The year 2021 marks an important milestone for a manga icon, with the 24th anniversary of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. And to help celebrate the occasion, the world of One Piece will be teaming up with Where’s Waldo? in an unexpected crossover. Yes, really.
First published in 1987 by illustrator Martin Handford, Where’s Waldo? has been delighting readers of all ages as they search through colorfully illustrated settings to find its striped shirt-wearing hero. Children around the world have memories of searching for Waldo on the beach, in museums, in outer space, and more. The backgrounds of Eiichiro Oda’s pirate treasure hunt manga evoke a similar “hunt and find” style, full of figures and personalities just as offbeat and unforgettable as the Where’s Waldo? cast. Because of that, or for some other unknown reason, the author has decided to celebrate nearly a quarter of a century of publication with a totally unheard of team-up: Waldo and Monkey D. Luffy will be appearing together in a special manga adventure.
The shocking announcement was made via Twitter with the official OnePiece account confirming Waldo–known as Wally internationally, among other names for certain regions– will be appearing in artwork of Onigashima (a new world island in the One Piece universe). The spread will be appearing in an upcoming issue of the weekly Shonen Jump magazine, offering a time-killing activity as well as a unique collector’s item for the ultimate One Piece fan.
Even more surprising, this is not Waldo’s first foray into the world of manga. In fact, he made a brief cameo in a 1992 chapter of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and can be seen referenced in at least one episode of The Simpsons and other pieces of media around the world. It is fair to say that the world of One Piece and Where’s Waldo? are both such cultural icons, a crossover was bound to happen sooner or later.
Waldo’s appearance on Onigashima comes at a notable time. In one of the most recent One Piece updates, the war for Wano (the region in which Onigashima is located) rages on. At the last update, there were tens of thousands of people involved in the war for Wano, meaning there are tens of thousands of people and creatures on the island. With so many people in one place, it may, through the actual One Piece plot, be incredibly difficult to find Waldo among the crowds. But readers will certainly do their best when the Shonen Jump arrives on July 19, 2021.
Source: Twitter
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