Theres no better time to look back atStreet Fightercomics than the present.
And its definitely not the first.
You could say that the series has as expansive a history in the comics as it does on consoles.
In various forms,Street Fighterhas been released across the last two decades in different levels of quality.
Considering the video games are constantly redefining themselves (ie.
Im only going to touch on those comics that have come out in America in some fashion.
Well, except that the game is about a fighting tournament.
Not about a fighting tournament.
Ive certainly read worse (coughTekkencough).
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So far, so…okay.
Silly, but okay.
Then in the third issue, we see the remaining characters react.
Guile is super pissed because he feels Ken was taken out in an unfair fight.
Dhalsim feels spiritually unbalanced from the injustice.
Zangief snaps a bears neck while feeling cheated out of his great rematch against Ken.
Blanka is emotionally shattered because Ken apparently taught him how to read.
Yes,Blanka even has reading glasses onwhen seeing the newspaper headline.
He loses the fight and accepts that, yep, them Street Fighters really are tough.
Theres a final scene showing Nida, an original character who has a major vendetta against Ryu.
The company that allowedLegend of Chun-Lito happen told these guys to stop.
Malibu shrugged it off and wrote up little profiles of where the stories would have gone had it continued.
Yeah, maybe its better that didnt work out.
The first two volumes are absolutely fantastic and I cant recommend them enough.
Bison holds a fighting tournament annually, of which he is the reigning champion.
Ryu is the main character, wandering into SHAD for mysterious reasons.
Also interesting is that Masaomi Kanzakis series is the first time Gouken has ever been shown in any media.
Dude needs to just stop killing the loved ones of people who can kick his ass.
Much like the prevented Malibu story arc, its about the fighters taking on their evil clones.
Chun-Li, Guile, and Ken are lured onto another island with Ryu just showing up because hes Ryu.
Yes, back in the early 90s, such a concept was a big deal!
Its like DVD packages that mention the ability to skip chapters as a feature.
Except for Shadaloo, since theyre mostly evil to begin with.
Theres also the pervy treatment of Chun-Li in the books thats just a little off.
During a fight, Honda buries his head into her breasts.
They were colored, albeit changed to read from left-to-right and very much abridged.
It went for eight issues.
It… wasnt very good.
I say that as someone who considers the movie a guilty pleasure.
Then theres a truly atrocious line where Guile appears and Bison is shocked.
I s-saw it on TV!
Maybe you should switch to cable.
That doesnt even make any sense!
That wouldnt change what he saw!
Is he saying that one of the extra channels would show that he lived?
Speaking of movies, there was also a manga adaptation ofStreet Fighter II: The Animated Movie.
Is it his place to be the best martial artist in the world or is it something different?
Theyre all worth checking out, butRyu Finalespecially.
Its dripping with badass.
For instance, theres a scene of Ryu as a boy, being attacked by a bear.
So yeah, great action sprinkled with some fine character moments.
If youve ever wanted to see Ryu and Akuma have a Batman/JokerKilling Jokemoment, this is definitely for you.
In 1996, Mami Itou did a two-volume series of manga stories calledStreet Fighter Gaiden.
We see that many of the characters are acquaintances prior toStreet Fighter II.
Chun-Li crashes at Kens house when shes visiting San Francisco.
Ken buddies up with E. Honda when he goes to Japan.
Chun-Li and Cammy are shown to have a very sister-like relationship.
Then theres the batshit insane world of theSvC Chaoscomic from across the 2000s by Chi Wan Shum.
Published by DGN Production Inc, the Hong Kong comic is based on the inter-company crossover gameSNK vs. Capcom.
Thing is,SNK vs. Capcomdidnt really have much of a story in-game.
Fighters wandered around, getting into random fights.
Theres stuff in there about random time travel and trips to Heaven and Hell, but thats really it.
They kill Ryu and Kyo, which is really out of character for Mr. Karate.
All the dead warriors end up going into this weird ghost world where theyre given a second chance.
Theres this big worldwide battle royal where everyone gets three lives before theyre snuffed out for good.
Whoevers the last man standing will be granted a wish.
Even if you accept the thing about a robot being in the afterlife, hes also from the future.
Why is he in the afterlifenow?
Even still, Zero never shows up after being namedropped in the first volume.
When did he cross paths with Zero, let alone become buds with him?
M. Bison has some plot where experimenting on Kyos rival Iori Yagami is super important.
Bisons so intent on getting his hands on a living Iori that he follows suit and commits suicide.
How does he commit suicide?By blowing up the planet!
The highlight is the art, which will occasionally lead into a sweet, painted splash image.
Need to write out Dhalsim and Mai Shiranui with little effort?
Just have M. Bison appear and stomp really hard so that everyone explodes.
The series does include Akuma riding a t-rex, so it has that going for it.
Then we get to UDONsStreet Fighterseries, which started back in 2003.
The series has been far from prolific.
Part ofTurbos ending is pretty annoying.
The very firstStreet Fighterissue shows that Akuma brutally killed Gouken, building up Ryus path.
It just reeks of story meddling.
Despite the problems, the series does the best job it can with juggling dozens upon dozens ofStreet Fightercharacters.
This part is usually helped by the backup stories done by guest artists and sometimes writers.
Its anAlpha-based guy,Street Fighter II-based guy, andStreet Fighter III-based guy working together.
I thought it was a nice touch.
Like Vega has an army of Vegas working for him outside the box.
But if theres anythingStreet Fighterlends itself to well, its the art of the crossover.
In 2015, Archie released a big crossover calledWorlds Uniteby Ian Flynn, a sequel toWorlds Collide.
And it doesnt stop there.
Lets just keep these weird comics going.
