THE RISE OF ULTRAMAN #1
Writers: Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom
Artist: Francesco Manna, Michael Cho
Colorist: Espen Grundetjern
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher
Release Date: September 9, 2020
Cover Price: $5.99
Publisher: Marvel Comics
What it abuts…
In the darkness, there lurk Kaiju – terrifying and unfathomable monsters. Between Kaiju and the rest of us stands the United Science Patrol!
But who are these enigmatic defenders, and how do they perform their miracles? Shin Hayata and Kiki Fuji have spent half a lifetime trying to find out – and their quest is about to drive them toward a decades-old dark secret and put them on a collision course with a mysterious warrior from beyond the stars!
Kyle Higgins (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), Mat Groom (Self/Made), and Francesco Manna (AVENGERS) reimagine the classic origin of a pop culture icon as THE RISE OF ULTRAMAN begins!
Rated T+
What I thought about it…
I first discovered Ultraman as a kid in the mid-1980s and I’ve been a fan since. The original show remains my favorite, but I’ve watched some of the other shows too. The recent Netflix anime wasn’t perfect, but it had some of the Ultraman trademark moments I’ve always loved. When Marvel Comics announced this book a few months back, I was pumped! Surely Rise of Ultraman would be the return of the classic character to comics. So, how was this first issue?
Somewhat of a disappointment sadly. The story by Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom tries to cram too much information at once. The book’s first page is a splash page, but the art is obscured by thirteen (yes, thirteen!) caption boxes. However, I get why the writers did this. They have to introduce this word and cast of characters to people who are not familiar with Ultraman. But they go through so much information that I felt it slowed down the flow of the story. To make matter worse, we barely get any Ultraman, which is probably this book’s greatest sin.
The good news is that Rise of Ultraman has plenty of the stuff I’ve always enjoyed about Ultraman. In this issue, we see the United Science Patrol and their cool headquarters. We also meet one of their agents, a young woman named Fuji. She was by far my favorite character in issue #1. Fuji is a super-smart with technology and serves as the pov for readers. Based on this issue it seems like a lot of the heavy lifting in the series will be done by Fuji.
The art by Francesco Manna is solid. His style has manga influences and it fits with the world of Ultraman. There is a second story in this book featuring a page drawn by Ed McGuiness, but that made me wish he had drawn this series instead. However, I thought Manna did a terrific job in capturing the 1966 disaster that brought Ultraman to Earth. It was a nice way to kick things off and to pay homage to the legacy of the character.
I was let down by Rising of Ultraman #1, but maybe my expectations were too high. There are some good ideas here, and maybe things will improve in the next four issues. For now, though, I was left wanting more, and that’s not something you want to say after paying $5.99 for one issue.
Rise of Ultraman grade: C