Phantom Thief 1/2 Face (怪盗1/2面相) is a gag work by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro, serialized in Shonen Book through 1966.
Overview[]
After the Dayon solo features had ended in Shonen Book in March, this work would be the follow-up and successor. It revolves around a boy detective known as Kin-chan, who fancies himself as a modern Sherlock Holmes type but who has in fact flunked out of the Sherlock Holmes Detective School. He travels about with his talking pet penguin Kanta in their search for the infamous Phantom Thief 1/2 Face, a successful criminal right out of the Arsene Lupin Thief School. 1/2 Face may be lurking anywhere, any time, with any sort of disguise, so Kin-chan and Kanta must always be alert.
Aside from Akatsuka himself, the title is also known to have had Kunio Nagatani's input in illustrating the last chapter. This was the first work Akatsuka crafted that would take on the famous Edogawa Rampo "The Fiend of 20 Faces" novel series, but certainly not the last; The Great Stupid Detective Kogoro Hakuchi would be a longer, more successful series for the 1970s.
Two initial advertisements of the series, shown previewed at the end of the Dayon feature, had a much different in design in mind for Kin-chan while Kanta was to be set as a cat (re-using the design of Mike from Otasuke-kun). Like some other Akatsuka works between their "New series notice" and actual release, the further influence of an editor or a change in Akatsuka's own ideas can make for some startling differences.
Characters[]
Besides these characters and other guests, Akatsuka's Star System has a very minor presence with Hagechibi/Mean Professor once showing up in a role.
Kin-chan[]
The protagonist. He wears a plaid detective cap to go along with his fancy suit. He is constantly on the hunt for 1/2 Face, and eager to explore leads. However, he and Kanta can be easily lead into traps by 1/2 Face's trickery.
Kanta[]
Kin-chan's penguin sidekick. He is quite hungry and gluttonous, and interested in what food he can get to eat in the places that they go.
1/2 Face[]
The legendary Phantom Thief. He is able to don a variety of disguises, or to outright shapeshift his appearance, and has many other expert methods at his disposal to escape. In his normal look, he is a small man in a fancy suit and top hat, with a rather large mustache.
Serialization[]
- Shonen Book: April to September 1966
The feature is incompletely-represented in reprints and has yet to get an actual full re-release.
Reprints[]
- Akebono kashihon: Two chapters were reprinted as extra content in "Kibimama-chan" vol.2
- Futabasha: Three of the chapters were reprinted as extra content in "Chibita" vol.3 in the Power Comics imprint.
- Shogakukan: The Chibita volumes were digitized for the Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works DVD-ROM set, while another previously-unreprinted chapter appeared in the "1960s" volume. Print-on-demand versions were also made available through the ComicPark service.