Marvel and Kadokawa have put their first manga online in Japan, and the opening slate is five books, not two. Alongside the previously revealed Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen series, the partners launched Iron Man: I Am Iron Man The Manga, Deadpool: Millionaire With a Mouth The Manga and Venom: Lethal Protector The Manga on Kadokawa’s free manga site KadoComi. The first half of each opening chapter is posted now, and KadoComi dates all five to October 10.
The lineup was detailed at the Marvel Comics: House of Ideas panel at New York Comic Con on Saturday, Anime News Network reports. C.B. Cebulski, Marvel’s executive editor of Asia Originals, presented the books with Kadokawa chief editor Kenta Matsui and Kadokawa comics editor Naofumi Mashino. RCG covered the original partnership announcement on October 1.
The five series
- Iron Man: I Am Iron Man The Manga by TERU. Tony Stark, a scientist who runs a weapons company, is attacked by a terrorist group while testing his company’s weapons in Afghanistan.
- Spider-Man: Shibuya Cross Line by tokitokoro. High schooler Haruto Hachidori gets his powers from a spider at a small shrine, then crosses paths with Daredevil while chasing a serial murder case on the outskirts of Tokyo.
- Deadpool: Millionaire With a Mouth The Manga by Hosuke Momoi. After joining the Avengers, Wade Wilson becomes a rich, beloved superstar and forms Deadpool Heroes for Hire to handle the flood of jobs.
- Spider-Gwen: Her Big Debut The Manga by Ryusei Yamada. Gwen Stacy protects her town as Ghost-Spider while juggling her police officer father, her band and school.
- Venom: Lethal Protector The Manga by Peperon. Disgraced newspaper reporter Eddie Brock bonds with a symbiote that shares his grudge against Spider-Man.
Originals and retellings
Shibuya Cross Line is the group’s original story, built around a new Japanese Spider-Man rather than Peter Parker, and ComicsBeat reports that it will also introduce Japanese versions of Daredevil and the Punisher. The four books labeled “The Manga” adapt existing Marvel comics or films, according to Japanese outlet VG+. ComicsBeat describes I Am Iron Man as a retelling of Iron Man’s origin with a Japanese sensibility, Her Big Debut as an adaptation of Spider-Gwen’s origin, and the Venom book as a manga take on the Lethal Protector storyline.
The books run on staggered schedules. KadoComi lists the next installments of Spider-Man on October 19, Deadpool on October 20, Spider-Gwen and Venom on October 22, and Iron Man on October 23. Kadokawa said when it announced the partnership that the series would be collected in print volumes after serialization, but it hasn’t given dates for those.
For now the manga are only available in Japanese. AIPT reports that English versions will follow on a date that hasn’t been set, and neither Marvel nor Kadokawa has announced an English publisher or release window.
