Weekly Shonen Jump 22 1979 1st Kinnikuman

About this deal

This is a highly collectible original Japanese magazine. Issue 22 from May 1979 featured Kinnikuman on the cover and contained the first chapter of the regular serialisation, published on 28 May 1979. The series was created by Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada, known as Yudetamago, who originally conceived it as a parody of Ultraman while still in high school. The story centres on Suguru Kinniku, a cowardly and clumsy superhero who learns he is the lost prince of Planet Kinniku and must compete in wrestling tournaments to reclaim his throne. The original manga series sold more than 53 million copies in Japan alone and won the Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga in 1985. It ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1979 to 1987 and was adapted by Toei Animation into a 137-episode anime series broadcast on Nippon Television from 1983 to 1986. This issue marks the very beginning of that landmark run, making it a significant piece of manga history and a sought-after collectible for fans of classic shonen titles.