Volume 1 of One-Punch Man is interesting to compare to the later volumes, since we've seen Murata's art skills and style change ever-so-slightly over the years. We've also gotten to see ONE's storytelling change; these early chapters are mostly gags and monster-of-the-week style encounters where the punchline (hah) of Saitama's strength is experimented with in different situations. We've come so far from here! Let's get started!
Chapter 3
Surprisingly, Murata seemed pretty satisfied with the first two chapters, since we don't find any major alterations up until the third chapter. This chapter is primarily concerned with redrawing our hero, Saitama, to look a little less childish and baby-faced. I kinda like the original's youthful look, but Saitama's supposed to be an incredibly average-looking 25 year old guy, so I get it.
First is the title page:
 Original |  Volume 1 |
Similar "Benjamin Button" changes occur throughout the entire encounter with Beefcake:
 Original |  Volume 1 |
 Original |  Volume 1 |
 Original |  Volume 1 |
Some of these changes are quite subtle, but they help to give Saitama more of a "funny weirdo" vibe and less of an "impish child" vibe. Also, note that these may be some of the most subtle changes I'll cover on this blog, since if I were to go through every single tiny change done such as panel framing or shading lines, we'd be here for too long.
Chapter 4
The fourth chapter had quite a significant change, compared to Chapter 3. Here we see the first instance of Murata adding new pages and panels to the volume; specifically, during Saitama's dream-confrontation with the powerful Subterraneans.
Originally, Saitama had a single page for his grueling battle with the Subterraneans:
 Original |
Murata decided to expand this one page into an impressive five pages, which I think was a good call. It helps to better sell the idea that Saitama has finally met someone who can stand up to him in a fight (even if it turns out to just be a dream).
 Volume 1 |  Volume 1 |  Volume 1 |
 Volume 1 |  Volume 1 |
You'll notice that while the sequences of events are different, the first panel of Saitama getting punched and the last panel of Saitama getting kicked line up perfectly with the original's single page.
And then this scene was made even crazier by the anime adaptation...
This ain't the place to talk about that though, lol. Maybe another blog.
Chapter 6
Ah yes, time to introduce everyone's favorite cyborg who gets turned into scrap every fight: Genos! But he's not going to be redrawn just yet - for now it's another Saitama one. I guess he looked too youthful and happy again?
 Original |  Volume 1 |
And that's it for Volume 1! Stay tuned for Volume 2!
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