What happens when you cross Kamen Rider, Marvel Comics, and Godzilla? That’s what the team at TokUSA Studios set out to do with their World of Nebulon! Fleshing out a fully developed universe, readers can expect to get the full tokusatsu experience, complete with unique characters that feel familiar but are original enough to stand on their own. The three main stories within the inaugural volume of Nebulon – “Project K”, “Unknown Heroes”, and “Masura”, are all set within the same universe, shifting focus between protagonists as you unravel the lore. The best part? You can read any of them, anytime, and they are a crisp & speedy 11 pages long, making the first volume a regular sized 30-ish page comic.
Of particular note to me is the art and character design. Indie kaiju comics come in all shapes, sizes, and genres, but I appreciated the obvious shift into more of a bright & colorful world rather than a dark “re-imagining” of a henshin hero that is commonplace amongst indie stories. For instance, yeah, “Masura” is a moth girl with wings, the comparison could be made to Marvel’s The Wasp, and the name is clearly a loving homage to Mothra, but the way these characters are presented truly feel organic, fun, and completely unforced. Artist & letterer Gaspar Flores ensures movement and scale are painstakingly preserved – the swift “wind” effects when the “Kamen Rider” character is running towards the action, or when two creatures do battle, they feel weighted and in-scale. One of the standouts that I thought especially made this book unique was the use of little emoji-style characters whenever someone off-panel was expressing laughter or positive emotion. I haven’t really seen that before in a comic and thought that was awesome!
It is clear that writers James Santana and Hunter Van Lierop are huge fans of tokusatsu in general, whether that’s the small-scale superheroes or the colossal beasts that captivate our imagination. In my opinion, comic books and henshin heroes are meant to be larger than life, positive role models, and that is something that the NebuVerse wears as a badge of pride. The forces of good are here to vanquish all evil and discover the root of it all. Carefully written with love and admiration for the genre, as well as full of friendly banter typically seen in superhero fare, I think together, the two co-writers nail exactly what the comic’s identity was intended to be. Thankfully, the comic isn’t too juvenile; it’s not afraid to drive home how violent and dangerous these creatures can become if we don’t have somebody there to stop them.
The NebuVerse is truly unique and does what I think is the right way to pay tribute to past media you enjoy. Honor what comes before you but pave the road for new and exciting takes. It’s no secret that “mutagen” or “chemical x” has created monsters before, but the way these books create new kaiju through those common tropes was really fun, and the subversion of the Rampage-esque kaiju origins was really clever. Spoiler alert – animals can be infected by this mystery chemical, but humans cannot. BUT, for some mysterious reason, there’s a henshin hero that transforms into a literal kaiju! Guess we’ll have to find out more by reading the books! Readers looking for a new independent comic to read, or kaiju & henshin fans will have fun with this run of short stories. Whether a potential reader is interested in independent kaiju comics, kaiju eiga, tokusatsu shows, or fun superhero comics, this one is right up anyone’s alley, and is one of the most accessible comics out there.
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