All throughout April and May, we’re crowdsourcing a coronavirus quarantine comics reading list. Each weekday for a month, we’ll post a new recommendation from someone in the comics industry to help folks get through the isolation. This includes writers, artists, letterers, editors, comics journalists, publicists, and more…all paired with a local shop that’s currently selling the books via mail order.

Today’s pick comes from comics publicist David Hyde…enjoy!

When is a mystery not a mystery? Let me start at the beginning.

I’ve been a voracious reader of comic books and graphic novels for a long time now. I was five years old when I bought my first comic, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA issue 171. The title teased infinite worlds of possibility. “The Murderer Among Us: Crisis Above Earth-One!” The cover featured the Justice League, the Justice Society, a corpse, and the Flash holding a piece of metal that held a vital clue to the murderer’s identity. “If you don’t find the answer, more superheroes will die,” warned Green Lantern. The world’s greatest superheroes, a tantalizing mystery, and a murder? I was hooked.

As I got older, my interests evolved. I was still interested in releases from Marvel and DC, but I also wanted to track down reissues of classic comics and check out the latest from new indie publishers like Fantagraphics and Comico. LOVE & ROCKETS. GRENDEL. ELEMENTALS. MAUS. CEREBUS. CONCRETE. PUMA BLUES. TABOO. FROM HELL. There was a lot to love. There was, also, one undeniably large blind spot in my reading: manga.

Thanks to Frank Miller’s enthusiasm for LONE WOLF & CUB and First Comics’ translations, I had heard about manga. I’d flip through AKIRA at my local comic shop. I’d re-read my issues of LONE WOLF & CUB. But they sort of felt like I was borrowing someone else’s favorite comics.

It would take more than 20 years of being a comics fan — and the recommendation of a smart and enthusiastic comic retailer, Bergen Street Comics’ Tucker Stone — before I would discover Naoki Urasawa’s PLUTO. In PLUTO, Tucker explained, someone or something is murdering the seven great robots of the world. The world’s greatest robots, a tantalizing mystery, and a murder? I was hooked.

PLUTO quickly became both my gateway to manga and, arguably, my favorite comic of all time. Over the course of 8 captivating volumes, the Europol robot detective Gesicht attempts to solve the case of a series of murders of robots and humans alike. Evidence suggests a robot might be responsible for the murders, but that would be impossible. A robot has not killed a human in eight years.

PLUTO was published in Japan from 2003 to 2009, and released in the States by VIZ. You might’ve heard of the series, because it is a seminal work and tends to get name-checked on lists of the best comics of all time. Or you might have heard about it because the series has influenced countless acclaimed comic creators, including Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, whose love for PLUTO is evident in their series DESCENDER. Or perhaps you know someone like me, someone who loves PLUTO, who is fanatical about the story, and just can’t stop talking about it.

The story’s heart and soul is Atom, a Japanese Boy robot and Urasawa’s tribute to Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy. I don’t want to spoil it, but Atom’s introduction at the close of the first volume is one of the very best character introductions in all of comics. It is a quiet, odd introduction and I’ll never forget it.

Naoki Urasawa is a master storyteller and his craft is in peak form throughout PLUTO. His artwork is bold, original, and emotive. His characters are unforgettable. It’s a mystery sure, but it’s also a moving and profound examination of what it means to be human. I can’t imagine a better book to recommend for these strange times we live in.

When is a mystery not a mystery? When it’s so much more than a mystery. -David Hyde

David Hyde is the founder and owner of Superfan Promotions.

Pluto
Writers: Naoki Urasawa & Takashi Nagasaki
Artist: Naoki Urasawa
Publisher: Viz Media
In a distant future where sentient humanoid robots pass for human, someone or some thing is out to destroy the seven great robots of the world. Europol's top detective Gesicht is assigned to investigate these mysterious robot serial murders--the only catch is that he himself is one of the seven targets.

Get it from a local comic shop with this directory from the Comics Industry Collective of stores open and doing mail order!

Click here for the full coronavirus reading list!