Holy Culture Shock!
While “Batman” the movie continues to sell tickets in the United States, Batman the comic book has just debuted in . . . Mainland China.
China Picture-Story Publishing House premiered the adventures of the Caped Crusader and his Boy Wonder sidekick in a two-story first volume. A cautionary note advises readers that the publication is primarily “an exercise in learning about foreign graphic and technical methods.”
The introduction goes on to decry Batman alter ego Bruce Wayne’s “playboy persona.”
Superman--popular in China since the 1985 release of the 1978 motion picture--makes an appearance in one of the stories. The Joker--called “Hundred Tricks”--appears in the second yarn.
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