The two hottest genres in comics gleefully collide head-on, as the most beloved American superhero gets the coolest Japanese manga makeover ever. <br><br>In 1966, during the height of the first Batman craze, a weekly Japanese manga anthology for boys, <i>Shonen King</i>, licensed the rights to commission its own Batman and Robin stories. A year later, the stories stopped. They were never collected in Japan, and never translated into English. Now, in this gorgeously produced book, hundreds of pages of Batman-manga comics more than four decades old are translated for the first time, appearing alongside stunning photographs of the world's most comprehensive collection of vintage Japanese Batman toys. <br><br>This is The Dynamic Duo as you've never seen them: with a distinctly Japanese, atomic-age twist as they battle aliens, mutated dinosaurs, and villains who won't stay dead. And as a bonus: Jiro Kuwata, the manga master who originally wrote and drew this material, has given an exclusive interview for our book. <br><br>The deluxe, expanded, and limited hardcover edition has a distinctly different cover, full-color printed endpapers, and an amazing extra adventure written by Jiro Kuwata (not included in the paperback), about a band of rogue alien robot art thieves at large in Gotham City. Guess who gets called in to save the day.... <br><br>More than just a dazzling novelty, <i>Bat-Manga!</i> is an invaluable, long-lost chapter in the history of one of the most beloved and timeless figures in comics.