I some time ago able to acquire volumes 1 - 10 of the original Crusher Joe light novels from a private seller. The original Crusher Joe light novels were written by Haruka Takachiho (高千穂 遙) from 1977 to 2005. These novels were published by Asahi Sonorama (now Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc.). A light novel is a short story more or less that is catered to a male demographic, primarily high school age boys, and are very much akin to SF pulp novels.

The interiors of these novels were illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (安彦 良和) who was the original character designer for the series and an artist I am very fond of.

I am mainly archiving the artwork inside each book as they are not online and no one has attempted to archive them sans for a few scans here and there; the light novels themselves can be found easily enough and some have even been translated. Book 1 in particular follows the exploits of Joe, Talos, and Ricky and Alfin joining the crusher team.

I am archiving these illustrations in relationship also to Yas' design sensibilities in the 1970s for SF themed anime and manga as many aren't online either sans for his gouache paintings and settei drawings. Design properties from the Crusher Joe light novels appear in Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) and were also featured in the cancelled Terrahawks anime (1977). Other design sensibilities from Yas' time working on Space Battleship Yamato can also be seen in these scans. Crusher Joe was eventually made into a feature length film in 1983 where Yas was very hands on with the production.

This book was heavily yellowed and my scanner is what it is, but I did what I could to preserve the line quality of each drawing. These books are over 40+ years old and have to be handled sensitively, otherwise I could seriously damage my copies. I don't do this professionally, but I am trying to archive the best that I can. Its better that anything becomes public on the web just as it should.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me by email:
[email protected]
Archiving/Art Twitter - https://twitter.com/retroanimechris

Side note - included in this light novel was a bookmark with information and artwork, so I decided to scan it too.

Great work dude, the art is masterful.

Base +5

Thanks so much! I am aiming to scan book 3 very soon. Thanks!

Base +6