The preview up at ComiXology is 70 pages long by the way.
“Ha, I’m actually going to punch you with my OTHER fist!”
Magna Starter Pack: One-Punch Man Special Preview
Shonen Jump (no date listed)
“One Punch”, “Crab & Job Hunting”, & “Walking Disaster”
WRITER: One (adapted from his webcomic)
ARTIST: Yuske Murata
The first chapter is rather short. A monster calling himself Vaccine Man is out to wipe out humanity because of pollution and Mother Earth and yada yada. Enter Saitama, One-Punch Man, who rescues a school child (it even says it on her shirt) and then one punches Vaccine Man. Quick and easy introduction to the man who is a hero for fun.
Or is he just out for fun? Chapter two flashes back three years earlier, when Saitama was an out of work salaryman (there’s a superhero-ish name) who ran into a crab man looking to kill the kid who drew nipples on him with permanent marker. Saitama doesn’t care, especially when he finds the kid first and the “cleft chin” looks more like…something biological dudes have a pair of. He says he doesn’t care until the crab man arrives and Saitama finds himself instinctively protecting the boy, defeating the crab monster. This is what set him on the path to becoming a superhero…but why isn’t he satisfied? As a parody comic it’s not a bad origin. Our hero’s first instinct is still to save people.
In the final story Saitama may get his answer. A scientist invents a super-steroid for his brother but it turns him into a giant. As they go on a smashing rampage the roided giant accidentally kills his brother because he doesn’t know which shoulder the brother is on and which One-Punch Man is on. Then he tries to take out our hero, realizes his quest to be the most powerful was hollow, and then gets a one punch to the face. As Saitama notes, it really wasn’t worth it.
Short stories for 70 pages but that might have something to do with the layout. Either way I can see why the manga and anime got people interested. It’s fun and features superheroes battling supervillains instead of other superheroes or whomever the writer hates. It’s just good superhero fun. Maybe I can check out more in the future.
BW Media Spotlight 