To many, comic books are strictly for far-fetched make-believe. Quite often, that holds true for Japanese comics, too, since at any given time many of the top-selling manga feature transforming robots and magical powers, not to mention women with larger breasts and men with more finely delicate faces than any you’ll find in the real world.
Not every popular manga is a flight of fancy, though, as there’s also an audience that likes reading about such down-to-earth topics as starting and running a successful business. Oftentimes the companies and executives portrayed are fictional, but not always. That’s why a thorough list of today’s popular manga protagonists doesn’t just include One Piece’s Luffy and The Seven Deadly Sins’ Meliodas, but also Apple founder Steve Jobs.
Technology historians will be quick to point out that Steve Jobs wasn’t the only person involved in starting the California-based company, though, or even the only Steve, as programmer and engineer Steve Wozniak also played a key role in getting Apple off the ground. That fact isn’t lost on the manga’s creator, Hatsuichi Matsunaga, which is why the comic is titled Steves.
Produced by Ume, the two-person team of writer Takahiro Ozawa and artist Asako Seo, the manga starts back when the two Steves were just a pair of unknowns working in the garage of the young Jobs.
▼ Make that the young and handsome Jobs.
The early chapters deal with the struggles the two entrepreneurs face in trying to convince the old-guard business establishment that they really do have ideas worth listening to. This being manga, though, you have to expect a few dramatic embellishments, especially in the visuals. For example, while plenty of older businessmen were dismissive of Jobs’ ahead-of-their-time ideas, we’re pretty sure none of them punctuated their disdain with a kabe-don.
▼ At least not one that nearly shattered the wall
After obtaining the DRAM they need from the super-powered Intel exec depicted above, the Steves can start building their company in earnest. That’s where the parallels between the story of Apple and an archetypical shonen manga start to become apparent, as the hot-blooded, charismatic hero has to assemble a team of companions and win over the hearts of non-believers before he can achieve the greatness of his self-created destiny.
Apple employees Mike Markkula, Randy Wigginton, Chris Espinosa, Dan Kottke, Jerry Manock, Rod Holt, and Jobs’ younger sister Patty all make appearances.
▼ In this scene, Steves’ Patty makes sure to follow proper manga protocol by calling her big brother baka when she’s upset.
And of course, every manga protagonist needs a rival, and in Jobs’ case, that can only mean…
▼ Bill Gates
Steves began serialization last year in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Superior anthology, which is published twice a month. Two collected volumes have been released, and can be ordered here and here. Shogakukan also has number of free chapter previews available online.
It just goes to show that in the hands of the right individuals, comics can be as versatile as technology. The story of Apple’s founding? Sure, there’s a manga for that.
Related: Steves official website
Source: Naver Matome
Top image: Shogakukan (1, 2) (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert images: Shogakukan (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) (edited by RocketNews24)