Review by Ian Keogh

While presenting a version of Ultraman that new readers can understand without knowing about years of Japanese continuity, writers Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom have dipped back into the past. These interludes have considered the Denbaran race, with another short sequence looking at them opening this volume, and the discordant history of the United Science Project. That has greater immediate relevance, as The Trials of Ultraman ended with Dan Moroboshi, an agent who’d disappeared for decades removing Ultra’s personality from Shin Hiyata.

That’s a major downside, but the upside is that it’s left Shin somehow able to access the memories of another Ultra who met Moroboshi in the past. Those memories tell a different version of events from what’s been presumed over the previous two volumes, and alongside them get to the rot at the core of the USP. Furthermore, whereas the previous two volumes have shortchanged on appearances of Ultraman himself, there’s no claiming that about The Mystery of Ultraseven. While the writers deal with ongoing plots, plenty of Ultra vs. Kaiju features.

New artist Davide Tinto sticks to the established action style, and delivers the assorted monster battles with some power. It’s double the visual thrills also, as much of the book features two Ultras in action, and by the end a third oversized player has entered the fray.

Marvel’s previous Ultraman books didn’t achieve the right balance between talk and action, but that’s rectified here. The ongoing plot is addressed, and issues running since the opening volume are resolved, leading to a rearrangement of priorities, with the villains now clearer. The next instalment features the Avengers.