Review by Ian Keogh

One is a master of delayed gratification. While that’s a skill often applied in Japanese comics, there surely can’t be any other series where the progress over twenty volumes has been so minimal, yet the series continues to enthral. However, Let’s Go! is where the long-promised conflict finally arrives.

All My Cabbage saw Garo continually tested and proving surprisingly resilient even when up against the toughest of monsters. The seismic shudders from their battles finally caught Seitama’s attention, and the volume ended with the One-Punch Man lifting a manhole cover and about to descend. Whatever happens is postponed, as One instead begins with the S Class heroes meeting and discussing their battle plans for invading the Monster Association headquarters. It involves introducing, and classifying, even more heroes, and as with the monsters, they’re not exactly reading from the same page, as egos and questions about status arise. Plus some are deliberately excluded, but aren’t going to take that as the final decision. Among that is the continued exploitation of the running joke concerning the hero everyone looks up to who’s completely lost his nerve. Only One-Punch Man knows the truth, and the joke is how everyone else makes excuses about a seeming lack of confidence, attributing it to his strategic mind or something similar.

Artistically One–Punch Man has astounded from the start, and with Let’s Go beginning the big battle between the heroes and the monsters Yusake Murata is hardly going to start disappointing now. Even this far into the series and with things about to kick off he creates new characters, and once the battle does start it’s page after stunning page of surprising action.

The action surprises because One’s inventive, treating the full-on stramash as a showcase for assorted powers and counter-effects, showing some heroes have more than the single skill. However, it’s not something taken remotely seriously, the creators serving up the ridiculous as a side dish. Female athlete Captain Mizuki working her way through different sports is a treat, and we finally see the rhino monster in action.

Having waited this long for a showdown, One was never going to finish it in the single volume, so the mayhem continues in In An Instant.