Feb 12, 2024
Captain Ken seems like a Space Opera story at first, but it quickly reveals itself as more of a space western. Though it takes place on Mars, Mars apparently looks like the American Southwest and everyone dresses up like they're in a Western. They even ride (mechanical) horses and fight with revolvers. Being set in the future, there are also some space age sci-fi elements, which don't prevent the story from reading like a Western. The conflict is between the Earthling settlers on Mars and the Martian natives, who were peaceful until they were slaughtered, enslaved, and driven by their homes by the human colonists.
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Sound familiar? Yes, the Martians are basically space Native Americans, though with a bug-like alien appearance characteristic of most of Tezuka's aliens.
Captain Ken has the humor, cartoonish art style, and light tone of other early Tezuka works, but the story is otherwise very serious. Murder, war, racism, government corruption, and genocide are the themes of this story. And ultimately, it is about peace and reconciliation after war and conflict.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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