Seven Seas Licenses Umezz’s Classic Ultraman Manga for 2027 Hardcover

English-language publisher Seven Seas Entertainment has locked rights to a true ultra deep cut: the 1966–67 Ultraman manga drawn by horror icon Kazuo Umezz (also romanized Umezu). Timed to the franchise’s 60th anniversary year, the collection will ship in North America as a large-trim hardcover on July 6, 2027, priced at $42.99 USD / $57.99 CAD.

Serialized in lockstep with the original tokusatsu TV broadcast, the series was the first manga take on the silver giant and packs kaiju battles plus archival material from the original run. For readers who mainly know Umezz from nightmares like The Drifting Classroom and Reptilia, this is a rare chance to see the same pen turn toward pure silver-age sci-fi heroics.

Seven Seas is framing the book as a collector’s piece rather than a disposable paperback—hardcover trim, anniversary branding, and a first-ever English presentation of a title that never got a proper North American release. Individual film premiere-style “street dates” don’t apply here; this is a straight publishing license aimed at manga shelves and Ultraman completists alike.

The pickup lands amid a wider anniversary wave for Tsuburaya’s flagship hero, including the documentary The Origin of Ultraman, which opened in Japanese theaters earlier this month. Between archival screenings, new media, and now a classic manga hardcover, 2026 is quietly stacking ways for Western fans to catch up on M78 history.

Official: Official site