The Sankei Shimbun reported on Friday that the long-running Golgo 13 manga is going on hiatus in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine for the first time in its 52-year run, after an agreement between author Takao Saito's Saito Production company and the editorial department of Big Comic. The magazine's 10th issue will confirm the announcement on Saturday and announce the manga's return at a later date.

The announcement explained that it has been difficult for Saito Production's 10 employees to do their work under the current state of emergency in Japan due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. As the employees are "absolutely essential" to the work on the manga, both Saito Production and Big Comic chose to prioritize their safety.

The manga, centering on the titular legendary hitman, is the oldest manga still in publication. Saito launched the manga in 1968. Shogakukan published the manga's 196th volume on April 3, as well as a special "Pandemic" collection book compiling three past chapters centering on bioterrorism on May 1.

Viz Media published 13 volumes of the manga in North America between 2006 and 2008. The story inspired two live-action films in 1973 and 1977, a 1983 anime film, a 1998 Golgo 13: Queen Bee original video anime, and a 2008-2009 television anime series.