Now it may seem like a misnomer to have a poll category for the best new old manga, but that's pretty much what the 2008 Best New Classic or Reissued Manga Poll is. By "classic," I mean manga that was created prior to 1980.By "re-issued," I'm referring to manga that was previously published in the U.S., but returned this year in an encore edition.
In the U.S., when you're talking classic manga, you're usually talking about the work of the Godfather of Manga, Osamu Tezuka. And this year, Vertical brought us two great series from Tezuka: Dororo and Black Jack. Both were nominated in this year's poll, but Black Jack was far and away the fan favorite, winning by a ratio of 3-to-1 over the second place finisher.
And why wouldn't it be a popular choice? Black Jack is one of Tezuka's best and most beloved series. This medical manga series about a maverick doctor has drama, it's got bizarre plot twists, it's kind of heart-warming and it's kind of gory. It's also kind of educational too, as it spotlights some strange but true medical conditions. Black Jack also has the distinction of fulfilling both criteria for this poll: the first Black Jack stories were published in the 1970's, and VIZ Media first published a few volumes of Black Jack back in 1999.
Interestingly, two titles by modern manga master Takehiko Inoue also placed fairly high in the vote counts, with the VIZ Big edition of Vagabond taking second place, and the newly reissued edition of Slam Dunk sharing third place honors with Rumiko Takahashi's One Pound Gospel, also from VIZ Media.
See the rest of the nominees and see how they placed at the Best New Classic or Reissued Manga poll page, and view the full results of the voting. Also, see the rest of the results in all of the 2008 Readers' Polls. Thanks for voting! Next up: the results of the Best New Original English Manga / Global Manga and Best All-Ages Manga polls.
Image credit: © Tezuka Productions
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