In Manga Academy we cover the basics of drawing manga from a beginner's standpoint and as mainstream as possible. However, we know that someone may want to specialize in a particular form of drawing, or may just be a fan of a particular series. With that, here are some books aimed at Manga Academy and others in order to further your studies on subjects that interest you. In the future, we are hoping to incorporate these into specialized study, but for right now please enjoy the books.

Some on the forums are very much fans of "old school", with an admiration for Tezuka's works especially. Astro Boy is making a comeback this year, with reports that there will be a teaser shown around Thanksgiving of an Astro Boy series that will hit Kids WB next year. In order to gear up for the celebration of all things old gone new, we now have a book on how to draw this beloved, classic character. Without him, we'd not have the lovely world of manga and anime we have today. Thank you, Mr Tezuka, from whatever cloud you're sitting on right now. I hope you are proud of us poor artists who try to follow in you wake.

Onto the good stuff...

For those of you not familiar with Astro Boy, a scientist created him in order to replace the man's son lost who passed away in a horrible accident. In the course of the series, this spunky little robot fought against prejudice, arrogance and cruelty to make the world a better place, most of the time at the sacrifice of himself. This is very much a guidebook for those who wish to draw Astroboy in the most authentic way possible. Junji Kobayashi, a member of Tezuka Productions that is carrying on Tezuka's work since his passing, illustrated this book. This book covers how Astro Boy evolved over the years to recent times, showing that even a time honored character must once in awhile reinvent himself. The illustrations are large and easy to follow, going more for those lacking in a more advanced art background. (Although some advanced artists won't fall asleep reading this, this is a good re-cap of some key concepts too easily forgotten). Let's Draw Manga: Astro Boy, shows common mistakes in how Astro Boy is drawn, teaching those who wish to draw him how to keep his visual spacing correct in his features and what features he possesses. The instructions for the head is shown first, then working down to the body, with the book concentrating showing the two most common styles in which he is depicted. A review of manga design concepts is covered through the book where appropriate, most commonly seen in the body section where such things as Astro Boy landing or taking off, throwing objects or doing handsprings. Let's Draw Manga: Astro Boy also covers common Astro Boy encountered backgrounds, such as punching though rocks or flying through space.

Although the book only covers the most common scenarios, with combined reading of the manga and using this book, the concepts can be extrapolated to create your very own Astro Boy story. This book does require just a little art knowledge to start; having Class 201 and Class 202 completed will make this book a lot easier to work with, but not required. For those that are looking to re-create that Tezuka feel and style without any degradation in art, this book is straight from the source. Only Tezuka himself could do better.