A photo of Shotaro Ishinomori meeting Jerry Robinson.
Batman vs. Kamen Rider (バットマン vs. 仮面ライダー,Battoman vs. Kamen Raidā) was a concept idea proposed by Batman writer Jerry Robinson to Shotaro Ishinomori in 1996. The concept was a DC Comics crossover in which the two iconic characters would meet.
Brief History[]
Shotaro Ishinomori met Batman artist Jerry Robinson at the Yokote Masuda Manga Museum during an exhibition of pieces from the Florida International Museum of Cartoon Art. After some talking and showing interest in Ishinomori's Kamen Rider series, Jerry proposed a Batman vs. Kamen Rider comic book.[1] This would not come to pass as Ishinomori's health began to worsen from lymphoma which contributed to the heart disease that led to his death in 1998.
Notes[]
While the comic book concept never came to light, the Batman comics would reference Kamen Rider in the form of a Japanese Batman whose costume, according to Chris Burnham, was partially inspired by Kamen Rider. A second Kamen Rider inspired Batman would be created by Dan Mora for a backup short story.
Ishinomori himself would do parodies about Batman in his manga works on certain occasions such as Cyborg-chan. The manga version of Takeshi Hongo/Kamen Rider 1 was wealthy and had a hidden secret lab under his home very much like Bruce Wayne.
Ishinomori, much like many in Japan at the time, was only familiar with the Batman character thanks to the 1966 TV show starring Adam West as the "Batmania" craze was one of Japan's many fads in 1967.
This article is about an unfulfilled concept in the Kamen Rider Series.
