Hello and welcome to the World of Bats, the Batman Book Club!
So National Manga Day was…yesterday, but still, might be fun to check out some of the stories where our Dark Kngiht has been interpreted by some great mangakas from Japan!
So we’ll be looking at two different series from DC’s recent collaboration with Kodansha, starting with Batman: Justice Buster, by Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi, with translations by Sheldon Drzka.
Gotham City has been under the protection of Batman for only a short amount of time, but since the vigilante’s appearance, crime has changed. It’s gotten more bold, more destructive. As Batman tries to rise up to meet these new threats, he develops a computer system, ROBIN, to help him analyze and subdue the rising criminal tide and hopefully one day put an end to crime in Gotham. But will its solution be one Batman can execute?
ISSUES:
Batman: Justice Buster #1
Batman: Justice Buster #2
Batman: Justice Buster #3
Batman: Justice Buster #4
Batman: Justice Buster #5
Batman: Justice Buster #6
Then, we’ll be looking at Joker: One Operation Joker, written by Satoshi Miyagawa, with art by Keisuke Gotou, and translations by Sheldon Drzka.
The Joker like you’ve never seen him before…as a single father?! After a fateful encounter with Batman that results in the Dark Knight de-aging to a baby, Joker takes it upon himself to raise the child into the crusader of justice! But does the Clown Prince of Crime really understand what it means to be Batman-or, more importantly, what it means to raise a baby all by yourself? Everyone needs a babysitter who makes them laugh, right?
ISSUES:
Joker: One Operation Joker #1
Joker: One Operation Joker #2
Joker: One Operation Joker #3
Joker: One Operation Joker #4
Joker: One Operation Joker #5
Joker: One Operation Joker #6
Joker: One Operation Joker #7
And you know what? Just to really mix things up and read something different, we’ll also look Superman Vs Meshi #4, written by Satoshi Miyagawa, with art by Kai Kitago, and translations by Sheldon Drzka.
(Note, I used the cover for issue #8 instead of #4 because I thought it was funnier)
Batman and Superman go out for lunch, and of course Clark takes him to Japan! Can the Man of Steel convince the billionaire playboy that chain restaurant food is good if not better than what’s in Gotham?
Reading will last from 2024-03-16T05:00:00Z→2024-03-30T05:00:00Z, but if you’ve been suddenly isakai’ed into a fantastical world, you can always come back and share your thoughts!
Looking forward to discussing these books with you all! 
I’ll have to look into this series myself.