One-Punch Man vol. 28

The previous volume was an impressive showcase of spectacle as anything we’ve seen in the series so far.  Recognizing this, creators ONE and Yusuke Murata don’t try to top it here.  Though its opening moments are still enmeshed in the Tornado & Demon Cyborg vs. Psychos conflict, things start to scale back once the focus shifts to the rescued heroes.  Pig God shows that his guts are good for more than just holding food.  Atomic Samurai has a heartfelt reunion with Iai Master, Superalloy (Not Really) Blackluster deals with his crisis of confidence thanks to Amai Mask of all people, whose arrogance threatens to finally tip him from hero to villain.  We also get a few flashes of someone who looks to be the greatest hero of them all:  Blast, a hero for fun just like Saitama.

Things do ramp up again by the end of this volume, but the de-escalation in its middle does wonders for keeping the overall intensity of the current conflict from feeling overwhelming.  The character bits we get then are also quite welcome in terms of fleshing out bits of backstory (like Tornado’s) and showing that some have even managed to evolve after all this time (like Tank Top Master).  Given that we’re now over eleven volumes deep into the current storyline, everything that’s going on here should feel interminable and have me begging for ONE and Murata to wrap things up already.  That it doesn’t is still remarkable and a real showcase for how they’ve managed the flow and pacing of this storyline to not feel that way after all this time.