Jirou Kuwata  

Kuwata Jirou is a Japanese mangaka born on April 17, 1935 in Suita, Osaka. He began his career as an artist at the young age of thirteen and created The Strange Star Cluster (怪奇星団) in 1948. His turning point came in 1957 with the creation of Phantom Detective (まぼろし探偵), which was later adapted into a tokusatsu TV series. Kuwata is known for his science fiction/superhero adventures, including co-creating 8 Man with writer Kazumasa Hirai. However, in 1965, he was arrested for possessing a handgun and the final issue of 8 Man was published without his input. Despite this setback, Kuwata continued to create manga until the late 70s when he experienced depression and alcoholism. He had an epiphany in 1977 and converted to Buddhism, creating beautiful art books about the life of Buddha. In 1992, he agreed to do his own version of the final issue of 8 Man upon request from co-creator/friend Kazumasa Hirai.