The first volume of the spin-off is off to a great start!
The core cast is entirely separate from the main series, yet the author and artist have no trouble establishing them quickly. Koichi is immediately established as the Nice Guy he is, a fact cemented by his first hero/vigilante name actually being "Nice Guy", because his initial heroics are things like picking up trash and giving directions to people who are lost. He also benefits from comparisons to main series protagonist, Midoriya, as someone who wants to be a hero but isn't born with a combat quirk. He has a great character arc in this volume alone.
Knuckleduster is, likewise, a meaty character from the get-go. The afterword in this volume describes him as the MHA version of Batman, similar to how All Might is MHA's Superman. I say that is an accurate comparison. He operates in the shadows, punches out thugs with mundane strength, and recruits a talented boy to be his Robin counterpart. He is also used for comedy, which surprised me. He and Koichi have a Straight Man and Wiseguy routine, with Koichi as the straight man reacting to his over-the-top antics.
Finally, Pop-Step, the third member of the trio, is developed from the same time as Koichi. In fact, the two of them are contrasted in the very first scene. Koichi's quirk requires him to assume a crawling position, and this makes him look creepy. Pop-Step's quirk enables her to jump high, and so people literally and figuratively look-up-to this independent idol. Yes, she is an idol singer. She performs song and dance routines on city streets, which is illegal, and not only because she uses her quirk without a license. At the same time, she is a selfish attention seeker and also a budding hero. She does, after all, go on vigilante patrols with Koichi and Knuckleduster on top of her schoolwork and independent idol biz.
The plot itself is quickly set-up and established as meaningful. These vigilantes do hero work even if they are not professional heroes. Side - note; Present Mic has a scene where he states that vigilantes like Knuckleduster were heroes before "hero" was a profession, back in the early days of the super-hero society.
Someone is passing out a Psycho Serum. It is a drug that amplifies the power of a quirk while at the same time diminishing the user's ability to reason. In short, it creates "instant villains" out of ordinary people. Making it more insidious, some users aren't aware that it is a drug at all, and it doesn't have to be taken voluntarily. It is called "Trigger".
Knuckleduster recruits Koichi to help him track down users and find the source.
Strangely, all the users of this Trigger become monstrous after using it. They literally transform into monstrous entities that would surely be seen as villains by civilians. I wonder if this is intentional, in-universe, that is.
Trickster Eric Novels gives "My Hero Academia - Vigilantes - volume 1" an A+
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Brian Wilkerson is an independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor's degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.
