Gatchaman vs. Power Rangers

[Kevin Scrivner]

Another popular choice from our poll of preferred polls. Who's the best Japanese (or Japanese inspired) teen hero team?

Gatchaman -- aka G Force, Battle of the Planets. Five superbly trained youths don bird-themed costumes to thwart insidious alien invaders. Batman-esque martial arts and some gadgets. Advantages: Underwater base, good tech support, cool multipurpose vehicle, goofy chief villain.

The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers -- Americanized live-action teen team with lots of heavy equipment and a sophisticated database at their disposal. Battle various types of invaders, some alien, some mystical, all of whom specialize in giant monsters. Advantages: Cute female teammates, giant robots, they keep coming back in version after version after version after....

Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad -- Power Rangers rip-off. Their schtick was that the villain could pull an endless supply supply of goons out of a virtual reality.

Beetleborgs -- A trio of underage Power Ranger types whose powers derive from magic that makes comic book stuff come alive. Never quite "got" this one.

The Zen Team -- Hey! They're from the Champions Universe and made the cut into 5th Edition.