8th Man
You can destroy his body, but you can't keep a good crime
fighter down. The villainous Saucer Lips learned the hard way when
he killed police officer Peter Brady (no, not that Peter
Brady).
Little did Saucer Lips know he was sowing the seeds from which
would spring his greatest foe, the bionic superhero known as Tobor,
the 8th Man!
 Created by writer Kazumasa Hirai and artist Jiro Kuwata in
1963, 8-Man was a Japanese comic strip detailing the crime
busting adventures of 8-Man. The comic was developed into an
animated series, which was re-edited, dubbed into English, and
taken to the United States in syndication in 1965.
After Saucer Lips (“Mukade” in the Japanese series) killed
Brady (“Rachiro Azuma”), the slain police officer was found by
Professor Genius (“Dr. Tani”). The Professor used Brady’s
body, memories, and personality to create Tobor (spell it
backwards), the 8th Man, so called as he was the Professor's
eighth attempt.
Tobor was an atomic-powered crime fighter with super strength,
an arsenal of robotic weapons, and high-tech, malleable skin which
gave him the ability to change his facial features into any form
he chose.
 The strangest part by far was the fact that when 8th Man ran
low on energy he could recharge by smoking cigarette-like energy
tabs, a lesson that would surely take today's kids' advocates from
calm to apoplectic faster than you can say Chief Fumblethumbs (the
top cop who 8th Man took into his confidence). It was nearly as
odd that 8th Man had a second brain in his arm . . .
Operating his own private detective agency, Tobor flew into
battle against Saucer Lips and such other villains as Armoured
Man, Baron Stormy, Dr. Demon, the Satan Brothers, and a spy ring
called Intercrime.
8th Man, originally a Japanese comic strip and cartoon, was
imported and dubbed for American audiences in 1965. The show ran
for several years in syndication, continuing to blaze the trail
that imports like Astro Boy had
marked.
The series’ impact is most evident in the number of similar
works it helped inspire, from The
Six Million Dollar Man in the 70’s to Robocop
in the 80’s to Now and Again in the 90s.
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