The poisonous effects of consumerism have raged unchecked since the advent of the Industrial Age, and now modern society faces a pollution problem of epidemic proportions. And, in this decaying world, one mysterious organization - one entrenched in the field of genetic research - threatens to accelerate the downward spiral of humanity. The Cobra Man has been dispatched as an agent of the organization to make sure everything goes as planned. Tatsuo Kagura (a.k.a. The Skull Man, an ambassador from the world of the dead bestowed with extraordinary abilities, who searches desperately for his parents killers and the nature of his powers - both somehow linked to the organization) may be the last hope mankind has. But Kagura is torn between his obsession with unlocking the mysteries of his past and his obligation to righteousness. His sister, Maya, a disembodied presence in his life, and Maria, another being with immense power, can help guide him in his quest, if only they can figure out how to funnel their powers of destruction into a form of salvation.

The Skull Man
Tatsuo was created by his parents, both of whom were scientists developing mutants. But when others learned of his unnatural origins, they tried to kill him and succeeded in killing his parents, setting him on his quest for vengeance.

Garo
Garo is an ally of The Skull Man, but, as Tatsuo will learn over time, the shape shifting mutant has mysteries and motives of his own.

Shotaro Ishinomori and Kazuhiko Shimamoto

Manga legend Shotaro Ishinomori's Skull Man first appeared in Shonen Magazine in 1970 and immediately caused a sensation, selling over 1.5 million copies. The hero, orphaned when his parents were murdered, grows up to use his peculiar powers to take his revenge. The original Skull Man was one of manga's first anti-heroes, someone who would sacrifice the lives of innocents in his quest for vengeance. This darkness is what made the Skull Man so magnetic and successful.

Skip ahead 27 years. Kazuhiko Shimamoto, a young, well-known manga artist is contacted by a dying Shotaro Ishinomori and asked to revive The Skull Man. Ishinomori - Shimamoto's boyhood idol - faxed the younger man copies of the proposed story and plot notes. Shimamoto couldn't believe that he was being given the opportunity to illustrate this tale and present it to the world.

Shimamoto had already been involved in updating one of Ishinomori's other earlier works (Kamen Rider, a precursor to Skull Man) but little did he dream that, as only one of many Ishonomori disciples, he would be chosen for the death-bed collaboration and resurrection of Skull Man.