Well, it looks the new Titan Manga imprint of Titan Comics is kicking things off with a partnership to publish a pair of popular manga series. How much more popular can you get than the Astro Boy almost-prequel and Kamen Rider?

The Beginning of a Beautiful Partnership?

Ah, the perfect logo for a company publishing an Astro Boy prequel manga.

Titan Manga and Stonebot are proud to announce a brand new partnership for both publishing companies. To kick off that partnership, they’re announcing that they will jointly publish a pair of new manga series. The 2 new manga series will be:

Atom: The Beginning

"Atom: The Beginning" Vol. 1 cover art.
A critical question: is the kitty a robot too?

Atom: The Beginning is a sci-fi manga series based on the Astro Boy series by Osamu Tezuka. In fact, the manga starts off as a direct prequel to Astro Boy, and even features the creators of Astro in their youth as the main characters. Things quickly start going off-rails from there though, resulting in this manga being in its own separate continuity.

"Atom: The Beginning" Vol. 2 cover art.
Briareos, is that you? How did you get all the way here from Appleseed?

Titan Manga and Stonebot even have a trio of preview pages for Atom: The Beginning for us today. Albeit, in truly random order. Check them out below:

"Atom: The Beginning" Vol. 1 p. 48.
Apparently, in a battle of robot vs. mech, robot wins. Pants down.
"Atom: The Beginning" Vol. 1 p. 85.
I’m fairly certain the robot will win against a speeding truck too.
"Atom: The Beginning" Vol. 1 p. 182.
I only noticed just now, but is that robot wearing Crocs?

Atom: The Beginning Vol. 1 will go on sale on October 11, 2022; with Vol. 2 going on sale on December 13, 2022. You can preorder Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 on Amazon. If you live in the UK or Europe though, then you can preorder Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 on Forbidden Planet.

Kamen Rider Kuuga

"Kamen Rider Kuuga" Vol. 1 cover art.
I swear, that helmet makes him look like an evil bug.

Kamen Rider Kuuga is basically a modernized Kamen Rider that’s marketed toward the modern audience, especially for those who’ve never read or ever heard of Kamen Rider before. Neither Titan Manga nor Stonebot mentions any specifics about this. Only that Kamen Rider Kuuga “marks the return of a classic manga character adapted for the 21st century that’s sure to surprise both new and veteran fans alike”.

"Kamen Rider Kuuga" Vol. 2 cover art.
Still seeing a giant evil bug here.

Like with Atom: The Beginning though, Titan Manga and Stonebot have a trio of completely random preview pages from Kamen Rider Kuuga for us today. Check them out below:

"Kamen Rider Kuuga" Vol. 1 p. 113.
The number of freaky bugs keeps increasing, apparently.
"Kamen Rider Kuuga" Vol. 1 p. 167.
Well. no freaky bugs in this page. I do see a freaky budget Rorschach though.
"Kamen Rider Kuuga" Vol. 1 p. 171.
Dude, you need to get better eyes. Once you reincarnate, of course.

Kamen Rider Kuuga Vol. 1 will go on sale on November 8, 2022; with Vol. 2 going on sale on January 10, 2023. You can preorder Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 on Amazon. Again, if you live in the UK or Europe though, then you can preorder Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 on Forbidden Planet.