Comics/Graphic Novels

Archaia’s Cyborg 009: Greatest. Cover. Ever.

Eric Smith

Staff Writer

Eric Smith an author, blogger, and literary agent based in Philadelphia. When he isn’t busy trying to discover new books, he sometimes tries to write his own. Blog: Eric Smith Twitter: @ericsmithrocks

cyborg piece

If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’d like to present an animated .gif reenactment from inside the offices of Archaia. *

It’s early morning. The creative team assembles in the conference room to review the designs for upcoming releases. Some are sipping coffee, others are fiddling around on their iPads, trying their best to get to inbox zero. When suddenly, the Art Director stands up, presents the publishing team with the cover design for Cyborg 009.

The team gasps, and the Art Director does this:

mic drop

That’s how it had to have happened. Because seriously, Cyborg 009 has one of the most incredible book covers I’ve ever seen.

I tried to take some photos to show off how the cover works. It’s a plastic slipcase which, when pulled off the book, reveals layers of the cyborg on the cover. But then, when you flip the sheer pages on the front, more of the cyborg is revealed… and it’s just so cool. Pictures failed, so here. I made this little video.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/78270600[/vimeo]

Awesome, right? Now, let’s talk about the book and the story.

Written by F.J. Desanto and Bradley Cramp, and illustrated by Marcus To and Ian Herring (who has worked on the amazing Jim Henson graphic novels), Cyborg 009 tells the story of a powerful cyborg (009) and eight others who are being trained to be superweapons. They rebel against the organization that kidnapped and transformed them, and what ensues is one awesome action packed story.

But the history of Cyborg 009 goes a lot deeper. It came out in 1964, and was apparently one of the most influential manga series of all time. I won’t lie to you, dear Book Rioters. I’d never heard of the series until reading Archaia’s modern adaptation of the series, which just came out in September.

You can check out a whole timeline regarding the series on this fancy website Archaia put together.

Even without the beautiful art and production, Cyborg 009 is one solid book. The reluctant hero, the power mad villain, a cast of colorful teammates, it has all the makings of a classic comic book, wrapped up in a gorgeous package. It’s the kind of book you can gleefully tear through in a single evening.

Archaia, this better be the first in a series. Because I want more.

* Please note, BookRiot has no idea what happens inside the offices of Archaia, nor has Book Riot ever been there. Though we would like to be invited sometime.

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