If you haven’t heard of or watched the One Punch Man anime that’s taken the world by storm then you certainly have at least seen the One Punch Man manga whilst browsing the graphic novel/manga section of your local book store. Or maybe even your local comic book shop (if you’re lucky enough that they stock them).
Written by One and illustrated by Yasuke Murata, One Punch Man is a satirical superhero manga series starring ordinary guy/loser, Saitama, who turns into the strongest superhero in the world after trying hard enough and so finds himself taking out mutant beasts and kaiju with no effort. Hence the name, One Punch Man. But despite his superhero abilities he can’t figure out a way to get his life together.
1. The Origin Story is Hilarious
Early on in the One Punch Man manga we’re given a brief insight into Saitama’s past and his origin story. Rather than being bitten by a radioactive spider or having his parents murdered in Crime Alley, Saitama has the absolute crap beaten out of him by a giant crab monster villain called Crablante. From there he decides to become a hero, thus ending a quite uneventful original story – but it’s still pretty funny to witness the hero of this manga try to defend a little kid from a crab villain because that little kid drew glasses on Crablente’s face with an permanent marker.
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2. Mosquito Girl is Sexy as Hell
And yes I feel completely weird for saying that. Because despite all the kaiju sized monsters, robots and mutants One Punch Man comes up against – Mosquito Girl is the closest that comes to beating him. She’s a voluptuous, sexy mutant who seems to control all mosquitos on earth. One of her main attacks is directing all the mosquitos in a giant blood sucking wave. The result of which takes out a lone bystander in quite a grim fashion – reducing him to just a skeleton.
3. The First appearance of Genos
Genos is a cyborg teenager who was once an innocent boy but has since been turned into a living weapon of cybernetics. During Saitama’s fight with Mosquito Girl, Genos intervenes and thinks he’s helping out Saitama but realistically he has the situation well in hand. However, Yasuke Murata’s illustrations of Genos’ limbs being torn apart are nothing to complain about. The artwork is visceral, bloody and finely detailed. So much so, you’ll beg for more panels of Genos getting the absolute crap beaten out of him on a more consistent basis!
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4. One Punch Man vs the House of Evolution
Genos spends so much time in Volume 1 going on about the House of Evolution that it begins to piss off Saitama. Much to our surprise, Saitama accidentally runs into most of the House of Evolution crew and easily beats them in hand to hand combat with (yes, you guessed it) one punch!
5. Vaccine Man
Dragon ball fans will liken the familiarity of Vaccine Man to Piccolo in the Dragon ball franchise. A giant, purple monster with two antennae, Vaccine Man is supposedly born from the world having too much pollution and the need for revenge against the industries that are response for polluting the earth. Despite his fast size, this doesn’t slow down Saitama one iota and manages to put an end to Vaccine Man’s shenanigans with one punch!
What’s your favourite One Punch Man moment from Volume 1?
Do you have a favourite One Punch Man moment? Are any of your favourite moments on this list?
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