Skull Man
By: Kazuhiko Shimamoto and Ishinomori Shotaro Pro
Published Domestically by: TokyoPop

Introduction

From Tokyopop:

"Manga legend Shotaro Ishinomori's Skull Man first appeared in Shonen Magazine in 1970 and immediately caused a sensation, selling over 1.5 million copies. The hero, orphaned when his parents were murdered, grows up to use his peculiar powers to take his revenge. The original Skull Man was one of manga's first anti-heroes, someone who would sacrifice the lives of innocents in his quest for vengeance. This darkness is what made the Skull Man so magnetic and successful. "

Story

This Manga revolves around Tatsuo Kagura, who early in his life was subjected to several mutating science experiments that ended up giving him amazing powers and skills. Longing revenge for the murder of his parents he becomes Skull Man, a shadowy crusader who battles The Syndicate and its evil leader Rasputin.

The story begins abruptly with a woman who possesses immense psychic powers killing a man, only to then be attacked herself by a man who can become a bat, a wolf, or an alligator named Goro. Goro is revealed to be Skull Man’s childhood protector and present ally in the coming war against Rasputin and his hordes of evil mutants.

Skull Man makes allies, loses comrades, and dies in combat with a lethal mutant just in the first book. What follows is a trip into the world of shadows and the evil within all of us. Throughout his journey Skull Man will face spiders, wasps, scorpions, plants, cobras, vultures, grasshoppers, and finally Rasputin himself!

Review

Skull Man delves into the human psyche, something that I personally love to see explored in the stories that I read. The portrayal of the main character makes you feel as though he is the dark side that is potentially contained within each of us. The darkness used in this series becomes most visible when we learn that Skull Man dies a little with every mutant he eliminates; as he kills he loses his own sanity.

Skull Man’s cast of diverse characters ranges from humans to mutants to ghosts of the past. Skull Man’s companion, Goro, has a recurring role throughout the series, as does Maria, a woman with psychic powers (enough to scare even our hero), detective Hioka, a man who investigates the mutant-related murders and in turn, becomes a mutant himself and Skull Man’s sister, Maya, protects his mind and holds back his powers.

Skull Man is a extremely well written and drawn manga. The art is crisp and well made, by the end it feels as though the reader is watching a movie. Any KR fan will appreciate the subtle hints thrown into the book that make it look like a Kamen Rider series.

Skull Man is currently one of my personal favorite series currently being published and I hope that Kamen Rider Spirits is released domestically along with other stories/manga by Ishinomori or based on his characters. All of these characters and Rasputin thrown together create the perfect manga for Sentai or KR fans.

Conclusion

Skull Man is an action-packed look at love, hate, war, and the human soul. This book is recommended to any fan of sci-fi or tokusatsu, especially Kamen Rider fans.

Hakaider