Review: Gatchaman #2

Trends in comics are funny things, built, in part by copy cat mentality. How else can you explain the sheer dearth of multiverse stories from every publisher? Hell even the new Deadpool / Wolverine film is multi-versal! The current trend of course is animation shows making a comic come back. Yes I said animation; for me back in the day in the UK Gatchaman was actually Battle of the Planets, a kind of west meets east co-lab that would predate the numerous Power Ranger series’. So with Transformers, Defenders of the Earth, Thundercats and Space Ghost already on the rack, the second issue of Gatchman “transmutes” into comic book stores.

Lord Berg Katse AKA Zoltar for you BotP fans, has set a devious plan if distraction loose on the Science Ninja Team, AKA G-Force! Its all part of a master plan to kidnap the worlds greatest scientific minds. Yet behind the team is the God Phoenix AKA Phoenix and its powerful bird incarnation; its not long before the team have a plan. of their own!

I have liked Cullen Bunn’s writing for a while. His horror stuff was well crafted and at the time, was a welcome change of pace. Now a comics veteran it seems that Bunn is regressing of sorts. This isn’t a bad thing; consider if you will the need to imbue a book based on anime to carry that same vibe. My experience of Gatchaman is a severely disjointed, which in turn gives this book a “not quite what or how I remember it” feel. Noe of this is Bunn’s fault by the way. The book has similarities for sure, though I feel these are more with anime stylings rather than the show itself. Perhaps fans of the Gatchaman show will see things differently. One thing that I do find odd is that this book is aimed at Teen+, yet reads much younger, especially the dialogue.

The art is supplied by Chris Batista who tries hard to capture the anime aspects, including the facial elements, the leggy shots of Jun AKA Princess, which made a great impression on a young machine. There is a lot of motion through the panels, the [God] Phoenix looks great. There are, for me, some issues with body lines, that detracts from the overall feel of the book. Carlos Lopez provides the colors in true four color style that is super bright. Good work. Letterer Buddy Beaudon does a great job with the level of exposition that is required. Truly it seems that a thousands word is worth….. a thousands words! Finally, there are a number of covers to choose; I am of course going to go with Jun / Princess!

It may seem that I dislike this book; in reality I quite enjoyed it. It is a slice of early doors anime that is wholly respected by the creators involved. How can any one diss that?

Writing – 3.5 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Color – 3.5 Stars

Overall – 3.5 Stars

Written by; Cullen Bunn
Art by; Chris Batista
Colors by; Carlos Lopez
Letters by; Buddy Beaudon
Published by; Mad Cave Studios

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network