It seemed to those who lived through that fateful decade that they would be the unfortunate generation to witness the end of the human race and the world as they knew it. The United States and the Soviet Union eyed each other warily as they continued to build their armies of war machines, and the two juggernauts seemed dead set on dragging the whole world to hell with them if they got the chance. Japan was still reeling from their bitter defeat and the destruction wreaked by the atomic bombs. The Vietnam War raged on as frustrated students started violents riots in the name of peace and love. East Germany lay like a beaten dog behind the Berlin Wall, while its Western half licked its wounds and slowly but surely got back up on its shaky feet. The United Kingdom was mired in it's own Troubles. Astounding achievements in science and engineering came thick and fast, but all they seemed to be used for was further development of more efficient killing machines. It was in this world that one young mangaka created his nine heroes that would one day possibly save the world from itself.

Nine people were randomly chosen to be the guinea pigs of the Black Ghost's petty war games. Some were victims of the rampant racism and xenophobia that thrived on the distrust built up from decades of war and hatred. Some were victims of Communism, smothered by the oppressive Iron Curtain that continued to choke the life out of the Old World. Some were simply unlucky. In other words, all nine of them in some form or another were victims of cruel circumstances beyond their control and the unforgiving times they lived in. Changed into living weapons against their will, they escaped the Black Ghost's clutches and vowed to stop the cycle of war at all costs.

The main appeal of Cyborg 009 in my opinion is that fact that it is very much a product of its time, in the very best sense of the word. It's important to keep in mind what kind of social and political climate Cyborg 009 was written in. Nuclear energy had been quite recently developed, but many governments seemed to have their sights set on using it for more nasty wars. The world was still shaken from the bloody nightmares of World War II, and the Soviet Union and the United States seemed ready to tear the world apart again at a moments notice. They had already ripped Germany in half, why would they hesitate to do it to every other country as well? Viewing the story with this in consideration makes the inner layer of themes crystal clear, and makes for a much improved reading experience.

Cyborg 009 ran for a long time, in many different magazines. Therefore, it's good to look at each run separately and study each one's pros and cons.

Cyborg 009 is one of Ishinomori's first works, and his first big success. The characters' personalities and their relationships with each other were still mostly undecided in the early days of the manga, and an inexperienced Ishinomori steadily picked his way through the fine details of the story, feeling out what was best and and trying out new things. As such, the earlier chapters of the manga are very inconsistent, and are rife with shaky characterization, continuity hiccups, and just goofy writing in general. In the language of geeks, Cyborg 009 suffers from a bad case of early installment weirdness. It's one of the reasons why the 2001 adaptation is a preferable starting point for new fans, rather than the original manga. It's easier to follow, and benefits greatly from hindsight.

Of course, some of these early goofs can be quite fun. Ladies and germs, I present to you for your viewing pleasure: Nazis in penguin suits. I'm not pulling your legs, I swear.

After the Underground Empire arc, the story starts back up with a rather unceremonious retcon, and in my opinion is a little better than what came before. Ishinomori had gathered a bit more writing experience by this time, and it really shows. It's much more consistent, and the pacing is less frantic. With Black Ghost beaten back for the time being, the series carries on with a series of strange, short arcs rather than lengthy arcs containing huge epic battles for the Earth. A little less exciting, but still high quality stuff.

The Battle With The Gods arc was much, much different from the chapters that came before. The tone is more somber, and it's not so much a story as it is a bleak, surreal exploration of the cyborgs fears and insecurities. It delves into their relationship with God and humanity, and their pain in having artificial bodies that separate them from the rest of the human race. It was a lot like Jun: Shotaro no Fantasy World in it's presentation. It was shaping up to be very interesting, but alas, it was left unfinished. It was rather unfocused and it didn't seem like Ishinomori knew where he was going with it, so I do understand why he didn't finish it.

One important thing to remember is that Ishinomori attempted to end the series several times but was always thwarted one way or another. The ending of the Underground Empire arc was retconned after fans begged him to keep going; The Battle With the Gods arc was abandoned due to a nasty case of writer's block; Conclusion: God's War was left unfinished when Ishinomori died and had to be pieced together by his son. As such, Cyborg 009 has no completely definitive ending. The fact that the characters and the fans never gained true closure is a real shame, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

On it's surface, Cyborg 009 is a wacky action-packed adventure, full of fun super heroes and cartoony villains. So much more than that bubbles just underneath its friendly veneer. The manga is not shy about tackling many mature ideas and themes. The main villain is a huge corporation whose main missions are to incite as many wars around the world as possible and develop better and better weapons. He who controls the flow of weapons and goods controls war itself. This organization is led by the Generalissimo, a physical representation of the evil that lives in the hearts of all men. Black Ghost are quite literally the root of evil, and thus can never be truly defeated. Even with this, Cyborg 009 leaves us with one final message. Evil can be beaten back, but only with great sacrifice. It can never be truly eradicated. However, that doesn't make the struggle against it hopeless. Peace is a precious thing, so precious that countless men and women have died for it over the course of history. It's important to work towards making this hard won peace last for a long time, and hope that someday it won't be temporary.