JACO THE GALACTIC PATROLMAN by Akira Toriyama

Can we ever go home again? It's a question so many creators ask themselves when they revisit work from their earlier days. Mike & Greg take a look at how Toriyama has cracked that particular code with "Jaco", a book that touches on several themes and tones from the manga-ka's early "Dragon Ball" days while still letting him bring his mastery of craft to bear. A funny, adventurous romp, the titular Jaco is a super elite Galactic Patrolman sent to Earth to await the coming of a terrible monster… but he manages to sideswipe the Moon on his way in and crashes next to a small island. Maybe 'super elite' is supposed to be ironic? Find out why "Jaco" is a wonderful standalone manga story with subtle ties to Toriyama's later works, what manga tropes the cartoonist manages to celebrate and subvert simultaneously, how 'adorable' is a perfect descriptive for this book, which Neal Adams work gets compared to "Jaco", and a whole lot more in this week's episode! Robots From Tomorrow is a weekly comics podcast recorded deep beneath the Earth’s surface. You can subscribe to it via iTunes or through the RSS feed at RobotsFromTomorrow.com. You can also follow Mike and Greg on Twitter. This episode is brought to you by Third Eye Comics. Enjoy your funny books.