Spider-Man: The Manga
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Spider-Man: The Manga is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami which retold the story of Spider-Man in a Japanese setting. It was originally published in Japan from January 1970 to September 1971 in Monthly Shōnen Magazine.
A Junior high school student named Yu Komori (小森ユウ, Komori Yuu?) is bitten by a radioactive spider, which gave him spider-like powers like the U.S. Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Yu faces Japanese versions of villains such as Electro, the Lizard, and the Kangaroo. The series also featured counterparts of Aunt May, named "Mei", and J. Jonah Jameson, who is the publisher of the newspaper Yu works at.
Initially, Ikegami both wrote and drew the stories. On completion of the sixth story, Kazumasa Hirai became the writer, while Ikegami continued to provide the art. The first few stories featured analogues to several of Spider-Man's villains and supporting cast, while maintaining an altogether more moody atmosphere. The later Hirai-written stories deviated further from the source material and included scenes of sexual and gruesome imagery of a kind not seen in the original U.S. Spider-Man comics.
In 1996, the books were reprinted in their original format, with the original Japanese text. The covers were updated, with all of them featuring a picture of Spider-Man holding a flower. A number on a bottom left of the cover indicated the story-arc reprinted within.
The English-language versions of the series was reprinted by Marvel Comics across thirty-one issues from December 1997 to April 1999. Eight out of the thirteen Japanese stories in total were fully translated, with several edits to remove some of the violent scenes. The final issue, #31, began the translation of the ninth story and was left incomplete due to the title's cancellation.
