History Manga / Batman

* CulturalTranslation: Lord Death Man refers to himself as a/the "god of death" (死神) several times in Japanese. This became a "a death lord" in the English translation.

* MonsterHeel: The Hangman, in-universe, is a brutally unstoppable wrestling heel.

In the mid-1960s, the ''Series/{{Batman}}'' TV series was exported to Japan and proved extremely popular. As a result, an officially licensed ''Batman'' manga was published for just over a year in ''Shōnen King'' magazine. Jiro Kuwata, an established mangaka of superhero and "scientific detective" manga, was hired as writer and artist. The manga was loosely based on DC ''Batman'' stories of the era, but with significant AdaptationExpansion and CulturalTranslation. After the end of Japanese Bat-mania, the series was largely forgotten.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Karmak the gorilla is considerably more sympathetic than his inspiration Gorilla Grodd, being a mistreated lab animal who accidentally had his intelligence augmented and decided to seek revenge on humanity. After he's depowered, Batman feels sympathy for him and has him shipped back to Africa to be released into the wild. Grodd, on the other hand, is naturally intelligent, and his usual motivation rarely rises above "[[ForTheEvulz he's a horrible asshole]]".

* CaptainErsatz:
** Go Go the Magician is an Ersatz of ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' villain the Weather Wizard.
** Karmak the gorilla is an Ersatz of another ''Flash'' villain, Gorilla Grodd.

* MirrorMoralityMachine: A flawed MadScience resurrection turns non other than Alfred into the disfigured supervillain The Outsider, with his previous loyalty to Bruce and Dick turned into an uncontrollable desire to kill them.

* InsanityDefence: This is [[spoiler:Morgan's reason for pretending to be Dr. Denton, driven mad by his disfigurement]], as he believes that it will allow him to get away with his crimes.

In the mid-1960s, the ''Series/{{Batman}}'' TV series was exported to Japan and proved extremely popular. As a result, an officially licensed ''Batman'' manga was published for just over a year in ''Shōnen King'' magazine. Jiro Kuwata, an established mangaka of superhero and "scientific detective" manga, was hired as writer and artist. The manga was loosely based on DC characters, and at times on individual DC stories, but the scripts and art were completely new. After the end of Japanese Bat-mania, the series was largely forgotten.

* BreakoutVillain: Lord Death Man became this after his complete story was published in ''Bat-Manga'', to the point that he achieved CanonImmigrant status to ''Batman Incorporated''.

From 2014, the whole series was published in English translation by DC as ''Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga'', in serialised form online and then on paper in tankōbon.

** Fittingly, he also appears in ''Batman '66'', the 2010s comic based on the ''Batmam'' show.

** Fittingly, he also appears in ''Batman '66'', the 2010s comic based on the ''Series/{{Batman}}'' show.

** Fittingly, he also appears in ''Batman '66'', the 2010s comic based on the ''Batman'' show.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Doctor Faceless isn't the disfigured mad scientist Dr. Denton, he's the professional criminal Morgan impersonating the mad scientist. Although he is genuinely disfigured.]]

* SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset: Lord Death Man has a [[http://filesharingtalk.com/content/1847-Best-Sites-To-Watch-Movies-Online-For-Free-And-Without-Registration skull ]]mask.

* SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset: Lord Death Man has a skull mask.

** "Professor Gorilla" is an Ersatz of another ''Flash'' villain, Gorilla Grodd.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Professor Gorilla is considerably more sympathetic than his inspiration Gorilla Grodd, being a mistreated lab animal who accidentally had his intelligence augmented and decided to seek revenge on humanity. After he's depowered, Batman feels sympathy for him and has him shipped back to Africa to be released into the wild. Grodd, on the other hand, is naturally intelligent, and his usual motivation rarely rises above "[[ForTheEvulz he's a horrible asshole]]".

* ICannotSelfTerminate: In the story "The Man Who Quit Being Human", the experimental subject asks Batman to kill him if he goes beserk. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Doctor Faceless isn't a disfigured mad scientist, he's a professional criminal impersonating the mad scientist. Although he is genuinely disfigured.]]

* ICannotSelfTerminate: In the story "The Man Who Gave Up Being Human", the experimental subject asks Batman to kill him if he goes beserk. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]

In the mid-1960s, the ''Series/{{Batman}}'' TV series was exported to Japan and proved extremely popular. As a result, an original licensed ''Batman'' manga was published for just over a year in ''Shōnen King'' magazine. Jiro Kuwata, an established mangaka of superhero and "scientific detective" manga, was hired as writer and artist. The manga was loosely based on DC characters, and at times on individual DC stories, but the scripts and art were completely new. After the end of Japanese Bat-mania, the series was largely forgotten.

In 2008, a book called ''Bat-Manga: The Secret History of Batman in Japan'' was published. Compiled by Chip Kidd, it translated and reprinted selected complete stories and isolated chapters from the manga, along with photos of other Japanese Bat-merch of the era, text pieces by Kidd, and a new interview with Kuwata. It proved highly popular and [[MemeticMutation memetic]] with English-language ''Batman'' fans, although there was controversy over Kidd alone being credited as writer of the book even though most of its content was Kuwata's manga.