Archaia and Ishimori Production Inc. are teaming up to re-interpret Shotaro Ishinomori's classic manga series Cyborg 009 for Western readers. The new edition is written by F.J. DeSanto (The Spirit, Immortals: Gods and Heroes) and Bradley Cramp (Gattaca), and illustrated by Marcus To (Red Robin, The Huntress). Archaia has provided ROBOT 6 with an exclusive preview of the graphic novel, set for release early this year.

The story is about nine people who are kidnapped from around the world to become test subjects by The Black Ghost Organization, a secret society that provides weapons of mass destruction to the highest bidder. The victims are put through a series of experiments that transform them into super-powered weapons, but with the help of a compassionate project scientist, the living weapons rebel, escape, and set off on a mission to stop Black Ghost from plunging the world into a perpetual state of war.

The publisher states: "Created in 1964, Cyborg 009 was Japan’s first and most-popular super-team, quickly becoming one of the most influential manga series of all time. The original manga has been published in over 250,000,000 copies of weekly comics and comic books worldwide." There's also a new, 3D CGI animated feature film in the works in Japan, and DeSanto is working to produce a live-action version.