Dr. Thrill (Manga)

Also known as スリル博士 (Suriru Hakase)

Dr. Thrill (1959) was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday from April 5 to September 6, 1959.  Originally begun as a collection of stand-alone stories, at the request of his editors, Tezuka eventually transformed the story into a long-form serial.

What it’s about

The head of Thrill Hospital, Shunsaku Ban (better known by his nickname, “Dr. Thrill”), his eldest son Kenta, and even his dog, Jip are all addicts to the thriller storytelling genre – something that sometimes gets them in hot water as they attempt to solve all sorts of mysterious detective cases involving the hospital and its staff.

Kenta and Jip are on the case

Along the way they encounter an evil group of assassins that plant a time bomb in the belly of a foreign dignitary in an attempt to kill his prince, and the leader of a gang of narcotic smugglers who dresses like a giant insect and hides their wares in honeycombs.  They duke it out the Black Tengu gang for possession of a treasure, come to the aid of a young boy with insomnia who witnesses a murder.  They even get kidnapped by an evil gang of international conspirators – and that’s just the beginning!

Giant drug-smuggling bee!

In each case, the team relies on a combination of Kenta‘s quick wits, Jip’s ability to rush into action, and Dr. Thrill‘s steady reasoning to see them through.

What you should know

When Kodansha Ltd. launched the first weekly manga magazine devoted to young boys, Weekly Shonen Magazine in March 1959, rival publisher Shogakukan Inc. was quick to counter. As such, a similarly-focused magazine, Weekly Shonen Sunday hit the stands in early April 1959 – with Tezuka’s Dr. Thrill (1959) leading the way.  The two rivals quickly set the standard for boys’ magazines, with the weekly format replacing the traditional monthly one.

The Black Tengu Gang

Serialized over a period of six months, at first Tezuka produced stand alone chapters, with each story unrelated to the rest.  However, at the behest of his editors, Tezuka later changed the story into a long-form serial that ended each week with a thrilling “to be continued”.  This format proved more successful and, as a result, Tezuka’s next series for Weekly Shonen Sunday, Zero Men (1959-60), was crafted as a lengthy science-fiction tale from the beginning.

Also, because of this shift in format, Tezuka decided to change the order of some of the chapters when they were later collected in book form.  In fact, the collected editions do not contain the last chapter of Dr. Thrill (1959) that was originally published in Weekly Shonen Sunday.