Ikegami started drawing manga at just seventeen, and he pretty much nailed it right away. His early collaborations—"AIUEO Boy" with Kazuo Koike in 1973 and "Gallant Gang" with Tetsu Kariya the next year—became hits that basically launched what would become one of manga's most successful careers. While he spent years doing solo work early on, he's now known for working almost exclusively with collaborators, and he shows no signs of slowing down.