Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan is a 2008 book published by Pantheon Books, subsidiary of Random House, in the United States. The book was designed by Chip Kidd, the content was sourced from Saul Ferris’ extensive collection of Japanese Batman manga, toys and ephemera, which was photographed by frequent collaborator Geoff Spear. It collects a Japanese shōnen manga adaptation of the American comic book series Batman by Jiro Kuwata simply entitled and also includes photographs of vintage Batman toys from Japan. The Batman manga included in Bat-Manga! was created during a Batman craze in Japan, being serialized from April 1966 to May 1967; the series ended when the craze ended. The manga was released in paperback and at the same time a limited hardcover was released on October 28, 2008, with an additional manhua bootleg and an extra Batman story by the creator. On October 28, 2013, the entire 53 chapter run of the series was released in Japan as a three volume-box set.
In July 2014, DC Comics started to release the entire Japanese Batman manga in English through ComiXology as a Digital First series The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga, with a new chapter going online each week. The digital run will be followed by a complete three-volume release in both print and digital form some time during or after the run.
Background
In 1966, the Batman TV series starring Adam West prompted a Batman craze in Japan. In response to this, the shōnen magazine Shōnen King and its publisher Shōnen Gahōsha licensed the rights to make their own Batman stories, with the full consent of the original Batman publisher, DC Comics. In 1967, the stories stopped and were never compiled into volume format.
David Mazzuchelli, creator of Batman: Year One, became aware of "Batman" manga's existence when he went to Japan for a cartoonists convention in the early 1990s. The Japanese told him about a manga adaptation of Batman, information he later passed along to his good friend, premiere designer and novelist Chip Kidd. Chip Kidd had been a serious fan of Batman ever since the age of two. When the TV series came out in the US, Chip stayed loyal to the series even while his friends started watching Happy Days.
Chip Kidd met Batman collector Saul Ferris through eBay when Kidd was bidding on what he thought was a rare, mint Japanese Batmobile toy. Ferris emailed Kidd that Batman's original tin head had been extracted from the Batmobile and replaced with a cheap imitation, rendering the toy virtually worthless. Shortly afterward, Chip Kidd and Saul Ferris became friends. Ferris has an extensive collection of non-U.S. Batman comics, including Japanese comics. Once Kidd saw the extensive amount of Batman Japanese manga and toys in Ferris' collection, Kidd put together a book proposal to DC Comics. Paul Levitz, then head of DC Comics, who is likely the most knowledgeable person in the world regarding DC publications, was not aware the Japanese published a series of unique Batman stories in 1966 and 1967. The Bat-Manga! project was given the green light with Mr. Levitz' blessing. The Batman manga was released in English in the book Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan. Chip Kidd designed the book while Geoff Spear photographed Saul Ferris' collection of toys and Batman manga stories. Anne Ishii and Chip Kidd translated the Japanese into English. DC Comics' archives contained none of the manga stories and unfortunately, Ferris' collection had holes in the run so not all the stories could be published in their entirety.
Media
Bat-Manga! was released in English, trade paperback on October 28, 2008 () with an exclusive interview with the creator of the original manga, Jiro Kuwata and pictures of vintage Batman toys. A limited edition hardcover () was released at the same time with a distinctly different cover, expanded, and with an additional extra short-story by Jiro Kuwata, and the Bat-Manhua (Chinese: 神之洲菲 蝠蝙黑 俠飛 Fēixiá Hēibiānfú Fēizhōu zhī Shén, lit. "Batman: The God of Africa"), a Chinese manhua bootleg. Only 7,000 hardcover issues were released, with additional bookplates signed by him and Jiro Kuwata. At Rocketship, a comic store in Brooklyn, New York, Chip Kidd gave out exclusive bookplates to people who got their manga signed at the event. New drawings of Bat-Manga! were found in archive issues of Shōnen King, and Chip Kidd mentioned the long-hinted sequel Bat-Manga 2.