Shonen Club #3, page 47 Gekko Kamen - Moonlight Mask! (1960)

Moonlight Mask was Japan's answer to The Lone Ranger, Batman and Zorro ... and is regarded as Japan's first live-action TV superhero.

The television series (1957-58) ran 130 episodes and also spawned 6 theatrical films. Its popularity quickly received the necessary merchandising as well as manga adaptations - which were written and drawn by Jiro Kuwata and then taken over by his student Takaharu Kusunoki.

Jiro Kuwata (1935-2020) is without a doubt one of the greatest post-war manga artists. He started drawing in 1948 and in 1966, when Shonen Gahosha acquired the Batman rights for Japan, they entrusted him with the project. Kuwata is best known outside Japan for his Bat-Manga!