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I found a Youtube video containing some unusual Jetter Mars images. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uivOnDqKDgQ
Some appear to be from third party publications such as fan books. At least one is probably from someone's Da page.



This one is from some fan book with what looks like prototype Mars designs including a female Uran Astro clone?
What is strange here is the Mushi character associated with Tezuka in the upper left hand corner, I thought Mushi productions was dissolved at this point in time.


From a similar source


Somone's idea for a Jetter Mars based on Uran!



Again someone's Da


Another 'fan book' image.

I recognized some of these pictures; I’ll do my best to explain them.

The first picture of what looks like an “Uran copy” is actually just Uran. She just has a similar “outfit” to Astro Boy (kind of what happened in Pluto arc). I’m very sure this picture is official as it includes the official Mushi production logo and the art looks very similar to other picture book/sketch book like merchandise that was published in Japan during the 1960s. So I’m very sure that it has nothing to do with Jetter Mars. The person who made the video was comparing Mars’s design to Uran.

Yes, Mushi production was bankrupt by the time Jetter Mars was in production. This is why Toei Animation decided to cooperate with Madhouse (an animation studio that was founded by ex-Mushi Pro animators).

The picture below is Jetter Mars is fan art drawn by a Japanese Jetter Mars fan known as FUTATSU: http://www.geocities.jp/jetter_mars2015/futatsu_1.html
He’s a super talented fan artist. He even makes model kits for Jetter Mars and other old anime as well.

The picture beside the Astro and Uran picture is pretty much a FUTATSU fan art piece but edited. You can find where it originated from, this blog entry: http://ultrider.exblog.jp/12224822

From the gist of the entry, the blogger seems to be talking about Cobalt and pointed out how Mars’s design was similar to Cobalt’s (it’s was edited to make Mars look like Cobalt).

Mars’s first known was first public appearance in January 1st, 1977 in a New Years card. You can see what it looks like though this link: http://homepage3.nifty.com/mars2015/hagaki.html

The last picture is one of the Jetter Mars sketchbooks that were published in Japan during the show’s broadcasting. They are official: http://homepage3.nifty.com/mars2015/otakara_sketch2.html

I hope this helps.

Hoo, now that's a new one. Never heard of him being compared to Cobalt before.

So Astro and Mars appeared together on that New Year's card (along with a lot of other Tezuka characters). Hmm, what copyright issues! Or did the problem only exist for Anime, not Manga?

"Tetsuwan Penguin" wrote:So Astro and Mars appeared together on that New Year's card (along with a lot of other Tezuka characters). Hmm, what copyright issues! Or did the problem only exist for Anime, not Manga?

The copyright issue that Tezuka faced was fairly complex.
Jetter Mars was intended to be a “sequel-remake of the 1960’s Astro Boy” called Mighty Mars. However, Meiji Seika Kaisha, a food/pharmaceutical company obtained the rights to the 1960’s Astro Boy series because they sponsored Astro Boy. This is why various changes to the story and characters had to be made, and the name Mighty Mars had to be changed to Jetter Mars.

Tezuka did not lose the rights to Astro Boy as a whole, as the picture suggests he could still draw him and publish works featuring him. There were still Astro Boy toys being officially made, as suggested with the cover of a TV Land magazine published in February 1977:



So, the idea that Jetter Mars’s existence suggested that the Astro Boy series as a whole would have been replaced is a myth.
This information was confirmed by a Japanese book known as Astro Boy Illustrated which was written by Mori Seiji.

"Little Brown Fox" wrote:Hoo, now that's a new one. Never heard of him being compared to Cobalt before.

Now you have

... That... is pretty damn awesome.

I can see where they were intending to go with this; Mars isn't just some half-assed copy pulled out at the last minute, he was always meant to resemble Atom, because he was his canonical replacement! When the series ended, it actually left room for this kind of suggestion; this is so freakin' cool I can't even-