The Mysterious Underground Men Digs Deep for Emotion

Of all the things that impressed me about Tezuka's The Mysterious Underground Men, by far the biggest was the amount of emotional depth that he allowed his story to have. Of everything that we've studied so far, this story had the most mature themes. First and foremost, Tezuka not only allows for the death of major characters throughout the story but he uses it as an emotionally driving theme. The story begins with John's father dying, an event that influences John's actions throughout the story. On page 8, as John lays crying on his father's recently deceased body, Tezuka fades out the panels, using an increasing amount of negative space to symbolize the departing of John's father from the story and John's life.

Fast forward to the end of the story. Mimio lies in a hospital after his daring rescue of John and Bill, with John once again looking on as someone close to him is dying right in front of him. While the death of John's father early in the story is heartbreaking, the death of Mimio is so much more. We as readers have come to see Mimio grow as a character and have seen his ultimate desire to be a human. To see him sacrifice himself for his friends and to have his dying words be "John...am I...human?" creates a major emotional moment for the reader. The final page depicts John once again dealing with the death of someone close to him, a tragic ending to a phenomenal story. Comparing this to other comics that we have read from this time period, The Mysterious Underground Men demonstrates an emotional depth not even remotely seen previously.