, also known as Phantaman or Phantoma, is a seminal Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 created by writer Ichiro Suzuki and illustrator Takeo Nagamatsu in 1930. Ōgon Bat is considered to be the first Japanese superhero.

Character history

The character made his debut in Kamishibai

Kamishibai

Kamishibai , literally "paper drama", is a form of storytelling that originated in Japanese Buddhist temples in the 12th century, where monks used emakimono to convey stories with moral lessons to a mostly illiterate audience....

, a traveling show in which a sequence of pictures is narrated by a storyteller. He was popular enough to survive the decline of Kamishibai following World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and was eventually translated into manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 and anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 form.

A live action movie, Ôgon bat: Matenrô no kaijin, was released in 1950, followed by another in 1966, simply titled Ôgon batto, and starring Sonny Chiba

Sonny Chiba

, also known as Sonny Chiba, is a Japanese actor, singer, film producer, film director and martial artist.Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience.- Early life :Born in Fukuoka, Fukuoka,...

. A 52 episode anime series was produced the following year, followed by another film, Ôgon Batto ga yattekuru in 1972.

Character overview

Ōgon Bat is portrayed as golden, with a skeletal face and muscular body. He wears a high collared black and red cape, carries a pointed scepter that is able to conjure lightning and cause minor earthquakes. His appearance is heralded by a little golden bat flying in, followed by a reverberating laughter that seemed to come from everywhere.

Ōgon Bat is actually a protector from Ancient Atlantis, who is put into suspended animation in an Egyptian

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

-like sarcophagus

Sarcophagus

A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...

, to be awakened in the future to fight the forces of evil.

In modern times, Ōgon Bat is discovered by Prof. Yamatone's family and a little orphan girl called Marie in a tomb in modern Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. The tomb's inscription describes him as a “god of justice and protector of the weak”. When Yamatone's family is threatened by Mazo (マゾ), Dr. Nazō's main henchman, Marie starts to cry and beg for help. Her tears fall on Ōgon Bat's body and re-animate him. From then on, he appears whenever Marie asks for his help.

His main antagonist is Dr. Erich Nazō (ナゾー), the leader of a crime syndicate bent on world domination. Nazō wears a black mask with Batman

Batman

Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...

-like ears and has four different colored cat eyes which can each fire a different deadly beam. He also has no lower body, and hovers around atop a mini-flying saucer. Nazō also has a metal pincer in place of his right hand and has a habit of booming the name “LOMBROSO”.

Ōgon Bat's other great nemesis is Kurayami Bat (暗闇バット Dark Bat), a somewhat darker version of himself who he was supposedly created to fight.

Ōgon Bat is known as Fantasmagórico in most of Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, Fantomas in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Fantaman in the Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 dub and Phantoma in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Dr. Nazō is called "Dr. Zero", and Kurayami Bat is called "Dr. Death".

In Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, the series arrived without an intro and one was quickly spliced together by Cinecastro using scenes from an episode and the theme from another cartoon, Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth (TV series)

Journey to the Center of the Earth is an American science fiction animated television series, consisting of 17 episodes, each running 30 minutes. Produced by Filmation in association with 20th Century Fox, it aired from September 9, 1967 to September 6, 1969 on ABC Saturday Morning. It featured the...

. This was also the case for at least two other anime series: Shadow Boy and Paaman (Super Dinamo).

List of anime episodes

Source:

1. The Birth of Golden Bat
2. Mammoth Killer
3. Ge-Georg
4. Crisis
5. Man Eating Plants
6. In Pursuit of the Melon Bombs
7. Monster Sand Beronya
8. Space Monster Alligon
9. Worm Monster Gaigon
10. The Battle of Uranium Island
11. Mysterious Finkhamen
12. Singer's Poison Mushrooms
13. Mutant 5
14. Atomic Black Cat
15. Nero the Destructor
16. Ghilton, The Man of Stone
17. Galgar the Monster
18. The Star of Polynesia
19. Bat vs. Bat
20. The Land of the Blue Flame
21. The Queen of Heart Sigma
22. The Mysterious Volcano Peron
23. Black Mask the Thief
24. The Devil's Ruby
25. The Robot City
26. Rayman Bolt
27. The Eye of Tarangé
28. Sword of the Axis
29. Mystery of the Space Bat
30. ESP Cyborgs
31. The Ghost Tower
32. The Devil's Statue
33. The Invisible Monster Glassgon
34. The Great World Flood
35. Underground Monster Mogurā
36. The Great Explosion
37. Two-Headed Monster Gegera
38. The Dinosaur Trap
39. The Skeleton's Pilotage
40. The Day of Darkness
41. The Indian Princess
42. The Witch Monster Hīdoro
43. The Cyclops in the Mine
44. Revenge of the Liger Man
45. The Death-Bringing Woman
46. The Bat Hag and The Monster Shelgon
47. The Mysterious Gerontium 90
48. Rock Monster Gildon
49. Mysterious Vampire Men
50. Circus Monster Gablar
51. The Resurrection of Dark Bat
52. The Crumbling of the Nazō Empire

External links

• The First Superhero – The Golden Bat?—Ogon Bat article on ComicsBulletin
• Theme Song (MIDI)
• http://home.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/phantoma.htm
• http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/o/ogonbat.htm
• http://delphiessential.comicgenesis.com/Essay.htm
• http://foywonder.com/current_columns/foy_0209.html