This Is Your Last Chance to Read the Doctor Octopus Girl Isekai Manga

Image: Shueisha/Betten Court

A major shift is hitting the comic industry: Shueisha and Walt Disney Japan have officially ended their partnership, effectively halting the publication of Marvel-themed manga. The agreement is set to expire on September 30, with Shueisha planning a phased withdrawal of these titles from both physical and digital markets starting September 28.

Titles caught in this fallout include Deadpool: Samurai, Spider-Man: Kizuna, Spider-Man: Octo Girl, Secret Reverse, and the Marvel x Shonen Jump Plus Super Collaboration anthology. While existing digital copies will remain accessible to those who have already purchased them and physical stock will stay on shelves until sold out, these series will soon become unavailable for new readers through legal channels.

These series, all of which have concluded their runs, offered a distinct cultural fusion. Deadpool: Samurai, for instance, followed the irreverent anti-hero on a mission in Tokyo, frequently breaking the fourth wall to drop references to iconic Shueisha hits like Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Deadpool’s penchant for manga meta-commentary even extended to his other appearances, including his nod to the Chainsaw Man “Aki dance” and his famous pose in Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls.

Image: Hikaru Uesugi

The remaining lineup explored diverse takes on the Marvel mythos. Spider-Man: Kizuna reimagined the hero through a traditional “henshin” tokusatsu lens, while Spider-Man: Octo Girl leaned into the absurd by thrusting Doctor Octopus into the body of a Tokyo middle schooler. Secret Reverse offered a more straightforward superhero escapade featuring Spider-Man and Iron Man, and the Super Collaboration served as an experimental anthology of short stories from various Jump creators.

While Viz Media managed the stateside distribution for most of these works, the end of the licensing agreement marks a quiet conclusion to a unique era of cross-company collaboration. Though artists like Tsutomu Nihei and Kamome Shirahama have contributed to Marvel projects, those works remain distinct as they were published directly under the Marvel banner rather than the Shueisha partnership.

Although the exact reasons behind the contract termination remain undisclosed, fans of these eccentric crossovers have only a very brief window left to secure copies before they vanish from the market.

Source: Polygon