The Kansas City Public Library welcomes revolutionary book designer Chip Kidd for an exploration of The Secret History of Batman in Japan on Wednesday, November 19, at 6:30 p.m. in the Truman Forum at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.

In 1966, during the height of the first Batman craze, a weekly Japanese manga anthology licensed the rights to compose its own original Batman and Robin stories. A year later, the stories stopped – and this pioneering manga series disappeared, unknown to even avid collectors.

With Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan, Kidd resurrects an invaluable long-lost chapter in the history of one of the most beloved and timeless figures in comics.

Chip Kidd is a four-time Eisner award-winning author and designer of Batman Collected, Batman Animated, Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz, and Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross. From 2003 through 2007 he was the founding art director at Vertical Inc., the Japanese-American publisher responsible for the design of Osamu Tezuka’s epic Buddha, among many other manga titles.

As head book designer at Alfred A. Knopf, he also designed book covers for authors such as Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park), Anne Rice (Interview with the Vampire), Anthony Bourdain (A Cook’s Tour) and Larry McMurtry (Terms of Endearment), as well as David Sedaris, James Ellroy, Larry McMurtry, John Updike, and more.

Clint’s Comics will be on hand to sell copies of Bat-Manga! Kidd will sign copies of the book purchased at the event.