Naoki Urasawa takes on the beloved icon Astro Boy in the new 8 volume set Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka. He explores an arch that dealt with Robot programing, why create an ultimate robot, and then limit its abilities with Human limitation and protective limitations or protocols. Pluto is presented as a detective murder mystery and spends the majority of the series following a Europol Detective, Gesicht, who also happen to be considered the most advanced robot alive.

Highlights

Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka volume 6 takes to the heart of the story. I reveals some rather important information about Sahad and the essence of who or what Pluto is. There is a mystery to be solved and Gesicht is getting to the heart of it. He has been lead through a maze of confusion to finally come face to face with Sahad, a crazed robot, who has transformed and become a monster that is out to destroy Dr. Hoffman and the others who ruined his country. 

There was one interaction that does set the stage, it is the early meeting of Gesicht and Professor Abullah. The obvious sly character of the Professor leaves with the idea that he setting the stage. Gesicht took the bait and it plays out in dramatic fashion.

After Gesicht has his confrontation with Sahad does he remember some of his horrid past and he comes to an epiphany where he decides to resign and wants to have a quiet life with his robot wife and maybe even raise a child. Just as he on the verge of finding peace, it all comes crashing down on him.

Overall

Coming into the series at this late stage forced me to do some back reading, but once I understood what was going on I found myself really getting into this story. I was never a huge fan of Astro Boy and felt like Tezuka threw in dramatic side issues just to create more stress that really did not need to be present and had no bearing on the story as a whole. I find that Urasawa wants to bring in the same type of senseless depressing side arcs just for some overkill, but he is able to have them be more integrated with the main arch. 

Pluto is a solid murder mystery that will keep you moving and thinking about the end result and how all the webs tie together. I found the writing to be exceptional but the art work was a little lacking. The overall feel of the art left me flat. The writing was strong enough to push me through and leave me wanting more. After the third chapter I did find myself moving through the story with some ease and beginning to bond with the characters. I was getting the feel for the pacing and finding it enjoyable. 

If you are not familiar with Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka then you do not want to start with volume 6, please start with volume 1. Although there is much fanfare regarding Urasawa and his string of outstanding work, you want to be careful before you invest in his homage to Tezuka. He is a very talented artist with a lot to say. I would clearly recommend picking up volume 1 and getting a feel for the series before you jump to fast.

ComicsOnline gives Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka volume 6, 4 out of 5 Robots who should be Human.