Kodansha’s formerly Japanese-exclusive trio of manga using DC Comics characters are getting their first official English-language releases this year — excellent news for anyone who’s ever wanted to watch the Joker raise a baby Bruce Wayne.
That’s just one of the premises you’ll be able to experience in the three manga series when they first debut on DC’s Universe Infinite app, which will launch a manga-friendly reader mode alongside the three drops.
The aforementioned Baby-Bats manga, Joker: One Operation Joker, by Satoshi Miyakawa and Keisuke Gotou, follows the Clown Prince of Crime after a scrap with Batman sees the Dark Knight de-aged into a baby — leading to Joker deciding that it’s up to him to raise Bruce Wayne as his own child, and transform him into his great crimefighting rival along the way.
It’ll be joined by Batman: Justice Buster — from the creative team behind the Ultraman manga, Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi, following an early-career Batman as he develops an AI named ROBIN to aid his lonely fight against crime — and Superman vs Meshi by Satoshi Miyakawa and Kai Kitago, which sees Superman fly to Japan for his daily lunch break, sampling various restaurants and delicacies to expand his Kryptonian culinary tastes (and occasionally bringing a friend from the Justice League along for the ride).
Superman vs Meshi, Batman: Justice Buster, and Joker: One Operation Joker will also receive physical trade paperback releases this fall, after each series has debuted on the DC Universe Infinite app.
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.