Adolf (VIZ Media)
Adolf Viz/Cadence
English Title: Adolf
Japanese Title: アドルフに告ぐ
Publication Date: 1995-1996
Publisher: VIZ (Cadence)
No. of Volumes: 5
In Print: ✘
Digital: ✘
From the Publisher
On the eve of World War II, the destinies of three men named “Adolf” – including the infamous dictator of Germany’s Third Reich – become inexorably intertwined…
What you should know
Drawn in a much less “cartoony” style than most of Tezuka’s manga work, Adolf is a commentary on the social impact of the second world war – telling the story of three individuals named “Adolf”: a Jewish boy living in Japan, a half-Japanese/half-German boy, and the infamous leader of Nazi Germany.
Given that it is one of Tezuka’s more mature works, VIZ Media decided to release Adolf in 1995 through Cadence Books. Since this edition marked the very first North American publication of one of Tezuka’s works in its entirety, following the excerpt of Phoenix in Frederik L. Schodt’s Manga! Manga! and the Japan Times bilingual edition of Crime and Punishment, the artwork was “flipped” and VIZ Media decided to use photo-realistic rather than Tezuka-drawn manga covers. They also released it under a more generic-sounding (and now-defunct) imprint in what seems to have been an attempt to find a more mainstream “bookstore” rather than a “comic store” audience for Adolf.
Adolf was presented in a beautiful five-volume edition in both hardcover and softcover formats. Although they are not numbered, the correct order is:
- Adolf: A Tale of the Twentieth Century
- Adolf: An Exile in Japan
- Adolf: The Half-Aryan
- Adolf: Days of Infamy
- Adolf: 1945 and All That Remains
Each volume also features an “academically minded” foreword exploring many of Tezuka’s themes in some depth. Volume 1 (Adolf: A Tale of the Twentieth Century) features an introduction by American Tezuka expert, Frederik L. Schodt, author of The Astro Boy Essays, while volume 2 (Adolf: An Exile in Japan) features a foreword by series translator, Yuji Oniki. The foreword in volume 3 (Adolf: The Half-Aryan) is written by Matt Thorn, another VIZ translator, and volume 4 (Adolf: Days of Infamy) features an introduction by series editor, Annette Roman. Finally volume 5 (Adolf: 1945 and All That Remains) wraps it up with a foreword by well-known comic writer and manga re-writer, Gerrard Jones.
Unfortunately, this edition is out of print, and Adolf: A Tale of the Twentieth Century (Vol. 1) is particularly difficult to find. VIZ Media has confirmed that this edition will not be reprinted because it predated digitization. However, Vertical Inc. has released this same series under the title Message to Adolf.
