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This scene may be familiar to readers of Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack. I found it really hard to draw as the perspective of the car and the size of the house and fence all seemed wrong. A bit of a morning rush-job really, so it had to do.

This was my 100th illustrated eBay envelope!

Fineliner and sharpie to create Osamu Tezuka's famous surgeon at home by the fireside

Osamu Tezuka, who is my manga hero and dubbed by many as "God of Manga" for practically inventing most of the genres of manga seen today in Japan, originally trained as a doctor, but on graduation he decided to become a manga artist instead. Although Astro Boy is his best known production in the west, many in the East, myself included love Black Jack.

The surgeon Black Jack is a miraculously gifted doctor and the stories are a great introduction to many medical conditions, as Tezuka writes and illustrates real disease as only a doctor could. His sidekick, Pinoko was originally a teratoid cystoma, which is where a twin attaches itself in the womb to the other twin and grows. All the organs may still be there, but usually the cystoma is removed and thrown away.

Black Jack saves a cystoma, builds it a body and nurtures it, and it becomes his assistant.

Pinoko usually serves as the light comedy relief in the stories, giving a lighter edge to the stories.

Another day another Sharpie sale, this time going to Poland. I've resolved to illustrate every outgoing package, and next time I list them I'm going to include this in the description.

Perhaps it's my imagination, but since I started illustrating the envelopes I seem to be selling more. At least I'm having a lot more fun.