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Wonder Woman and the rest of Justice League get manga makeover for new series in Japan

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By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

In Japanese, the word manga can technically be used to refer to all comic books. In practice, though, manga is generally reserved for Japanese-produced books, with fans and professionals often using amekomi, a shortened form of “American comics,” for content originating in the U.S.

But this month, the line between manga and amekomi is getting blurred with the beginning of a new series titled "Batman and the Justice League," drawn by female manga artist Shiori Teshirogi and serialized in publisher Akita Shoten’s monthly "Champion Red" manga anthology as of its latest issue, which went on sale June 19.

While rival Marvel has made a number of forays into the anime industry with Japanese-animated series starring its "X-Men" and "Avengers" characters, DC has had fewer collaborations with Japanese creators, barring some notable manga Batman chapters from artists Katsuhiro Otomo and Kia Asamiya (of "Akira" and "Silent Mobious" fame, respectively) and an anime anthology of Batman tales titled "Batman: Gotham Knight" in 2008. The story for the "Justice League" manga seems to be sticking to the standard formula for the franchise, as promotional materials describe the story as "The Justice League is formed in Hotham City to protect the world from a union of villains led by the Joker. Will Batman resist or accept his destiny?”

Joining Batman are the traditional Justice League regulars: Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash,Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Cyborg, many of whom are sporting the vibrantly colored hair and flowing or spiky locks characteristic of anime heroes.

Instead of a mullet, Supes has the stylishly messy hairdo of a shojo manga love interest, and Aquaman gets a non-connected goatee and mustache combo that wouldn’t look out of place in pirate saga "One Piece."

While Superman is already instantly recognizable around the world, and Wonder Woman is getting a lot of extra attention in Japan thanks to her solo movie (even if it hasn’t started playing in Japanese theaters and has some questionable local marketing), many of the other Justice League members are largely unknown in Japan. With the live-action "Justice League" movie coming later this year, the manga was likely greenlit to bring potential viewers up to speed about who these characters are, and probably isn’t going to have a particularly long run in "Champion Red." Nevertheless, Teshirogi’s art is a cool new take on these amekomi icons, even if the manga Justice League is missing Wonder Hello Kitty.

Source, image: @Press

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Manga artist says she’s found the reason why men won’t read comics written for women

-- Joker weds Harley Quinn! Guess who walked the bride down the aisle

-- In a superhero punch out of manga/comic book greats, who would hit the hardest? 【Art】

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

2 Comments
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I'm sure I have a Batman DVD from some years back, which has a collection of tales in anime style. I can see the DC manga mash up going down quite well.

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I assume tentacle monsters will make an appearance with Wonder Woman...

However in all honesty, manga has some good versions of the classics. I just fast forwarded through The Scarlet Letter manga and it seemed nicely done and the Little Women anime was rather nice as well.

I am sure these manga versions of super heroes will be no different. It will most likely get people on both sides interested in the other. Those who would never of bothered looking at a comic book or a manga might now do so.

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