What is the original Lupin III manga?
The original Lupin III ran in Futabasha’s Weekly Manga Action, a magazine for adult readers, from August 10, 1967 to May 22, 1969: 94 chapters, later gathered into 14 volumes. Critics and reference works agree on the gap between page and screen: the manga’s Lupin is a ruthless, lecherous mercenary in a world of dynamite and backstabbing, drawn in a loose, frantic line full of fourth-wall gags. Jason Thompson’s Manga: The Complete Guide calls it “a crazy, groovy 1960s world” and “a fascinating homage to Mad magazine,” and rates it four stars.
Even the cast began as a different machine. Early chapters feature a new woman named Fujiko in story after story; Monkey Punch found inventing one weekly too much work, and she condensed into the single, ever-changing Fujiko Mine. The gang of the anime barely exists as a team: on the page, Lupin might partner with Jigen or Goemon in one chapter and try to kill them in the next.
