The Lupin III Manga Gallery
Fourteen volumes, two Japanese publishers, and an English afterlife in hardcover.
The original Lupin III manga is a compact object: 94 chapters, serialized in Weekly Manga Action from August 1967 to May 1969, collected into 14 tankōbon volumes. What makes the shelf interesting is who published them. Monkey Punch himself described a bitter dispute between Futabasha, his magazine publisher, and Chuokoron-Shinsha over the collected editions, settled by each house publishing half.
This gallery documents the editions a collector will actually meet. Covers are pictured only where they could be verified from an opened source; the 1960s Japanese printings are recorded in text until their covers can be checked the same way.
THE JAPANESE SHELVES
Futabasha · Chuokoron-ShinshaWeekly Manga Action · 1967–69
The serialization. Lupin was created for the launch of Futabasha’s new weekly seinen magazine and appeared in its first issue, cover drawn by Monkey Punch.
The Futabasha printings
Futabasha, the magazine’s publisher, issued its share of the collected volumes; these are the vintage Japanese books most often found in the wild.
The Chuokoron-Shinsha edition · 1989
The rival house’s edition matters beyond Japan: Tokyopop’s English Lupin III was adapted from Chuokoron-Shinsha’s 1989 printing, so its page makeup is the one English readers inherited.
Masterpiece Collection · 2019 / 2021
After Monkey Punch’s death in April 2019, Futabasha published the Lupin III Masterpiece Collection (傑作集), curated best-of volumes in July 2019 and October 2021: the source texts for the modern English hardcovers.
THE ENGLISH SHELVES
Tokyopop · Seven Seas
Tokyopop Vol. 1 · 2002
The first English volume, released December 10, 2002. Tokyopop completed all 14 volumes by July 6, 2004, and several volumes reached ICv2’s top-50 graphic novel lists.
World’s Most Wanted · 2004–07
Tokyopop followed with Shin Lupin III as Lupin III: World’s Most Wanted, releasing nine volumes before cancelling the series for low sales. Incomplete in English to this day.
Greatest Heists · Seven Seas · 2021
A large-trim hardcover of curated Monkey Punch stories in a new translation (ISBN 9781648275630), drawn from the Japanese Masterpiece Collection.
Thick as Thieves · Seven Seas · 2023
The second hardcover (ISBN 9781685797058): thirteen more capers from both classic series, again newly translated. Curated selections, not a complete run: that distinction is the collector’s key fact.