Welcome to the latest edition of the Multiversity Manga Club! We at Multiversity Comics are huge fans of all kinds of comics, but our coverage admittedly skews toward American and European books. Nevertheless, manga, or Japanese comics, has a huge presence in the world of graphic story-telling, as anyone who has frequented a book store chain over the last decade can attest. I myself have only dabbled in the medium throughout the years, primarily through my love of “Dragon Ball Z.” With the hope of presenting a more concerted effort to highlight the fascinating world of manga, I’ll be selecting a specific work each month and inviting readers to join me in reading and examining the book.
I love superheroes. At an early age, Batman, Power Rangers, and Spider-Man captivated my interest. Superheroes led me into reading comic books, which in turn led me to writing for Multiversity. So, I’m very excited to announce that the Multiversity Manga Club for the month of September is a straight up superhero comic; “One Punch Man,” written by One and illustrated by Yusuke Murata.
“One Punch Man” began as a webcomic in 2009 on One’s homepage, where it received immense popularity. Murata, of “Eyeshield 21” fame, joined One for a remake that is now serialized in the pages of “Weekly Shonen Jump.” The series stars Saitama, a blank faced, caped hero who describes himself as “being a hero for fun.” As the book’s title suggests, Saitama has the unfortunate tendency to defeat his enemies with a single punch, meaning his heroic endeavors are often not as fun or engaging as he might like. The series blends the sort of fourth wall bending satire of something like “Deadpool” with the full power fantasy of “Dragon Ball,” making for a comic that is deadly serious in its irreverence.
“One Punch Man” has become an extremely popular book among the Multiversity staff, so I’m extremely excited to open up the discussion with our readers. September is a particularly special time for “One Punch Man,” marking the release of volumes 1 and 2 in print for the first time in America. Both volumes can be found online or in your book store of choice. The series is currently up to volume 7 digitally, so those who don’t require the smooth grain of paper at their fingertips can get a jump start on print readers. While I’ll only be reviewing the first volume of “One Punch Man,” feel free to read ahead but remember to tag any comments or messages containing spoilers! As always, sound off with your thoughts in the comments or tweet using #Mangaversity.
