MISC. MANGA, *Venger Robo

Even though alot of people consider this 1993 manga to be an adaptation of the Getter Robo Go anime TV series(the weakest of the Getter saga!), Venger Robo was actually an original story that was later adapted into the OVA series, Shin Getter Robo Vs. Getter Robo. BTW, this was no direct relation to the Shin Getter Robo OVA which was released in America as Getter Robo: Armageddon, or the Shin Getter Robo TV series that was also put out here under the title New Getter Robo. Venger Robo is so far the only manga of Getter Robo to be put out in English.

Set about a few years after the original enemy of the Dinosaur Kingdom was wiped out, a new threat emerges known as the Metal Beasts. To counter this, an advanced class of Getter Robots is created. The problem though is finding pilots who can physically handle the pressure of piloting one of them. The government recruits mean-ass street fighter Go Ichimon, swordsman Gai Daidou(not the dude from Gekinganger), and the stereotypical professor’s daughter, Sho Tachibana. They go on to form the new Getter Team, and fight the evil machinations of Prof. Rando and his beasts.

Getter Robo creator Go Nagai wrote this, and it was drawn by Ken Ishikawa who co-created Getter Robo along with Nagai. Ishikawa has also done manga adaptations of Ultraman, Ninja Resurrection, Samurai Showdown, and Super Robot Wars. His style is very gritty and appealing for fans of hardcore shonen anime. Viz released this as a 7-issue comic book series, although no collected edition has ever been done. Possibly because the market for mecha manga is very small as compared to animated and live-action.