Planeta Comics publishes a One Piece spin-off. Discover the untold story of Firefist Ace!
Portgas D. Ace, the brother of One Piece’s main character Luffy, is a very popular character among fans of Eiichira Oda’s work. In the game, we learn quite a bit about Fire Fist Ace as a child, but there are still a few things we don’t know about him. How did Ace find Akuma no Mi? Who were the members of the Spade Pirates?
Seeing that people want to know all this, Oda decided to create a kind of twist where we can find out everything about the Pirate King’s brother, Part A. Part of this adventure, scripted by Ryo Ishima and illustrated by artist Boichi.
Fiery adventure
In this work we see the beginning of Portgas D. Ace after Luffy left Villa Fusha two years ago. Just like what happened to his brother, his first foray into the world of piracy doesn’t go well and he’s stuck with a strange island that has no name. This is how the play begins and we see the origin of Ace’s firepower, the formation of the team and how his name rises to arouse the interest of powerful people. The story is told by his colleague Deuce, who writes everything down in a notebook.
Ryo Ishiyama’s script allows us to learn more about Ace during his journey on the Great Line, to get to know his character in depth, as well as his injuries and determination, for some reason, to pass the legend. Gold Roger, the only man to complete the Grand Line and become the Pirate King.
The main character’s obsession is so great that he does not want to take his time and turn around, he wants to follow someone who has reached the same level as Roger, Whitebeard, the most powerful pirate of all. Although the world of One Piece seems big, Ace and his crew will meet other famous characters, which will make fans happy.
Ishiyama based the script on events narrated by Oda in the manga. Many details are not given in the original work and are used here to fill in the gaps. We see what Ace looks like during the adventure as well as his relationship with Nakamas. Even so, the story jumps around a bit in time and we don’t stay long in any era. The different jumps are due to the fact that the moments that are known from the main work are intertwined with each other. These moments are well-known and do not give much more details, but the unknown ones allow us to get to know the main character better. This isn’t the best script in the world, but it has enough quality to hook the reader.
A picture worthy of the Pirate King
A part of a piece that needs to be highlighted is a separate piece of art from what is shown in the piece. Boichi’s drawing is amazing (pay attention to the layout of the pages, from rethinking the designs of the characters, which makes many of them more impressive, as well as the action scenes where a lot of anger is conveyed. It is worth emphasizing the drawings. The main character shows his amazing firepower. But it’s not all action, There’s also comedy and it’s shown in the visual part, which is a bit reminiscent of the original manga.
The artist does a great job reimagining chapter 51 of the original manga, where we face Roronoa Zoro’s greatest swordsman, Dracula Mihawk. The design of the character is more similar to the original work, but the cases given as Ace in the picture are very impressive. It’s not worth mentioning the script for this special edition since it’s exactly the same about the One Piece manga.
Planeta Comic One Piece Part A Issue 01/02.
Planeta brings this work to us in the usual tankobon format, 11.1 x 17.7 cm country-sized dust jacket with flap. Although the layout and everything is very good, sometimes the volume feels a little small. It seems that the publisher wanted the volume to be similar to the original work, yet it never felt uncomfortable to read. The best detail is that the sound comes with a poster with an amazing picture on each side. With a total of 184 pages, the volume is sold at €8.50.
One Piece Part A No. 01 is a volume of great interest to any fan of Eiichiro Oda’s work, but may be of interest to other manga fans as well. Although the time jumps seem to prevent Ace from developing well, we are given enough information to understand his motivations and desires. The picture is without a doubt the best thing about this comic, it is a universe created by Oda that fits him wonderfully and has amazing vignettes.
One episode episode A nº 01/02
Author: Eiichiro Oda Boichi
Publisher: Planeta Comic
Format: Paperback with dust jacket and flap
Dimensions: 11.1 x 17.7 cm
Pages: 184 black and white pages
ISBN: 978-84-1140-464-8
Price: 8,50 €
Summary: This is the true story of a man who lived by the power of fire! Luffy, who belongs to the Straw Hat Pirates, has a brother: Ace Fire Fist. What is the unknown story of the pirate who turned his name into legend? From the eve of the founding of the extraordinary master Boichi pirate group Spade, the adventures of Ace are drawn with burning emotions. Includes a recreation of the first Roronoa Zoro Falling into the Sea Chapter 51!