Mech Cadet Yu #5

Written by: Greg Pak

Illustrated by: Takeshi Miyazawa

Colored by: Triona Farrell

Published by: BOOM! Studios

After an explosive first arc, Pak and Miyazawa are back this month with their newly minted ongoing series Mech Cadet Yu with their newest issue and you can tell, they are ready to hit the ground running.

The last issue saw the newest recruits at the Mech academy go out during an all-out battle with the Scragg (large, reptilian-like aliens) against their commanders orders - they are but recruits after-all. Even though they were largely successful in not only taking down the giant beast, but in learning to work as a team, disobeying orders leads to the whole group being punished.

The punishment? Having to spend their days on the Janitorial unit - led by Yu’s mom - as they go out and clean up the mess that they caused during the previous battle. However, it isn’t all clean-up duty for our cadets: they are also being secretly trained by the legendary mech pilot Captain Tanaka.

After reading this issue, the first thought that came to mind is a very simple one: Pak and Miyazawa finally get to fully explore these characters that they have created and the world that they are building. My only real, very minor, complaint that I had of the first four issues of this series was that it was abundantly clear that Pak and Miyazawa built the story to be done in four issues and therefore had to rush through some character development to complete their story.

Now that the comic is an ongoing, those limitations have been removed and they can now fully explore this world and these characters and we are better for it. We get to see not only the big fights, but also the real-world ramifications of big giant mechs fighting big giant monsters on the world. We get to fully explore the relationships between this batch of cadets and witness not only their triumphs, but also their losses and flaws.

Saying all that, I am truly excited to see what comes next from Pak, Miyazawa and the rest of their team.