One Punch Man (2013)

[ワンパンマン]

Volume 4

Author: ONE
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Publisher: Jump Comics

Synopsis:
When a meteor threatens the Earth, S-Class heroes are called in to save the day. Fortunately for the Earth, Saitama tags along too.

Story/Characters:
The meteor incident gives us the introduction of S-Class heroes like Bang and Metal Knight. What's more, there's some fallout from the incident you don't normally see in superhero stories. Also, we introduce conflicts that can't be solved with Saitama's one punch skills, namely that most heroes are stupid, cliquish, glory-hounding a-holes. (Honestly, a lot of them are so obnoxious you have to wonder why Saitama doesn't just turn supervillain and murder his problems.) Actually, I like how he handles it. Saitama's the hero the world needs, but not the one it deserves. We then follow it with the attack by the sea monsters led by the Deep Sea King. We get a nice steady escalation of the battle that will continue into the next volume. We also get a good demonstration of just how strong Sonic is when he's taken to prison. Also, we get a pretty good lead-in to the introduction of Puripuri Prisoner.

Art:
An impending meteor strike and the efforts of some top heroes to stop it are as impressive as you would hope and though we're just warming up, the battle against the Deep Sea King and his minions starts off strong. And I suppose I'm expected to comment on the fanservicey full-page reaction shot of a screaming bikini girl. (I'll admit, Murata is very skilled at drawing attractive women. It's not all just monsters and muscle men, folks. ^_^ )

Other:
Compared to other volumes with fairly substantial side chapters, this one just has a short two-page omake.

Conclusion:
I like how they're developing Saitama as a professional hero and we're getting a nice scale of escalation in the conflicts. The Deep Sea King Arc is a rather good section of the story, but the best is yet to come there. This is another volume worth having.

Rating:
Own It