If you’re a fan of manga, comic book superheroes and Kaiju battles, you’ll love this new black-and-white adventure of Marvel’s wall-crawler. Among other things, because he faces classic villains and monsters the size of entire buildings alongside Ultraman himself. What a crossover!
The most deeply rooted masked heroes of Japanese and American cultures star in the new series Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Manwhich has begun publication from the Weekly CoroCoro magazine. What’s more, you can now read a generous preview for free (in Japanese) from the official websiteSo, are Ultraman comics in the Marvel multiverse? Not quite.
In many ways, the premise of Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man and the way in which these two universes collide is not very different from the Isekai formulas: in a direct confrontation against Dr. Doom in which Spider-Man fought alongside the Avengers, the arachnid hero ends up being crushed (literally) and sent to a separate dimension.
Completely alone and isolated from Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Spider-Man begins to discover a Japan that is somewhat different from that of the Marvel multiverse. What’s more, at that moment he is being punished by a titanic creature very similar to Godzilla. What can his webs do against such a threat? Luckily, the Giant Samurai is not far away and springs into action.
The series Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man It is being written by Shigenobu Matsumoto and the brushes and drawings are by Tomo Hirokawa who, right from the start, gives readers a (literal) hit of fanservice by replicating the meme of Batman beating Robin with his manga versions of Iron Man and Spidey. It is one of the many winks that can be seen in the pages of this unexpected but always welcome project.
Of course, although in principle it is Spider-Man who takes the reins of the story, we will soon discover how the weight of the story is distributed. Which does not take away from the appeal of seeing the greatest legends of the House of Ideas reimagined in manga style.
The villains of the moment? Weekly CoroCoro has already confirmed that both Viktor Von Doom himself and Alien Mephilas will complicate the day for this alliance of stars from the East and West under one premise as a guiding thread: “What is justice?”
Needless to say, this isn’t the first Spider-Man or Marvel manga, and it won’t be the last either. In fact, the current Ultimate X-Men issue is by author Peach Momoko, and its style is largely inspired by the art and aesthetics of Japanese publications. In any case, we are looking at a celebration of the legacy of two very representative cultural icons of their respective countries, but with a depth that crosses borders. And comic formats.
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