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The Guyver (classic): Retrospective

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Guyver Classic

Like many Americans, and indeed, Westerners in general, my first introduction to the Guyver was through the live action films from the early 90’s. They eventually lead me to pick up the animated OVAs from which they were based (which, in turn, was based on the manga series). As a kid, I liked them mostly because it was so rare to see gore and cursing in a cartoon. Now, as an adult, I don’t quite get the same sort of juvenile entertainment out of television. Yet, the Guyver has remained a nostalgic favorite of mine, even if the series hasn’t aged very gracefully.

The Guyver tells the story of Sho Fukamachi. While chilling out in the woods with his pal, Tetsuro, they stumble upon a mysterious device. Sho accidentally activates it, bonding the “control metal” to his body and turning him into the superhero, the Guyver. The Cronos Corporation, creators of the Guyver unit, wants their device back. They send legion upon legion of Zoanoid mutants to attack Sho, his friends, his family and just make life generally unpleasant for the teen. At his side is the Guyver III, who has an agenda all his own, and Murasaki, a journalist with secret alien origins which tie into the Cronos Coporation.

The Guyver is very campy. It often tries to take itself seriously, and some times succeeds, but due to the rushed nature of many of the storylines the characters and plots are diluted to a noticeably two-dimensional level. Due to this, the emotional impact of certain scenes (such as the death of Enzyme Type II) lose most of their power. Additionally, villains such as the Guyver II are dispensed with almost as soon as they appear, making their threat-level minimal.

Now, what if you like campy and cheesy scifi-horror action? Then you may very well like the Guyver. *I* like the Guyver. The animation, over-the-top violence and rushed sort of storytelling are very reminiscent of shows and movies such as the original Fist of the North Star and the first Vampire Hunter D film. If you did not get any entertainment out of those titles then there’s little hope you’ll get any from the Guyver.

The English dub is pretty much s***, which is a shame, as it’s the only version of the series available in the United States. The actors do improve as the series goes along, and some of them (such as the actor for Tetsuro) are alright, but there’s only so much they can do with twelve episodes. Other voices are unforgivably bad, such as Aptom. I admit, it enhances the “cheese”-factor and gives the series a Mystery Science Theater quality. It can be fun to make fun of.

The series is broken up into two arcs, each containing six episodes. The first arc features the Guyver’s battle against Cronos Japan as well as all the origin and character set-up. It’s the stronger of the two arcs, for certain, with Cronos’ constant screwing with Sho’s life being rather exciting. The Guyver II (as short-lived as he was) and the Hyper Zoanoids are also some of the better villains of the series.

The second arc, featuring the Guyver’s struggles against Dr. Balcus, is easily the worst portion of the series. There are a few highlights, such as the Enzyme Type II story arc. Aptom, despite his bad-dubbing, is a decent villain. He gets a lot of story devoted to him, though, while better villains like the Guyver II get cheated. Dr. Balcus is completely devoid of character and reminds me a lot of Dr. Demon from Tranzor Z. Then there’s the new hero, Murakami. Can’t say I gave a crap about him, since his quiet and brooding personality was already done with Agito Makishima (the Guyver III). His ties to the aliens which created the Zoanoids and the Guyver is interesting, but the series is cancelled before anything particularly good can become of it.

It’s also a bit disappointing that the series ends on a cliffhanger of sorts. There’s some resolution, such as the defeat of Aptom, but Cronos is far from finished and there’s even a few revelations made in the last second (such as the fate of Commander Gyou) which leave you wanting more. The manga series continued on well past this point in the story, but unfortunately, finding the manga in America isn’t always easy.

I like the Guyver, but I also like cheesy horror movies and violent video games. I’m not exactly the best judge of quality, and I know this. I’d recommend the 2005 Guyver series over this version, though it’s not without its retro-charm.

Space Ghost (Classic, 1966) – Retrospective

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Space Ghost 1966

Like a lot of people my age, my first introduction to Space Ghost was through the Coast to Coast late night talk show on Cartoon Network. Shortly after that began airing, they started to rerun the classic Space Ghost action cartoon shorts from 1966 (or, at least, I began to notice them). Although I loved Space Ghost as a comedian, I found him much more enjoyable as an actual intergalactic superhero. Jan, Jace and Blip were annoying as crap, but they’re not why I watched the show. Space Ghost had a really well-rounded rogues gallery, a great character design (thanks to comic book artist Alex Toth, no less), awesome superpowers and a sweet theme song.

Space Ghost-himself was voiced by none other than Gary Owens. You might recall him as the voice of Blue Falcon from the Dyno-Mutt show, Commander Feral from Swat Kats, Powdered Toastman from the Ren & Stimpy Show or even as the voice of 1960’s era Batman from the “Legends of the Dark Knight” episode of the New Batman Adventures. He’s known for having this commanding yet humorously heroic voice. He’s one of my favorites and the fact that he voiced Space Ghost made it all the cooler.

As far as plot goes, there isn’t much of one to speak of (these were 6-minute shorts, after all). Space Ghost is an outer space policeman who dwells on Ghost Planet with his sidekicks Jan (the girl), Jace (the boy) and Blip (the monkey). They fly around in the Phantom Cruiser, battling evil-doers like Zorak, Moltor, Brak, the Spider-Woman, Metallus, the Creature King, Tansut and numerous others. Space Ghost’s superpowers include the ability to turn invisible thanks to his inviso-belt, flight (by some unknown means) and his trademark power bands. The power bands give him the ability to shoot various destructive rays, like a heat ray or a freeze beam etc. He can combine the rays to create new effects and so-on.

There were 42 episodes of the original Space Ghost cartoon from 1966, as well as 22 episodes of the New Space Ghost produced in 1981. For whatever reason, Hanna Barbara has not seen fit to release the series in a box set, like they have most of their other flagship cartoons. Yet, thanks to the miracle of You Tube, I have managed to find a bunch of episodes for a recreational nostalgic marathon.

Episode #1: “The Ovens of Moltor”

Watch It!

The villainous Moltor has just completed a process to create a legion of Mighty Molten Men. He unleashes his first Molten Man on the unsuspecting Jan and Jace. The pair call for back-up from Space Ghost who arrives without delay. A short battle ensues and Jan and Jace are taken prisoner by Moltor. Space Ghost defeats the Molten Men and comes to the rescue. As soon as he arrives in Moltor’s lair, Moltor traps them in a tremendous oven. Space Ghost uses his power bands to blast out of the oven and the group escapes just as the asteroid lair explodes. It would seem that by blasting a hole in the oven, the ventilation caused such a rapid change in temperature the ovens could not withstand it and detonated.

One thing I never quite got about Space Ghost was that the villains almost always survived certain death. Now, I realize that’s a comic book cliché and I shouldn’t be perplexed by it, but it was different with Space Ghost. In Space Ghost, when the villains died, they really died. Hell, I remember one episode that ended with Brak being eaten by a school of space piranha. Yet he still managed to come back relatively unscathed. Another thing you might notice about this episode is that Moltor is wearing a yellow and white get-up. He’s most commonly recognized for his red and grey duds, which he wears in every appearance after this one.

Episode #4: “Space Armada”

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Metallus invites his foe, Space Ghost, to come onboard his Man-of-War and see his latest plot to conquer the galaxy. Metallus introduces Space Ghost to his unstoppable Metal Men: robots that can out-think and out-maneuver any ship in the galaxy. He threatens to unleash them in one hour. Space Ghost takes on the Metal Men but is held at bay by their extreme numbers. Meanwhile, Jan, Jace and Blip sneak onboard the Man-of-War to try and sabotage Metallus’ plans. Metallus gets the drop on them and holds the two teenagers hostage. Blip sneaks past him and grabs a de-lube gun. He squirts Metallus with the de-lube gun, freezing the cyborg’s lubricant and rendering him paralyzed. The Metal Men are then called off and Space Ghost leaves Metallus to be picked up by the Galactic Patrol.

What was Metallus thinking? I mean, I know that supervillains are compelled to explain their devious schemes to the enemy before they enact them, but Metallus goes just short of inviting Space Ghost to a barbeque. And I’ve never even heard of “de-lube”, though it is rather convenient that there was one right behind Metallus, who just happened to *not* notice the monkey hanging around the two invisible teenagers. The Metal Men weren’t all they were cracked up to be, either, as Space Ghost obliterates them with relative ease.

Episode #7: “The Robot Master”

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Metallus is back and this time he isn’t screwing around. Metallus unleashes a full-blown invasion on Ghost Planet, as his horde of robot spaceships tear the planet apart. Jan, Jace and Blip narrowly escape as Metallus takes over the command center. Space Ghost arrives and fights his way through a swarm of robot spacecraft. Space Ghost and his sidekicks get the drop on Metallus, who manages to hold them at bay with his ray gun. Blip sneaks up behind him, lifts Metallus’ head off his shoulders and drops a grenade down his gaping neck-hole (holy shit!). Somehow the explosion doesn’t kill Metallus, who tries to escape. Space Ghost captures Metallus and whisks him off to prison.

That is twice in a row Metallus has been defeated by a monkey in a space suit. He really isn’t fairing too well. The concept of the episode was pretty cool, with Metallus just all-out attacking the Ghost Planet with thousands of space ships. No more of that Bond villain crap like in his last appearance. Too bad he only seizes command for a total of 2 minutes.

Episode #9: “The Creature King”

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Jan, Jace and Blip are out on patrol when their vehicle has a reactor failure. They crash-land on a bizarre planet filled with strange monsters. They call for help from Space Ghost but are quickly taken prisoner by a fleet of giant bat-monsters. The bats take them to the lair of the Creature King, a little green gnome-thing who has mental control over all the beasts on the planet. He intends to use them to conquer other worlds. Space Ghost arrives just in the nick of time but the Creature King threatens to unleash all the planet’s monsters on them. Blip brains the Creature King over the head with his flight pack, causing him to lose his mental control over the animals. A giant bat then swoops down and carries the Creature King off for reasons unknown. The heroes then depart as Jan and Jace bicker over whose fault the crash-landing was.

Yeah! Take THAT women-drivers! I’m sure the humor was more relevant in 1966. The Creature King managed to make a number of appearances in the series, even joining the Council of Doom for the finale. Oddly enough, when the Council of Doom appeared on Space Ghost Coast to Coast, the Creature King was absent. Honestly, I never liked the guy, anyway. Probably my least favorite of the returning villains.

Episode #14: “The Looters”

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The marauding space pirate, Brak, attacks a gold shipment with sleeping gas missiles and makes off with the loot. Jan, Jace and Blip are vacationing on a tropical planet when they get the word about the heist from Space Ghost. By happenstance, Brak lands his ship on the tropical planet and unloads his ill-gotten booty in the caverns below. Jan and Blip investigate and Jan is taken prisoner. Brak orders her execution, but before she can be killed, Space Ghost and Jace arrive (Jace having called Space Ghost in). Brak and his minion man a pair of ray cannons and blast the crap out of Space Ghost. Jace then uses the sleeping gas on Brak’s minion to weaken their offensive. Space Ghost then uses his destroyer ray on Brak, causing the cavern to cave-in. The heroes escape just as Brak and his stolen gold are buried underneath tons of rubble.

Brak almost always had the most gruesome deaths at the end of his episodes. I already mentioned that he got eaten by space piranha in one episode, but here he gets buried alive. Yet somehow he always seemed to come back. Space Ghost was a pretty hardcore superhero, now that I think about it. I mean, he used his destroyer ray to try and kill Brak and then left him for dead under tons of rubble without even trying to dig him out. And people think Superman is a dick.

Episode #16: “The Challenge”

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Zorak has returned and with a new devious scheme. He has created a robot called Titanor, with all of Space Ghost’s powers amplified. Zorak issues a challenge to Space Ghost: should he defeat Titanor, Zorak will disappear forever, but should Titanor win, Space Ghost must vanish. Space Ghost heads to Zorak’s lair to meet the threat, but is quickly hammered into crap by Titanor. Jan, Jace and Blip think something is amiss and sneak into the control room. They discover that, at some point, Zorak had switched out Space Ghost’s real power bands with fake ones, diminishing Space Ghost’s strength. The sidekicks retrieve the power bands and return them to Space Ghost. Space Ghost makes short work of Titanor with his pile-driver ray, but before he can arrest Zorak, the evil mantis escapes.

Finally, a Zorak episode. Watching Titanor pound on Space Ghost is hilarious, especially since he cartoonishly drives him into the ground like a nail. I had forgotten that Zorak was voiced by Don Messick, AKA Scooby Doo. Good to see a villain actually escape for a change, instead of being killed or arrested. But I guess that’s what makes Zorak Space Ghost’s arch foe.

Episode #17: “Hi-Jackers”

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Jan and Jace spot Tansut and his crew raiding a space freighter. They follow him to his hide-out but are quickly captured. They call for help from Space Ghost, but before he can respond, the Phantom Cruiser is pelted by meteors. Now on their own, Jan, Jace and Blip have to escape Tansut’s clutches. Blip sneaks through the bars of their jail cell and beats the ever-living crap out of the guard. Now free, Jan and Jace use their wits to detain all of Tansut’s associates. Tansut then takes matters into his own hands and fires upon the sidekicks in his hover-thing. Space Ghost finally arrives and blasts Tansut’s vehicle, sending the villain spiraling into the Death Mists, a place where apparently no one has ever returned from. Space Ghost compliments the trio on their teamwork in his absence, as Jace tows the damaged Phantom Cruiser back to Ghost Planet.

A spotlight on Jan, Jace and Blip, showing that they’re more than just hostages. Pretty good in that regard. I used to make fun of Blip, but after watching these episodes, I have to say he’s pretty hardcore. I mean, the little chimp throws hand grenades at villains, belts them upside the head with his jetpack or crushes their skulls in doorways. He’s a killing machine! Also of note, is that while Tansut only appeared in one episode of Space Ghost, he was in just about every episode of Coast to Coast. He was the unseen narrator (the guy who sounded like an old man).

So that’s it for now. What I really want to track down is the 6-episode series finale featuring the Council of Doom. Not only did that arc pit Space Ghost against all his deadliest foes, but it was a massive cross-over special, to boot. Space Ghost and his sidekicks were teamed up with the Herculoids, Shazzan, Mightor, Dino Boy and Moby Dick. It was awesome.

If you still need a Space Ghost fix, try picking up the trade paperback of the recent DC comic or even the DVD season sets of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. And if you’re interested in the history of the character be sure to check out the Original Space Ghost FAQ, an exhaustive source of Space Ghost info.

The Sandman (by Paul Berry)

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The Sandman

In 1991, director Paul Berry animated this dark and unnerving stop-motion short film which would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Animated. In my humble opinion, the Sandman should have won the award, as it is genuinely an amazing piece of work. The atmosphere, music and technical sophistication are astonishing and it’s an excellent video to watch around Halloween-time.

Its nine o’clock and time for children to go to bed. A small boy is sent up to his room all alone with only a dim oil lamp to guide his way. He trembles beneath his covers, as creaking floorboards and howling winds fill him with a sense of dread. In the downstairs hallway, a strange creature spills out from the shadows. At first, it cautiously searches the rooms of the house with stealth and grace…until it hears the sounds of the boy. Sensing the child’s fear, the creature begins loudly approaching his room, relishing the terror it invokes. Upon reaching the sleeping child’s quarters, “the Sandman” has a terrible fate in store for the unsuspecting boy.

The Sandman combines many of my favorite things, which of course is why I like it so much. Stop-motion is one of my favorite forms of animation and the Sandman executes it beautifully. The horror is gothic and surreal, telling the tale of the mysterious Sandman only through music and visuals. You don’t know much about the monster, just that he’s terrifying. And honestly, that’s enough.

Lastly, it hits home with me in a nostalgic sort of way. When I was a kid, a little kid, I was scared to death of the Boogeyman. I thought for sure that there was a monster living in my closet that would creep out in the dead of night and try to eat me. The Sandman is a perfect realization of that childhood nightmare; monsters lurking underneath your bed or in the shadowy corners of your room. You can’t see them, but you know they’re there.

The animator and director, Paul Berry, died tragically in 2001 of a tumor. His style of stop-motion animation was dark and frightening, had he lived long I’m sure he would have produced more solid gems like the Sandman. You might also recognize him for his work on stop-motion animated films like the Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach and Monkeybone.

The Sandman clocks in at just under ten minutes, but the memory of the film will last a lifetime. I first saw it many years ago, either on Mtv’s Cartoon Sushi or IFC’s Independent Animation series. I can’t remember which. Either way, both programs showcased independent animated short films, often of the dark and frightening variety. Unfortunately, both shows have been cancelled for quite a while and there isn’t much of a television venue these days for independent animation (that’s what the internet is for!).

I highly recommend all fans of animation check this short out. It can be located on You Tube and in rather good quality.

Watch it right here!

Pryde of the X-Men

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pryde of the x-men

I still vividly remember my first viewing of “Pryde of the X-Men”. At the time, my only experience with the animated X-Men was the Saban series, and with trade paperbacks not quite as frequent as they are now, my only exposure to the characters were the ones featured in the comics at the moment. So when I first saw this animated video, I was a fair bit disoriented (I was, like, 8 years old, anyway). My mom rented the VHS cassette from Blockbusters and copied it onto a blank Beta cassette for me. However, some copy protection thingamajig got in the way, and as a result, the cartoon would periodically turn black & white. A very strange way to view the cartoon, but never-the-less, I adored the thing and watched it ceaselessly. Eventually, I had all the lines memorized.

Pryde of the X-Men was produced in 1989 as a pilot for an X-Men animated series that never got picked up. Other Marvel Comics cartoons of the time, such as Spider-Man & his Amazing Friends and the New Fantastic Four, had already run their course and interest in Marvel Comics animation was supposedly lacking. It’s uncertain whether it was intended to take place in the same animated universe as Amazing Friends and the New FF. The animation for the pilot was produced by Toei Studios in Japan, who also did several episodes of the two aforementioned cartoons. The X-Men and Juggernaut had appeared in the Amazing Friends episode “A Firestar is Born”, and though they had different voice actors, a few consistencies in their types of voices remained. Most notable is Wolverine’s inexplicable Australian accent. I’ll never understand what was up with that. Meanwhile, Magneto had appeared in the New Fantastic Four, though he was presented as a really corny villain whose superpowers were finite and eventually ran-out by the episode’s end, allowing him to be arrested. He also appeared in Amazing Friends where he was once again defeated and sent to prison. At the beginning of this video, Magneto is being sprung from his prison convoy by the White Queen. Does this mean it’s all one big happy universe? Who knows? Food for thought, though.

The story opens with a quick narration from Stan Lee-himself, explaining to us what Mutants, X-Men and Magnetos are. We then see a heavily armored military convoy carting an imprisoned Magneto (the master of magnetism) across a desert highway. The White Queen pops up and uses her mental powers and energy bolts (what the…?) to break Magneto free. At Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, timid new student Kitty Pryde (who can phase through solid matter) arrives at the request of the headmaster, Professor Charles Xavier (the world’s most powerful telepath), and wastes no time freaking out. Professor X then introduces her to the X-Men: Cyclops (who can shoot optic blasts from his eyes), Wolverine (who has razor-sharp adamantium claws), Dazzler (who can turn sound into energy bolts), Storm (who can control the weather), Colossus (who can turn his body into organic steel) and Nightcrawler (who can teleport). No sooner do they all get acquainted, the X-Men are summoned by an alarm to deal with some mutant mayhem at a nearby observatory.

While the X-Men are off at the observatory, dealing with the likes of Pyro and the Blob (who are after the coordinates to the Scorpio comet), Magneto and the unstoppable Juggernaut attack the mansion. They break through the defenses and Professor X, using his telepathy, discovers that Magneto is after Cerebro’s mutant tracking circuit. Juggernaut and Magneto make short work of Kitty and the Professor, stealing the circuit and returning to Asteroid M. Asteroid M is the home base of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists (that’s right, “terrorists”): the White Queen (a psychic who can shoot energy from her hands now, apparently), Juggernaut (the unstoppable behemoth), Pyro (who can control fire), the Blob (the immovable fat man), the Toad (who can leap great distances…wow, he sucks) and their itty bitty punching bag, Lockheed (the adorable dragon-thing). Magneto has Toad install the circuit in a device he had built and uses his own power to summon the comet Scorpio onto a collision course with Earth. He intends to use the mass destruction to weed-out the weak (humans), allowing only the strong (mutants) to survive. This plan cannot fail.

The X-Men catch wind of this after they dig the Professor out of the rubble and head out for Asteroid M on their aircraft, the Blackbird. Kitty tags along, much to the Professor’s chagrin, and imposes her help upon the team. The X-Men infiltrate the Asteroid and each member is gradually distracted by one-on-one combat with a member of the Brotherhood. Some even defeat their enemy in a matter of seconds and then just stand around like they have nothing better to do (I’m looking at you, Wolverine). Eventually, only Nightcrawler and Kitty are left to face Magneto. With some fancy teamwork, they manage to redirect the course of Scorpio into Asteroid M. Magneto and the Brotherhood escape and the X-Men retreat, though Nightcrawler is left behind. Just as the Asteroid explodes, Nightcrawler teleports into space where he begins to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. The X-Men attempt to rescue him, but he appears to disintegrate. Just as everyone begins blubbering over Nightcrawler’s demise, he bursts out of a locker on the Blackbird, smoking. The X-Men then celebrate another victory, though Stan Lee tells us that the Brotherhood will be back (Oh No!). Oh, and Lockheed defects to the X-Men.

Pretty cut and dry Saturday Morning Cartoon schlock, isn’t it? The writers don’t really win any points for the plot, but to their credit, this was just the pilot, meant to introduce the audience to the characters and their universe as quickly as possible. Probably the one bit of writing that stands out is the dialogue, which can be rather clever in an “action movie” sort of way. There are a few mischaracterizations here and there. Since when can the White Queen shoot energy out of her hands? Also, Wolverine is uncharacteristically bitter towards Kitty, whom he’s usually shown to be good buddies with in the comics. Lockheed being with the Brotherhood is pretty random, as well.

The voice acting for this video is excellent, for the most part. The one voice everyone always remembers is Neil Ross as Wolverine. I will concede that the random Australian accent (Wolverine is Canadian!) is really bad and sucks the “cool” right out of the character. Michael Bell, better known as Duke from G.I. Joe, is casting perfection as Cyclops. He plays the Mr. Perfect leader-type magnificently. Cartoon legend Frank Welker voices Toad and Lockheed, channeling a Peter Lorre impression of some kind for the leaping villain and doing various hisses and grunts for the dragon. In a bit of irony, John Stephenson (Mr. Slate from the Flintstones) voices Professor X, though he had previously been the voice of Magneto in the New Fantastic Four. Pat Fraley stands out as the Aussie flamethrower, Pyro. You might remember him as Krang and Baxter Stockman from the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Then there’s Kath Soucie (Fifi from Tiny Toon Adventures, Phil & Lil from Rugrats) as Kitty Pryde, and she plays the role rather admirably.

What really stands out about Pryde of the X-Men is the animation, produced by the Japanese studio, Toei, who are known for Devilman, Sailor Moon, Transformers, Dragonball Z, One Piece, G.I. Joe and tons more. The animation is very high-quality; smooth and detailed with a lot of fluid and natural character movements. The fight scenes are done exceptionally well, too. Toad actually manages to kick a little ass, if you can believe that.

There’s a truly awful theme song included before the episode which should really just be forgotten. “Magneto’s hordes are on the way to pillage, burn and plunder! But there’s one team that will not yield: the team that strikes like thunder! X-Men! X-Men! Save the day! Save the day! X-Men! X-Men! Coming your way!” It makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

As cheesy as it all is, it’s worth seeking out if you’re a big fan of the classic Chris Claremont/John Byrne era of the Uncanny X-Men. The cast is selected from that time period, as are their outfits, and it’s all rather nostalgic. It has a fun post-Silver Age feel to it and, while occasionally violent, isn’t nearly as painfully dark as the Saban series could get. I picked up a copy of the VHS cassette off eBay for $2 bucks, and I bet you can find this thing on the internet for free by “other means”. It’s a fun little time-killer with some great animation and occasionally impressive voice-overs, even if the story tends to make the little sense and goes by in a flash.

Spider-Man: the Manga

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Spider-Man Manga

In December 1997, Marvel Comics decided it was time to cash-in on the ever-increasing anime and manga fad.  And it just so happens Marvel had genuine manga versions of both Spider-Man and the X-Men just lying around.  Of the two mangas released at the time, I greatly preferred X-Men, but with it being nothing more than an adaptation of the Saban animated series, there’s really little to write about.  So instead, I’ll take a crack at the most…”interesting” of the two books, Ryoichi Ikegami’s Spider-Man.

First, a little history on the author.  Ryoichi Ikegami is one of the more well-renowned manga artists, with his work spanning numerous decades.  He is the man behind such popular manga and anime series as “Crying Freeman”, “Mai, the Psychic Girl”, “Heat”, “Sanctuary” and many others.  Ikegami began writing and illustrating the Spider-Man manga in January of 1970 and continued on through September of 1971, with the manga originally being published in Monthly Shonen Magazine.  Spider-Man is one of Ikegami’s earliest works, and as a result, doesn’t exactly reflect the peak of his talent.

The story basically retold classic American Spider-Man tales but with a decidedly more Japanese approach.  The manga took place in Tokyo with Spider-Man’s alter ego being a teenage boy named Yu Komori (a quasi-pun, since “kumo” is Japanese for “spider”).  Yu got his powers the same means that Peter Parker did, through an irradiated spider-bite.  Like Parker, Yu lived with his elderly Aunt and worked for a newspaper (Joho Shinbun, with the chief editor bearing a frightful likeness to J. Jonah Jameson).  Yu also had a crush on a girl named Rumiko Shiraishi, the Japanese counterpart to Mary Jane Watson or possibly Gwen Stacy.  Outside of these similarities, though, the stories were considerably different from their American counterparts.

The first villain Spider-Man faces is Electro.  Electro’s origin, like most of the villains re-envisioned in this manga, is completely different from the American version.  Electro is a boy named Shiraishi, the older brother of Rumiko.  He spent months working on various jobs, including at an auto shop, a boxing gym, a racecar track and a jazz club.  Shiraishi used the skills he picked up along the way to create cybernetic body enhancements which gave him electric powers.  Donning a gaudy costume, Shiraishi became Electro, a glorified bank robber.  As it turns out, Shiraishi was robbing the banks to collect money for his and Rumiko’s ill mother, whose hospital bills were reaching astronomical levels.  However, the thrill of robbing banks consumed him and he turned to evil.

Electro probably got the best treatment out of most of the villains Ikegami re-imagined.  It certainly isn’t half as ridiculous as Max Dillon’s origin from the US series, where he was electrocuted by wires and struck by lightning at the same time, granting him electric powers.

The Lizard definitely got the worst of the new origins.  In the manga, he was a scientist for a Japanese pharmaceutical company named Dr. Inumaru.  He traveled to the South Pacific and discovered a valuable new medicine.  However, in an act of greed, his assistant shoved him off a cliff and escaped with the notes on the medicine.  Inumaru awoke in a valley of giant lizards.  He fought to survive and by imitating the movements of the lizards his body underwent a “Darwinian change”.  Now, whenever he gets stressed, Inumaru can transform into the Lizard.  Inumaru returned to Tokyo and kidnapped his assistant’s son, Araki, who also happened to be a good friend of Yu.  Holding Araki hostage, Inumaru ordered Araki’s father to come to Miyashiro Zoo alone and with the notes of their work in the South Pacific.  Spider-Man tagged along in secret and discovered the truth about Inumaru.  Inumaru destroyed the notes and threatened to take his revenge out upon his assistant by hurling his son into a tank of crocodiles.  Spider-Man intervened, ruining Inumaru’s plans and causing the doctor to transform into the Lizard.  After a brief skirmish, Spider-Man unintentionally flipped the Lizard into the tank of crocodiles, where he was quickly devoured.  A bittersweet victory for Spider-Man, as he realized that the true villain was Araki’s father.

A “Darwinian change”?  Oh come on!  That’s got to be the worst origin story I’ve ever read.  I’m not sure why Ikegami chose to kill off the Lizard so quickly, either.  This was just his first appearance.  Either way, really not the best story of the bunch.

It’s also a real sorry state of affairs when a villain like the Kangaroo gets a better story arc than most others.  In the manga, the Kangaroo was an American pro wrestler who was kicked out of the league for killing his opponents with his deadly kicks.  He attempted to join the Japanese Wrestling Association, and when he was denied, went on a rampage, beating all the other wrestlers to a pulp.  Spider-Man intervened, but the Kangaroo escaped after a short chase through a construction zone and a busy street.  The Kangaroo resurfaced shortly thereafter, this time in a televised wrestling match.  Once again, the Kangaroo was brutally beating his opponents and Spider-Man intervened.  The Kangaroo made a mad-dash for the exit, though Spider-Man was ready for him.  However, a mob of people began to trample a small boy, leaving Spider-Man to let the Kangaroo escape so he could rescue the child.

When Kangaroo appeared in the manga, he was still a relatively new villain, even in America, having premiered in the American Spider-Man comic that very same year.  So I suppose when this comic was produced no one was certain he’d be a total loser.  I will admit, this is probably the best Kangaroo story I’ve ever read, take that as you will.

Mysterio received a much more accurate translation into the Japanese manga.  A master of special effects, Mysterio began impersonating Spider-Man and committing various crimes, soiling Spider-Man’s reputation.  Then, appearing as a costumed hero named Mysterio, he challenged Spider-Man to a battle atop a bridge.  Using his various skills, he countered all of Spider-Man’s abilities (clouding his spider-sense with gas, dissolving his webbing with acid, etc).  Defeated, Spider-Man retreated from battle to save the life of a child that had been injured by one of Mysterio’s blasts.  Mysterio was being hailed as a hero until his final encounter with Spider-Man, where the wall-crawler revealed Mysterio’s true machinations to the public and was exonerated of all charges.

As you can see, Mysterio’s origin story is almost an exact duplicate of the one seen in Amazing Spider-Man #13.  There really isn’t much else to say about it, honestly.  I wonder why Ikegami didn’t put as much effort into spicing up Mysterio’s background.  Perhaps he was just getting lazy?

The Spider-Man manga was never completely released in the United States.  A total of 31 issues were released, however, they only comprised 7 of the 13 story arcs Ikegami had written.  Additionally, the art was “flipped’ so that it would read from left to right like an American comic book.  And what’s more, the content was edited to remove some of the more violent images.

Perhaps some day, the complete, uncut Spider-Man manga will be released on American shores, perhaps in a more appropriate graphic novel format rather than the single issue approach.  To be honest, I’m not particularly fond of this manga, though it does have its upsides.  The art, despite being rather dated, is a bit more dynamic in style than the art of the American comic during 1970.  Also, while it may not be exceptionally good, the Spider-Man manga is a real novelty and fun for curiosity’s sake.