Center Neptune Control -

Posted: **Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:02 am**

I am making a general discussion for that focuses on the graphical novels/comics for BOTP. It is to take a break from myself being purely focused on Gatchaman, and Infini-T Force; the two series that I mainly apply my expertise on since I am heavily into Japanese oriented media.

I had previous endeavors with some comic companies, namely Fleetway back in the day when it was continued as a fan comic. It was from the UK, and getting a scan took about every week till it was completed all at #225 issues of it's lifespan. Fast forward to years later, I moved onto a new program called YACReader to rereard and go over my old nostalgia and actually stumbling upon some scans for Gold Key, and Battle of the Planets TV Comic, both which I am currently going over for the sake of putting such under my belt. (I read of all Top Cow's comics, too, for BOTP if anyone is curious.)

Now since I have this growing appetite to see other comics, even in foreign translation, I have an interest for the ones that were from Greece and what not due to their usage of having some Gatcha II references. I even liked the art in some of them, so if anyone has where I can view them or anything, I would be glad to look!

I wouldn't mind getting some history explained to me as well, since comics are considered a constant hobby for me and my friend, who also specializes in them as well. Different from me, but no less the same ordeal, so lets get to talking about the comic side of BOTP!

(Oh, if this isn't an odd request, but not related to the BOTP side, but I always tried finding mangas for the original Gatchaman, and I wondered if they were in corocoro like Go Mifune/Speed Racer, or Shonen demographic. Sorry for the odd request, I always find small scans but not the full fledged versions. I know some were based upon episodes, too. Blame that some had some neat ink artworks.)

Posted: **Sat Jan 23, 2021 2:47 pm**

KenTheEagle wrote: ↑Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:02 am I am making a general discussion for that focuses on the graphical novels/comics for BOTP.

I had previous endeavors with some comic companies, namely Fleetway back in the day when it was continued as a fan comic. It was from the UK, and getting a scan took about every week till it was completed all at #225 issues of it's lifespan. Fast forward to years later, I moved onto a new program called YACReader to rereard and go over my old nostalgia and actually stumbling upon some scans for Gold Key, and Battle of the Planets TV Comic, both which I am currently going over for the sake of putting such under my belt. (I read of all Top Cow's comics, too, for BOTP if anyone is curious.)

I wouldn't mind getting some history explained to me as well, since comics are considered a constant hobby for me and my friend, who also specializes in them as well. Different from me, but no less the same ordeal, so lets get to talking about the comic side of BOTP!

(Oh, if this isn't an odd request, but not related to the BOTP side, but I always tried finding mangas for the original Gatchaman, and I wondered if they were in corocoro like Go Mifune/Speed Racer, or Shonen demographic. Sorry for the odd request, I always find small scans but not the full fledged versions. I know some were based upon episodes, too. Blame that some had some neat ink artworks.)

Hi Ken,

I'm not sure what all you'd like to know about the old Battle comics, but I can supply a little bit of history. Maybe even some for the Top Cow issues too, since I worked on those. Let me know what you're interested in and I'll try to answer some questions.

As for Gatchaman, the show did have comics and special spotlight sections that appeared in many Japanese children's comic magazines at the time. None have been properly collected unfortunately. The closest to the type of thing you might be interested in, and that are much easier and cheaper to obtain, are the three volume comic sets originally published by Sun Planning. They were later reprinted under numerous names by Ohayo Shuppan. You can see examples of them here:

Sun Planning versions - http://www.gatchamangoods.com/sunpy.html
Ohayo Shuppan versions - http://www.gatchamangoods.com/acev1.html, http://www.gatchamangoods.com/acev2.html and http://www.gatchamangoods.com/acev3.html

All of these Sun Planning/Ohayo Shuppan stories were collected, translated and presented as bonus features on ADV's Gatchaman DVD sets (the three disc collector's editions). They were not carried over to the more current Sentai DVD or Blu-ray releases unfortunately.

Posted: **Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:04 pm**

Ahhh, so they had personal little mangas in comparison to being tucked into a corocoro, which sadly came later out in 1977s for children to read in monthly magazines. These date way before such, so I see why they are more difficult to require because them being way more out of print.

I may find a way around that, since I have stumbled upon Japanese mangas before dating back to odd eras, so hopefully my Japanese language knowledge can render me some goods, but thanks for the info on such.

Right now as I stated I already have my hands on the full Top Cow, read all those and have them even on my computer. I was more than curious what happened afterwards with the cliffhanger. Truthfully I love the comic more for it's obscurities, otherwise there are some parts were the writing is all over for me as well as for shallow tropes of the group and some disagreeable choices for what happened in it. (Plus the art is nice, give that credit, it was impressive.)

So far I have Golden Key, and the BBC TV comic. I prefer the BBC TV comic a lot, however, and for it's time, really amazing, but it took me a bit to realize it was from the UK when the fish and chips joke rung around the corner. Something I am ALL but too familiar with from hanging around, and reading comics from that location back in the day!

I have used your site to sort of research a little, and what little I saw on ebay. I just wish some were translated since I know they had their own stories. Anyway, this is the series I was curious about:

https://www.battleoftheplanets.info/greecebooks.html

https://www.battleoftheplanets.info/spainbooks.html

Perhaps these too, but when I mean all, I mean all! I actually read more than I watch media, so if it is on printed paper, I am going to be venturing to see what is in it. Sorry for the exceptionally large list, I am that type of bookworm, so if there are files you don't mind sharing freely, then that is find. Otherwise, I know some of it is going to be almost hard to obtain due to things getting lost in media over time.

Oh, and explain history too, if you don't mind grossing out here. I love to learn a lot, so I don't show any mercy!

Posted: **Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:14 pm**

Hi Ken,

KenTheEagle wrote: ↑Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:04 pm So far I have Golden Key, and the BBC TV comic. I prefer the BBC TV comic a lot, however, and for it's time, really amazing, but it took me a bit to realize it was from the UK when the fish and chips joke rung around the corner. Something I am ALL but too familiar with from hanging around, and reading comics from that location back in the day!

I have used your site to sort of research a little, and what little I saw on ebay. I just wish some were translated since I know they had their own stories. Anyway, this is the series I was curious about:

https://www.battleoftheplanets.info/greecebooks.html

https://www.battleoftheplanets.info/spainbooks.html

Perhaps these too, but when I mean all, I mean all! I actually read more than I watch media, so if it is on printed paper, I am going to be venturing to see what is in it. Sorry for the exceptionally large list, I am that type of bookworm, so if there are files you don't mind sharing freely, then that is find. Otherwise, I know some of it is going to be almost hard to obtain due to things getting lost in media over time.

Oh, and explain history too, if you don't mind grossing out here. I love to learn a lot, so I don't show any mercy!

I know what you mean. My greatest collecting weakness is books. I can't get enough, and I keep looking, hoping to find some "new" Gatchaman or Battle book I never knew existed.

I can help add some details about the comic series you asked about. They're a bit intertwined. I feel like this topic should go in the sections dealing with the foreign versions, but there are so many different ones being discussed, I guess I'll just leave it here.

The Greek comics were strictly reprints of existing French and Spanish comic materials. They didn't create any original Battle comic stories. If you're curious (and you probably are), here are the issues they used for sources (GR = Greek, FR = French, SP = Spanish). Each used covers from a French source unless noted in [ ]:

GR 1 - 6 reprinted the FR magazines 1-6
GR 7 reprinted FR magazine 8
GR 8 reprinted FR magazine 9
GR 9 - 11 reprinted FR album 4 (1 album story per issue) [Issues 10 - 11 have original cover paintings]
GR 12 reprinted FR album 5 (first story)
GR 13 reprinted FR magazine 7
GR 14 - 15 reprinted FR album 5 (second and third stories) [Issue 15 has original cover painting]
GR 16 - 18 reprinted FR album 3 (1 album story per issue) [Issues 16 - 17 have original cover paintings]
GR 19 reprinted SP comic 1 [Issue has original cover painting]
GR 20 reprinted SP comic 2 [Issue has original cover painting]
GR 21 reprinted SP comic 3 [Issue has original cover painting]
GR 22 reprinted SP comic 4 [Issue has original cover painting]
GR 23 reprinted SP comic 5 [Issue has original cover painting]

Each magazine-sized issue had a 16 page Battle comic, printed in full color on glossy paper and split into two parts. The middle comic was always in black and white and one other color, printed on uncoated paper and were original Greek comic stories and art. One was like Tarzan, but I don't remember any of the others.

As noted, Greek issues 10, 11, 15 - 17 and 19 - 23 have original cover paintings. Issues 16, 19 - 22 were based on existing cover art from original sources, however.

The majority of the Greek comics came from French sources. France had a number of different comics, but the ones reprinted in Greece were from the monthly magazine format and a set of five albums.

The magazine format comic can be seen here.
They featured a 16 page, all original Battle comic story in each issue. The publication stopped after nine issues, but additional stories had already been completed.

The stories from the first six magazine issues were collected into two perfect-bound "albums." The albums presented original stories in their third through fifth volumes. However, the stories in the fifth volume were originally meant for issues 10 - 12 of the magazine issues.
The album format comics can be seen here.

There were slight differences between the magazine and reprinted album versions of each French story. The magazine stories ended, but the album versions added linking panels to keep the stories flowing from one to the other. The Greek comics used the magazine sources when available. Otherwise, they reprinted from the albums.

When the Greek comics ran out of French material to reprint, they turned to comics from Spain. The Spanish magazine-sized comics can be seen here. These comics were probably the nicest of all, in any country. The art was the most faithful to the series and really nicely done. They were printed in full color on heavy stock, coated paper (the covers were slightly thicker paper). The stories were adapted from episodes and the content was painted to match the scenes. Quite nice, but not completely original stories. The Spanish comic series ran to 17 individual issues and four perfect-bound collections.

More soon about Gatchaman, the Western Publishing (Gold Key / Whitman) and Top Cow Battle comics.

Posted: **Mon Jan 25, 2021 5:16 am**

The Other Jason wrote: ↑Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:14 pm Hi Ken,

KenTheEagle wrote: ↑Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:04 pm So far I have Golden Key, and the BBC TV comic. I prefer the BBC TV comic a lot, however, and for it's time, really amazing, but it took me a bit to realize it was from the UK when the fish and chips joke rung around the corner. Something I am ALL but too familiar with from hanging around, and reading comics from that location back in the day!

I have used your site to sort of research a little, and what little I saw on ebay. I just wish some were translated since I know they had their own stories. Anyway, this is the series I was curious about:

https://www.battleoftheplanets.info/greecebooks.html

https://www.battleoftheplanets.info/spainbooks.html

Perhaps these too, but when I mean all, I mean all! I actually read more than I watch media, so if it is on printed paper, I am going to be venturing to see what is in it. Sorry for the exceptionally large list, I am that type of bookworm, so if there are files you don't mind sharing freely, then that is find. Otherwise, I know some of it is going to be almost hard to obtain due to things getting lost in media over time.

Oh, and explain history too, if you don't mind grossing out here. I love to learn a lot, so I don't show any mercy!
I know what you mean. My greatest collecting weakness is books. I can't get enough, and I keep looking, hoping to find some "new" Gatchaman or Battle book I never knew existed.

I can help add some details about the comic series you asked about. They're a bit intertwined. I feel like this topic should go in the sections dealing with the foreign versions, but there are so many different ones being discussed, I guess I'll just leave it here.

The Greek comics were strictly reprints of existing French and Spanish comic materials. They didn't create any original Battle comic stories. If you're curious (and you probably are), here are the issues they used for sources (GR = Greek, FR = French, SP = Spanish). Each used covers from a French source unless noted in [ ]:

GR 1 - 6 reprinted the FR magazines 1-6
GR 7 reprinted FR magazine 8
GR 8 reprinted FR magazine 9
GR 9 - 11 reprinted FR album 4 (1 album story per issue) [Issues 10 - 11 have original cover paintings]
GR 12 reprinted FR album 5 (first story)
GR 13 reprinted FR magazine 7
GR 14 - 15 reprinted FR album 5 (second and third stories) [Issue 15 has original cover painting]
GR 16 - 18 reprinted FR album 3 (1 album story per issue) [Issues 16 - 17 have original cover paintings]
GR 19 reprinted SP comic 1 [Issue has original cover painting]
GR 20 reprinted SP comic 2 [Issue has original cover painting]
GR 21 reprinted SP comic 3 [Issue has original cover painting]
GR 22 reprinted SP comic 4 [Issue has original cover painting]
GR 23 reprinted SP comic 5 [Issue has original cover painting]

Each magazine-sized issue had a 16 page Battle comic, printed in full color on glossy paper and split into two parts. The middle comic was always in black and white and one other color, printed on uncoated paper and were original Greek comic stories and art. One was like Tarzan, but I don't remember any of the others.

As noted, Greek issues 10, 11, 15 - 17 and 19 - 23 have original cover paintings. Issues 16, 19 - 22 were based on existing cover art from original sources, however.

The majority of the Greek comics came from French sources. France had a number of different comics, but the ones reprinted in Greece were from the monthly magazine format and a set of five albums.

The magazine format comic can be seen here.
They featured a 16 page, all original Battle comic story in each issue. The publication stopped after nine issues, but additional stories had already been completed.

The stories from the first six magazine issues were collected into two perfect-bound "albums." The albums presented original stories in their third through fifth volumes. However, the stories in the fifth volume were originally meant for issues 10 - 12 of the magazine issues.
The album format comics can be seen here.

There were slight differences between the magazine and reprinted album versions of each French story. The magazine stories ended, but the album versions added linking panels to keep the stories flowing from one to the other. The Greek comics used the magazine sources when available. Otherwise, they reprinted from the albums.

When the Greek comics ran out of French material to reprint, they turned to comics from Spain. The Spanish magazine-sized comics can be seen here. These comics were probably the nicest of all, in any country. The art was the most faithful to the series and really nicely done. They were printed in full color on heavy stock, coated paper (the covers were slightly thicker paper). The stories were adapted from episodes and the content was painted to match the scenes. Quite nice, but not completely original stories. The Spanish comic series ran to 17 individual issues and four perfect-bound collections.

More soon about Gatchaman, the Western Publishing (Gold Key / Whitman) and Top Cow Battle comics.

Thanks for the lengthy response, gives me a good example to go off on when looking at these references on your site. Ah, I recall that one of them were reprints, thanks for the clarification. They need to do a collection book reprinting these for the sake of BOTP/Gatchaman fans like my Atari book did showcasing all the artworks, and what went into them. I would pay so much for that too, especially having all the comics featured all in all newly printed glory!

And my apologizes, wasn't sure what else this can go into, and thanks for adding that as a suggestion as well. I know the Gatchaman mangas are going to be insanely unobtainable, so I will leave that for another day for discussing the varieties in their proper sections. So if I am going to talk about the ones from Spain, then I will go into that thread then when I get enough energy to see what their own exclusive stories were.

Anyway, whenever you are ready to dish out the next section, I am ready for it!

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