Born in Aomori Prefecture in October 1927, Noboru Baba moved to Tokyo in 1949 to begin a career as a manga artist, soon making a name for himself drawing manga for young boys. However, in Tezuka’s manga he seems to have fallen on hard times, and is most often cast in the role of a beggar or vagrant. Although he usually finds himself relegated to small, background roles, he is a specialist in dolling out bits of sage advice.

Much like fellow manga artist Eiichi Fukui, although Noboru Baba was a contemporary of Osamu Tezuka, he was also a minor star in his own right. Following his debut in the Astro Boy (1952-68) chapter “Frankenstein” (1952), he made many appearances, including memorable ones as a shady monk in The Devil of the Earth (1954), and as Shinichi Hoshi’s teacher in Wonder 3 (1965-66), among many others.

Modeled after the real-life manga artist, Noboru Baba is easy to spot as a tall, thin middle-aged man with droopy eyes and a scruffy moustache.

(Source: Tezuka In English, edited)