Long before Del Rey Manga and Marvel Comics decided to give The X-Men a manga makeover, DC Comics and Shonen King magazine published Batman manga in Japan in 1966.

Now, these once-forgotten stories are the subject of Bat Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan, a comics art book by graphic designer, author and comics connoisseur Chip Kidd, fellow collector Saul Ferris and photographer Geoff Spear.

Bat Manga! won't be in your local bookshop until October 2008, but I wanted to know more about the "secret origins" of this intriguing comics collection. I wrote to Kidd and Ferris and got the story behind the book, their 10-year journey of collecting and the happy coincidences that led to the publication of Bat Manga!. As an added bonus, Kidd shared news about the tantalizing possibility of more that's in store.

Read my interview with Chip Kidd and Saul Ferris, plus see a sneak peek of artwork and pages from this highly anticipated Fall 2008 release from Pantheon Books.

UPDATE: To get a peek at Kidd's incredible collection of Batman memorabilia, including some original Japanese Batman pages, check out this video from Dwell. (The glimpse of Kidd's collection kicks in at about the 2-minute mark, but it's also interesting to see his work as a designer and as a singer(!) too.

Bat Manga! was included in my 20 Most Anticipated Manga of 2008 list. See what else is coming soon to a bookstore or comic shop near you.

© DC Comics / Chip Kidd, Saul Ferris, Geoff Spear / Pantheon Books