Not every popular manga is a flight of fancy.

There’s also an audience that likes reading about such down-to-earth topics as starting and running a successful business.

That’s why a thorough list of today’s popular manga protagonists doesn’t just include One Piece’s Luffy, but also Apple founder Steve Jobs.

Produced by Ume, the manga starts back when the two Steves(Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak) were just a pair of unknowns working in the garage of the young Jobs.

The early chapters deal with the struggles the two entrepreneurs face in trying to convince the old-guard business establishment that they really do have ideas worth listening to.

After obtaining the DRAM they need from the super-powered Intel exec depicted above, the Steves can start building their company in earnest.

That’s where the parallels between the story of Apple and an archetypical shonen manga start to become apparent.

As the hot-blooded, charismatic hero has to assemble a team of companions and win over the hearts of non-believers before he can achieve the greatness of his self-created destiny.

Apple employees Mike Markkula, Randy Wigginton, Chris Espinosa, Dan Kottke, Jerry Manock, Rod Holt, and Jobs’ younger sister Patty all make appearances.

And of course, every manga protagonist needs a rival, and in Jobs’ case, that can only mean…Bill Gates.

Steves began serialization last year in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Superior anthology, which is published twice a month.

It just goes to show that in the hands of the right individuals, comics can be as versatile as technology.

The story of Apple’s founding? Sure, there’s a manga for that.

(source: rocketnews)