:renegade_robins: Batmanga!

For the next 15 weeks, the @RenegadeRobinsClub will revisit one of the major influences on Grant Morrison’s Batman Incorporated. Here’s the description from DCComics.com:

In the 1960s, at the height of the Batman TV series’ popularity, a shonen manga magazine in Japan serialized fifty-three chapters of original comics starring The Dark Knight, all written and illustrated by Managaka Jiro Kuwata.

Mangaka Kuwata Jiro was one of the forefathers of the Japanese superhero genre of manga. Because of his previous experience in the genre, he was asked to work on a special project wherein he would create a new set of Batman stories specifically for the Japanese market. In doing so, he was able to create a successful synthesis of Western and Eastern superhero concepts.

The Batmanga was published in Japan at the height of Batmania in the 1960s by the manga publisher, Shonen King, in cooperation with DC Comics. These stories were later rediscovered and translated into English so that American audiences could experience them.

For more information, see this DCUI article: https://www.dcuniverseinfinite.com/news/we-remember-batmanga-creator-jiro-kuwata/

Here is the schedule (updated monthly):

Week 1: 2021-06-27T05:00:00Z2021-07-03T05:00:00Z

Week 2: 2021-07-04T05:00:00Z2021-07-10T05:00:00Z

Week 3: 2021-07-11T05:00:00Z2021-07-17T05:00:00Z

Week 4: 2021-07-18T05:00:00Z2021-07-24T05:00:00Z

  • Professor Gorilla’s Revenge (3 issues)

Week 5: 2021-07-25T05:00:00Z2021-07-31T05:00:00Z

Week 6: 2021-08-01T05:00:00Z2021-08-07T05:00:00Z

  • The Man Who Quit Being Human (4 issues)

Week 7: 2021-08-08T05:00:00Z2021-08-14T05:00:00Z

Week 8: 2021-08-15T05:00:00Z2021-08-21T05:00:00Z

Week 9: 2021-08-22T05:00:00Z2021-08-28T05:00:00Z

  • Fiend of the Masquerade Festival (3 issues)

Week 10: 2021-08-29T05:00:00Z2021-09-04T05:00:00Z

Week 11: 2021-09-05T05:00:00Z2021-09-11T05:00:00Z

Week 12: 2021-09-12T05:00:00Z2021-09-18T05:00:00Z

Week 13: 2021-09-19T05:00:00Z2021-09-25T05:00:00Z

Week 14: 2021-09-26T05:00:00Z2021-10-02T05:00:00Z

Week 15: 2021-10-03T05:00:00Z2021-10-09T05:00:00Z

Join us each week to give your thoughts on these classic stories!

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Here are some additional links provided by co-host @JasonTodd428:

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Batmanga issue 2

“It’s really more of a no-kill rule of thumb, to be honest.”

@RenegadeRobinsClub, be sure to check out this week’s story, featuring Dr. Faceless! In the meantime, tell us what you thought of last week’s Death Man story.

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You can’t kill what’s already dead!

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Just reread it again, and it’s definitely a fun story. This story (and from what I’m gathering the series as a whole) feels very inspired by the '66 series, it also adds a sense of danger and tension to it. I’m pretty sure there were more shots fired in this one story than there was in pretty much the entire three seasons of the show.

And with this being drawn, the action is so much more dynamic and interesting. I dug the sequences of Batman and Robin jumping down the flag poles, and Batman tying himself to the Batmobile while Robin’s doing donuts so Bats can kick all the goons in the face. It’s so stupid and over the top, I love it.

It also struck me that the crux of this story is Lord Death Man coming back from the grave is this yoga technique that slows down his heart beat, where nowadays that’s actually something that Batman himself learned how to do during his travels. Funny how ideas can advance over time.

That said, after the second time or third time Lord Death Man seemingly popped up from the grave, I’m surprised no one thought “hey, let’s cremate him!”

Finally…they really liked comparing someone riddled with bullets to beehives, didn’t they?

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I’d say even more so than the American Batman comics of the time, though Neal Adams was coming up on the scene shortly.

Sorry, should have been more clear – I meant that it was more dynamic compared to the '66 show, which to be fair was seemingly intentional for comedic effect.

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So thanks for pointing out that these are on DCUI, somehow I either forgot or neglected that.

So we don’t start with the last page to the first page in the digital format. I actually do read it as the pages appear, but I’m supposed to go from the upper right to the lower left as I read the story but then flip to the next page like we do here in America.

I think I looked this over once before but will take a peekeepoo one more time.

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Yep, each issue gives a little guide on how to read it.

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All credit belongs to @JasonTodd428. He’s the one who suggested covering this series, he wrote a huge chunk of the initial post, and he provided the links to related articles.

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Are you saying…you use a ghost writer? @MisfitCMJ likes to do that on the side I hear as well if you need a competitive price bid btw.

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It’s more like the two of us created the post in a Wiki. :wink:

ah, on the other side of DC Community Source Wall, gotcha.

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Thanks for the shout out there @AlexanderKnox.

A ghost writer, huh? :ghost:

And it was a lot of fun too.

Pretty much.

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I did wonder about that too.

One of the things that I like about the Batmanga as a whole is the over the top nature of it, which is very much in keeping with the Batman 66 show,. The second thing I like about it is the artwork, which echoes the anime of that period. Kuwata Jiro did a phenomenal job with both aspects there.

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Great, now I’m thinking of that kids show on PBS.

Yeah, I think Jiro was inspired by the series, but was also trying to something with more action and a bigger scale, something that the live action series couldn’t really pull.

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The human ball was a fun inventive idea.

Perhaps one of my favorite parts was Batman calling Robin “Chum.”

“Old chum” would have been even better, but we’ll take what we can get!

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Yes, Batman does that in some of my favorite runs (e.g. the Barr run from the 80s).

When I read the manga, I can’t help but hear the 1960s Filmation music:

It certainly is unique. I need to come back and review this; I saw Mike Ploog’s name show up for example

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Hey, @RenegadeRobinsClub, I wanted to let you know that I’ve updated the first post to include the August readings. I’m especially excited about them because some of them are retellings of American Silver Age stories. I can’t wait to see them manga-ized!

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