It has been called the greatest comic book series ever created. It broke down barriers in comics publishing and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the finest science-fiction novels and films and inspired one of the true classics of feature animation. It has sold in 
the millions in its native Japan and its translated editions have been published around the world. It is a bold and breathtaking epic of potent narrative strength and astonishing illustrative skill, a crown jewel of graphic fiction. It is Katsuhiro OtomoÂ’s stunning comics masterpiece, Akira, soon to be released in its entirety in 
America by Dark Horse Comics, in association with Kodansha Ltd. and Studio Proteus. First serialized in Japan in 1984 in KodanshaÂ’s biweekly Young Magazine, Akira became an overnight sensation, and Otomo (who had gained wide critical acclaim with his previous work, Domu) became a comics superstar, breaking new ground in form and content and creating a style of intense, highly-detailedrealism that spawned an entire generation of imitators worldwide. Few, if any, have matched the fully realized nature of OtomoÂ’s visions: awe-inspiring urban landscapes, gut-wrenching action, unforgettable 
images of apocalyptic fury. Otomo has since moved on to become a top animation director--creating the mind-blowing anime adaptation of Akira, among others--but the power of his comics work is undiminished, as engrossing and riveting today as it was nearly twenty years ago.
Akira is set in the post-apocalypse Neo-Tokyo of 2019, a vast metropolis built on the ashes of a Tokyo annihilated by a cataclysmic blast of unknown origin 
that triggered World War III. The lives of two streetwise teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, are changed forever when dormant paranormal abilities begin to waken in Tetsuo, who becomes a target for a shadowy government operation that will stop at nothing to prevent another catastrophe like that which leveled Tokyo. And at the core of this group’s motivation is a raw, all-consuming fear: a fear of someone — or something — of unthinkably monstrous power known only as…Akira! And Akira is about to rise!
Dark Horse has from its beginning been committed to publishing the finest comics from around the world, and Akira is being painstakingly reproduced in six massive volumes in its original black-and-white majesty as never-before-seen in an English-translated edition. If you love science-fiction, if you love manga, if you love comics, Akira is one work that must be represented in your collection!
— Chris Warner