Billy Bat, Vol. 12

Billy Bat #12

by Naoki Urasawa, Takashi Nagasaki

Billy Bat è un seinen thriller illustrato da Naoki Urasawa e scritto a quattro mani assieme a Takashi Nagasaki. Billy Bat è un “fumetto nel fumetto”, infatti la storia, ambientata nel 1949, segue le vicende di Kevin Yamagata, un artista nippo-americano che disegna il famoso fumetto poliziesco "Billy Bat". Quando Kevin apprende di aver inconsciamente copiato il protagonista del suo fumetto, da un'immagine che vide mentre prestava servizio nel Giappone occupato, decide di farvi ritorno al fine di procurarsi il permesso di utilizzare Billy Bat dal creatore originale. Egli, però, si troverà presto coinvolto in una rete di omicidi e profezie inspiegabilmente riconducibili al suo Billy Bat! Comincia così un’avventura densa di suspense e mistero nella migliore tradizione di Urasawa.

Genres: Manga, Mystery, Comics, Graphic Novels, Seinen, Historical Fiction, Drama

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2013

About the author

Urasawa Naoki (浦沢直樹) is a Japanese mangaka. He is perhaps best known for Monster (which drew praise from Junot Díaz, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner) and 20th Century Boys.

Urasawa's work often concentrates on intricate plotting, interweaving narratives, a deep focus on character development and psychological complexity. Urasawa has won the Shogakukan Manga Award, the Japan Media Arts Festival excellence award, the Kodansha Manga Award and the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. In 2008 Urasawa accepted a guest teaching post at Nagoya Zokei University.

Series list (not including short stories collections):
- Pineapple ARMY (パイナップルARMY) 1985-1988, written by Kazuya Kudo;
- YAWARA! 1986-1993;
- Master Keaton (MASTERキートン) 1988-1994, written by Hokusei Katsushika;
- Happy! 1993-1999
- MONSTER 1994-2001
- 20th Century Boys (20世紀少年) 1999-2006
- 21st Century Boys (21世紀少年) 2007
- PLUTO 2003-2009, based on Tezuka Osamu's Tetsuwan Atom
- BILLY BAT 2008-2016
- Master Keaton Remaster (MASTERキートン Reマスター) 2012-2014
- Mujirushi (夢印-MUJIRUSHI-) 2017-2018, collaboration with Musée du Louvre
- Asadora! (連続漫画小説 あさドラ!) 2018-ongoing

Reviews

[P.E.]

Batty Bits

Enter Kevin Goodman, the son of the cute couple helped by taxi driver Kevin Momochi and... Kevin Yamagata! A cartel of Kevin for the ages! The young man is a talented artist and a truant, helped by the mercurial bat during his exams. Curiously, all the striking murals and tags he creates are repeatedly torn down by a mysterious organization... Is it Culkin Enterprises, intent on destroying all other versions of Billy Bat throughout the world?

Finally, we get some background story concerning the pseudo-Chuck Culkin, who was spared from the firing squad... and given a mission by no one else than a certain Adolf Hitler: to spread the image of the black bat, worldwide. Now things are getting bat-crazy.

This tome also provides a gorgeous reconstitution of 1980's New York, and East Village in particular!

See also:
Radio Free Albemuth

[yel ᰔ]

➺ 4/5 🌟

So what the hell happened to Kevin Yamagata???

[Nick Jones]

Kind of an odd reset to the series, as most of the characters and plot elements went AWOL in order to establish the presumed new main protagonist. I don't mind major upheavals, but this one felt somewhat sloppy and disconnected with what came before, odd for a series that has previously done very good work through nonlinear storytelling.

Also, why does Kevin look exactly like mid-1980s Michael Jackson?

[Jacek]

I have to slow down. Binge-reading is addictive but this is getting too excellent to read so fast. I'll try to keep myself to a chapter a day for a while. Let the scenes distill themselves and give Urasawa's pacing the space to work its mirages.

An old friend returns, unexpected but right. It reminds me that I’m still waiting on a certain other fellow from the early parts of the series to make a reappearance and no doubt, like this one did, kick some narrative ass.

Kevin Goodman, the current protagonist, is my favorite main character yet.

The graffiti wall paintings are stunning—in intensity, in arrangement.

The Chuck Culkin revelations are eerie and compelling.

And the mood is really getting heavy now.

[Ibbo]

La storia non ha subito il contraccolpo della perdita del suo personaggio principale, e continua ad essere interessantissima e piena di colpi di scena. Continuiamo però a brancolare nel buio

[Shenniferr]

Éste tomo contiene uno de mis paneles favoritos de todos los mangas que he leído.

[Vittorio Rainone]

Con la pubblicazione così diluita, una storia coesa come quella di Billy Bat è difficile da seguire appieno. E infatti una serie di ipotetici colpi di scena di questo albo finiscono col perdersi. Però nonostante tutto è sempre un piacere leggere il fumetto di Urasawa. Qui assistiamo alla vita di Kevin Goodman, ovvero l'ultimo uomo in grado di parlare con il pipistrello. Un uomo che, diversamente dagli altri, riesce a chiamare l'animale mitico, per servirsene, o semplicemente per parlargli. Intorno a lui si raduna uno stuolo di individui che lo adulano o minacciano. Lo stesso Chuck Chulkin, il creatore del Billy Bat adulterino, che ha spodestato nell'immaginario collettivo l'opera di Kevin Yamagata, vuole sapere dove sia questo prodigioso graffitaro. Veniamo, fra le altre cose, a sapere come è nata la missione di Chuck, niente popo di meno che per volontà di Hitler. Insomma: Billy Bat continua la sua corsa con i pregi che lo caratterizzano dal numero 1 (ovvero eccezionale leggibilità, ottimi disegni, storia interessante) e i difetti che si porta dietro dal quinto o sesto numero, ovvero trama che avanza per riproposizioni successive, in una centrifuga che non si sa ancora dove voglia andare a parare.

[Keziahhh]

This is the first setback for me in this series. In the last volume when Kevin and his team were on the verge of revelation, they suddenly killed him!? Like don’t tell me who the true successor is in the middle of the series and kill the one we grew to love so abruptly. This just feels like a way to keep the series running. Like in death note, they killed L and bought Near and Mello. Just to lengthen the series. Because originally it was going to end with L’s death. And writers need to learn people never love the successor as much as the predecessor.

Man I miss Kevin. If kevin was gonna die he should have had only the same amount of scenes as Zofuu sensei.

Though it’s still peak, something just doesn’t feel right……..

[Aaron]

Well I can’t say that I didn’t see Kevin being replaced with Kevin as the main character happening especially since Kevin was introduced as Kevin’s successor. What I didn’t see coming was Kevin being killed, that was surprising especially since now Finney’s group has the scroll. I like how much “control” over Billy that Kevin has, seems like he really is the best and final prophet. I also like how the story seems to be transitioning more towards a spy themed mystery story with Levin learning all of the self defense and tailing techniques from Smith. Overall this story keeps me invested and doesn’t really feel repetitive to me.

[stanley snyder]

AYOO THIS WAS EVEN BETTER THAN BEFORE. why is Kurusu still here, what does he want?? And then how did Finney get the scroll? And this mystery around the moon with Akechi, man i can't get it anymore. Are we going to finally resolve the next volume? And that man who's Chuck Culkin when he was young! Crazy as hell. His daughter, Audrey, seems a little suspicious.

[John Lemonsmith]

Interesting way of introducing the second protagonist of Billy Bat.
So far the story has moved very quickly across decades since the first chapter.
Yet the pace is perfectly balanced with the amount of story in each arc.

[Chris]

I like it.

[Solim]

One of the characters from the early volumes comes back and takes the stage. All the re-occurring characters are getting old now.

[Sadi]

Alá os estaduniense mentindo que foi pra lua....

Meu mano kevin está a desenhar fatos

[eva]

4.5 ⭐️

[Elettra Petricola]

Molto bello anche se mi sto rendendo conto che dovrei fare una bella rilettura appena ho tutti i volumi a volte ciò dei buchi di trama che so che si riempieranno con la rilettura.

[Íñigo Carrasco]

🥱🥱🥱

[Alejandra]

3.5⭐

[Štěpán]

What do Michael Jackson, the Moon landing, and Hitler have in common? Apparently, everything.

[Alenna Rucoba]

me tarde 3 meses en seguir la serie, ni idea de por que la dropie si esta es la portada mas linda hasta ahora.

[Nadine K]

Something bizarre is happening lmaoo

[Dr. Tosetto]

Un numero di passaggio... Per una storia che si concatena alla Storia e alle leggende metropolitane.

[Federico Elías]

De verdad que esto se veía venir, creo que Urasawa ha planteado las suficientes bases para que el giro de este tomo (y varios giros en general) terminen como terminaron. Ahora parece que tenemos un nuevo protagonista, pero el valiente hijo de la grandísima puta de Urasawa sigue sin cerrar los dos grandes misterios del primer tomo, pero no se inmuta al recordarnos que están ahí, para hacernos maquinar con qué pudo haber pasado. Es un genio.

[Milenrrama]

Ufffff.