Tezuka Osamu (1928-1989), variously dubbed the “father,” “godfather” and “god” of contemporary manga, openly acknowledged his debts to Walt Disney (1901-1966), Milt Gross (1895-1953), and American cinematic technique in creating some of Japan’s first best-selling comic books. He initiated the postwar “manga revolution” with New Treasure Island (1947), based loosely on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, followed this success with a series of futuristic, science fiction productions, and achieved international fame with Astro Boy (1952), relating the adventures of an android boy with human sensibilities. Other significant early works include Kimba, the White Lion (1954), dealing with ecological issues, and Princess Knight (1956), a historically situated gender-bender. Some aspects of Tezuka’s illustrative style, including emotionally expressive faces with simplified features and large eyes, set the standard for manga graphics to this day, while the thematic range of his works carved out a broad space in which manga have since comfortably resided. Although Tezuka’s early works were intended for children, his engaging style and imaginative narratives held widespread appeal for audiences of all ages, and by the mid-1950s, publishers and illustrators alike realized that this new type of visual narrative had enormous economic and artistic potential.