BATMAN NEWS

The Bat Phone was ringing off the hook this week with the announcement of three long-awaited Bat-projects. First the big news: After a year of whispering about the original TV series coming to Blu-ray, the bat is officially out of the bag and heading toward a box set in November! Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar will be appearing at Comic-Con this month to detail the release. I'm sure there will be many cool special features and commentary, but I'm most excited just to see the Caped Crusaders in their Pop-Art glory in Hi-def resolution. If you haven't been following this saga, the original TV series has been tied up in negotiations for decades and has never been released on home video. Could the Green Hornet be far behind? Adam West's Batman has been featured this year in a string of retro-styled toys and in DC Comic's Batman '66. A new comic mini-series Starring Batman and the Green Hornet is currently in print. Spy Vibe interviewed the Batman '66/Green Hornet team here. Official Batman Blu-ray trailer below.

Designer/writer Chip Kidd announced last January that Jiro Kuwata's complete Batman '66 Manga was finally being released in Japan. English readers have been hungry for more translations since the release of Kidd's Batmanga book back in 2008. Well, the wait is finally over. DC has confirmed they will be releasing Kuwata's Batman in English through digital-edition chapters starting July 5th, followed by a 1000+ page, three-volume paperback collection later this year. Each of the stories range between 15-32 pages, and will read right to left to maintain the original composition and flow. This marks the first fully-translated and unabridged publication of Kuwata's work. I'm hoping the collection also gets the deluxe hardcover treatment! Kuwata did such a beautiful job capturing the Pop Art look of the TV series with his own graceful panels and line-work. Look at this page below. I think he captures the romanticism of the mystery/adventure!

In other Bat-news, season one/volume two of the animated series, Beware the Batman, will finally be released on Blu-ray on September 30th. The series went off the air before the end of its run. Viewers got to see season one/volume one in a February Blu-ray release, but have been waiting to see the remaining thirteen episodes. Although the CGI animation might look odd at first, I found myself quickly warming up to the series and really enjoyed it! From Amazon: "The groundbreaking all-new CGI animated series returns. Batman, Alfred and swordstress Katana are back to take on the underworld likes of Anarky, Professor Pyg, Mister Toad and Magpie. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, this action-packed detective thriller deftly redefines what we have come to know as a “Batman show.” Spy Vibe interviewed series designer Shane Glines here. Spy Vibe's ultimate Batman image archive on Pinterest here. Batman and Andy Warhol post here. Teen Titans and Secret Agent here. My visit to the original Batcave location here. 

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BATMAN NEWS

In a flurry of Bat-activity last summer, which saw the release of new comics and toys based on the 1960s Batman TV series, fans at Comic-Con were hoping to hear the Batphone ringing with news about the show's release on DVD and Blu-Ray. Well, the convention came and went and the Batphone never rang. Fast-forward six months and DenofGeek has just reported that such an announcement might be coming after all. The original series, which ran from 1966-1968, has been tied up in legal battles for decades and has never been released on home video. Apparently Conan O'Brien leaked the news on Twitter. Bleeding Cool posted today that a DVD-set is due in the fall, but has not confirmed a Hi-Def release. DC Comics posted a confirmation by end of the day. More news as it arrives, but hoping we'll see the Caped Crusaders in their Pop-Art glory on Blu-Ray soon. Image: original Batman and Robin costumes worn by Adam West and Burt Ward designed by Jan Kemp.

Related news: Chip Kidd has reported that Jiro Kuwata's Batman manga series has finally been printed in Japan in a multi-volume book-set with slipcase. Readers can find it on Amazon Japan here. Fans of the recent Cartoon Network series, Beware the Batman, are still waiting to hear if the series will continue this winter. A 2-DVD set of the first 13 episodes will be released on Feb 18th. Spy Vibe recently interviewed series designer Shane Glines here. Mini-interview with Powerpuff Girls designer/art director Kevin Dart (Yuki 7) here. Images: Jiro Kuwata's Batman manga. More related links below.

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U.N.C.L.E. AND BATMAN MANGA

Takao Saito, creator of Golgo 13, adapted James Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. for the Japanese manga market in the 1960s. The stories were serialized in comic digests and collected for release as paperbacks. Saito's spy manga are some of the hardest artifacts to track down and it's a rare treat when collectors get to see examples of this work. The James Bond and U.N.C.L.E. books rarely appear on eBay and tend to be listed between $100-$300. Here are some rare examples of Saito's U.N.C.L.E manga, Napoleon Solo. It's fun to see how Saito fashioned the characters in the style of Golgo 13 and brought familiar secret agents into the dynamic world of his comic pages. It has been suggested that the style of Golgo 13 was derived from these earlier spy manga, which may have been cancelled due to legal issues. I'd love to see a large collection translated into English in the style of Chip Kidd's Batmanga (hear that, Chip?). Incidentally, Batman appeared alongside Solo in Shonen Magazine and I have included some pages by Jiro Kuwata below. 

Check Spy Vibe for recent posts about our fiendish villains archive, new James Bond omnibus, Orson Welles the Shadow, rare Piero Umiliani Kriminal soundtrack, new Beatles Yellow Submarine game, James Bond audio book re-issues, Mid-Century Modern in Peanuts, Ralph Byrd Dick Tracy, The Saint, Op Art, Thomas Allen pulp art, The Shadow, Operation Kid Brother (MST3K), 1960s espionage writers, my review of SKYFALL, 007 at the Intnl Spy Museum, and more. Spy Vibe is now on Pinterest! Check out our image archives and follow us here.

Ian Fleming on Spy Vibe: recent posts include Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, and our Ian Fleming image archive link here. 

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