スカルマン

THE SKULL MAN

ONE_SHOT

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
1
RELEASE
January 11, 1970
CHAPTERS
1

DESCRIPTION

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.

While the TV series Kamen Rider (Masked Rider) was still in development, Ishinomori, who created that series with producer Toru Hirayama, made this manga as his own personal version, which the producers at Toei Company Ltd. used as the basis for the show. Several changes in content were made, as this 100-page one-shot story was too dark and gruesome (even cerebral) for a children's show.

(Source: Wikipedia)

CAST

SkullMan
Tatsuo Kagura
Garo

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO THE SKULL MAN

ANIME ActionSKULL MAN

MANGA ActionSkullman

Cover Art for Kamen Rider wo Tsukutta Otokotachi

MANGA ActionKamen Rider wo Tsukutta Otokotachi

REVIEWS

Bibsmcf
67/100
"If I'm a monster, what are you? A demon?"
"If I'm a monster, what are you? A demon?"

Skull Man is a oneshot, partly based on some of the early plans for what would become the insanely massive Kamen Rider manga and television series. Although still targeted at young boys, Skull Man has a far heavier, more horrifying story, that definitely called for more reworking before it could be a successful Saturday morning show for kids. Whether Ishinomori decided to get Skull Man published out of a reluctance to let an idea go to waste, or out of spite for Toei, that's never been 100% clear, but the result is something unique among the superhero manga of the time.

Unlike other superhero manga, Skull Man is not a hero at all! He's a violent serial killer bent on punishing the many associates of a secret syndicate responsible for the murder of his parents. He's a textbook antihero - high on vengeance, and extremely low on scruples. The opening scene immediately shatters the expectation the cover may have given you, as Skull Man and his shapeshifting accomplice Garo blaze a trail of criminal destruction, comitting murders, stealing, and leaving everything in flames behind them. The whole way through, he's joking, with a despicable smirk on his face. It's a great sequence, the perfect showreel that gives you the right idea of who Skull Man truly is.

While I think the story may have benifited from letting the reader feel some more ambiguity in his actions, I won't lie and say Skull Man's brutality isn't entertaining, but it does verge on ridiculous.
Considering that his goal is to target members of the syndicate, the sheer amount of collateral damage feels illogical, even from the perspective of a severely deranged psychic mutant antihero. By the end of the story, I was confused as to whether Skull Man was sincere about his desire for revenge, or if he was just killing for the sake of it. I did enjoy his monologue, where he rattles off all the awful things his grandfather has controlled to his advantage, but when his grandfather asks him if he'd kill all of Japan just to kill everyone connected to him, his answer is, a pretty immature:

"Sure, why not? I'll kill 'em all! I've got plenty of time."

Not that I was expecting a noble rebuttal or anything, but it gave the impression that he didn't have too much conviction behind his actions, which is something I think you do need as a psychopathic mass murderer. Unfortunately, we don't really get a good look at his thoughts after the final reveal.

I did think that the scenes out of costume were very fun, the shift to a mystery was fitting for the more macabre story, and the police chief was a worthwhile character that shared a more grounded perspective of the events of the story, which I thought was necessary when juxtaposed against the sardonic Tatsuo, whom he shares most of his page space with. Their conversations effectively lay out the scale of the problem, and introduce some intrigue about Skull Man's heritage. Tatsuo is quite obviously Skull Man's alter ego, but catching on early to this didn't detract from the mystery in my opinion.

Ishinomori's art in the oneshot is definitely representative of his general style - the design for the titular Skull Man is definitely reminiscent of the 00 cyborgs from his most popular manga, with its buttoned jacket, tall boots and long cape. What breaks that familiar look is the strikingly intimidating helmet and dark colour scheme, which I think creates a reasonable doubt that the person you're looking at is a decent guy. The helmet in particular is a perfect choice, blocking out most visible emotion while still leaving room for a sinister grin. I have read more of Ishinomori's work since this story, but as an introduction to his style and process when it comes to action and panelling, I was thoroughly impressed. During fight scenes, there are large, powerful panels that show the whole moment in great detail, spaced apart with very small panels showing more minute actions. Out of action, there are some creative angles that keep longer conversations interesting, and there is a cinematic degree to the dramatic scenes towards the end, with closeups, and the large drawing of Skull Man that breaks the borders of the page is really eye catching. I also enjoyed the very visceral design for Garo's beast forms, and the short but gradual transformations between forms were really cool too.

I can't fault the art at all, and I was definitely excited to look at Ishinomori's other works after reading this story. If nothing else, this story can be a brilliant short introduction to his art and storytelling.

Skull Man was a very fun, intriguing short story, that borrows some elements from gothic horror, but runs into some issues because of its length, and feels like it could have been more if it was allowed to have some more time instead of having to stand aside for Kamen Rider. I do think it's worth reading if you're a fan of Ishinomori and especially Kamen Rider, or if you have some time spare and like short horror or mysteries.
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