This is one of the most intriguing announcements in the back-to-school catalogue of Vega Dupuis editions. In January is launched the1st of six volumes of the Team Phoenix series. At the helm, Kenny Ruiz, a young author emeritus and prolific from the Dupuis stable. In the cast, nothing less than the most famous characters from Osamu Tezuka's works gathered in a vast space opera. A promising argument reinforced by reading this first volume.
When Galactica meets Avengers
The Robotics union under the orders of the fearsome Atlas unleashed, 100 years ago, a fatal offensive against biological civilizations. Since then it has controlled 90% of the galaxy. Biological beings have therefore become second-class creatures.And if they don't serve the robots, they are ruthlessly hunted down and eliminated. To save her kingdom from Silverland, Princess Sapphire chose for a time to submit and serve among the knight's warrior order. But the time for collaboration has ended. The princess has taken the lead of a group of pirates. With the lion Leo, Sharaku the child with three eyes, she scours the galaxy. Relentlessly pursued by Mont Blanc and Gesicht, two of the most powerful robots in the world, our heroes are stranded on a small planet. They will receive help from Hyakkimaru, the cyborg samurai and Fire, the empathetic robot capable of playing programs. This new team decides to do everything to shake off the yoke of robotic tyranny.
Team Phoenix: Imagination in Power
The first quality of this first volume is the audacity of Kenny Ruiz. His work shows his ability to appropriate the original material, to add various inspirations to build epic dimension of his subject. This introductory volume fascinates with the intelligent integration of different Tezuka characters. Connoisseurs will easily recognize references from Astro, Metropolis, Black Jack or Princess Sapphire. Similarly, the 7th art irrigates this story that draws as much in Galactica as in Avengers or in Matrix. More importantly, the author builds a gigantic body of work and does not hesitate to adopt an adult narrative that breaks the chronology to better grasp the reader. 
However, we must not believe that this opus is only a collection of tributes. It's actually a cohesive space opera that incorporates Tezuka's characters. This allows the author to allow himself all the audacity. This is reflected in the diversity of the proposed universes: futuristic metropolises, medieval planet, plant world. This can also be seen through the gallery of characters. A lion, cyborgs, knights, mechas. Thus the story is for everyone: connoisseurs of Tezuka, but also neophytes.
The Tezuka expanded universe
Team Phoenix continues the work begun by the Tezucomi series (see the review of volumes 1 and 2 on our website). Osamu Tezuka's work is indeed uniquely rich, impressively diverse and incredibly bold. The reader is speechless in front of the breadth of his stories, the themes addressed and the eclecticism of this author. Thriller, science fiction, romance, history, he tackled virtually every possible subject. His works are regularly reread or even reinterpreted (Ayako, Dororo, Pluto). Confirming if it were necessary, the extraordinary modernity of the work of the father of Manga. Kenny Ruiz adds a new element to this reinterpretation of Tezuka. He chooses and for the moment succeeds in summoning in a single universe all the works of the mangaka. He built a literary crossover in the vein of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or The Chimerical Brigade. With the difficulty in addition to limiting oneself to an author and involving characters from works with a very distinct style. And the beauty of this project is that it works wonderfully. A hint of police investigation out of Metropolis and Pluto. Powerful robots from Astro. A tale of revenge stamped Dororo. And everything connects for the pure happiness of the eyes and mind. 
Team Phoenix. Behind the machine, the human
Beautiful, funny, dynamic, this first opus does not suffer from any downtime. The universe is perfectly posed, the context clear, the stakes clear. We instantly adhere to the characters, to their flaw. But, in addition to offering a lot of action, Team Phoenix also questions a lot. First, the story clashes with the question of the human soul and its transmissibility to the machine. Then he addresses the question of choice. Fight, exterminate or forgive? Finally, he questions the question of sin. Is it the privilege of the human soul, of imperfect flesh? Or is it born as soon as free will and consciousness emerge? All his questions appear in the second half of the story when the double investigation unfolds. This narrative evolution then gives all the originality to this story. If the drawings are very shonen, the scenario looks much more towards the seinen. A trend reinforced by the cyborg-samurai and all the very " 1984 " representation of the world under the thumb of Atlas "the benefactor". With Team Phoenix, Vega Dupuis editions were once again very inspired. A visual gem, this manga is both a Dantesque space opera and a declaration of love to Tezuka's work. A huge crush then.
