One Punch Man (2022)

[ワンパンマン]

Volume 26

Author: ONE
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Publisher: Jump Comics

Synopsis:
Amid the Child Emperor's fight with Evil Natural Water, the tide of battle changes when Sludge Jellyfish enters the fray looking to avenge his earlier defeat.

Story/Characters:
We open with Sludge Jellyfish looking to get some payback, only to be promptly absorbed by Evil Natural Water. The oil content lowers ENW's freezing point, thwarting the effect of Child Emperor's snowman machine. Flash and Saitama crash in on a latrine, where they take the occupied monster hostage to guide them to the big boss (only no one knows that Orochi's already been defeated, not even Saitama, who didn't recognize Orochi for what he was). We get a bit of reflection on what the Heroes are and how the aloof S-Class are being cut down to size by some of the more formidable monster lieutenants. There's one S-Class who isn't close to having met her match yet and that's Tatsumaki, who's shredded Gyoro Gyoro and uncovered the meat puppet inside. Turns out that the puppetmaster has another layer of puppetry and this is where we're introduced to Psychos in the deepest depths of the Monster Association HQ. She thinks she's quite secure with all her layers of defense, but she underestimated Tatsumaki. As she comes under psychic attack, Psychos calls out to Pochi to save her, but Pochi is occupied with Fubuki, Bang and Bomb. Fubuki pushes her abilities to the limit to protect Bang and Bomb and then the two of them return the favor by putting Pochi to heel, quite literally it would seem.

We return to Flash, Saitama and pink Mike Wazowski on a fun minecart ride. We then see what the mines are for, collecting gold to fund the Monster Association's activities. Saitama helps himself to some of this, only to drop his gold when the minecart hits the end of the track. Psychos detects Saitama's approach and so she ends up taking some kind of potion to boost her powers. We cut back to Kurobikari vs. Garou, when it the middle of the fight, Garou wakes up. (Yes, he was unconscious up until this point but still fighting well enough to beat PPP and hold his own against Kurobikari.) Now that he's awake, he steps up his game, but so does Kurobikari and amid bone-crushing exchanges, there a philosophical debate about the Heroes. It's then that Kurobikari cottons on to Garou's nature, how his power only increases the more he fights. Back to Psychos, she's now fighting Tatsumaki directly and when Tatsumaki asks about the location of the kid (i.e. Tareo), we cut to Tareo having found King. King unwittingly exposing a cloaked monster leads us to discover that Orochi is reconstituting himself by absorbing other monsters. After taking in pretty much all the monsters in the residential block, he's drawn to the power of Psychos and Tatsumaki. Tatsumaki has Psychos at her mercy, but then she gets a call from Amai Mask pleading for help. Tatsumaki is wholly unsympathetic (which gains her some points in my book). The distraction gives Psychos the opportunity to make a bunch of monsters attack Tatsumaki at once, just enough for her to break free of Tatsumaki's grip and rush to Orochi with the intention of merging with him to gain the power to defeat Tatsumaki.

Art:
There are a lot of nice action set pieces in this one. Highlights include Tatsumaki and Psychos' psychic battle; Saitama's minecart fun; Fubuki, Bang and Bomb vs. Pochi, and Garou vs. Kurobikari. Psychos' design is rather striking and there's an interesting contrast of her having an intimidating presence while also being overwhelmed by Tatsumaki's superior power. Gap moe? There's also some striking imagery of several of the S-Class Heroes being overwhelmed, which really helps sell how dire the situation is (so long as Saitama doesn't show up).

Other:
We get a bonus comic where a guy from HR in the Hero Association is interviewing the higher-ups, looking for someone to head up a new project. It gives us a little more insight into these characters and is illustrative of the rot in the Hero Association.

Conclusion:
The reveal of Psychos as the woman behind the curtain has me intrigued and we have several really nice matches going on. The previous volume didn't quite succeed in lighting my fire, but this one has me reenergized and looking forward to what comes next. I'd say that's more than enough to warrant must-have status.

Rating:
Own It