In our review of Gatchaman #8, Ken and Joe finally come to blows. Little does the Science Ninja Team know, something more sinister is going on.
GATCHAMAN #8
Written by: Cullen Bunn
Art: Pasquale Qualano
Main Cover by: Inaki Miranda
Variant Cover: Chris Batista
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: April 2, 2025
This review contains spoilers
There has always been tension between Ken Washio and Joe Asakura. The Science Ninja Team’s G-1 and G-2 were always bound to come to blows in Cullen Bunn’s Gatchaman Universe. This finally happens in Gatchaman #8, the latest issue in Mad Cave Studios’ revitalization of the classic Japanese anime series. While the fight may have been chemically induced, it does reveal the difference between the Science Ninja Team’s Eagle and Condor.
Gatchaman #8 picks up immediately after the end of the previous issue. Joe has been enraged by the mist released from Galactor’s latest mecha monster. He has Ken in his sights and like the other citizens of Porcelain City who were poisoned, he’s ready to fight. His leader, however, does whatever he can to talk his teammate out of it. Nothing seems to work. Joe intends to fight.
Elsewhere, Jun and Jinpei aren’t having much luck either. The enraged citizens are going at them and each other. Ryu is having a rough time battling the mecha that’s still releasing poisonous mist on the city. Dr. Nambu and the International Science Organization have yet to synthesize an antidote. And the ISO’s Ninja stare in disbelief.
There is so much going on and that’s just the first few pages of Gatchaman #8. And it all comes to a head by the time we get to the end. But let’s not jump there just yet.
In issue #7, we were introduced to Daiko Hayashi, a martial arts specialist hired by the ISO to train their new recruits. Yet in Gatchaman #8, things appear much more sinister with him. He questions the recruits’ ability to be of service to the Science Ninja Team now and into the future. This should immediately come as a red flag to anyone. The biggest question one should get from this interaction is why would Daiko want to keep the ISO recruits away from assisting the Science Ninja Team?
Cullen Bunn uses the bulk of Gatchaman #8 focusing on the face-off between Joe and Ken. In doing so, Bunn highlights a history of the two teammates that goes back to the original anime cartoon. I recently watched the first episode of the original Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, and even in that first episode in 1972, the friction between G-1 and G-2 is clear. You can cut through the tension with a knife.
In Gatchaman #8 however, Bunn uses the influence the Galactor mist has on Joe to allow him to express how he truly feels about his team leader. Eventually, Joe knocks the mask protecting Ken from the mist off of him. This causes Ken to come under the influence of Galactor’s mist as well. At this point, with both fighters under the mist’s control, they truly want to beat the hell out of one another. In turn, Ken expresses his own discontent for Joe. One would think, deep down, that Ken and Joe hate one another.
And yet, neither Ken nor Joe throws a kill shot. They both resist the thrall of the mist and regain their composure. As they do, the ISO finally shows up with their antidote. Using crop-dusters, the new gas disperses the Galactor mist from Porcelain City, allowing the citizens to regain their senses.
Ken and Joe give each other conciliatory statements without necessarily apologizing. This is actually an appealing way of allowing the two settle this conflict. However, if I know Cullen Bunn’s desire to stick to Gatchaman’s continuity. I don’t think this is the last time that G-1 and G-2 will bump heads. You can actually see more of it in Tommy Lee Edwards’ Gatchaman: Only One Earth miniseries.
And yet, despite the Science Ninja Team saving the day for Porcelain City, there is devilry still afoot. Back at the ISO, Daiko continues his manipulation of the ISO’s ninja recruit. This time, he is focusing specifically on Mara as he offers her individualized training. As he walks to his quarter, there’s a snicker followed by a loud laugh — the laugh of Berg Katse.
I can’t express enough how much I have enjoyed not just Bunn’s ongoing series, but all of the titles in Mad Cave’s Gatchaman Universe. I once questioned if everything was within the same continuity or not, but the picture is becoming somewhat clearer now. Of course there were the comments from the Only One Earth interview, but now we see it in the pages as well. In Steve Orlando’s Gatchaman: Galactor miniseries, Berg Katse uses manipulation and deception via disguise to take out his enemies. We see that same line of deception in Gatchaman #8 as he is easily able to infiltrate the ISO. That’s a great connection without actually having the titles mention one another.
Chris Batista’s art, with inks and colors from Sabrina Cintron and Carlos Lopez respectively, continues to be the true highlight of this series. The Saturday morning cartoon feel each issue has given puts a smile on my face each time. While the art isn’t an exact copy of the anime of the 1970s, the modernized look is close enough. On the opposite, but equally stunning end is the cover from Inaki Miranda. Since Gatchaman #1, Miranda’s covers have been as consistently stunning as the interior art. When creative teams can stick together throughout a run, it makes the series so much better.
At the end of Gatchaman #8 readers get a preview a new series, Whatever Happened to the Crimson Justice. Inaki Miranda handles the interior art. I’m excited for this.
Cullen Bunn and Chris Batista continue to kill it with their re-imagination of the Gatchaman Universe with Gatchaman #8. And yet, this new iteration of the Science Ninja Team feels like times of old. And now, with Berg Katse having infiltrated the ISO, business is definitely about to pick up.
