More than anything, Bat Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan (out today from Pantheon Books, designed by Chip Kidd) is a study of graceful action. Collecting much of the almost entirely forgotten run of Japanese Batman comics from 1966-67, the book features Batman and Robin looking smug while fighting aliens, looking smug while fighting dinosaurs and looking smug while getting into life-threatening danger. What the book lacks in storytelling depth, it more than makes up for in simple art brimming with enthusiasm for wild ideas and the sheer aesthetic and conceptual beauty of Batman punching a gorilla wearing a cape in the face.