Heroman is a manga/anime series created by Marvel's Stan Lee and Bones. The manga is published in Square Enix's magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan and began serialization in September 2009, while the anime series premiered on April 1, 2010, on TV Tokyo and related stations. Stan Lee came up with the series' basic plot, referring to the series and character as "a new hero for the 21st century".
Story
Orphaned American boy Joey lives with his grandmother, working at a restaurant in the West Coast city ofCenter City, while going to school. Upon hearing of a new toy robot called the Heybo, Joey believes that getting one will make his life better, turning him into a hero to protect his friends and family. However, he cannot afford to buy it on his meager salary. His luck changes when he picks up a broken down Heybo abandoned by a school bully. He tries to fix it, naming it Heroman, but does not have any luck in getting it to work. However, when it gets struck by a bolt of strange lightning, it transforms into a giant robot, just in time to save his friend Lina from impending danger. Now, Joey and Heroman are Earth's only defense against the evil insectoid Skrugg aliens, unknowingly summoned to Earth by Joey's science teacher. There are some differences in story between the anime and manga series.
Characters
Main characters
;Joseph Carter "Joey" Jones: ;Heroman: ;Simon "Psy" Kaina: ;Lina Davis: ;Professor Matthew Denton:
;Virginia "Grandma" Jones: ;Holly Virginia Jones: ;Brian Carter Jones: ;Catherine Mae Jones:
Skrugg
The Skrugg are an evil race of cockroach-like aliens, led by Gogorr, who travel to Earth in order to invade it after being inadvertently contacted by Denton. They have powerful armor that can withstand the majority of Earth's weaponry. Their own arsenal includes laser pistols, as well as powerful shoulder cannons that convert air into a powerful energy blast. Besides the strength Heroman is capable of, they are also weakened by high pitched noises due to their manner of communication. ;Gogorr: ;Skrugg Soldiers: ;Skrugg Operator:
Generas Industry
;Doctor Minami: ;Amanorich: ;Stallion: ;Veronica: ;MR-1: The MR-1 is Generas Industry's experimental giant robot, originally built to fight the Skrugg until Heroman beat it to the punch and was used as a dump truck instead in the reconstruction of Center City. The robot is later used by Minami to act out his grudge against Heroman.
;Grudge: Grudge is a spirit possessing an ancient suit of armor. He feeds off the grudges of people and possesses them in order to carry them out. He possesses the owner of an antique store which was being threatened with being closed down by Lina's father due to a lack of business. He kidnaps Lina in the hopes of a large ransom, but is defeated by the appearance of Heroman. ;Ezzi: Ezzi is a powerful Skrugg forged from the DNA of a praying mantis. As well as having command over other praying mantises, using them to spy on Joey and his friends, Ezzi also wields powerful mantis-like scythes on his arms, which are strong enough to seriously damage Heroman's armor. ;Burito: Burito is a powerful Skrugg forged from the DNA of a pill-bug. ;Paua: Paua is a powerful Skrugg forged from the DNA of a rhinoceros beetle and stag beetle.
Media
Manga
The manga series, written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Tamon Ohta, began publication in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan from August 12, 2009. The first tankōbon volume was released in Japan on March 20, 2010. The manga has been licensed in North America by Vertical.
Anime
The anime series, produced by Bones, POW! Entertainment and Wowmax Media spawned 26 episodes, and aired on TV Tokyo and related stations between April 1, 2010 and September 23, 2010. It was also streamed on Crunchyroll. The series' music is composed by Metalchicks and Music Heroes. For episodes 1-12, the opening theme is "Roulette" performed by Tetsuya of L'Arc-en-Ciel while the ending theme is "CALLING" performed by Flow. An insert song by Tatsuyuki Hashimoto featuring ACO on vocals titled "Niji no Fumoto" was featured in episode 11. From episode 13 onwards, the opening theme is "missing" by Kylee while the ending theme is "Boku no Te wa Kimi no Tame ni" by Mass Alert. A promotional video released prior to the premiere of the series featured a song performed by Hajime Uchiyama with Slavomir Kowalewski on vocals, eventually revealed to be titled "Joey and Heroman" when it was included on the series' soundtrack.
