Jiro Kuwata’s Batman Manga Finally Gets Collected In Full (In Japan)

A lot of people hadn't heard about artist Jiro Kuwata's mid-1960s manga adaptation of Batman until the 2008 release of Chip Kidd's book Bat-Manga!, which included translated excerpts of the work, but didn't collect the full story (or include Kuwata's name on the cover).

Now, Kuwata's Batman stories, which originally ran in the magazines Weekly Shōnen King and Shōnen Gahō, has finally been collected, in full, in a three volume box set from Japanese publisher Shogakukan Creative.

The collection retails for 7,890 yen, or about $80 USD. It includes all 53 chapters of Kuwata's manga, a Kuwata essay about his memories of Batman and commentary by manga critic Kōsei Ono.

Check out a 20-page preview here.

No word yet about whether an English translation is on the way, but here's hoping. If not, there's always Kidd's potential Bat-Manga 2, which has been hinted at since 2010.

[Via AnimeNewsNetwork]