BAT-MANGA: Deane Aikins’ BATMAN Figure Based on the Art of Jiro Kuwata

Over at our Friend Chip Kidd's Website the other day he posted some cool photos of an amazing BATMAN BAT-MANGA Figure created by Deane Aikins. It's really more like a small full-body Statue and it's based on the artwork style of Japanese Manga Artist, Jiro Kuwata. This thing is totally INSANE, just look at it!! Oh yeah, I want one of these real bad! For more details please visit the post at CHIPKIDD.COM

JAPANESE BATMAN BAT-MANGA TATTOO ART

Over at the Official CHIP KIDD Website they recently posted an awesome BATMAN TATTOO ART Photo that is based on the BAT-MANGA Japanese Comic Book Bat-Logo & it's really great! This tattoo is on the leg of a guy named Marcio, who lives in Rio de Janeiro, and I gotta say it's really cool. I like it a lot!

BAT-MANGA! BATMAN IN JAPAN - Chip Kidd Lecture at MoCCA Tonight

The Author/Designer Chip Kidd will be talking about BAT-MANGA tonight (Thursday, January 12th) at New York's MoCCA, or the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. The lecture runs from 7:00pm to 9:00 but you should arrive there early because it will probably sell out! Now, for the first time ever in the US, original artwork and lavish cover art from the Batman-manga comics are on display at MoCCA, along with vintage era-specific memorabilia and toys. Admission is $7.00 (Free for Members). For more information click the link down below:



MoCCA

594 Broadway, Suite 401

(btwn. Houston and Prince)

New York, NY 10012

Phone (212) 254-3511

BATMAN WALLPAPERS - The HUNTRESS and Japanese ROBIN THE BOY WONDER Bat-Manga!

OK, How are these are obscure Batman characters, ha! Here are 2 Wallpaper Backgrounds I made to brighten your desktop! The 1st one is an extremely excellent graphic I found that was originally used to promote the HUNTRESS Comic Book Series. I like the simple color palette: Purple and Black with a little bit of White... WAY TOO COOL!

The next one is a scene from the BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD TV Cartoon where they did an episode that was a slight parody of Vintage Japan Bat-Manga!! It shows Robin, the Boy Wonder... with a Ray Gun! I love the Japanese Language BATMAN Logo!

OK, I hope you enjoyed at least ONE of these, ha! But if not, then click the button down below for more recent ones.

BAT-MANGA WALLPAPERS! Seen on Batman The Brave and The Bold

Included here, for your viewing pleasure, are a few BATMAN WALLPAPERS I made this morning using images from the recent "Batman: The Brave and The Bold" TV Cartoon where they did a parody of Mad Magazine, Japanese Bat-Manga, & Scooby Doo! I wanted to totally hype this episode on my blog & YouTube page, before it came out, but the WB Publicity Department sent the promo package late ( I'm really getting tired of that crap! )



Anyways, the episode was yesterday & it was one of the very best so far! There was a part of the show where they showed Bat-Mite, in his own dimension, where he displays his personal Batman Toy Collection ( Check out the 2nd Wallpaper ). He had a special room with display cases of cool vintage stuff. Plus, there were cool pieces of bat-memorabilia just floating around.



Now, the part that was extra special for me is that I know the guy who contributed all the rare Batman toy photos. I'm not sure if I can say who he is but he's a very good friend & I was very very proud to see his stuff on the show. Plus, I know he must have been going crazy seeing it on TV, ha!

BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD - Art Direction For a Future TV Cartoon Episode

This image up above comes from DC Comic's website & shows the extremely cool art direction for a future episode of "Batman: The Brave and The Bold". The main guest for that day will be Bat-Mite & the thing that's gonna happen is that Bat-Mite is going to pop Batman into multiple dimensions where he will be totally different in each one. The photo above shows Batman & Robin in a "Vintage MAD Magazine" type world. In fact, the characters there are called "Batboy & Rubin", ha ha! This episode is also going to have a segment where the Dynamic Duo are in the Vintage Japanese BAT-MANGA World! The art style in the animation will totally look like the graphics drawn by Jiro Kuwata in the 1960's. This image down below is from Chip Kidd's recent BAT-MANGA Book & shows what the art could kind of look like ( we don't have an actual image yet from the TV show ). Now, this episode looks like it's going to be totally great so please be sure to stay tuned to the Bat-Blog because you know we're going to be all over it, ha!

Japanese Batman BAT-MANGA Desktop Wallpaper Background!

Check out this BATMAN BAT-MANGA Japanese Style Wallpaper!! Our buddy Saul sent us this graphic he found on the web that I thought would be totally beautiful as a desktop background ( Thanks Saul ). The artwork is totally inspired by the art of Jiro Kuwata, who was the Japanese manga comic book artist who created some original Batman stories back in the 1960's. His work was the focus of the recent "Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan" book by Chip Kidd. Speaking of artists, the guy who created this image is named Jordan Gibson and he lives in Austin, Texas. So, I wanna thank him for letting us use his artwork. If you wanna see more of his work ( and you should because it's cool ) then here's a LINK!

BATMAN - YESTERDAY AND TOMMORROW - The BAT-MANGA ART EXHIBIT at CARTOON ART MUSEUM June 17th

The Cartoon Art Museum ( San Francisco, CA ) and the Japan Society of Northern California will present a lecture with author / book designer Chip Kidd on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 for a special presentation entitled "Bat-Manga! A Secret Look at the Secret History of Batman in Japan". The exhibit will include some original art by Jiro Kuwata that has not been seen for almost 40 years. It really looks like a great event! For more information be sure to visit the Official CARTOON ART MUSEUM website by clicking HERE!

Batman & Batgirl "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday"

Every Wednesday we post a few free Batman-Themed Desktop Backgrounds here at the Bat-Blog. It's called "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday"! The first one features an amazing graphic of Batgirl. Some readers might know about a contributor here named "The BATFAN", who has an extensive original comic book art collection. Well, this image is from a convention sketch he owns. I made the background pink because that's kinda "girly" & Batgirl is a woman, ha ha. OK, actually pink is one of my top favorite colors, anybody got a problem with that? Now, for the next one it features Batman with a Japanese theme. This was sent in by our good friend Sean Hartter. Sean is a very talented Graphic Artist & he's been reading Chip Kidd's new Bat-Manga book. Actually, this book was the inspiration for this image...it's great! I really like the Japan-Style Batman Logo seen behind the figure. The figure too is pretty cool, very original. Thanks to both BATFAN & Hartter for contributing to this week's wallpaper event. You guys seriously ROCK!

RADIO INTERVIEW: SAUL FERRIS Batman Toy Collector & ANNE ISHII Bat-Manga Book Translator

A very good friend to the Bat-Blog has just recently been interviewed on NPR Radio so I thought I would proudly share it here. His name is Saul Ferris & besides being a pretty nice guy he's also a Super-Collector of all things Batman ( Just so you know, his picture really didn't have a Batman Mask on it, that's just me being wacky! ). His main focus is on the Super-Rare Vintage 1960's Batman Toys & Memorabilia. He was a major contributor to the publication of Chip Kidd's latest book "Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan". In fact, the Bat-Manga book is a large part of the radio show but also includes a lot of tips about collecting toys & comics. Also included in the interview is Anne Ishii, who served as the Japanese translator for the book project. To hear this show on either your iPod or PC just click on the link button down below. When you arrive at the website just look for a show titled "The Sweet Smell of Yesteryear" recorded on January 4th, 2009. Click on the "audio button" & it magically appears in your media player. Also, if you want to contact Saul about any old 60's Batman Toys you have for sale he can be reached at ICOLLECTBATMAN@aol.com. ( Someday I'm gonna have to tease him about still being on AOL, ha ha ). Oh yeah, one last thing. I had a photo of Saul Ferris that I could post here but apologize for not having one of Anne. I tried to find one on Google, but couldn't find one that wasn't copyrighted. Just so you readers know, she is very very cute!

Video: INTERVIEW WITH CHIP KIDD "Bat-Manga The Secret History of Batman in Japan" Book

Over at MySpace a new friend named Tamika sent this very cool video she made where she had an interview with Chip Kidd about his new "BAT-MANGA: The Secret History of Batman in Japan" book. The video was shot during the book tour while he was at the Meltdown Comic Book Store in Los Angeles, CA. She wrote, "I was searching for Batman blogs and yours was one of the first to show up. I just produced this video piece on Chip Kidd's Bat Manga and I wonder if you could pass it on to your friends, I'm glad someone is an enthusiast too." Of course! Thanks Tamika for sending me this video. It's pretty interesting & very well-edited. Also, I'm a HUGE FAN of this Batman book, it's great!

VIMBY - Chip Kidd's Bat-Manga

BAT-BLOG CONTEST: Chip Kidd's New BAT-MANGA THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN BOOK Signed Copy

OK, This morning I drew the very last name out of the hat for the recent BAT-BLOG CONTEST where we have been giving away Signed-Copies of Chip Kidd's New BAT-MANGA THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN BOOK! The responses have been totally crazy & I think this is the most successful contest so far. For the last month or so we have been giving away a free Autographed Copy of this amazing book. Today, we pic the last winner of the 5th book. It goes to Mike M. of Hamilton, Ontario ( Canada ). Congrats Mike & please contact us so we can confirm your address. Then, we will mail you the book. I wanna thank everybody who entered & if you didn't win, I'm sorry. But the good news is we will always have more contests in the future soo keep an eye out for those. I also wanna thank Chip Kidd for personally autographing all the books & his publishing company for supplying us with this great material. These books were an incredible item to be giving away & I really appreciate that.

The Fourth Winner of a Signed-Copy of Chip Kidd's New Book BAT-MANGA, THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN!

We announced awhile back about our latest contest where we are giving away a FREE Autographed Signed-Copy of Chip Kidd's brand-new book titled BAT-MANGA, THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN. The responses have been pretty amazing & since we have more than one copy we are still accepting entries as we speak ( For information on how to enter just click on the BAT-MANGA CONTEST GRAPHIC at the top of this blog, just under the header ). Well, this morning I picked another name out of the hat so here we go! The WINNER of the FOURTH Signed Copy of the BAT-MANGA Book is... Jennie E. of Fairbanks, AK.! Thanks Jennie, please be sure to send us an e-mail to confirm your complete mailing address & then soon after we will be mailing you this book. I hope that postage for Alaska is not gonna be outrageous because I am kinda poor right now, ha ha! Now, for everybody else who entered there is one more book to give away so you at least have one more chance so stay tuned to the Bat-Blog because you just might be our next lucky winner!

The Third Winner of a Signed-Copy of Chip Kidd's New Book BAT-MANGA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN!

We announced awhile back about our latest contest where we are giving away a FREE Autographed Signed-Copy of Chip Kidd's brand-new book titled BAT-MANGA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN. The responses have been pretty amazing & since we have more than one copy we are still accepting entries as we speak ( For information on how to enter just click on the BAT-MANGA CONTEST GRAPHIC at the top of this blog, just under the header ). Well, this morning I picked another name out of the hat so here we go! The WINNER of the THIRD Signed copy of the Bat-Manga Book is... Adam G of Dallas, TX.! Thanks Adam, please be sure to send us an e-mail to confirm your complete mailing address & then soon after we will be mailing you this book. Now, for everybody else who entered there are still a few to give away so stay tuned to the Bat-Blog because you just might be our next lucky winner!

The Second Winner of a Signed-Copy of Chip Kidd's New Book BAT-MANGA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN!

We announced awhile back about our latest contest where we are giving away a FREE Autographed Signed-Copy of Chip Kidd's brand-new book titled BAT-MANGA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN. The responses have been pretty amazing & since we have more than one copy we are still accepting entries as we speak ( For information on how to enter just click on the BAT-MANGA CONTEST GRAPHIC at the top of this blog, just under the header ). Well, this morning I picked another name out of the hat so here we go! The WINNER of the Second Signed copy of the Bat-Manga Book is... Rogelio G. of Bloomington, CA.! Thanks Rogelio, please be sure to send us an e-mail to confirm your complete mailing address & then soon after we will be mailing you this book. Now, for everybody else who entered there are still a few to give away so stay tuned to the Bat-Blog because you just might be our next lucky winner!

The First Winner of a Signed-Copy of Chip Kidd's New Book BAT-MANGA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN!

We announced awhile back about our latest contest where we are giving away a FREE Autographed Signed-Copy of Chip Kidd's brand-new book titled BAT-MANGA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN. The responses have been pretty amazing & since we have more than one copy we are still accepting entries as we speak ( For information on how to enter just click on the BAT-MANGA CONTEST GRAPHIC at the top of this blog, just under the header ). Well, I decided last night to finally pick a name out of the hat so here we go! The very 1st Signed Bat-Manga Book Winner is... Chad C of Gallatin, TN! Thanks Chad, please be sure to send us an e-mail to confirm your complete mailing address & then soon after we will be mailing you this book. Now, for everybody else who entered there are still a few to give away so stay tuned to the Bat-Blog because you just might be our next lucky winner!

NEW BAT-BLOG CONTEST: An Autographed Signed-Copy of BATMANGA, THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN

OK, I know we have been kinda crazy with the contests lately but it's because we have received a lot of material from generous readers & there's some that I already had planned so they just all clashed together, ha ha! But, this contest is special & sort of connects to the release of a current book so I had to get it in now. Plus, I'm super-excited about it & couldn't wait any longer so HERE WE GO! The latest Bat-Blog Contest is for an Autographed Signed-Copy of Chip Kidd's new book titled BAT-MANGA, THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN ( Paperback Edition ). You might have read my book review on this a few days ago. To summarize, the book is incredibly AMAZING! Famous book designer & author Chip Kidd teamed up with Super-Collector Saul Ferris & Photographer Geoff Spear to create this wonderful "Batman Japanese History" book. Basically, it reprints a ton of totally lost material done by the Manga ( comic book ) Artist Jiro Kuwata during the 1966 Batman TV Show craze in Japan and, as a bonus, features a lot of beautiful Vintage 1960's Batman Toys made in Japan. The book is really great & we were lucky enough to get a few signed copies to give away as a contest! You read that right! There's more than one autographed book so your chances of winning are way better than those other crappy "Batman Fan" wannabe-websites, ha ha! The rules are pretty simple: Just e-mail us your FULL NAME / ADDRESS with the phrase "CHIP KIDD'S BAT-MANGA BOOK" in the title. Once we get enough entries we'll start pulling names out of a hat every few days. Like I said there's more than one copy so you'll have more chances to win but you can ONLY enter one time. All the names stay in the hat until all the books are gone & we will announce winners right here at this blog so stay tuned. Remember, your chances are better if you enter early so get busy & shoot us an e-mail... Good Luck!

CONTEST RULES:

1. The contest is open to the general public as well as anyone currently reading the BAT-BLOG on a daily basis. Employees of the Bat-Blog and employees' immediate family members and persons with whom such employees are domiciled are excluded from this contest.
   
   
2. The prize is not redeemable in cash and must be accepted as awarded.
   
   
3. Decisions of the contest judges are final - no substitutions will be available.
   
   
4. By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation of his or her name and/or likeness and/or voice/photograph and municipality of residence for promotion and/or advertising purposes in any manner and in any medium (including without limitation, radio broadcasts, newspapers and other publications and in television or film releases, slides, videotape, distribution over the internet and picture date storage) which Bat-Blog may deem appropriate.
   
   
5. In accepting the prize, the winner, and any reader(s), acknowledges that the Bat-Blog may not be held liable for any loss, damages or injury associated with accepting or using this prize.
   
   
6. The person whose name is drawn as being the winner of the specific prize will be required to send us their correct mailing information before the prize is awarded to them. Postage to be paid, free of charge, by the Bat-blog.
   
   
7. Detailed contest rules applicable to this contest, including contest entry dates, how to enter, and prize value, number and any restrictions applicable to these prizes are available upon request by reading these Contest Rules, ha ha!
   
   
8. The Bat-Blog retains the rights, in its absolute and sole discretion, to make substitutions of equivalent kind or approximate value in the event of the unavailability of any prize or component of the prize for any reason whatsoever.
   
   
9. This contest is subject to all federal, provincial and municipal laws.
   
   
10. The Bat-Blog reserves the right to withdraw or terminate this contest at any time without prior notice.
    
    
11. Approximate value of prize varies.
    
    
12. Contest open to loyal Bat-Blog Readers only.
    
    
13. One entry per person.

Book Review - BAT-MANGA THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN By CHIP KIDD

OK, anyone who's been reading the Bat-Blog for the last year or so knows how excited I have been about the gossip of a brand-new Batman book titled BAT-MANGA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN. It was being done by Chip Kidd who, a few years ago, came out with another great Batman book titled BATMAN COLLECTED. That book was amazing, so I knew this one was gonna be great too! Well, it has finally come out & it's even better than I dreamed about! It was released on October 28th, 2008. All I can say about BAT-MANGA is that it is extremely well-designed & a total delight to read! But, I can't just say that because that would be a totally lazy book review, ha ha! So, here's why the book is so awesome. First, for people totally unfamiliar with this title, in the 1960's there was a magazine in Japan for kids called Shonen King . During the crazy hype of the 1966 Batman TV Show ( Adam West & Burt Ward ) this company reserved the rights to do Batman stories. They did them for about a year & then they were gone. For years these wonderfully written & beautifully drawn stories were lost...until now! To do this book Chip Kidd teamed up with the photographer Geoff Spear & Super-Collector Saul Ferris ( Japanese translation by Anne Ishii ). Both Chip & Saul had a few issues of this super-rare magazine & while doing research found out that the artwork was done by Jiro Kuwata, the artist responsible for creating "8 MAN", a very popular Japanese character. Anyway, Kidd hired a Japanese translator & actually found the guy! To his regret he found out that all the original artwork had been lost to time. But, a neat thing about getting in touch with him was that they got to do an exclusive interview about his "Batman experience". So, working with Geoff & Saul, they photographed every issue they had their hands on. This actually turned out to be a "wonderful accident" because looking at the original magazines is pretty cool. Geoff did an amazing job photographing all the pages. The neat thing is that the photography is so extremely sharp that you can actually see the texture of the newsprint & it sort of gives you the experience of reading the actual magazine that children got to view in the 1960's. One other thing that's kinda neat too is that, back then, Jiro Kuwata was given total license to write anything he wanted. So, the stories are very unique & have a nice Japanese sensibility to them. Now, please keep in mind that this is manga so ya gotta "read it backwards". But, don't worry about that because after about 5 minutes you totally get used to it & the stories are really enjoyable. Jiro Kuwata was given permission to do anything he wanted so many of the villains ( except Clayface ) were created by him. They are really well thought out & have great names like Lord Death Man, Go-Go The Magician, Dr. Faceless, Professor Gorilla, & The Man Who Quit Being Human! Now, another great thing about the book is that it features some very sharp color photography of many Vintage 1960's Batman Toys...a total bonus! This is kinda where Saul Ferris came in. He has an amazing collection of super-rare Japanese Batman Toys. The photos are sort of sprinkled every few pages so while you're reading the stories you get a small break. Plus, You get to enjoy these lost pieces of Bat-History. It gives the book a nice rhythm & each time they popped up it was a very pleasant surprise! The book is created in 2 formats, hardback & paperback. The hardback has about 32 extra pages. It mainly has a few more toy photos & a section in the back that covers some stories written in Chinese! But, don't worry because everything has been translated into English so you can enjoy the whole experience. The retail price for the hardback is $60.00 while the paperback is $29.95. Right now Amazon is offering them as new releases at a cheaper price & I seriously recommend the hardback, just for the extras. Well, I hope this has been a decent review & it's a book I can highly recommend for ANY Batman Fan!

BAT-MANGA! THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN By Chip Kidd

OK, Regular readers of the Bat-Blog all know how totally excited I am about this new book by Chip Kidd titled BAT-MANGA! THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN. The basic premise of the book is that in Japan, during the 1966 Batman TV Show craze in the US, a weekly Japanese Manga magazine called SHONEN KING licensed the rights to do its own Batman and Robin stories. Both the artwork & stories were totally original. They were never collected in Japan, and never translated into English. Now, in this awesome new 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. The Batman Memorabilia from Japan in the 1960's will include a ton of Batmobile Tin Toys, Tin Toy Robots, Dolls, Vinyl Figures, etc...way too much to list here! OK, now, you're probably wondering, what are the 4 comic pages up above?? Well, Chip Kidd is a big fan of the Bat-Blog & was kind enough to send a few pages of his book to be featured here! I'm not sure if this is an EXCLUSIVE but it's still pretty cool to get an e-mail from such a well-respected Batman Collector & Author! Anyways, these pages represent a part of one of the stories in the book titled "The Man Who Quit Being Human". Now, if you click on the above graphics then they will enlarge to a readable size. Another thing to remember is that they are formatted for Japanese audiences & you will have to "read them backwards". Another way to explain it is you read them top to bottom & right to left ( not "left to right" like we Americans read ). I know it's kinda disorienting but once you get the hang of it you'll really enjoy reading this story...it's wonderful! I seriously love the old vintage-style artwork. Another neat thing they did with these stories is they photographed the actual Japanese magazines to get the artwork because all of the original art is incomplete or totally gone forever. Another thing they did was make the photos so extremely sharp & super-high resolution that it's like you are reading the original magazines & getting the same exact experience that Japanese kids enjoyed way back then. It's a very cool concept from a "graphic art" point of view. The book comes out October 28th, 2008 & I can't wait! I wanna thank Chip Kidd for sending these pages to share with my readers, that's awesome!!

New BAT-MANGA BOOK : Deb Aoki Interview with Chip Kidd and Saul Ferris

Everybody knows how I am totally goo-goo over the soon-to-be-released BAT-MANGA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF BATMAN IN JAPAN Book. Well, a Manga-Reporter named Deb Aoki did a really great interview with the authors Chip Kidd & Saul Ferris. Chip Kidd is mainly known as a book designer but is also a major Bat-Fan. Saul Ferris is a totally obsessed Vintage Japanese Batman Toy Collector! I actually kinda-sorta know Saul & he's a really nice guy. He's one of those super-rich toy collectors who buy a lot of expensive collectibles but he's also very down-to-earth so it's hard to hate him, ha ha. I hope what I just said doesn't make him sound bad, ha ha, I guess I'm just jealous ( I'm poor ). He has an incredible Batman Toy collection, seriously. Be sure to click the link button down below for a very well done interview.