You Must Read This! The Hidden Masterpiece "Rocket G-Men" / Early SF Hero Manga ④

Fujiko-sensei moved to Tokyo in 1954 and moved into Tokiwa-so. After that, despite incidents like missing manuscript deadlines, he wrote numerous short stories, medium-length works, and short-term serials.

Then, in April 1959, when Weekly Shonen Sunday was published, he began serializing Prince of the Sea from the inaugural issue. It was a complete collaboration with Abiko-sensei.

Prince of the Sea became a huge hit, and the serialization continued for about two years, far exceeding the original plan.

Fujiko-sensei's reputation at Shogakukan soared, and he began receiving requests for serials from grade-level educational magazines like "Shogaku Ichinensei." The order was for an SF hero story like Prince of the Sea.

In April 1960, in response to the order, he began serializing Rocket Ken-chan in "Shogaku Ichinensei." From then on, it became a three-year serialization using the grade-advancement system.

Following that, he took over Osamu Tezuka-sensei's "Piron-chan" and started serializing Susume Piron from June 1961.

From January 1962, Susume Roboket began in "Yochien," and after moving through several magazines, it became a long-term serialization until 1965.

While these groups of works were being drawn in parallel, "Rocket G-Men," which I will introduce in this article, was published in "Shogaku Ninensei" for one year starting in April 1962.Rocket G-Men

By the way, in this 1962 fiscal year, "Susume Roboket" was serialized in "Yochien" and "Shogaku Ichinensei," and "Rocket Ken-chan" was serialized in "Shogaku Sannensei." The titles, protagonist settings, and specific episodes are quite easy to confuse, and even I, who have compiled them into a list, get confused.

Furthermore, in the following 1963 fiscal year, "Tobidase Micro," "Super Jiro," and "Robot Taro" were also serialized, adding to the confusion. I would like to introduce these gradually.

First, I will briefly list the features and overview of this work.

Since there are only four episodes, I will list just the titles here as well.

Due to it being a series that lasted only one year and ended unfinished, the popularity of this work is frighteningly low. Even when searching online, there are absolutely no personal reviews to be found.

However, just because no one is talking about it doesn't mean this is a mediocre work; that is absolutely not the case. On the contrary, it is a passionate battle manga that deserves to be re-evaluated, a hero story you can fully empathize with, and above all, each episode is profound.

In particular, the third episode, "Save the Lemurian Kingdom!", is a major work that became the origin of the later Doraemon feature-length film "Nobita and the Haunts of Evil". It also brings to mind Professor A's "Silver Cross" and similar works.

However, what is extremely regrettable is that the fourth episode, "Anaconda of the Undersea Demon Castle", ended completely unfinished. It is likely that the serialization was intended to continue into "Shogaku Sannensei" (Third Grade Elementary), and there must have been a plan to conclude it in the April issue or similar when the grade level advanced.

Due to some issue, the continuation was not pursued. A pity.

In this article, I would like to focus on the first episode, "The Mysterious Sea Snake", and provide a rough explanation.

First of all, what does "G-Men" actually mean?

Recent readers might think of Toshio Ozawa's comic "G-Men," but for adults over 50, it surely brings to mind the hugely popular detective drama "G-Men '75" starring Tetsuro Tamba.

The original meaning seems to be G-Men = Government men, a collective term for agents of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

In Japan, this meaning has changed slightly, and it is used as a term for people who perform enforcement work other than police officers, such as "shoplifting G-Men" or "drug G-Men."

Regarding the "Rocket G-Men" in this work, it is thought that it carries the meaning of heroes who crack down on evil separately from state agencies in order to protect world peace.

The momentous first episode begins with the scientist Hosokawa and his assistant Maruyama drifting to the island where the G-Men live. It is a technique of describing the protagonists through the eyes of outsiders.

The G-Men live with a robot named Pick and an old man. The base is built inside the island, and most of it is submerged at the bottom of the sea.

The G-Men drive around in a high-performance rocket car that reaches a speed of 500. It was from the May issue that this rocket was named Arrow. At first, it was thought to be just an air car, but it gradually becomes clear that it is an all-purpose rocket that can separate into front and rear sections, fly in the sky, and dive underwater.

As an aside, there is a scene at the beginning where he is indignant at being called "Rocket Ramen"-kun instead of "Rocket G-Men" by Hosokawa, which demonstrates that this is a work with humor.

Dr. Hosokawa meets the old man for the first time, and at this moment, Hosokawa calls out, “Aren't you Mochizuki?”The old man denies it, saying it is a case of mistaken identity. Mochizuki was a friend of Hosokawa who went missing ten years ago.

By the end of this episode, it becomes almost certain that the old man is Mochizuki, but the reason why he is hiding his identity remains unclear.

The reason Hosokawa and Maruyama were drifting at sea was that they were attacked by a giant sea serpentand their ship was sunk in an instant.

The Rocket G-Men decide they cannot just leave it alone and set out to investigate. Maruyama accompanies them, and they depart for the investigation in the Arrow. Soon after, they catch an SOS signal, and when they head toward it, they find the rumored giant sea serpent attacking a ship.

Bullets have no effect, but when they ram it with the Arrow, they feel an impact. However, the rear section piloted by Pick, which had separated, becomes unable to dive, making it impossible to pursue the fleeing sea serpent.

Upon returning and checking the photos taken of the sea serpent, they see mechanical parts visible from the spot where they rammed it, revealing that the sea serpent is a type of submarinemade by human hands. This means that there are villains behind it.

To pinpoint the location of the evil organization, they release a large number of fish-shaped robotsinto the sea. It is a steady, methodical operation to have them send radio signals from oceans all over the world to monitor the area.

During this investigation period, the G-Men take Maruyama out to show him around the island. This serves as a casual explanation of the setting.

・Generating power using wave energy (lift)
・Defensive spikes are installed around the island

While doing this, the fish robots detect that a fortress has been built on the seabed in the south, and that repairs on the sea serpent are being carried out inside. Convinced that this must be the enemy's hideout, they head there in the Arrow.

At the Sea Serpent Fortress, the enemies, all wearing masks, notice the presence of the fish-shaped robots and sense that someone is approaching. They prepare to intercept them.

The Arrow is caught in a giant whirlpool and its wings are damaged. It crashes into the enemy base and engages in a massive battle against a large number of submarines, but manages to win. However, the machine malfunctions, and just as they attempt to repair it underwater, the Arrow floats to the surface, leaving the G-Men outside the ship.

Pick and Maruyama, who were on the Arrow, are rescued by an International Police patrol ship. The International Police submarine fleet launches an attack on the Sea Serpent Army, but they are easily defeated by a counterattack.

Meanwhile, the G-Men, left behind on the seabed, approaches the Sea Serpent Fortress alone and infiltrates it. It is a somewhat reckless move to try and destroy the sea serpent single-handedly.

The G-Men easily approach the leader of the Sea Serpent Army, captures him, and forces him to guide them to the factory where the sea serpent is being repaired, but he is caught off guard, falls into a trap, and is locked away in an underground space.

The G-Men had been fighting well up to this point, but now the tables have turned. The underground area where they are trapped is airtight, and the air is becoming increasingly stale. They managed to contact Pick via micro-radio and convey their location, but they pass out shortly after.

The repaired Arrow, carrying Pick and Maruyama, heads toward the fortress. They are met with a rain of bombs, but they manage to escape by diving beneath the seabed. They continue by digging through the ground, breaking into the basement where the G-Men have collapsed, and successfully rescue them.

Now, it is finally time for a one-on-one showdown between the Arrow and the Sea Serpent. It becomes an underwater battle that feels just like "Prince of the Sea," and in the end, the Sea Serpent is destroyed by the Arrow's ramming attack. The destruction scene is a powerful two-page spread, a bold use of space that shows the extra capacity available in the separate supplement.

Thus, the first case is solved. This work is a fine piece that fully conveys the personalities of the G-Men and Pick's group, as well as the strength and appeal of the Arrow.

"Rocket G-Men" is a work that is not at all just for children, and it is hard to believe it was serialized in "Shogaku Nensei" (Second Grade Elementary School Student).

Among them, the third episode, "Save the Kingdom of Lemuria!", is a grand epic that spans the most pages and is a masterpiece with much to discuss. I plan to treat it specially and introduce it thoroughly in a separate article.

However, the timing is... undecided.

I am also introducing buried masterpieces.