Diving deeper into the world of Gatchaman has been a pleasure these past couple of months. I’ve mentioned before that this was one of those IPs that has always interested me but required an entry point to dive in. What better way than a new comic series from one of my favorite comic writers currently working, and from one of my favorite publishers on the market? Yes this is only issue two of the series but it is also the fourth issue inside this universe. And I have enjoyed these comics so far.
Issue two, shocking I know, starts off right were issue one ends with the Science Ninja Team stuck inside their aircraft trapped by a giant tentacle mecha. We quickly see them escape and the evil organization Galactor enacts their real plans of attack. What I loved about this issue was that we got to quickly dive into the action, and not linger on origin story tropes. The team escapes danger, we learn about the evil plans of Galactor, and then have to find a solution to this problem. Cullen does a great job of making these issues feel like an episode of a cartoon. He introduces more members of the Galactor squad throughout as well, showing that this organization has a vast amount of recourses to pull from. The dialogue can be campy at times but honestly that is what I want out of a comic like this. It should be campy and fun as it needs to feel like a Saturday morning cartoon series.
Cover Gallery
Also with this issue we see the return of the same art team as issue one. With this issue the get to expand more on what they did so well in that first issue. Getting to see more unique and fun designs for characters, and building out the world we see throughout the comic. I continue to be impressed with Chris’s background work that makes every panel feel so lived in. You can really imagine the world that the Gatchaman characters live in as you are reading this issue. Not to be outdone Carlos’s colors not only do their job of making everything breath inside those lines, but he also does an amazing job of showcasing action scenes with his vibrant colors. While I love every panel of art in this issue I also enjoy so much that the team decided to go with a more cartoony style. This adds to the layers that Cullen implements with his story beats. You could really see this comic coming to life as an animated series, which I should remind everyone was what the original Gatchaman was.
Preview Pages
The Gatchaman comics have quickly become the most fun series of comics I am reading. Every issue so far has brought some amount of joy and fun to my time reading them. I often opine about the lack of fun in the current comics medium and this series bucks that trend. It not only bucks it, it embraces it and that is what makes it stand out in a flooded market of comic books. It is not too late to jump on board that train and join myself and many others for this exciting superhero comic series. I would recommend this comics for fans of classic superhero cartoons, or anyone looking for a fun colorful action comic to brighten their reading.
Gatchaman #2 will be available at your local comic shop and digitally August 7th 2024. All preview pages, cover art, and the review copy of this comic were provided by Don’t Hide PR & Mad Cave Studios.
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