Faces being cut off victims and Bruce Wayne being haunted by a deathly Batman in his dreams. That's what fans of DC's Caped Crusader will get if they pick up Batman: Death Mask, a new anime miniseries that doubles as the American comics debut of acclaimed Japanese creator Yoshinori Natsume, if the just-released preview pages are anything to go by.

The four issue series - the first issue of which is due in stores on April 9th - brings a serial killer with connections to Bruce Wayne's Japanese training to become Batman to Gotham City, as well as bringing Togari and Kurozakuro creator Natsume (who's also worked on Konami's Metal Gear Solid games) to an American audience sure to shun him because he doesn't draw like Jim Lee.

Preview the Dark Knight's new manga look [MySpace]













Comments
"I'm...Batto-man!"
So...the guy's face fell off because someone threw a tortilla chip at him? Or is that triangle part of his lapel?
I think that's part of his lapel.
Clearly, because this is written by a Japanese man, the guy's face was cut off by a samurai sword.
I like how it starts out with the basic sounds effects like SPLAT and THUNK to make us feel comfortable and draw us in, but then moves on to the more clearly non-American ZAAA and POK. I might just start working POK into my everyday conversation.
Reminds me of "NEWT!" and "MINT!" from that Simpsons episode a million years ago.
I love me some manga, but the art on this seems dulled down to a more American sensibility.
'course, I could be talkin' out of my Hurley's.
Oooohhh, almost looks kinda as gory as Battle Angel Alita! Thank god for black and white. This is gonna be fun!
Faces being cut off? Ha! After years of being called a Batman rip-off, now Moon Knight get ripped off by the Dark Knight.
The proper term is "a four-issue manga series", not "anime miniseries".
"POK"?
I'd have things to say about this, but I haven't yet invented the swearwords necessary to explain the depths of my feeling about this.
I think one of them will be Pok. Pok this Zaaa, pok it straight to thunk.
@Rasselas: Yes, "POK".
My face sounds like that every time it gets cut off.
@Ghede: Ahh, go pok yourself.
"Damnit! Who's following me?"
Great writing!
@TommySez: Moon Knight was the first thing I thought of too. Hey, maybe He's the secret villain?
That would be a cross over I'd love.
@insertinanename: Thank you.
Literal translation time! In Japanese:
Manga = comics
Anime = cartoons
It's a pretty simple distinction. People get caught up in it like it's difficult but I promise you it isn't.
For previous manga Batman adventures see Child of Dreams:
[en.wikipedia.org]
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