Team Phoenix is the ambitious series launched by Kenny Ruiz. Leading author of the new generation of the newspaper Spirou, he recently embarked on manga. Pre-published in excerpts in the monumental Tezucomi, his project Team Phoenix became a story planned in 6 volumes published by Dupuis. It brings together in a cross-over all the characters invented by Tezuka immersed in a Dantesque space opera. Excited by the first volume, our editorial team devoured its sequel with as much enthusiasm.
Black Jack to the rescue
Humanity has been defeated. The great war between living species and robots sounded the death knell for biological organisms. Throughout the galaxy, the Robotic Union imposes its dictatorial government under the orders of Atlas. True segregation divides robotics from biologics. Only useful humans are preserved. Faced with this tyranny, a resistance tries to organize itself grouped around Princess Sapphire and those disappointed with the new regime. But the forces of the implacable Atlas hunt down all dissent. The team assembled by Sapphire, the "Team Phoenix" has all the trouble in the world to escape the clutches of the agents of the enemy. And if they met Fire, a surprising girl whose powers seem to be able to heal the world, the rebels had to flee urgently before being rescued by the cyber-surgeon Black Jack. With this new ally, they embark on a risky operation: to free the mysterious Alpha patient. 
Team Phoenix: Black Jack in Albator mode
This new opus introduces an iconic character from Tezuka's work. In the work of the father of the manga, Black Jack is a shadow doctor with a scar on part of his face. Disfigured as a child by an accident, he received a gift of skin and since that day has chosen to pay this debt by becoming a doctor. But with integrity, he decides to offer his services to the marginalized of society, criminals as well as forgotten. Having become a reference, as talented as he is misanthropic, he leads a solitary life plagued by his own weaknesses in the face of the inevitability of death. In Kenny Ruiz's story, Dr. Black Jack retains some of the original character traits. The man remains a bit cynical, mysterious with a strong sense of repartee "I did not call you to deliver flowers". He always stays on the border between shadow and light, flirting with the rebels but collaborating with the robotic empire. But he also becomes a space privateer whose appearance, mentality brings him closer to Albator, Captain Harlock. Like Leiji Matsumoto's character, he fights his own battle while remaining straight, determined and respected. 
A space robbery
Always anxious to punctuate a captivating story, Kenny Ruiz breaks with the first volume by offering us here not frantic chases but a story of robbery. And what operation!!! Black Jack and Team Phoenix must break into the Hermetic Zone, the most fortified space building in the Robotic Union. This labyrinthine prison houses a strange Alpha patient on whom Black Jack conducts tests on behalf of the Robotic Union. However, the privateer doctor has long nurtured the project of freeing / abducting the patient. The story will deploy a captivating infiltration where each member of Team Phoenix has his role. We are not far, in spirit, from Ocean's Eleven , both in the organization of the plan and in the narration. The timelines intersect, mixing present action and future planning. The whole remains very coherent based on magnificent visuals highlighting the vertiginous verticality of the fortress. It becomes very difficult to interrupt his rereading in the face of the immense challenge that awaits our heroes. 
Team Phoenix: The secrets of Astro
Alongside this rescue operation, this volume 2 distills revelations about this universe. First concerning Atlas, the commissioner of the Robotic Union and Uran his advisor. Their motivation, their journey seem clearer to us. Like Tezuka's works, everything is in shades of gray. Then Kenny Ruiz continues to integrate key characters from the world of Astro. To the robot Gesicht seen in the first volume, is added Pluto, the fearsome creature magnified by Urasawa. Finally, there is the character of Astro. How did the strongest robot in the world die, whose portrait still adorns the walls of the Robotic Union? What's in this mysterious hermetic zone? Is it a good idea to go and wake up what lies dormant there? Feeding as much on the imagination of Akira (patient alpha/patient 28) as that of the comics (hermetic zone/phantom zone), Kenny Ruiz slowly drifts his story towards cosmic immensity. With this second volume, Kenny Ruiz transforms the essay. Team Phoenix continues to tell us a galactic epic nourished by tributes and finely integrated references. A real joy to read.
