Ultraman #1: Legacy

[informationgeek]

Writer: Eiichi Shimizu
Artist: Tomohiro Shimoguchi

21 out of 63 pages



Our manga begins with this opening narration...



Eventually the Giant of Light fulfilled his mission and returned to his home in deep space. The earthling lost all memory of the pairing and returned to his life as a normal human.

Free from alien aggression, the Earth was now peaceful. Though human conflicts continued, humanity itself faced no more threats from extra-terrestrial invaders.

Several decades later...

This tale begins years after the Giant of Light - also known as Ultraman - became only a memory...





Defense Minister Hayate is at the museum with his young son named Shinjiro, checking out the place and exhibits. The Chief of the Institute of Science and Technology, Ide, approaches Hayata while there and chats him up a bit.







The two rush down to the bottom floor and find Shinjiro. They assume the worst, but...





He rushes his kid home, who seems perfectly fine now and even happily waves goodbye to everyone. At home that night, Hayata tells his wife about what happen, indicating that this has happened more than once before.

A couple of days later, Hayata get a call from Ide to meet up with at the museum after closing. There, Hayata confesses to him about something important.









Ide then tells him that he needs show him something that could explain everything. He takes Hayata over to his lab (revealing that the Japan Branch of the Science Patrol is still operational). Hayata is confused and shocked by this, but his friend shows him something first before he explains any more...





Ide: Mine.

He then reveals what the footage looked like before it was altered...





At this moment, his memories come flooding back. Hayata was Ultraman, which Ide says that he and the rest of the Science Patrol already knew.









Our comic then ends with a flash forward to 12 years later. Shinjiro is now in high school, living a seemingly ordinary life... except for one thing...



Yep, he has been learning and playing around with his powers.


And that's the first chapter of the Ultraman manga. What did you think?

Comments

[trooper924]

Hmm, interesting.

So, I'm guessing that all the series that followed the original Ultraman series didn't happen here?

[doodleboy]

Like the last spashpage, Otomo-like cityscapes in fisheye perspective are always impressive. Some odd storytelling choices though, why is everybody oddly cropped.

The new Ultraman design is neat, very film-influenced.

[raspberryrain]

This is pretty cute!

[michaelhealy]

Didn't Hayata sacrifice himself at the end of the original series?