Buddha bless those Japanese! When Adam West’s BATMAN TV series sparked Bat-mania in America, the Far East wanted in on the rage, too. So as plans for importing the show were finalized, producers thought a print tie-in would help generate interest. Thus, for the first time, the dynamic duo became manga characters.
The resulting mid-’60s SHONEN KING magazines became so rare that many collectors didn’t even know about them until recently, including graphic-design genius and Batman fanatic Chip Kidd, who’s part of the team that’s assembled the several stories in the awesome BAT-MANGA!: THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN. If you have to sustain on ramen noodles for weeks or even months to save up enough money to buy the book, do so. (And may I suggest beef flavor?)
For this slick, hefty volume — available in hardcover (pictured above) and softcover (pictured at right), depending on your tolerance for fried ‘n’ dried noodles — editors Kidd, Geoff Spear and Saul Ferris have presented artist Jiro Kuwata’s original pages with little variation. They’ve been photographed straight from the source, defects and all. Words have been translated to English (one note translates to: “I’ve placed a ticking time bomb in this bank. Don’t take it personally”), but sound effects have not. (“If you think it says ‘POW’ or ‘CRASH’ or ‘BOOM,’ then trust us, it does,” Kidd writes.)
Kuwata’s art is classic manga, simple and effective. But his stories are insane. Rather than stick to the scripts he was presented, Kuwata went off on his own direction, Bat-lore be damned. That’s why Clayface morphs from giant praying mantis to giant pterodactyl to Pegasus to giant bat to giant beetle to giant snake, all within the span of one storyline, “Drat,” complains Batman. “He’s a pterodactyl again.”
Other good-vs.-bad match-ups find the Caped Crusader squaring off against Lord Death Man, a dude in a phosphorous skeleton suit; Go-Go the Magician, who conjures up a tornado; Dr. Faceless, who sports serious rage-control issues (“Agh! Even clock faces must die!!”); Professor Gorilla, one of those smart monkeys (“I’ll admit,” notes Robin, “If I were a gorilla and got super powers, I’d probably want to exact revenge on humans, too.”); and the self-explanatory The Man Who Quit Being Human.
Kidd being Kidd, bumper pages showcase full-page photos of Japanese Bat-abilia, including toys, magic books and more. Consider them a bonus, like a lost chapter of his BATMAN COLLECTED book, which is also a must-have. Certainly this is the pop-culture artifact title of the year, which makes Kidd’s whispers of a potential follow-up all the more sweet. We hope to see this Asian dark knight again, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel! —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• CHIP KIDD: BOOK ONE – WORK: 1986-2006 by Chip Kidd
• THE LEARNERS by Chip Kidd
