Perhaps the most notable staff member who was involved in the creation of the show was Ryu Noguchi (the pen name of manga artist and illustrator Masaru Noguchi). After working as an assistant for Shotaro Ishinomori for a time, he went independent and illustrated the manga adaptation of Alistair MacLean's 1955 novel HMS Ulysses for Weekly Shōnen Sunday. Red Baron was his first television work, where he created character designs. It was the start of a long and successful career in tokusatsu production, and he would work on the Kamen Rider, Metal Heroes, and, most significantly, Super Sentai series. He even did creature designs for Resident Evil in the 90s.
As for the show itself, Red Baron tells the tale of the the evil Iron Masked Party led by Dr. Deviler/Devilar, who have stolen a bunch of giant robots from around the world and their designers and plan to use them to conquer/destroy the Earth. Kenichiro Kurenai, the designer of the the titular Red Baron (the last robot not stolen), makes it so only his younger brother Ken can operate it, before being kidnapped and killed by the Iron Masked Party. Ken, already a member of the Secret Science Investigation (SSI) group of crimefighters/spies/ninjas, takes control of the robot and uses it to defend the Earth, first against the Iron Masked Party, then against the Space Iron Party, commanded by Giras Q.
After a slow start, the show was a success and was extended from its initially planned 26 episodes and introduced an entire new faction (the Space Iron Party). Ultimately the show ran for 39 episodes, apparently only ending when one of the main sponsors went bankrupt. Senkosha Productions would make spiritual sequels, but those are stories for another time.
The comparisons to Mazinger Z are unavoidable. A hot blooded hero inherits a powerful robot made of a special metal (in this case Baronium) that he has to use against a secret society bent on world conquest. What's different here is the presence of the SSI. They're an Ultraman style support team of agents in snappy uniforms and their own character arcs and personalities. There's the strict but kind captain Daigo, the hot-blooded marksman Tetsuya, comic relief brawler Daisaku, Mari, a high kicking photographer and sort-of love interest for Ken. Aiding them is Inspector Kumano, a somewhat silly police officer on a bicycle who has a sword-cane in his umbrella and a gun in his bicycle pump.
As for the Red Baron itself, its a 40 meter (131 ft) tall, bright red colossus with a staggering array of weapons ranging from missiles, to beams, to kicks, to a rocket punch (called the Baron Punch). Its powered by a nuclear reactor, can fly at Mach 10, and after an upgrade, is capable of space travel. Fairly standard kit for a super robot.
While overshadowed by bigger contemporary tokusatsu franchises, Red Baron did get a western DVD release in 2010 that included the entire series in one cheap boxed set. For whatever reason, the sequels did not.
Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Things get spooky as Mazinger Z runs across some deviltry.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Robot_Red_Baron
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AD%E3%83%9C%E3%83%83%E3%83%88_%E3%83%AC%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%83%90%E3%83%AD%E3%83%B3
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