MISC. MANGA, *Gatchaman

It's been a good hot minute since Gatchaman had been seen on the American comic book racks. There had been two different comic book outings under the English version of the TV show by Sandy Frank, Battle Of The Planets, one in the 70s by Gold Key Comics, and one by Top Cow Productions in the early 2000s which included two separate Thundercats crossovers and one with Witchblade. This however is the first time that there has been an American publication sharing the original Japanese title of the Bronze Age superhero anime from Tatsunoko Productions. The original Gatchaman is a sentai series that began the tradition of "five teenagers with attitude", but instead of clunky robot dinosaurs, they were able to take down giant robots with ninja skills and sleek space age super-vehicles. Mad Cave Studios not only has picked up the anime plot for modern day while still keeping its counterculture esthetics in a regular series, but there are several mini-series that help fill out the Gatchaman universe.

In this new adaptation of the Japanese franchise, the Earth is being bombarded with attacks by a criminal organization known as the Galactor whose advanced technology has been cause acts of terrorism. Mankind's biggest hope is a quintet of young warriors in bird costumes who go by the codename Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. This team consists of their leader Ken, the hothead loner Joe, the token female Jun, the bulky pilot Ryu, and the youngest Jinpei. They each have their own sweet rides that hook up with the larger Phoenix ship flown by Ryu, and they can work as a team or just as effectively as individuals. There have so far been solo adventures of Ken, Jun, and Ryu. Mad Cave even went as far as to do a rare look into the point of view of the villains in a Galactor mini-series with their leader Berg Katse trying to root out some underminers within his own ranks.

Mad Cave Studios has done a pretty good job expanding the lore of the 70s anime for modern audiences. Their version of Gatchaman is tight, diverse, and got great superhero action. There is some real talent behind the various artists and authors with their own take on each character as well as their uniting as a team. Aside from the main title and the solo adventures, there's also a spinoff title Only One Earth where Gatchaman's mettle is tested in Galactor's latest scheme. Mad Cave was also clever enough to make a solid mint by offering several variant covers for each issue for collectors. Gatchaman is a fine enough carrier of the classic anime's legacy and worth it for any die-hard sentai fans.