Okay so Getter article ain't gonna happen but I'm about to take a break real quick from reading Devolution to do a Beginner's Thread on "What is Getter Robo and why do you love it". I hope it maybe entices y'all to check it out (1/whatever)

Getter Robo is a long running anime/manga franchise established back in 1974 by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa. It started as an anime to follow on Mazinger Z's success and allow for more robot toys. But Ishikawa in particular made it his magnum opus for violent and crazy adventure.

The basic elements to most Getter:
- Three hot-headed pilots (usually Ryoma Nagare, Hayato Jin, and Musashi Tomoe or Benkei Kurama), led by Prof. Saotome
- Getter Ray energy is a key plot point
- Evolution as an overarching theme
- Triple-changing robot vs Freaky Monster Baddies

While the 70's anime was the "original" project, most works and most fans point to Ishikawa's manga as the "definitive" take on the franchise. The manga he wrote are collectively known as the "Getter Robo Saga" from 1974 to 2004. The anime adaptations are... well, we'll get to em

So let's summarize the big plot arcs and throw in a little context with each and hopefully maybe y'all will be enticed to give it a try! (Sorry the article never happened but I hope this suffices, I'll also cover what I can of the anime stuff too next)

1: Getter Robo (1974): Mankind faces extinction by the Dinosaur Empire's uprising. To counter them Prof. Saotome recruits vicious martial artist Ryoma Nagare, cunning terrorist Hayato Jin, and judo pro Musashi Tomoe to bring the hurt w/ Getter Robo and the power of Getter Rays.

The original GR manga is pretty silly. It's just as hokey as I described, but it's all in the execution: Shocking violence, creepy body horror, lowbrow humor all combines to give us a trio of psychotic heroes delivering cathartic and page-turning justice to scalie baddies.

What makes the original memorable is that all that pulpy nonsense combines into outrageous fun with heroes who are outright jerks who would just as much break someone's face as save them. All while Ishikawa builds on the idea of evolution's power what toying with it can do.

It all culminates in one of the most famous and often parodied and homaged final battles out there. Without spoiling anything, it's a real gut punch conclusion that shocks on the level of other Dynamic Planning works like Devilman at the time.

The robot action is whimsical and weird. All three Getters are a ton of fun to see in action, and Ishikawa, while still very much aping Nagai's art at the time, has a real good sense of over-the-top expressions (there's a reason I love using Hayato freakout panels)

Part 2: Getter Robo G (1975)
With the bloody battle against Emperor Gore's Dino Menace at an end, the Getter Team scrambles to fight the new threat of Emperor Brai and the Hundred Demon Clan. With a new ally in Benkei Kuruma and the mighty new Getter Robo G, a final battle looms.

I'll be honest: G's more or less the "remainder" of classic Getter's story and can feel rushed, but that's not to say it isn't good! Hayato in particular gets a nice arc to him and Brai's plans for humanity get quite horrific as we see the universe may be bigger than it seems.

Despite being far shorter and arguably a lot more condensed than the first part, however, G also gives us one hell of a climactic finale that feels like an amazing payoff.
What's more, Ishikawa went and expanded upon it in a later printing to some terrific results.

Part 3: Getter Robo Go (1991)
After decades of world peace, mad scientist Dr. Rando strikes with his Metal Beast army. As the nations of the world unite, an older Hayato recruits young Go Ichimonji, Sho Tachibana and Gai Daido to pilot a new Getter on the brink of World War III.

Alright I'm gonna just say it: Go is by far my favorite arc of the Saga. Originally envisioned as a Mazinger Z reboot (seriously), Ishikawa instead crafts a story that brings in global tensions, cybernetic sci-fi horror, and an amazing show of artistic and writing growth here.

The villains are still nasty, the heroes still are pretty ugly and crude themselves, but Go and Hayato in particular show amazing growth. Go changes from a snotty coward to a selfless fighter, and Hayato is given the chance to reflect upon his past errors and show he's still rad

Ishikawa's handling of deeper themes goes into the cast, too. Cultural tensions are all over the first half on the Alaskan Front, especially in the form of American mech pilot Schwarz, a white supremacist forced to rethink his BS due to the Getter Team not letting that shit fly.

It all leads into the first appearance of Shin Getter Robo, which itself opens the door to the idea that Getter isn't just a machine, but perhaps something far more sinister and with a greater role in the cosmos. Go is an amazing story start to finish.

Part 4: Shin Getter Robo (1997-8)
A prequel to the events of Go. As Ryoma, Hayato and Benkei test Saotome's new Shin Getter, what begins as amazing results for a mighty new robot leads to an alien assault, visions of a horrific future, and the dark truth about Getter Rays.

First off: Do not read Shin before you read Go. I don't care what anyone says otherwise: Read. Shin. Afterwards.
Shin is a strange one, too, as it technically wasn't a single publication but, rather, some one-shots and then a miniseries afterwards (Tangent Time)

Y'see, Shin Getter as a design was put into Super Robot Wars 4 as a new unit, and from there Nagai and Ishikawa went and fleshed its design out from the end of Go, giving it individual components, coloration etc. Of course, this popularity lead them to expand on its existence.

Shin's manga does just that, but it's the next jumping point. Until the end of Go, Getter was seen as more machine than anything. But Ishikawa begins to toy with cosmic horror, fate, and unstoppable evolution here. Shin shifts Getters from machines to metal monsters.

Ishikawa casts aside merely "Good vs Evil" and even the optimism that Go's finale entails, instead showing the terrifying results of Getter Rays being underestimated. They may be toying with us. This culminates in the debut of the galaxy-sized abomination that is Getter Emperor.

Getters become a symbol of unstoppable evolution. The storytelling takes a swerve from super robot adventure to this darker side of events. It turns everything prior on its head as this leads into the final part of the Getter Robo Saga, which is....

Part 5: Getter Robo Arc (2002)
The Andromeda Galaxy's relentless assault on Earth has worn down society. Dimension hopping and chaos have lead to an alliance between humanity and the Dinosaur Empire. Ryoma's son Takuma, Baku Yamagishi, and dino-human Kamui begin one last battle.

Arc is the culmination of everything Ishikawa had written up to this point. All the plot points, all the concepts, the nature of the Getter as both a savior and destroyer, it's all here, all with three protagonists tied to the past parts of the story in a brilliant manner.

You've got creepy bug monsters all over, action that never lets up, and what is by far Ishikawa's finest art, full of detail ,grit and stunningly ferocious designs.

All three protagonists (especially Takuma and Kamui) are haunted by the legacy of their predecessors to one degree or another.
All while Hayato himself shows an increased weariness as the one man left of the old guard. It's clear that this was meant to be the big finale.

Sadly, Getter Arc ends on one of the most agonizingly frustrating cliffhangers out there: The magazine it was in was cancelled, and though Ishikawa was able to add an "End of Part 1" epilogue to the compiled version, he passed away in 2006 before he could resume work on it.

The manga sounds long but, frankly, it's a pretty brisk read given the action. And it's tremendous fun. It's also served as an influence on many a creator in Japan over the years (Hiroyuki Imaishi of Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill fame is a huge fan, and GL was his tribute to GR)

Unfortunately, the Getter Saga hasn't been fully in print in Japan for quite a while it seems.
Arc got a reprint in 2016, and a "classic" version of Getter Robo and Getter Robo G which emulates the original 70's printing came out around 2018, but it lacks some updated parts.

The manga has never officially seen a full release in English, but I was surprised to see that Italy has it (under the more common Japanese romanization "Getter Robot") via publisher J-pop!

There ARE a handful of Go chapters released as single-issue-floppies in the mid 90's by Viz (under the title "Venger Robo", in homage to Getter G's anime airing in America as "Star Vengers"), but it appears they only got to chapter 6.

That being said, the entire manga has been scanned and fan-translated for years now (only Go could use a brush up TBH due to some romanization and scan quirks/need for those updated volumes for a few minor things) and I say go at it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The anime stuff is a completely other deal and this is a long threat so I'll resume it later but basically I'll cover that later.

Sorry for rambling! Do give it a try and yeahhh it's pretty dated and immature but I love it to death. Sorry my bad okay done for now.

Okay so, BONUS: Spinoffs!!

Even after Ishikawa's passing, there's a few entries by other authors worth a look!

Spinoff 1: Getter Robo Hien: The Earth Suicide (2007)
The maniacal Prof. Jacov weeds out life with his botanical mutations and getter rays. Hayato brings on a new Getter Team, Ryuga Tsurugi, Dan Amakusa, and Goki Hagane to cut Jacovs psychotic plans down before its too late.

Written and drawn by the amazingly talented Naoto Tsushima, Hien is a story that could fit right into the Saga between Go and Arc, but it's never fully confirmed that it's "canon". Regardless, its 3 breakneck volumes of amazing art and gonzo action with an admittedly rushed end.

Spinoff 2: Getter Robo Devolution: The Last 3 Minutes of the Universe

Ryoma Nagare, a high school student with a traumatic past, finds himself flung into a chaotic war with beings known as the "Unevolved" in a world where reality itself hides an ominous secret.

By Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi (Linebarrels of Iron, ULTRAMAN), Devolution is a real gritty yet fascinating story toying with Getter's roots, exploring multiverses, and showing the duo's amazing mechanical designs and crazy paneling. Seven Seas released it in the US!

There's a few other manga Spinoffs but I either haven't read them yet (High) or I just cannot recommend them (Darkness).but hope this helps on the reading front