Written & Illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Published in the west by Viz Comics (right to left), $7.95 (US) max, available from www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk and any other suppliers of Gundam books.

Overview

The fourth volume of Gundam: The Origin finishes up the cast's initial stint in space. We catch up with them as Char & friends are infiltrating Luna II, where the White Base and crew have been locked up for questioning. Both Amuro and Sayla follow up on their newtype flashes and try to do something about Char. Amuro's attempts to convince the soldiers fail but Sayla takes the more direct approach and sneaks into the launch bay where the Gundam is held. As the Musai fires upon the facility to draw out a Magellan, the Zeonic infiltrators set off their bombs and cripple the ship in the entrance to the hold. Char, looking to steal the Gundam's data, has his first encounter with a pistol wielding Sayla and turns the tables on her as she stands shocked at his unmasked face (she seems to recognise him but not vice versa at this point and she doesn't indicate who he is). Sayla is saved by the appearance of Amuro on the scene (Amuro and Char meet here, at a distance, much earlier than they did in the movies) and Char & friends flee. The Guncannon & Guntank units (still stuck outside) are used to clear the wreckage of the Magellan (I do wonder why there were no units at Luna II...) and Captain Paolo's last advice to Commander Wakkein (in charge of Luna II) is to have a more open mind about the young, misfit crew of the White Base.

After Paolo's military funeral we follow the White Base and single Salamis escort to the Earth where they begin re-entry (just the capsule from the Salamis, as in the movies and series). Events proceed as they did in the animated versions, with Char and the Zakus attacking the White Base, which in turn sends out the Gundam. Amuro's ability is unimproved from his first sortie (thankfully, I don't want to see him getting great too quickly) and as animated the Salamis capsule has to enter the White Base whilst the Gundam remains stuck outside. In this version Amuro survives by flying the Gundam onto the descending White Base and flattening against it for maximum protection from the re-entry heat. Finally Char calls up Garma Zabi (located in the Hollywood hills in the Origin) to notify him of his imminent arrival and the White Base descending into the Zeon controlled North America.

Opinion

The art maintains the usual high standard and gives us two colour sections to enjoy this time around. The first begins the book and seems to have a slightly different style to normal. The colouring reminds me of 1950s full colour comic work with an interesting proliferation of red and yellow hues. The second colour section finishes the volume off and begins with a very impressive, predominantly blue, couple of pages of the Gundam recovering after re-entry. However the pages after that are of a slightly lower standard than normal. They're either overly wishy-washy or too monotone, with the final picture of Garma appearing rushed. I think the aim was to go for a certain visual effect on the first few pages of their time on Earth but I don't think it quite worked as planned. It's not horrible by any means but it's not up to the standard of the other colour sections.

Volume four resumes the faster pace of volumes one and two after the slightly slower volume three. Things move along nicely but still without sacrificing anything in the name of speed. There is still no occurrence of the common comic adaptation problem of rushing certain sections (deemed less interesting) so as to not seem too pondering. This volume is also the one with the fewest changes so far, that I'm aware of. This perhaps detracted from my enjoyment (which I realise it shouldn't have) as I have quite appreciated the frequent minor alterations and additions to this legendary tale that have occurred so far. I thought the insertion of Sayla and Char's meeting here felt more right than the movie version of events. Having seen only the movies I enjoyed having the Luna II section of the story fleshed out into a useful and pivotal moment. I suppose the very minor niggles would rate this volume alongside the previous one - not quite up to the standards of the first two but still highly enjoyable. So far so good in The Origin and no reason to not continue picking it up if you're a Gundam fan.

Written to Beastie Boys - In A World Gone Mad...