The Boy Heroes

Cactus Sam

Modelled after L'il Abner, with his goofy swagger and clean-cut good looks, "Cactus" Sam claims the middle ground Tezuka's "boy hero" protagonist roles.

Rock Holmes (aka Rokuro Makube)

Rock Holmes is the bad boy we all love. One of Tezuka's most popular and versatile Stars,hehas an arc like no other - spanning the entire gambit from ardent boy hero, to the truly pshchopathic villain, Rock has done it all... and then some.

Ricky

Another of Tezuka's plucky boy heroes, Ricky is a member of the race of Zero Men, who are humanoids with squirrel-like tails and noses, who live secretly underground in the Himalayas.

Kenichi Shikishima

Kenichi is the earliest and one of Tezuka’s most frequently cast boy heroes. The eternal optimist, he possesses an unshakable faith in the inherent goodness in the world and human nature. Basically, he's the number one boy scout!

Ken

A stalwart space cowboy-hero, Ken is a boy with a mysterious past. Captain Ken, also known as the “Savior of the Martians”, is a mysterious human hero boy who, along with his powerful robot horse, Arrow, intervenes to help combat the growing violence between human settlers and the indigenous martian population.

Astro Boy [aka Atom]

In a future where robot technology is rapidly transforming the economic and social face of the earth, the 100,000 horsepower Astro Boy is the most powerful robot in the world, and the first robot with a true human-like artificial brain.

Zero Men (Manga)

Zero Men (1959-60) was Tezuka's follow-up to Dr. Thrill (1959) in Weekly Shonen Sunday, and was originally serialized from September 13, 1959 to December 11, 1960. Much like The Adventure of Rock (1952-54), Captain Ken (1960-61) and Astro Boy (1952-68), Zero Men (1959-60) explores a favoured theme of Tezuka's, the struggle to bridge the gap between two opposing cultures - in this case human being's with tails.

Triton of the Sea (Manga)

Triton of the Sea (1969-71) is Osamu Tezuka's take on the legend of Atlantis and was published from September 1, 1969 to December 31, 1971, in the daily Sankei Newspaper. Originally serialized under the title Blue Triton, the title was later changed to Triton of the Sea to coincide with the 1972 full-colour animated television show.