One-Punch Man vol. 23

Vol. 23 of “One-Punch Man” is mostly run-of-the-mill by the title’s standards.  Which is to say that it delivers some quality fight scenes without advancing the overall Hero Society vs. Monster Society story all that much.  In fact, it’s getting to the point where it feels like writer ONE is determined to use every single villain concept he has in this storyline before it’s over.  In this volume alone we get Malong Hair (he has killer hair), Machine God G5 (robot who can copy any move), Black Spermatozoon (clones himself each time he’s cut), Homeless Emperor (was given powers by God), Vacuumer (elephant-headed power absorber), Nyaan (cat-person with a grudge against humanity), and Gums (…a mouth with a body that eats things).  With a lineup like this, the fights in this volume get points for variety if nothing else.

If this volume does have one thing to recommend it, that would be the quality of its humor.  It’s likely just coincidence, but I got a chuckle, and even some laughs out of more scenes than I was expecting to here.  From mercenaries trying to pass off real crying as fake crying, to Zombie Man realizing that he’s in trouble because his opponent didn’t monologue long enough for him to heal himself, there’s plenty of quality laughs here.  Hell, even Puni-Puni Prisoner’s antics turned out to be more funny than cringe-worthy this time around and that usually never happens.  There’s even some amusement to be gained from Saitama’s hard-luck streak as his explanation for venturing into the sewer is delivered in a sublimely deadpan manner.  This is all good, but it wouldn’t hurt if the creators managed to slip more story advancement, or one transcendent fight scene into the next volume.