The last Marvel manga I’ll be looking at is Spider-Man: Fake Red by Yūsuke Ōsawa. I didn’t pick this one up in Japan, but it was advertised on the Shonen Jump collaborations and I had seen enough online to make me want to track it down. Fortunately, it’s easier than you’d think to import manga from Japan.

Unlike the previous manga discussed, this one is published by Kodansha and was the winning entry in their annual Marvel Manga Awards competition. It stands out quite a bit from the others and with good reason. Fake Red has been inaccurately described in some places as an adaptation or tie-in to the Playstation 4 Spider-Man game, probably because the costume Spidey wears in this series has some similarities to the advanced suit that was introduced in that game. It is actually an attempt by Ōsawa to tell an authentic Spider-Man story whilst bringing something new to the table.

The first thing I’d like to comment though is the presentation of the book itself. Manga is produced on mass in Japan and usually always printed with newsprint style paper and comes with a paper dustjacket. This one really stood out to me though as although it’s not a prestige hardcover, the paper is of higher quality than your standard manga, and has a dust jacket with raised lettering and art. The extra effort is certainly appreciated and the higher quality paper serves the art well, especially the colour pages smattered throughout.

The story resolves around Yu Onomae, a high school student who has rather bad confidence issues. He idolises Spider-Man and partakes in bouldering in his spare time, but he’s far from where he would like to be. Then his life changes when he finds Spider-Man’s costume and web shooters in a back alley. As any kid his age would do, he immediately takes the suit out for a joy ride. But he quickly learns that it’s not the suit that makes the man as he finds himself way out of his depth. Meanwhile, the real Spider-Man has disappeared, and both Mary Jane Watson and Silk are trying to figure out where Peter Parker has disappeared to and who is running around making a fool of himself in his costume. All the while, Peter appears to be struggling in the sewers of New York with what appears to be the Venom symbiote.

I’ve read various manga adaptations/interpretations of Marvel characters over the years, and I can safely say this is the best one I’ve read. Not that all those previous series were bad, but they often felt like Spider-Man in name only. Ryoichi Ikegami’s Spider-Man manga – whilst tremendous fun and surprisingly experimental – is quite far removed from the Peter Parker we’re familiar with – especially as the series progressed, and Spider-Man J is mainly on the silly side. Ōsawa is clearly a Spider-Man fan judging by Fake Red (or if you look at his Twitter account) and the impression I get is he he clearly want to tell an authentic Spider-Man story. Not just a Japanese take on Spider-Man or a Japanese themed story, but specifically a Spider-Man story. Granted the main character is someone taking on the part, but it nonetheless feels like something that would happen in mainstream Marvel comics.

The general theme of the comic is a throwback to many classic Spider-Man tropes. Yu is the down on his luck teenager who struggles to fit in at school and has no luck with romance. His luck even veers into the Parker luck territory at points, like when he strikes out with his close friend and confident Emma when she reveals she’s not into guys before he can confess to her. The key thing though is Ōsawa realises it isn’t the clothes that make the man when it comes to Spidey and Yu personifies that to a tee. His life isn’t immediately turned around when he finds Spider-Man’s costume and he quickly realises that being Spider-Man is far from easy, especially when you have no powers. Whether it’s struggling to rescue people from a burning building or having to catch a taxi to chase after criminals because you can’t web swing, these aren’t feats that any normal person can do without trouble. Let alone when it come to villains like Screwball streaming crime sprees.

Another factor that makes this series click is that whilst Yu is the main focus, this is very much a story set in Spider-Man’s world and will feel authentic to long-term readers. Regular characters such as J Jonah Jameson and Aunt May all make appearances, and they all feel true to character. There’s even a chapter that shows what happened to Peter in the lead-up to his disappearance where we get a typical day in Spider-Man’s life – in this case trying to get to the theatre to see MJ’s performance, but being held up on the way by petty crime and The Scorpion. All the villains are on top form, though it is interesting to see Mysterio wield the power and influence he does in this series, as he has never risen above a certain level in mainstream Spider-Man comics.

Spider-Man is a character who lends himself well to the manga style. The character design and exaggerated poses are perfect fodder for mangaka and likewise, there have been several Spider-Man artists who have a manga influence (Takeshi Miyazawa, Humberto Ramos and Mike Wieringo just to name a few). It’s therefore no surprise that Ōsawa takes to Spidey like a fish takes to water. His Spider-Man (whether it’s Peter Parker or Yu Onomae) is tremendous and he has a great take on Spidey’s classic rogue gallery with some unique twists of his own. The Spider-Man suit is basically a merging of the classic design with elements of the PS4 advanced suit which really works in the manga setting, particularly on the colour pages. In general, the art packed with energy and Ōsawa nails all facets of a Spider-man story whether it be romance, drama or action.

This was supposed to be a first volume, but the series sadly was cancelled and there aren’t currently any plans to continue it. The story therefore ends with Yu meeting his hero and getting a moment in the sunshine. There are no current plans for an English translation, but the recent announcement that Marvel and Viz are translating the Marvel/Shonen Jump collaborations into English is an encouraging sign, and I’ve seen plenty of fans online intrigued by Fake Red. Pester CB Cebulski on Twitter and we might get lucky.

Regardless, Fake Red was a ton of fun to read made all the better by Ōsawa’s clear passion for the characters and strong grasp of what makes a good Spider-Man story. Plus he’s a hell of an artist. Even if Fake Red doesn’t continue, hopefully Ōsawa will be given another shot at Spidey, maybe directly for Marvel.

You can find the Japanese edition on CD Japan here.