Review by Ian Keogh

Ultraman has starred in a series of films and comics familiar to any Japanese child since the 1950s, but there’s no need to know any history or backstory to enjoy the three Ultraman graphic novels Marvel issued from 2021. Co-writers Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom institute a continuity feeding all necessary information, sometimes via the form of partially redacted narrative captions, and as far as Ultraman himself is concerned they begin at the beginning.

The introduction to the United Science Patrol and the other-dimensional incursions they protect humanity from is via cadet Kiki Fuji. She qualified for an exclusive training programme when her friend Shin Hiyata didn’t, yet she’s becoming frustrated about how much information the USP still conceals from her. That all becomes academic when she and Shin are on site for a life transforming moment.

Everything to that point works well, and Francesco Manna’s art is fulsome, detailed and good at defining people. However, even allowing for tease, Higgins and Groom then wait far too long before actually introducing Ultraman. While we see communication, it’s beyond halfway before the character fully appears. By this time Kiki and Shin’s background has been explained in more detail than necessary, we learn about the Ultras and a spy thriller plot runs in the background. When Ultraman does finally appear, it’s with limitations, the most obvious being they can only manifest for three minutes, which is keeping true to the original Japanese concept.

The background plot of corruption and disagreement within the USP eventually pays off. It leaves Shin as Ultraman having to follow his instincts about who can be trusted as a terrible secret is revealed, meaning it’s more than likely Earth will be plagued by increasing manifestations of giant monsters in the future.

Higgins and Groom’s script is extremely wordy, but apart from delaying the actual appearance of Ultraman for too long they otherwise supply an efficient thriller, and the final chapter delivers the Ultraman vs. Kaiju battle we’ve wanted all along. At the end it’s apparent the writers have definite ideas about how to continue, and that plays out in The Trials of Ultraman.

Anyone curious about the bigger picture can feast on a bonus strip exquisitely drawn by Michael Cho and set in 1954. It introduces a monster, a traitor, and explains how two secret organisations merged to create the USP.