Buichi Terasawa, Creator of SF Manga ‘Cobra,’ Dies at 68

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:50 JST, September 12, 2023

Buichi Terasawa, a manga artist known for his sci-fi action manga “Cobra,” died of a heart attack on Friday. He was 68.

Hailing from Hokkaido, he moved to Tokyo and worked as an assistant to Osamu Tezuka. His major work “Cobra” was serialized from 1978 in the Weekly Shonen Jump manga magazine. The story, revolving around a lone wolf space pirate flying around the universe, along with its realistic and powerful drawings that were styled with a touch of American comic books was a massive hit. The manga was adapted into an animated film as well as an anime.

Terasawa was also known as a pioneer for using computers in producing his works, which have been highly acclaimed overseas. His other works include “Black Knight BAT,” “Karasu-Tengu Kabuto,” and “Goku.”