[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

Typical US "heroes" are fairly well known in Japan - at least in my experience. Everyone knows who Superman is (and he was even recently used in a series of Toyota commercials)... Along with Spiderman who is known largely through a tokusatsu series. Batman is also fairly well known, I`m not really sure how though.

As for the rest, I really don`t think anyone knows who they are unless they are an American comic fan. (A very rare breed)

For those who are known, it`s all in image - as a character alone. No knowledge of the back story, or wide recognition of the comics - which really aren`t and weren`t read in Japan. There seems to be a general recognition that a character is a US comic book hero simply by looking at it (as the design of a character generally makes it pretty obvious). Other than that, not really any incorporation into culture here.

I would still say that more people would be able to recognize a display of US comic book heroes in Japan that a group recognizing Japanese heroes in the US. I mean, how many people know the Time Bokan series characters at a glance in the US?

I think a lot of the recognition is due to Hollywood movies, and not much else. Spiderman and Iron Man are a couple other bigger "blockbuster" series that made it to the big screens in Japan. These movies seem to get quite a bit of promotion in Japan, from what I have seen.

Originally Posted by Runba

If someone saw a Poster of Time Bokan, I'm sure they'd only notice Gatchaman. (Which is known as "G-Force" or "Battle Of The Planets" here in the states)

I think the average person in the states can identify more of the mainstream japanese characters.

I lived in Japan, and I do not know Time Bokan. Gatchaman I think I could identify. I don't think I know more than a couple other Americans who could, though.