“I’m going to need a ladder.”
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
Tamashii Nations (Free Comic Book Day 2025)
“Operation Meteor” (adapting part of the first episode, “The Shooting Star She Saw”)
ORIGINAL STORY: Hajime Yatate & Yoshiyuki Tomino
WRITER: Katsuyuki Sumizawa
WRITER/LETTERER: David Clarke
SUPERVISOR: Naohiro Ogata
ARTIST: Mark Simmons
COLORIST: Arthur Hesli
EDITOR: Sedric Harris
The year is After Colony 195. Tired of being controlled by the Earth below, a group of space station colonists send five mobile suits made of Gundanium alloy to the planet to attack the government’s bases and weapons of war. One such member of Operation: Meteor is tracked by Oz’s pilot Zechs, who stops the pilot (unnamed in the comic because we don’t reach the scene where his name, Heero Yui, is dropped) from destroying a civilian shuttle to hide is approach. Most of the battle is only witnessed by one passenger, young Relina Darlian, who later finds the pilot on the beach. Meanwhile, the other four pilots of Operation: Meteor start their attack in their own “Gundam” mobile suits. So Zechs’ commander, Treize, sends him to get his new suit, the Tallgeese.
It should be noted that this comic was only made available to certain stores, and luckily the second store I went to was one of them. This isn’t a promotion for a new comic but a new “gunpla” model design used with Gundam Wing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the series. So the focus is on showing off the Gundams and Oz mobile suits that will be made available as gunpla kits for the anniversary. The Wing Gundam, the title Gundam of the series, is the only one advertised in its various forms, mostly Wing Zero, while Epyon (from later in the series) does show up on the back cover.
What they got right: The part of the episode we get is faithfully adapted according to my memory. The artwork is beautiful and while the focus is on the mobile suits, each of the main characters introduced in the episode are given enough highlight to get an idea of their personalities and different battle styles. The artwork is really good and the coloring is gorgeous. I wish I could color that good.
What they got wrong: Without the scene at the school where Heero is formally introduced I wish they had found a way to get his name out since the others introduce themselves like they do in the episode. This isn’t the first issue or preview a series, though I wish and hope they make one. Tamashii is using Free Comic Book Day to promote their models. The nature of the comic only allows a brief glimpse of Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Rababre Winner, and Chang Wu Fei, though as mentioned we do see a glimpse of their personalities and style.
What else is there: For the record, while Wing Zero is my favorite as a Transformers fans and for the color scheme (I actually own completed model kits of it in small and large forms as a trial), Duo Maxwell is my favorite pilot, though he wouldn’t be suited for either Wing. Deathscythe and later Deathscythe Hell is more suited to him. He’s the Gundam Batman! If Gundam Batman killed people in giant robots with a large scythe.
What I think overall: This really makes me miss the show, which sadly I cannot legally watch complete as of this writing to my knowledge. LIke many Americans at the time this was my introduction to the Gundam franchise, and one of the few I actually enjoy. It’s probably going to be a hard to find comic due to how it’s released, but if you come across it, give it a read. Hopefully they’ll partner with someone to do a full series, but there was a manga years ago and the series itself is worth watching.
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