Archaia Entertainment "Cyborg 009" Review
Michael Moccio ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Editor
After interviewing several of the creators involved in the production of Cyborg 009 [i|ii|iii], the graphic novel has finally hit stores to be enjoyed by the public! And let’s be honest: Archaia delivers an amazing story that surpasses much of what the big names are releasing to date.
The book is based off of the original manga by Shotaro Ishinomori, who is known widely as the Jack Kirby or Stan Lee of Japan. The manga ran from 1964 to 1981 and became one of Ishinomori’s most well-known projects, while his work on shows like Kamen Rider inspired the America version Power Rangers.
Archaia’s goal for Cyborg 009 was to reintroduce this classic work to a new audience, and they absolutely succeed.
The writing is top notch here. F.J. DeSanto does a beautiful job crafting the story. It’s linear and easy to follow, which makes engaging in the story that much easier. There’s no wasted space in the book: all the action, all the conversations, and all the exposition have an exciting and dynamic purpose that propels the story forward, which makes this book hard to put down. He fleshes out these characters to the core, and makes them human to us and makes us care about them.
After everything that’s said and done, there are only two questions on our mind. Who was that with Ayumi on page 106? Although time-wise it would be impossible to be Joe’s child, the child has similarly styled and colored hair to Joe! And, most importantly, when will the next Cyborg 009 come out?
The book is a must read, and earned a 9/10 overall. You can pre-order the book here at Archaia’s website, or here at Barnes and Noble.