HYO-MAN aka LEOPARD MAN
Released today (only four months late) is the third issue of Spectreman Heroes, a series presenting comic book adventures of various P Productions superheroes. This time the book features Hyo-Man (aka Leopard Man)!
cover by Hiroshi Kanatani
Hyo-Man was the second of two feline-based superheroes that P Productions pitched in 1967 (the first being Jaguar Man).
The pilot:
Neither pilot was picked up for production, but that didn’t stop a Hyo-Man manga from appearing in 1968. I was not able to find out much about the manga series, but the Hyo-Man character has been revisited in manga a few times over the years.
Like the two previous entries in the series (Electroid Zaborger and Lion-Maru), I’m not sure this issue is an original story done for the Spectreman Heroes, or a reprint of an already existing manga. Based on the formatting of the story, I’m inclined to believe it’s the former.
I love the fact that Hyo-Man, who never got a television series like the rest of the characters featured in Spectreman Heroes, was given a chance to shine in the comic book. I don’t know how sale of this series have been, but I would love to see a continuation of any or all the P Productions heroes in comic books, even if it’s an anthology title.