Who is Cybersix?  Cybersix first appeared in series of comic books written by Carlos Trillo and drawn by Carlos Meglia.  A separate comic book series was written and drawn for Italy.  In 1999, the story of Cybersix was animated  by TMS, the creators of Akira.  Thirteen epsiodes were made by this giant of animation, which were embraced by many viewers.

Prehistory

Although both the comic and the series start later in time, the story of Cybersix really started in a hidden laboratory compound deep in a jungle, perhaps the Amazon.  A German scientist by the name of Von Richter, possibly with connections to the "work camps" associated with Hitler's Final Solution, has made enormous strides in understanding the workings of the human genome, creating the beginnings of an army of super soldiers: The Cybers. They were intelligent, resourceful, incredibly quick, and agile.  They were also very strong.  The comic states that Von Richter used the genes of a great acrobat as part of their genetic heritage.

Alas, the Cybers also proved to be disobedient, wayward, and hard to control (although one wonders if he simply was ignorant of the ways of children, for the Cybers were children at the time).  Fearing that they would turn on him when they got older, Von Richter had all of them killed, and their body resources recycled. 

A black servant overheard him discussing his decision with his assistant, and decided to rescue one of the doomed children, choosing the sixth one of the series.  CyberSix.  Spriting her away to a seaside village with a suitcase full of sustenance, a special liquid necessary for her to survive, they both lived happily among the natives there. 

Their happiness would be short-lived: Von Richter had adopted the systematic accounting of the dead that the Concentration Camps had perfected, discovered that one was missing, and sent his agents to locate and destroy her.  Claiming he had used her sexually and had sold her, the black servant died to protect the secret of the little girl who had become like a daughter to him.

Heartbroken at the loss of her "papa", Cybersix took the precious suitcase of sustenance and fled.  While journeying to a large city where, she reasoned, she would be able to blend in, she came across a car accident that had claimed the lives of the entire Seidelman family.  Finding the identification papers of their son, Cybersix realized that they looked very much alike, and so decided to take on the boy's identity.  Burying the body away from the wreckage, Cybersix began her life as Adrian Seidelman.  She grew up, attended college, and became a literature teacher at a high school in the town of Meridiana, where both the comics and cartoon start.  (The actual identity of Meridiana is unstated, but there are enough landmarks depicted in the comic and cartoon to safely say that Trillo and Meglia pattered "The City of the Damned" after Buenos Aires.)

The Comic

The comic, of course, served as the inspiration for the cartoon.  The world of the comic Cybersix is often characterized as "dark" and "adult".  The enemies are strong, smart, and more cruel and ruthless than in the cartoon.  There are fewer "monsters" in the comic than the cartoon, but their intelligence is sufficient to create a greater sense of suspense than what the cartoon is able to muster.  Sustenance becomes a blood substitute, which Cybersix must hunt for continually.  She is less of a heroine than someone desperately trying to survive.  Nevertheless, there are times when she is forced to act heroically to counter a move by Von Richter. 
 

The Cartoon

The cartoon is "lighter", as befits the intended audience of young children.  The Fixed Ideas are buffoons, and Jose is a comic figure.  There is reliance on the standard kiddie cartoon formula of "The monster of the day", although a few characters and plots from the comic can be identified. Adult themes seem to be limited to the romance between Cybersix and Lucas Amato.  The episodes that pursue that romance, however, are consistently viewed as the finest ones of the series.  (The Japanese Fansites seem to focus on the romance theme exclusively.)
 

The Legacy of Cybersix

More people will come to know about Cybersix through the cartoon than the comics.  The quality of the cartoon is exceptional: It will probably go down in history as a high point in animation at the close of the 20th century. 

This is not to say that the comic is not without impact also.  Without the budgetary limits of the cartoon, the two Carloses created one of the most endearing, complex, and intriguing characters of the comic world.  When she, as Adrian Seidelman, discusses literary themes, she demonstrates a depth of insight and intelligence that is exceptional for a comic character, and which appears to be unequalled by any other in the field.  In one episode, depicted in the second volume of the French Translation of the Cybersix comic, several panels were contributed by various comic artists from around the world as their tribute to Cybersix.  The popularity of Cybersix in Italy powered the rise of the Eura Editoriale publishing house.  In fact, when the poor of Italy decided to start a series of protests, they chose Cybersix as their icon:  Their leaders went so far as to state that, among the middle class and the intelligensia, only Cybersix truly understood their plight.

Cybersix and www.sixies.net

The majority of the members of "www.sixies.net" know about Cybersix through the cartoon, and shared their enthusiasm at the EZBoard Unofficial Cybersix Message Board.  She has served as the spark of inspiration for artistic and literary works, as well as being the catalyst of many friendships. 

This site is less a tribute to Cybersix than to her fans and to those friendships.  There are many Cybersix web sites that do a better job at explaining the cartoon and comic than this page can hope to do. 

I wrote this page "for the record:"  It was Cybersix that drew us all together, and so it is Carlos Meglia, Carlos Trillo, TMS, and NOA that we thank for the creation of a most remarkable character.