Billy Bat Volume 1

A long-awaited English debut from Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki, Billy Bat Volume 1 launches a sweeping conspiracy thriller that moves across decades and continents, pulling readers into a mystery that refuses to stay contained on the page!

Praised with two starred reviews, this series arrives as one of the most anticipated manga releases of the year.

The story begins in 1949 Los Angeles. Kevin Yamagata, a Japanese American cartoonist, has built his career on Billy Bat, a sharp, wisecracking detective beloved by readers. But everything shifts when Kevin realizes he may have unknowingly copied the character from an image he once saw in Japan.

Determined to find the truth, Kevin returns to a devastated, postwar Japan. What he uncovers goes far beyond questions of inspiration or theft. The image of the bat is ancient, surfacing again and again across history, tied to moments of upheaval, power, and violence.

As Kevin follows the trail, he is drawn into a far-reaching mystery that blurs fiction and reality, where a single drawing may hold the key to forces shaping human history.

“The story, full of intrigue, conspiracy, and mysticism, and set against the backdrop of the nascent comics industry in the U.S. and Japan and the early days of the Cold War, plays to all of Urasawa’s strengths as a storyteller who can meaningfully comment on history while infusing it with thrilling high concepts and genre elements.”

“This should be of strong interest to fans of Urasawa’s multilayered narratives, manga history, or sprawling metafictional mystery stories.”

“Billy Bat is far from a conventional shonen-style manga that''s become synonymous with the medium. The 20-volume series folds many of Urasawa’s defining fascinations into one sprawling conspiracy thriller, weaving together the moral ambiguity of Monster, the historical entanglements of Pluto, and the generational paranoia of 20th Century Boys into a story fixated on the unstable boundary between narrative and reality. For longtime readers and critics alike, Billy Bat represents one of Urasawa’s boldest achievements in metafictional puzzling."

“Fascinating… A mind-bending journey…. Truly unforgettable.”

“Naoki Urasawa is a major force in the world of manga.”

“I’m always in awe of the elegance of Urasawa’s comics.”

“Naoki Urusawa is the closest Japan has to an Alan Moore, and his most ambitious manga epic, Billy Bat, is finally getting an English edition.”

“Showcases Urasawa’s pristine cartooning…. a sprawling conspiracy rooted in … fear and paranoia.”

“Urasawa is widely regarded as one of manga’s most influential modern creators.”

“Urasawa and Nagasaki are the masterminds behind Monster, 20th Century Boys, and Pluto, three of the most lauded works of manga of all time.”

“Urasawa is a master of mystery, and Billy Bat is one of his best works, delivering an outstanding, intricate plot that spans centuries before bringing everything together.”

“One of The Greatest Manga of All Time”

“One of manga’s most ambitious conspiracy thrillers.”

“Long-awaited.” 

“Billy Bat Vol. 1 is exactly the kind of ambitious, unpredictable storytelling that h