When you search for good runs of a famous comic book character, there are good approaches that you would expect. Then there are good approaches that you did not see coming. And then there is Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga.
At the height of Batmania in 1966, the famous campy TV show was pretty popular in Japan as well. So what do you do with a popular oversea TV series that happens to be based on a whole lot of comic books? You import the comic books as well - Except that, well, with Batman, the Japanese magazine Shonen Gahosha remade it on their own.
Importing or remaking American comics was not an unprecedented challenge at the time in Japan. The Adventures of Superman also proved popular, and therefore there was a Superman run of their own before Batmanga. However, Japanese Superman was a direct copy of the contemporary American Superman/Action Comics run, with a distinctly American style of drawing and cut composition, only with Japanese texts. These days, it is no more than a footnote in manga history.
Not so with Kuwata Jiro. Shonen Gahosha struck a deal with DC Comics to make a Batman manga of their own, and then stockpiled whole bunch of Batman and Detective Comics issues on penciler/inker/writer Kuwata Jiro's desk. His English skill was limited, and imitating American style proved to be too cumbersome for him, so he took the visual cues and synopsis from a few episodes and started remaking them on their own. The end result: Enter Lord Death-Man, a lord of death that dies and resurrects on his own! And don't forget his ominous laugh - "He- hehehehehehe!" The Lord Death-Man arc sets the bar on what to expect from this bizarre book: You are in for a hell of a run that pushes the Dynamic Duo way beyond the modern boundary.
While the villain originates from an obscure villain Death-Man of Batman #180, it is Kuwata Jiro that puts him on a list of memorable Batvillain. It is the same with every other villain in the book: All villains of the first volume of Batmanga - Lord Death-Man, Dr. Faceless, The Human Ball, Professor Gorilla, Go-Go the Magician (actually based on Weather Wizard), and Governor Warner/Mutant-Alien-Something - are based on the Batman and Detective Comics run between 1963 and 1966, but the obscure and forgotten villains of American run are recreated and beautifully reanimated in the hands of a Japanese creator. The signature campiness of both 60s Japanese mangas and 60s American comics are combined into one in here.
Usually it is kind of a silly fun, but the series also captures some of the most brilliant moments of the originals, and even makes a few of its own. This is an era when Batman was primarily a detective, so investigative works are at the heart of each arc. Usually they are customary and formulaic just like the TV show, but sometimes the campy craziness of the series makes the investigation reach a conclusion that you did not see coming. The final arc, The Man Who Quit Being Human, which is the best arc of the first volume, also tries to tackle a serious Sci-Fi topic in depth, showing that the series is awesome not just as a comic relief but as a different but legitimate take on the Dynamic Duo.
If you are intrigued after reading the first volume, make sure you head to ComiXology, Amazon's own digital comics service, and pick up the digital copies that come out every Saturday. The series really picks up after the last issue featured in the book, and starts to mix a sheer fun and low-key seriousness with a masterful touch. If all the strange solution to catch the villain and frequently abrupt finale left you disappointed a little, next story arcs like The Revenge of Clayface and The Hangman of Terror will get what you want.
Whether you are interested in a classic comics or classic manga, or you just want a fresh take on Batman, The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga will offer an experience like no other. You will be grinning and laughing all the time, and at some point, it is hard to resist laughing like the villains in the book - WA HA HA HA HA!!
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Amazon Customer
this collection of 19 Batman manga stories by Jiro Kuwata is a pure delight. This volume includes such villains as Lord Death-Ma
Reviewed in Canada on March 19, 2017D
Great book. Tone is similar to that of the ...
Reviewed in India on June 10, 2017