Amazing Heroes Issue #181 Cover

Amazing Heroes Issue #181 Cover

Periodical
Comic Strips

The cover of Amazing Heroes issue 181 is minimalistic. At the bottom left is a list of comics Studio Proteus produced, including Appleseed, Outlanders, Dirty Pair, What’s Michael, and Venus Wars. Below this is a preview for BACKSTAGE, alerting readers of a monthly occurrence. The cover art, from Venus Wars, was illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. It features a simple white background with an Ishtar Octopus tank in the top middle section, aiming forward. This black metallic tank has an operational weight of 110 tons. Two people are seen at a diagonal in the foreground with their heads in the middle of the page and their legs slanting to the bottom right. The person in the front, Ken, wears a racing jumpsuit, has black hair, and holds a helmet as he runs forward with an intense and focused expression. Ken’s jacket and helmet are both marked with the number 07. The person behind Ken, Maggie, is dressed in a gray short skirt, red shirt, a sleeveless jacket, and a helmet with two white, pointy protrusions and large eyes. Maggie appears startled, her mouth agape. Amazing Heroes text is found at the top right in a matte red. The issue number, date (July 1990), and price (in USD and CAN) are above it in small black font.

One of the issue’s primary foci is Studio Proteus, a company that has brought Japanese comics to English speaking audiences since 1987. They have produced most of Penthouse’s and, perhaps more popularly, Dark Horse’s manga comics (as well as animated works) and a substantial selection of hentai works. Studio Proteus has been and continues to be relatively influential in the transition of manga and anime from Japan to America (linguistically, from Japanese to English). Venus Wars, featured on this cover, was among the works produced in English by Studio Proteus in 1993. Though not necessarily the most popular of Studio Proteus’s productions, Venus Wars fits well within the Amazing Heroes realm, starring a team of eight combat bikers actively defending and attempting to liberate their home on Venus, Aphrodia, from Istar invaders, like heroes of the space-road. The issue itself was published at a time after which the problematic American hatred of Japanese individuals and groups had spiked. Reception of these translations likely would have differed greatly if they had come too much earlier in the century, as comic books (specifically superhero comics) maintained and promoted a pro-social moral disposition during their origination. Hatred for the Japanese, particularly, manifested strongly during World War II, especially following Pearl Harbor day, leading to racist and hostile representations of the Japanese in American comics and American culture (though these negative depictions could be seen in comics as early as 1939). However, as these tensions changed, Western (infantilizing and problematic, as discussed in Edward Said’s Orientalism) fascination with Eastern cultures latched onto the medium. One of the early emergences of cyberpunk, Appleseed was produced by Studio Proteus in the same year Epic Comics (Marvel) produced an English Akira, adapted into a film traditionally known as one of the most historic anime films released in the United States.

Executive Editor: Kim Thompson
Managing Editor: Thomas Harrington
Art Director: Mark Thompson
News Correspondent: George Kaplan
Production Assistance: Roberta Gregory
Typesetting/Proofreading: Craig Maynard
Circulation: Michelle Byrd and Sharon Kingsford
Contributing Writers: Joe Filice, Andy Mangels, Korkis and Cawley, Hal Hargit, Adam-Troy Castro, Dave Strom, Darwin McPherson, Steven Miller, and Robert T. Jeschonek
Cover Art: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko

MSU Special Collection Comic Art, PN6725.A47

Fantagraphics Books, Inc.

1990-07

Rowan Giffel

Rights Restrictions Apply

Amazing Heroes Issue #181 Table of Contents
Amazing Heroes Issue #181 Pg. 27

6 5/8 x 10 1/4 in.

English

Periodical

1981-1992