American superhero-like manga?

[Drahken]

Can anyone think of some manga that's similar to american superhero comics (like spiderman & batman in particular)? I know there's a manga version of spiderman, but aside from that the only one I can think of that's even close is the kamen rider stuff.
I suppose magical girl stuff is similar, except for it being very girlish & having a strong focus on romance & such.
While manga covers nearly every genre, this seems to be one that is largely skipped. I want to get someone I know hooked on manga & I think starting with something like this would be the best bet. He's really into spiderman & black panther, so I'm hoping to find manga that's similar.


*points out that this isn't a rec thread, since there's no way to look this up in the DB (believe me, i tried, on MU & ANN, as well as A-P)*

[purplemo]

Err . . . momo doesn't know what American superhero comics are like but there is also a Batman manga. Maybe Pluto or Golgo 13? There's not any real Japanese superheroes in the same vein as American superheroes (I think). Astro Boy? Zetman? Kind of hard when I don't know exactly what I'm comparing to . . . ;p

[sothis]

Batman: Child of Dreams Manga | Anime-Planet

[Drahken]

Hmm... pluto & golgo might work. They don't sound like superhero stuff at all, but spiderman is closer to a detective than most superheroes are, so... *shrug*
Astro boy is more like superman. Technically that does qualify him as a superhero, but very different than spiderman.
I dunno about zetman. I read it up until a major plot change when they apparently threw out the entire previous storyline & characters & started what seemed to be a completely diff manga. It didn't seem much like spiderman, but perhaps it was somewhat similar to black panther (I've never read much black panther, so I'm not sure).

I had forgotten about that batman one.


I'm 99% sure that there really aren't any american type superheroes in manga (not counting ones based on american chars, like spiderman & batman), but I believe there are some that would be "close enough".
Perhaps some sort of "super strong detective" type story would be close to what I'm looking for. After all, spiderman is an "ordinary joe" type character who uses brains & agility more than brute force. I think stuff along the lines of detective conan would be a little too "pure detective", yet it shouldn't be anything that's 80% guns & bombs either, rather some sort of happy medium. Perhaps something with a private detective who has animal-like senses which he uses to help track down his targets, or something along those lines.

[sothis]

i can vouch for pluto feeling like an american comic as far as the superheroes

[Adhyaksa]

I can't recall any.
Manhwa maybe, like WARCRAFT: Sunwell Trilogy.

But that's not even that "superhero-ish"

[foryouranime]

Urasawa's newest work, Billy Bat, is supposed to be very heavy on the American super hero theme. Costumed vigilante and all that.