The Skull Man (Paperback)

by Kazuhiko Shimamoto (Author), Shotaro Ishinomori (Author), Ray Yoshimoto (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
They took his family, they took his face, and they took his soul. Now, the Skull Man is going to take his revenge. Resurrected from the land of the dead, the Skull Man is hunting down the men responsible for destroying his life and anyone who stands in his way. In an unjust world, the Skull Man will use any means necessary to get the vengeance he seeks! Locked between the lethal but gorgeous assassin Maria and the mutant Spider Man, the Skull Man digs into the conspiracy that gave birth to his powers and those of his partner Garo. Haunted by his past, he will not let them stand in the way of his revenge.

From the Publisher
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 wasn’t virtuous but one of the first dark anti-heroes, someone who would sacrifice the lives of innocents in his quest for vengeance. This dark aspect is what made Skull Man so magnetic and successful. Skip ahead 27 years. Kazuhiko Shimamoto, a young, well know manga artist, is contacted by a dying Shotaro Ishinomori and asked to revive Skull Man. Shimamoto’s boy hood idol, Ishonomori, faxed him copies of the story and plot notes. He couldn’t believe that he was being given the task of illustrating this story and presenting it to more than 110 million fans of Ishinomori’s work. Shimamoto had already been involved in updating one of Ishinomori’s other earlier works Kamen Rider a precursor to Skull Man but little did he dream that, as one of many Ishonomori disciples, he would be chosen for the death bed collaboration and resurrection of Skull Man.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (April 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931514658
• ISBN-13: 978-1931514651
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,269,040 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #16 in

  Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Manga > By Creator > Ishinomori, Shotaro

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars DEVILMAN-style dark adventure from a legendary Manga creator, May 21, 2002

By	Matthew L. Mutchmore (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews

Shotaro Ishinomori's SKULL MAN is the elder brother of his infamous manga (and subsequent TV series and so on....) Kamen Rider. Overshadowed for decades, SKULL MAN once again saw the light of the skull covered moon in 1997, when Ishinomori collaborated with manga artist Kazuhiko Shimamoto for an all new revamp of the classic 1970 character.

Perhaps Japan's creepiest Anti-Hero, Skull Man is a creature resurrected from the land of the dead, living only for vengeance, stopping at nothing to find those responsible for the murder of his family and the loss of his soul. Aided on his quest by his shape-changing ally Garo, Skull Man relentlessly pursues a string of shape shifting creatures in his pursuit, using any means possible to his own ends, injuring evil creatures and innocents alike.

Equal parts (Go Nagai's) DEVILMAN and (James O'Barr's) The CROW, but predating both, Skull Man is sure to entertain fans of manga and anime like Vampire Hunter D, Blood: The Last Vampire and the aforementioned Devilman.

Volume ONE oozes supernatural flavor, but it reads rather quickly, revealing background and origin toward the middle of the story, and ending abruptly with a cliffhanger.

Thanks TOKYOPOP!I eagerly await Volume TWO...

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It was really good and then..., January 16, 2004

By	rbeort (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This is the revival of Skull Man after the conflagration of an ending from the original '70s mini-series. No don't worry about getting that, this book explains everything, and is quite enjoyable in itself. Ishinomori and Kazuhiko Shimamoto seem to have made a killer collaboration with perfect pacing, incredible artwork, and quite original conveyances of transition and action. Yes it all seems to good to be true, and then it is... It's unfortunate that Shimamoto pretty much destroys the series in about the fourth book with incoherent plot jumps and wasted deaths of core characters...and it just gets worse in the final books (7 being the last, and oh my it was pitiful). Readers should just stick with "Cyborg 009"...cause you'll just get really angry when you get to the later installments and it starts to self-destruct...so I guess you should take my rating as a sum of the series.