English translation of the Japanese manga Akira, this was one of the first major American publications of a Japanese manga and notably made itself a premium item for Western audiences by officially colorizing the manga. Because these colors were not in the Japanese original, a joint effort between Marvel & Kodansha (the manga's Japanese publisher) resulted in the entire series being re-released in Japan from 1988-1996 in 12 slipcases that each included multiple issues along with a bilingual booklet that listed the text in English and Japanese because the issues themselves were the same as the American ones and still in English. For the slipcase covers (officially labeled as オールカラー国際版AKIRA in Japan), see the volume's gallery.
