed One (“The Prince of the Underworld”)
Astro Boy (“Showdown in the Standard Deviation Kingdom”) as “the examiner”
1977
Black Jack (“Lost Youth”) as “Z-ring”
Black Jack (“Hot Night”) as “Douglas”
The Three-Eyed One (“Godal”) as “the police officer”
The Three-Eyed One (“The Mysterious Bird – Moa”) as “Adolf”
1978
Black Jack (“Drifter in a Ghost Town”) as “Tom”
Black Jack (“Tetsu of the Yamanote Line”) as “good day for business and lawsuits Inspector”
Futureman Kaos as “Baccarat Satellite director”
1979
Don Dracula (“Dracula, Barely”) as “one of the robbers”
1981
The Rainbow Parakeet (“Hamlet“) as “a shooting target”
The Rainbow Parakeet (“The Petrified Forest“) as “Asechi the gangster”
1982
The Rainbow Parakeet (“We’re No Angels“) as
1983
Message to Adolf as “a member of the Gestapo”
1985
Farewell, Night as “the teacher”
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