The Joker Is Officially Getting His Very Own Manga

Many classic comic book characters bred in the United States have been reinterpreted in manga. For the unfamiliar, this refers to a style of graphic storytelling originating from Japan.

Beloved characters who have received this very honor have come from DC, such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, to name a few. This year, The Joker is getting his turn.

Joker Leads A New Manga In 2026

In July 2026, the Japanese magazine Morning, published by Kodansha, will launch a new tale starring The Joker. The serialized manga is titled Machibura Joker, which translates to "Joker Walking Around Town" in English.

The story follows a version of the Clown Prince of Crime who appears to be modeled after the late Heath Ledger's Academy Award-winning portrayal from Christopher Nolan's 2008 blockbuster, The Dark Knight. The plot synopsis describes him as becoming disillusioned by the United States, and especially by the economic inflation the country has experienced.

As a result, the archnemesis of the Batman decides to flee Gotham City in search of a new base of operations overseas, and his journey takes him to the "Land of the Rising Sun." However, before he chooses to make himself at home in Japan, the Joker decides to take a self-guided tour of the place on foot.

Machibura Joker comes from artist Masa Ichikawa, an acclaimed figure of the art of manga. The creator is best known as the writer and illustrator of titles like the coming-of-age series, A-bout!, which was originally published from Nov. 2009 to May 2013 in fellow Kodansha publication, Weekly Shōnen Magazine. The magazine would also serialize the manga's follow-up, A-bout!! – Asagiri Daikatsuyaku-hen, before it concluded in Magazine Special in May 2014, and the third series in the franchise, A-bout! Surf, appeared in Evening from July 2021 to September 2022.

Joker Has Starred In Manga Before

Machibura Joker will likely be regarded as one of the year's biggest comic releases related to the Joker, especially among DC fans who also love Japanese culture. Of course, those readers are probably already aware that this is not the first manga to focus on the psychopathic criminal.

For instance, in 2021, Satoshi Miyakawa and Keisuke Goto collaborated on Wonope Joker, which was published in the States by DC as Joker: One Operation Joker. It tells a surreal tale in which Batman falls into a vat of mysterious chemicals that cause him to de-age into an infant, leaving it up to the vigilante's most dangerous foe to raise him as his own, a responsibility he accepts willfully knowing that his life has no purpose without the Caped Crusader.

The Joker, as well as many other notable DC heroes and villains alike, have also been reinterpreted in the Japanese animation style known as anime. For instance, the 2018 film Batman Ninja, which was produced by Warner Bros. in collaboration with animation studios Kamikaze Douga and YamatoWorks, sees the Caped Crusader accidentally transported back in time to feudal Japan, where he must embrace the way of the samurai to defeat a version of the clownish criminal who has really soaked up the culture.

The DC villain is even about to become the star of his own anime series called Joker: Laugh Riot, in which the criminal takes it upon himself to identify the one who murdered the most important person in his life, Batman. The TV show's greenlight was announced at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, along with the reveal that a series based on Absolute Batman and another led by Superman's dog, Krypto, are also in development.

Machi-Bura Joker launches in Morning magazine on July 2, 2026.