Ultramega Vol 1 by James Harren & Dave Stewart

w Russ Wootton on letters.

Okay, so about forty pages or so in, I was like, “Wait, is this an interpretation of Ultraman?!” Or a reboot or a retelling or what have you: I’m not familiar enough with the Ultraman property to say. So the very first thing I did after finishing this shocking and bloody — yet strangely affecting — trade paperback was look up the original Japanese Ultraman. This… isn’t quite the same, tho you can definitely see the influences. To a very large extent, it is to the kaiju-battling genre what Invincible (purportedly, as I haven’t read any of those books yet, I know, I know) is to superhero titles: a reconsideration that explores all the gory aspects of what it means to live in a universe infested with alien monsters and the people gifted with powers to fight them.

The story begins with Jason, a retired boxer facing unemployment from even his menial job. When he has a dream where a cosmic entity asks if he’ll bond with them in order to fight a galactic plague, he says yes, little realizing what this will actually entail. For kaiju have seeded themselves within the human populace, waiting to turn into monsters that devastate cities but for the efforts of the three Ultramega warriors who stand against them. It’s a hard life for the three men, and when love goes awry, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.

Fast forward almost twenty years and humanity has been divided into those without the kaiju infection — who are kept safe in the cities — and those in whom the plague has been detected and have thus been banished outside city walls. A young man still dreams about the Ultramega and fights his own little rebellions. But when he comes to the attention of quislings known as the Kaiju Klan, everything changes, both for him and his companions.

And that’s about as much as I feel safe saying about the plot, because it is no shit brutal and emotional, depicting alien encounters red in tooth and claw. It’s interesting how it posits the symbiotic nature of the relationship between kaiju and Ultramegas. I’m definitely interested in seeing how James Harren, who’s taken on most of the creative duties here, plans on exploring that in future books. I actually got a chance to review this ahead of Vol 2 coming out this spring, and I’m rather hoping they’ll rush this first volume of the series back into production. It’s an immense, intense springboard for a discussion on what’s alien and what’s just, through the lens of city-leveling action.

Ultramega Vol 1 by James Harren & Dave Stewart was published October 19 2021 by Image Comics. The upcoming sequel Ultramega Vol 2 publishes April 29 2025 and is available for pre-order from all good booksellers, including