Weekly Shōnen Champion in the context of "Tankōbon"

Akita Publishing Co., Ltd. (株式会社秋田書店, Kabushiki-gaisha Akita Shoten) is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita in 1948. As of May 2023, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi. The company is known for publishing the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion, which serialized works such as Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack, Keisuke Itagaki's Baki the Grappler, and Shinji Mizushima's Dokaben.

Black Jack (ブラック・ジャック, Burakku Jakku) is a fictional character created by Osamu Tezuka, introduced in Weekly Shōnen Champion on November 19, 1973. He is the main character in the Black Jack manga franchise.

His odd appearance comes from a childhood incident, in which both he and his mother were terribly injured in an explosion. Although Kurō's mother died from her injuries, and Kurō's own body was nearly torn to shreds, he was rescued, thanks to a miraculous operation by Dr. Honma. Although Kurō survived, part of his hair turned white due to stress and shock. The skin covering the left side of Kurō's face is noticeably darker due to getting a skin graft from his best friend, who is half African. Kurō refused to have plastic surgery to match the skin color as a sign of respect for his friend. Marked by this experience, Kurō decided to become a surgeon himself, taking the name of Black Jack.