If there's any superhero who should work well in Japan, it's Batman. Especially because the sixties manga by Jiro Kuwata drew heavily on the bonkers, pop art-style Adam West TV show of the era, which was full of big colourful effects, over-the-top vehicles and grotesque, comical bad guys - all elements familiar to anyone who's been fortunate enough to catch an episode of Ultraman or Kamen Rider during their lifetime. And to be fair, Kuwata's Batman did work (it's currently being translated and released by DC digitally, for the first time ever); his artwork is brilliant, he adapts the characters well to the manga form, and everyone looks right. But remember that whole no killing rule Batman has? He doesn't necessarily always follow it, but it's fairly integral to his character. Reflects the tragic death of his parents, and shows how he rises above the criminal scum of Gotham. Yeah, not a problem for Japanese Batman. In fact there's a whole story about a villain called Lord Death Man - based loosely on an issue of the American comics - which sees the Dark Knight repeatedly murdering a villain who, technically, is immortal (he resurrects himself using yoga). That doesn't excuse the fact that Batman chucks him off a building and flattens him with a wrecking ball. Not very heroic, Bruce-san.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
