It was serialized in Big Comic Original between 1988 and 1994, with the 144 chapters collected into 18 tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan.
An anime adaptation was created by Madhouse, with 24 episodes airing between 1998 and 1999 in Japan on Nippon Television. An additional 15 episodes were created and released as original video animations ( OVAs ), bringing the total to 39 episodes.
Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki created a sequel to the series, titled Master Keaton Remaster. Set 20 years after the original series ended, it ran in Big Comic Original from 2012 to 2014 and was collected into a single volume.
The anime and OVA series were dubbed into English and released in North America by Pioneer Entertainment. Viz Media began releasing the manga in North America in 2014.
