A new battle-focused manga-style graphic novel is going to be loved by so many readers. Pitch is determined to become a fighter and wants to be trained by his favorite fighter, so determined that he ran away from his home to compete in hopes of impressing–and he does! But is he making the right choice to compete with an aging fighter who doesn’t think before he acts????

Punch Up! feels like a love letter towards shounen manga. A boy named Pitch runs from a martial arts monastery to join his hero and partner with him for a tournament. What he lacks in forward thinking and experience, he makes up with the ability to innovate. His hero, however, has been washed up on the fighting circuit. Sonny sees that he can use PItch to make a comeback, while promising to take him on as a fighting student.

Pitch feels like a mix of One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy and Hunter X Hunter's Gon. He maintains a high level of optimism and determination.

*Thanks Netgalley for a free arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I appreciate the storyline and characters for what they are, however I just wasn't feeling the book. It reminded me a little bit of Naruto and DBZ, which I love, but I just wasn't feeling this book, and I kept getting distracted from reading it. It was not horrible or anything, it just didn't capture my attention well enough. I can understand how it would be a fantastic read for others who's super into this sort of manga, though.

This graphic novel is for the Marvel and DC lovers! It is jampacked with action and has a great story line. It was a fast and enjoyable read that I know many will enjoy. I can't wait to add it to my library's collection.

This was so much fun! It reminded me a lot of classic shonen manga and anime, which were clearly huge inspirations. It was very silly and fast paced, with fun character designs and fights. I will look forward to the next volume.

Punch Up! Is a fun, fast paced story about Pitch, an orphan, trained in martial arts, who longs to be trained by his idol, Sonny Chan. Entering a fighting competition in the hope of impressing him, Pitch manages to catch his attention with his impressive abilities. But under the surface of the tournament, something is lurking...

A gorgeously bright and dynamic graphic style, very Cartoon Netwoork meets manga, and a fun fast paced story, with excellently created fight scenes. I really enjoyed this, and will be keeping my eyes peeled for volume 2!

Thank you Oni Press and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this great book. I enjoyed this nonstop, action-packed story with wonderful, very detailed artwork with elements of Naruto and Dragon Ball Z. This is the beginning of the series and I’m looking forward to finding out how the story continues.

*2.5 stars ⭐ rounded up*

OK, so I really wanted to give Punch Up! A solid three stars, or even four. Yes, I did like it a lot, but there were so many things that bothered me majorly throughout the story that I wished were addressed earlier. Like for one,

1) the world building
I noticed that there were anthromorphic characters sprinkled and peppered in within the humans and that this fighting tournament seems to be really important to the citizens. I just wished the why's and how of a world this interesting were explained, especially since pitch is so passionate about the tournament and being a fighter. To connect with the character, I feel it is important to connect to their world (and understand that), but I didn't get that. I feel that it is also important as a series.

2) one thing that I feared and did not like was the story itself. I felt like from the characters (mc is an orphan who likes to fight, really determined similar to Naruto) to the overall theme, it tried really hard to emulate Japanese shounen manga like the big three (Naruto, bleach, one piece) or just basically your typical, mainstream shounen jump manga serialization. I do get that the author is inspired by it so that is understandable, but I think it could have been executed better.

I felt like I was reading a different form of the Chunin Exams from Naruto, the Sports arc from MHA, or maybe the Heavens Arena arc from HxH and it gets really old. The world being very vague and less explained is part to blame for this.

In short, the art is good but the story is lacking.

*This was an ARC from NetGalley *

A really fun little comic book series with some fantastic art ! Really didn't know what to expect going into this but I'm glad I picked it up.

This one is a lot of fun!

Though I'm not a huge fan of shonen manga, it's clear that Zachary Sterling has a lot of love for the genre - so many tropes, beats, images, and themes from that genre find their way into Punch Up! Vol. 1.

The story focuses on an orphan raised in a secluded monastery who runs away to see his idol fight in a highly publicized tournament happening in a nearby city. This fighter, though he can do no wrong by Pitch's estimation, is a down-on-his-luck veteran with a tarnished reputation seemingly on the back nine of his career until he realizes he can hitch his wagon to Pitch's impressive fighting skills.

The story hits familiar beats and implies a shared history between the two fighters to be explored in later volumes, but the real winner here is the imagery. Taking inspiration from wild comic book heroes and villains of the past, the field of fighters for the tournament is comprised of some truly inventive characters with a vast array of superpowers and skills.

I'm excited to see how these fighters are fully developed, and what the shadowy figure deeply invested in Pitch's performance becomes, in later volumes of this series!