‘One Punch Man’ Illustrator Creating ‘Back to the Future’ Manga

Are you ready to head back to the future? Well, then you better get ready to time travel. The man behind One Punch Man is launching his own Back to the Future manga.

So, maybe fans will get a crossover…?

Earlier today, reports confirmed Yusuke Murata will be penning his own Back to the Future manga series (via ANN). The artist confirmed the reports at a celebration event for Ready Player One in Japan, and Murata shared a few details about his new project.

According to the artist, the manga will pick up after the 1985 film. Screenwriter Bob Gale will supervise the web-manga as the series will include story content not seen in the actual movie.

The manga will be published on the Japanese website Kono Manga ga Sugoi! at a yet-released date. Murata did say he will publish his first manga volume of Back to the Future on April 20. A preview image for the series was released following its announcement, and it houses characters from the original film as well as its sequel. An image from its first chapter was also released as Murata finished its colored cover artwork not long ago.

This is not the first time Murata has worked with Back to the Future. Last year, the artist lent his talent to IDW’s Japanese release of Back to the Future: Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines. The illustrator drew an obi for the volume and penned a short note encouraging fans to check out the franchise. The artist has even shared doodles of Doc Brown on his Twitter page in the past.

For those unfamiliar with One Punch Man, the series follows Saitama, a regular working Joe who one day puts a stop to a violent villain attack. After this fight Saitama is inspired to become a hero. Training his body hard everyday, he’s eventually granted with extreme strength. Looking for a worthy opponent, Saitama joins the Hero Association in the hopes of fighting them. But every fight he gets into ends after a single punch! Forced to wander through life increasingly bored of his supreme power, Saitama has become hilariously disconnected with the world of action around him.

One Punch Man started life as a webcomic by series creator ONE in 2009. After going viral, surpassing seven million hits in June 2012, illustrator Yusuke Murata approached ONE about redrawing the series for a release in Shuiesha’s Weekly Young Jump spin-off webcomics. Thirteen volumes of the series have been released as of this date.

Are you excited for Murata’s new project? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!