Fighting game storylines lend themselves well to comic books.
Different games have led to different tie-ins.Street FighterandMortal Kombateach have a long history of comics of differing quality.
In terms of U.S. mainstream popularity,Tekkenis up there withStreet FighterandMortal Kombat.
The games story would surely lend itself well to a comic book adaptation.
And yes, it did get a handful of attempts.
Its just that…well, theres a reason why nobody talks about them.
Like I said, the basic concept ofTekkens storyline works.
Theres an evil, power-hungry criminal mastermind who holds a corporate and military chokehold on the world.
Unfortunately, this man his son is just as corrupt as his father.
As decades pass, their bloodlines reach expands and threatens to engulf the planet itself.
We begin in late 1997. then fine,Tekken 3was the best-selling fighter of all time.)
Coincidentally, its not the only fighting game comic incident involving Walter McDaniel.
Then years later, Deadpool was doing Shoryukens in an actual Capcom video game based purely on that gag.
Its on-the-nose as hell, but at least its setting up a ton of stuff in its own way.
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Now, McDaniels art ismostlyfine on its own.
If anything, its the overall design that makes this thing harsh to look at.
The word bubbles look like Hell and the text is clown shoes to the third degree.
Look at this sequence, where Heihachi spars with Kazuya.
Its pretty much THETekkenorigin scene and well…yeah.
Where does one start?
The thought bubble coming out of Heihachis fist?
The MS Paint word bubbles?
The cavalcade of fonts?
AH$HITTT!!?
The first thing you talk about is RIPSPLISTS!!!
Nina and Anna Williams are sent by the U.S. government to take part in it as well.
Despite being an eyesore, its not the worst thing Ive read.
Better than most of MalibusMortal Kombatcomics at least.
Unfortunately, the next issue wouldnt hit stands for a while.
About a year, to be precise.
Although its a direct follow-up toThe Tekken Saga#1, the next issue is calledTekken 2#1.
This issue came with two different covers: Photo Edition and Manga Edition.
Fake Terry even has to yell for help from Joseph and Andrew to really make it more obvious.
Once were down to the named characters, some of the matches get clean endings while others are swerves.
Its Juns presence in the audience that suppresses it.
Regardless, he wins and the comic rushes through his fight with Heihachi.
After all, theyre going through an entire tournament in one issue.
Nothing says Tekken 2comic more than retelling the story of the first game.
Three years passed before the arrival of anotherTekkencomic.
This time it was released by Image, a far more well-known publisher than Knightstone.
Late 2001 gave usTekken Forever#1 by the creative team of Dave Chi and Paco Diaz.
Even thoughTekken 4was in the arcades at the time,Tekken Forevers story is based onTekken Tag Tournament.
This would prove to be the comics downfall.
Tekken Foreverhas better art and better (though still incredibly flawed) lettering and design.
Thats for damn certain.
The fight scenes flow way better and the battle between Paul and Kazuya is pretty rad.
On a storytelling level, its a complete mess.
They laid the foundation for the first games story before completing it and building towards the next two games.
Ugly as it was, it was a story you could easily follow.
Theres stuff in there thats never meant to be explained because its nothing more than a dream match showcase.
So how do you begin this epic arc?
Just throw us in the middle of it with no explanation, I suppose.
Its so jarring and never gets around to feeling coherent.
Theres even an interlude involving Lei Wulong and Yoshimitsu vs. Bryan Fury that doesnt feel connected to anything.
The comic then ends just as it begins.
Alas, it was not to be.
Appearing online onUltra Jumps website for a time, Rui Takatos 11-chapter series is a pretty fun time.
She ends up meeting Lili for the first time and we get to see their oddball rivalry play out.
Though it does go really hard into the fanservice at times.
More than youd expect for an official work like this.
Then they bathe together later on because of course they do.
She deserves better, damn it.
At least she got to be in a comic that ended.
WhenStreet Fighter X Tekkenlaunched in 2012, the collectors edition came with a comic.
Its very short and theres really not much to talk about.
Ryu and Chun-Li fight Kazuya and Nina in Antarctica while succumbing to the influence of Pandoras Box.
As of this writing, were in the middle of yet another attempt at aTekkencomic.
This time its Titan ComicsTekkenby Cavan Scott and Andie Tong.
Jins team includes Nina, Paul, Xiaoyu, Panda, Yoshimitsu, and King.
Its a solid beginning so far, but kind of falls into the same trap asTekken Forever.
Scott does a good enough job setting things up and he writes a good Paul Phoenix.
Well, its no RIPSPLISTS but Ill take it.
