Sixty years ago, a robo mech from outer space landed on Earth, bonded with a kid and set about defending the world from the marauding aliens known as the Sharg.

Despite the fact that the Sharg were defeated, every four years a new group of mechs descend – and the Sky Corps have ready trained recruits already in place to meet and bond with them upon arrival.

When poor kid Stanford Yu – a Janitor at the Sky Corps complex – bonds with a mech against all expectation (not to mention regulations), what happens?

That’s the intriguing setup of Mech Cadet Yu, which gets off to a cracking start here with a great premise, some clearly defined characters and superb, Manga-esque art.

Writer Greg Pak has really hit upon a winning formula here, it seems, with this first issue – despite necessary exposition – moving at a great pace and setting up plenty of plot threads at the same time.

Artist Takeshi Miyazawa’s art delivers on every level, aided by Triona Farrell’s bold, gorgeous colouring.

I only happened upon Mech Cadet Yu thanks to a new release coming to my attention – despite me being several volumes behind, I’m definitely looking forward to reading further issues and catching up with the rest of the saga.