Dec 23, 2023
F*CK YOU, IT'S BATMANGA.
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Now that I have your attention, let me start this review with a disclaimer: while I obviously read this because I'm a fan of Batman, I'm still a pretty new fan. I'm not terribly familiar with Silver Age comics, and I've never watched the Adam West TV show. So please excuse any inaccuracies in this review; I'm only writing this because, as of right now, this manga has yet to be reviewed on MAL. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
Anyway. Let's talk about Batmanga. It really needs no introduction, does it? Written in the late 1960s, Batmanga
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served as both supplementary material for the TV series and original content catered to a Japanese audience. And let me tell you, if this is what Japanese audiences were into in the 1960s, it makes me wonder what the hell was in the water during that decade.
Yeah, I'm just gonna come right out and say it: this manga sucked.
Like the show it's based on, Batmanga is completely episodic, with each story arc ranging from 1-5 chapters. And I admit, when I started reading the first arc, Lord Death Man, I was quite entertained! The villain was funny, the dialogue was campy - I thought I was in for a wild ride! The next arc, Dr. Faceless, was enjoyable enough; then The Human Ball, which was okay, but kind of dull. As the stories continued on, I began to notice a pattern: every single arc was exactly the same.
All of them - save for the final story arc, which was a breath of fresh air, albeit, too little, too late - involved some form of high-profile robbery, and many of them involved wacky technology and/or experiments gone wrong by some random scientist. There was absolutely no variety to be had. I get that this is for kids, but would it have killed Kuwata to include a story that didn't involve bank robberies, museum heists, or jewel thieves? And just how many laboratories does Gotham have, anyway?
I guess this brings me to the elephant in the room: Batmanga features an entirely original cast of villains. Now, this sort of thing isn't uncommon in Japanese adaptations of American franchises, but honestly, is Batman even Batman without the Joker? No Penguin, no Riddler, not even Catwoman for a little bit of romantic intrigue. I can't believe I'm actually complaining about a LACK of fanservice; that should really tell you how dull this manga is. But I'm getting off topic. Aside from Batman and Robin, the only familiar character who appeared on a regular basis was Commissioner Gordon. Alfred showed up for one story arc towards the middle, but frankly, the way they bastardized him was awful and shouldn't be talked about. So I won't.
This wouldn't be a problem, of course, if the new villains were at least interesting. But like I said before, almost all of them were some combination of thief, mad scientist, or superhuman, and all of them had the singular goal of "steal lots of money/expensive goods and kill Batman" with little to no other motives. It grew very old, very quickly. To make matters worse, Kuwata was clearly pressed for time when he drew this, because the character designs are straight up recycled for the villains and various side characters. Every criminal mastermind had the same scar and black pompadour; every scientist had the same bushy hair. So believe me when I say I'm not just nitpicking - the villains were, quite literally, indistinguishable.
But honestly, this wasn't even the worst part about Batmanga for me. For me, the icing on the cake was the characterization of the Dark Knight himself. Tell me, what is the one thing that everyone knows about Batman, as a character? No, not that his parents are dead - the other thing: his moral code. Batman doesn't kill people. Everyone knows this! It's his greatest strength, and arguably, his greatest flaw. It's what makes him so compelling, especially when he's up against such insane villains.
So imagine my shock when, during some of the later arcs of Batmanga, Batman not only kills people, but doesn't even give a sh*t that he's done so. The first time it happened, it was bordering on accidental, as it involved breaking the laws of physics in a way that made my brain hurt. Accidental death of the villain is a common trope in Batmanga, but this was the first time that the "accident" was directly caused by Batman.
But the second time, when Batman straight up smashes a dude in the head with a medieval flail - yeah, what the f*ck?! Even Commissioner Gordon was baffled! And Batman's response was to just shrug and say that "there was no other way" because the guy was trying to kill Robin. Really?! There was really no other way AT ALL?! World's Greatest Detective, folks. What a sham.
Maybe I'm being too harsh. Like I said, I'm not familiar with Silver Age Batman. Maybe all of this is perfectly on brand for the era - DC buffs, feel free to spam my page's comment section with "WELL ACKSHULLY" and tell me what a fake comic book fan I am. (That was a joke. Please don't do that.)
But I can at least say this: if you, like me, are a fan of the more modern incarnations of Batman, and have no real nostalgia for the old stuff, you should probably just skip Batmanga.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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