The World at the Brink of Self-Annihilation (from ebookjapan): Joe, a young boy, was kidnapped by mysterious men and turned into a cyborg through surgery at a secret base. He was called 009 (zero zero nine). At the base, there are fellow cyborgs with amazing abilities from 001 to 008. They were all created as prototypes for a revolutionary new product of the "Black Ghosts," merchants of death! From the war-mongering gang, the nine cyborgs and their developer, Dr. Gilmore, escape to X Island, but...? A milestone in the history of Japanese SF manga begins! --- - **Won the 7th Kodansha Children's Manga Award in 1966, which it shared with Ishinomori's other work, Mutant Sabu**