My Hero Academia: Smash Volume 3 manga review

My Hero Academia Smash Graphic Novel Volume 3 cover image

My Hero Academia: Smash!! was the first manga spin-off of the popular shonen manga, My Hero Academia (created by Kohei Horikoshi).  My Hero Academia Smash!! is written and drawn by Hirofumi Neda.  It is a humor series based on the characters and situations of the original series, and most episodes are comprised of four-panel comic strips, ordered top to bottom.  Smash!! began in the “Jump+” digital app on November 9, 2015 and finished on November 6, 2017.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of My Hero Academia: Smash!! as a five-volume graphic novel series under its “Shonen Jump” imprint.

My Hero Academia is set in a world where eighty percent of the human population has a “Quirk,” a term used to refer to superpowers.  If someone wants to be a superhero, he or she must enroll in the Hero Academy in order to be trained and licensed.  Middle school student, Izuku Midoriya, is one of the 20% of the population born without “Quirks.”  He has no chance of ever getting into the prestigious U.A. High School for budding heroes until the greatest hero of them all, All Might, gives him a chance to change his destiny and to get parodied.  This is the gag humor version of Midoriya's adventures.

As My Hero Academia: Smash!!, Vol. 3 (Chapters 38 to 57) opens, Shoto Todoroki informs his classmates that his father, the hero Endeavor, has demanded that Shoto train at their summer villa.  Not wanting to be alone with his father, Shoto invites some of his classmates along for summer vacation.  Endeavor, however, does want some alone time with his son, and he will do anything to get rid of the unwanted guests.

The male students go bug hunting, and the target is the rhinoceros beetle.  The bug turns out to be difficult to capture, however, so some students hunt for replacements, as others start acting really strange.  Plus, the summer fun and education continues... at the swimming pool.

[This manga includes “Bonus Stuff,” which is comprised of bonus four-panel comics, miscellaneous art and comics and an “Afterword.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  The My Hero Academia: Smash!! manga exists, in part, because popular manga series practically have to offer four-panel comics self-parody.  Humorous in nature, four-panel comics, printed vertically, two per page in manga and graphic novel collections, are a fan favorite.  Many manga artists or their surrogates, regardless of the popularity of their series, create four-panel comics as comic relief for their readers.  Dear readers, I have come across four-panel comedy versions of even violent and adult-oriented manga.

My Hero Academia: Smash!! Graphic Novel Volume 3, like Vols. 1 and 2, offers over 200 four-panel comics set in the world of My Hero Academia.  I have to admit that writer-artist Hirofumi Neda understands the nature of the original manga.  Smash!! seems like real My Hero Academia manga, but the familiar characters and plots have a humorous bent.  So, if you like My Hero Academia and four-panel comics, dear readers, you will like the comedy styling of My Hero Academia: Smash!!

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of My Hero Academia and of superhero comedy will want the Shonen Jump title, My Hero Academia: Smash!!

B+
7 out of 10