Yu-Gi-Oh creator Kazuki Takahashi made a manga where Iron Man and Spider-Man play an elaborate card game, and now that manga is getting translated.
Fans of Iron Man, Spider-Man, and manga are in for a treat this June when the English language version of Yu-Gi-Oh creator Kazuki Takahashi’s Marvel-Jump collaboration manga drops. The limited-edition manga, entitled Secret Reverse, has been available since 2019 in Japan, but this edition compiles all the issues into a single bound volume.
The story centers on Tony Stark/Iron Man’s investigation of video gaming company owner Kaioh Fudajiro. Fudajiro’s gaming empire began with its release of “secret reverse” a card game that eventually grows to become one of the most popular games in Japan. Subsequently, Stark is invited by Kaioh’s company to attend a gaming convention in Tokyo. Despite not being deeply interested in gaming, Stark decided to attend. At the event, he runs into Peter Parker. During the keynote speech, Fudajiro invites Stark to participate in a demonstration of the cards’ power. After reluctantly agreeing, Stark goes on stage. Fudajiro picks a card that gives him enormous strength which he then uses to incapacitate Stark. Now interested in the card game and Fudajiro, Stark asks Parker and Fudajiro’s daughter about the card Kaioh revealed at the convention. After learning that the card somehow gained control of Kaioh, Stark and Parker decide to get to the bottom of the card’s power and what influence it may have over Fudajiro.
The manga has a number of similarities with Takahashi’s earlier work on Yu-Gi-Oh. That manga followed the adventures of Yugi Muto, a young gamer who one day while playing a game solves a puzzle that releases an ancient spirit that transfers into Yugi’s body. At times of stress such as when he’s gaming or when he’s threatened in real life, the spirit manifests itself to help Yugi resolve the problem before him. The more Yugi realizes the benefits of having a symbiotic relationship with the spirit, the more challenges and threats he is willing to face.
Secret Reverse seems to update the original story by making the spirit released by the game evil. Moreover, in this manga, the battle to control the spirit includes Iron Man and Spider-Man, who are inadvertently drawn into the spirit’s question of power. The manga will probably also be of particular interest to fans of Marvel Comics, especially, Iron Man and Spider-Man fans who are also interested in manga. Indeed, as one of the few manga adaptations of popular Marvel superheroes, it will surely be a collector’s item for those interested in obtaining it. Even for Yu-Gi-Oh fans, this is sounding like a must-read manga. Yu-Gi-Oh was one of the most popular manga of its time and after years without much from its creator Takahashi, fans will probably be interested in seeing what he has been up to.
At the end of the first issue, Takahashi writes how he had always wanted to do a collaboration like Secret Reverse, but never had the opportunity. Then suddenly through his connections with his publisher, Shueisha, he got word that Marvel was wondering if he’d be interested in “creating a comic for them.” Surprised at the invite, Takahashi gladly accepted. To his amazement, Marvel gave him tremendous freedom to create the manga of this choice. This included the choice of which heroes he could work with. Yu-Gi-Oh creator Kazuki Takahashi claimed that the choice of superheroes was easy, as Iron Man and Spider-Man were, in his mind, the “poster heroes” of Marvel Comics.
Marcel Green is a comics news writer for Screen Rant. A lifelong comic fan who originally was a «Marvel Only» collector, he has matured into an «independent» fan of all things comics, manga, cartoon, and anime. Happy to finally be able to put all those hours reading comics over the years to good use.
