Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man Manga Concludes with 5th Volume
The exciting crossover manga series Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man, which brought together Spider-Man from the Marvel universe and Tsuburaya Productions' legendary hero Ultraman in the same adventure, concluded with the release of its fifth volume. This unique collaboration met readers in August 2024.
Written by Shigenobu Matsumoto and illustrated by Tomo Hirokawa, the series garnered attention by blending two different cultures and understandings of heroism. The manga begins with Spider-Man finding himself in the Tokyo of the Ultraman universe via an interdimensional train after a battle with Doctor Doom in New York. With Doctor Doom also joining this journey, his alliance with Ultraman's enemy Alien Mefilas and the Kaiju army forces the two heroes to combine their powers. The first two chapters of the series began publishing on August 13, 2024, on the Viz Manga app and by Shogakukan in Japan.
This crossover was an important step for the world of comics and manga. Ultraman is known as one of Japan's most established and highest-grossing media franchises with the 'Ultra Series' which began in 1966, and is a pioneer of the 'Kyodai Hero' (giant hero) subgenre. On the other hand, Spider-Man has been one of Marvel Comics' most iconic and commercially successful characters since his creation by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in August 1962. The coming together of these two giant brands offered fans a fresh perspective on how different universes can interact. Previously, a Spider-Man manga drawn by Ryoichi Ikegami in the 1970s, such as Jap
