Topic: New Mega Man Ongoing Comic From Archie!

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Got mine today! It was bent with a great big crease down the middle, my letter carrier had folded it around the smaller envelopes.

I wasn't flat-out amazed, but I found it to be a promising start, and I enjoyed the artwork quite a bit. I didn't realize how used to seeing Mega Man comics in black and white I was until I got to feast my eyes on all that vibrant color.

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On the script itself, one thing I was bothered by was Dr. Light's talk of why he made war machines in the past. It would have sounded better to me if he had said something about putting robots on the battlefield to reduce human casualties until he had second thoughts about that sort of violence in general and not wanting to take any part in it. That whole "I had to sell out to get rich and powerful!" speech just rubbed me the wrong way a regarding Dr. Light's idealistic character. Also, both he and Rock looked just a little too happy on the bottom panel where Rock's explaining why he has to fight. It seemed like a solemn and serious scene up to that point, but then suddenly they're both smiling like loons. Yay for fighting!

At any rate, I'm looking forward to the next issue!

Edited by Sb20 on May 5, 2011 at 0:18:01

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Mine finally came in today, in top shape too! No bent corners or anything. Here's hoping that the others will be just the same.

I'm with Nayus in the details, there are lots of neat touches for long-time fans. I'm pretty happy with the way the story unfolds so far. I was afraid that they'd try to stick too close to the original material, but it looks like they'll use a bit of creative license too. Good!

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And just like you said, those two story items completely rubbed me the wrong way. I'd have expected Dr. Light to hesitate at least somewhat before creating another fighting machine! On the upside, they don't waste too much time on exposition.

And hey, Neige cameo! I was surprised to see her drawn in the Zero style, down to the eyes, instead of trying to keep in-line with the original series designs.

With that said, Spaz's got a great style. I enjoy the extra shading and depth the pictures have compared to what we usually see, and his Dr. Wily is deliciously creepy. Bring on the next issue!

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Got mine two days ago from my local comic store and finished reading it.

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Seems to be pretty good so far. The writers/ authors obviously have a much wider understanding of Mega Man than the norm, considering the appearances of Ripot and Plum, two characters who are typically unknown within the west, aside from the X Collection.

They really wrapped things up in a hurry at the end of the comic though. Mega Man's construction just seemed so abrupt and rushed. There's absolutely no explanation regarding the origins of the Mega Buster, or of the Copy Chip. It's just like "Here take these, I just made them!" which was kind of a let down.

It was interesting to find out how Light Labs got it's initial start (from making military robots), which does explain as to how Light Labs could be so financially viable.

Also the ironic quirkiness between Light and Wily is definitely something I'd like to see more of: Wily~ "Just don't flub your lines, Tommy-Boy!" Light~ "Ha-ha! Let's not ask for miracles, Al!" Good to see they aren't always serious all of the time!

Generally with comics, it takes a while for the series to reach it's climax. But I am anxious to see how good this series can get.

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You know, about some of the cameo characters...

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like Ripot and Plum, it's a little weird to think that advanced robots like them existed before Dr. Light completed the first 8 robot masters. But then again, it's not like the games ever said exactly when they were made.

Oh yeah, and I've been copying and pasting this cameo list around message boards. Let everyone know if you find anything to add!

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The Metall Potton, a great big Met dispenser from Mega Man 6, appears in Wily's laboratory. Another one appeared in Mega Man's background stage in Marvel vs Capcom, a stage that was set out to look like a Wily fortress. There are a few other elements on that same page that are similar to that background stage as well, like the caution striping and the image of a skull-shaped battle vehicle being worked on, partially hidden by one of the walls. Other enemies shown in the beginning include the Yellow Devil, Big Eye and Bunby Heli (aka Blader), all of whom appeared in Mega Man 1 (though the Bunby Heli looks like the Mega Man 8/Mega Man & Bass version).

In the city view behind Titanium Park, there is a round building where part of the CAPCOM logo is visible. There's a large sign suspended from this building, which at first I thought was the tail end of a Street Fighter IV logo, but it doesn't quite match, so maybe it's something else. This building resembles another building shown in the Mega Man Official Complete Works book on page 43, which had a "Street Figher' V" advertisement on it. The city also contains tube-like highways similar to those in Mega Man 9's opening scenes.

Ripot, Plum, and Chest, three robots who presided over the racing events in the game Mega Man Battle & Chase, are present at Dr. Light's press conference as reporters. Ripot introduces himself as a reporter for the "B&C Gazette".

Another reporter at the conference looks exactly like Neige, a human photojournalist from Mega Man Zero 4.

There's yet another reporter at the conference and who also delivered the Channel 8 TV news report on the robot rampage. She identifies herself as "...Li," probably a reference to Chun Li who appeared as a TV reporter in Mega Man 9.

The Channel 8 logo is based on the Rockman (red triangle) logo! I completely missed that before.

At the press conference, the podium Dr. Light presents from has an image of Dr. Light that resembles his game sprite.

The city's police force are modeled after the Mega Man Legends Kattelox Island police.

Cut Man's shut-down look resembles his appearance on the cover art of the Japanese Playstation version of Rockman 1.

Guts Man's (posterior) is a popular youtube meme, and is displayed in one panel where Dr. Wily is reprogramming the robots.

One of the buildings Cut Man and Bomb Man are shown attacking reads "CAP PLAZA", Plaza Capcom is the name of Capcom's arcade centers in Japan.

There's an image that resembles the Darkstalkers character Huitzil (an ancient alien robot) on a container of nuts and bolts.

The operating table Rock is attached to during his transformation into Mega Man is based on the one that appears in the story segment of Mega Man Soccer.

Some of the equipment shown at Light Labs in the wrecked Lab scenes and the Mega Man reconstruction scenes are based on background details from Mega Man Powered Up, including the large crane arm suspended from the ceiling and the monitor that displays Mega Man's internal schematic (based on the Mega Man cross-section art shown on page 198 of the Mega Man Official Complete Works book).

The exterior of Light Labs is based on how it appears in many of the games, and Dr. Wily's fortress is modeled after how it appears in Mega Man 2.

Dr. Light's pipe and Roll's Powered Up broom appear in the backgrounds of certain scenes.

The Short Circuits strip pokes fun of Bad Box Art Mega Man and the Ruby Spears cartoon's theme, the "Super Fighting Robot" part.

There are some other things that might not be intentional:
Rock's shoe-shine cloth is a long yellow fabric that looks a little like Proto Man's scarf.
Dr. Light's big green furniture with the large bolts sticking out is vaguely reminiscent of Auto.

Thanks to RedJokerZero and Hypershell for contributions to the list!

Edited by Sb20 on May 14, 2011 at 15:13:04

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I don't know about you guys, but I received issue #2 today. Good thing too, we're expecting a postal strike an any day and I was afraid it might be stuck in transit.

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Fewer cameos this time around, although I found it funny to see the Mega Man 1 stage select displayed on Dr. Light's screen.

What a wasted opportunity to do a Guts Man lift gag, though!

Roll's role rolls off quite well within the story, not stealing the spotlight yet not being too much of a background character. Dr. Light's role as a navigator is a cute nod toward the X series' style!

I like how this is unfolding so far. It goes beyond the "go in level, smash enemies, fight boss" basic pattern enough to make this a worthy read. Once they decide to branch off from the main plot a bit, I think it'll do great as well.

Edited by Dr. Cossack on June 3, 2011 at 21:20:45

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I still haven't received issue 2 in the mail. It seems like I really should have by now, doesn't it? I'm not sure what the protocol is for when you don't get your monthly issue, though I'm guessing I may have to contact someone at Archie about this if it doesn't get here this week.

EDIT: Just got it today!

Edited by Sb20 on June 18, 2011 at 23:31:41

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Oder diese?
http://asame.sakura.ne.jp/gokdrcmn.html

Anyone remember the Junebug joke?

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I've ready issue #4 last night.

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I think it's very clever how the writer managed the salvage the six robot masters instead of having them being destroyed by Mega Man. With them reprogrammed properly by Dr. Light, they'll be able to work as additional allies, much like how things went in SuperAdventure Rockman. Fun stuff!

I wish that the battle against the Yellow Devil lasted longer; they barely show him and BAM - he's gone. With that said, considering the history of that boss line, he's bound to show up again sooner or later!

Edited by Dr. Cossack on August 16, 2011 at 11:52:19

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I thought the entire scenario with the Yellow Devil was weird. Mega Man starts to use his weakness... then doesn't, because he doesn't want to rely too much on power or make Roll cry or something. (Note to MM: I think she would cry harder if you lost to that thing just because you were too stubborn to use the proper weapons!)

So even though he's fighting his hardest battle yet, he would rather do things "the hard way" than smart and use his many advantages to win. I guess that's supposed to be a moral, but I don't see how not using his special weapons is really any more "fair" in this context. Then in every battle after that, this point is completely forgotten and Megsy uses all his special weapons against the Copy Robot and against Wily himself. So what was the point of that "I'll win only using what Dr. Light has given me" line again? (Note to MM: He gave you a copy chip too you know, and for good reason!)

I'm paraphrasing BTW, I don't have the book in front of me. This is all just going off of memory. But other than that (and being annoyed by the habit of writing "See Issue X" so often in one book) I enjoyed the overall story arc quite a bit, and I liked the lighthearted way the robot masters turned against Wily of their own accord. I wasn't too impressed with the way Wily sort of gave up in the end, but the end of the book made it clear that he had not yet played out his full hand yet.

Looking forward to "Time Keeps Slipping", though I'm a little anxious about them introducing a new character already. I hope this government agent person doesn't disappoint.

Did I need to write all that in spoilers? Oh well, I did anyway.

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I received issue #5 a few days ago, and I forgot that I wanted to post about it. Whoops. :-p

I figured that what I'd like the most about the comic series would be the art, but I find myself often surprised by the quality and cleverness of the writing. I'll easily admit that I was expecting something dumber, to a degree at least.

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Time Man and Oil Man show up in this issue, completing the set of the Mega Man 1 robot masters as established by Mega Man Powered Up. One of the things we debated back on the game's release was about the robot master IDs: the DLN / DWN / DCN numbering sequence was thrown out of order by the addition of two new units! With the lack of a Powered Up 2, there's been no definitive answer to this... until issue #5 hit. Both Time Man and Oil Man are DLN 00A and 00B, prototypes not directly part of the main line! Simple as that! Obviously, this is not canon for the game series itself, but it does the job very well! I didn't even think they've have bothered with such small details.

Nice nod to the X series as well. Mega Man happily asks "Do we have free will?", then Dr. Light replies something along the lines of "No, not yet, you're bound by your programming. Eventually, however, it'd be nice to figure out that factor X and build robots with the ability to make their own choices." Hopefully, if all goes well, the comic series will reach that point and give us some darker stories in the X era!

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You just got issue 5? I just got issue 6. These deliveries are so weird sometimes!

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I received it over a week ago, actually, but it's possible that I'm seeing delays. I get letters and the like quickly, but magazines tend to take their time. For example, I once received two Nintendo Power issues a week apart only!

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Ah. I've had other issues with getting them these comics on time (as I was saying above), so I figured maybe you were too.

Anywho, issue 6 printed 3 letters requesting a Mega Man X franchise. I'd be happy if they did both ongoing at the same time. One Mega Man comic a month is somehow not enough!

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I got issue #10 last week, but I can't for the life of me find my copy of #9. Now I'm wondering if I even received it in this first place...

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The first year is finished, and I finally sat down to read issues #2-12.

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The next story arc looks like a break before 3. Unless they're retconning Cossack's role as a robot designer, my guess is that Cossack gets an early introduction in this continuity.

The art direction is still great. The writing isn't always how I'd prefer, but it's still surprisingly accurate to the source. Personally, I prefer the pacing in Ariga's manga, but this could be good if it continues long enough.

I just renewed my subscription, and I hope that enough people do the same.

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I never did found my issue #9, and I'm not the kind of person to misplace it, so I wrote to Archie's customer service and they quickly sent me a replacement issue. Problem solved!

I also renewed my subscription this week, I think this is a winner worth sticking with!

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Just renewed yesterday (while I could use that 15% off EGGMAN code) and also happened to receive issue 12 yesterday too.

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I liked how it played out, and the "Dr. Wily is an alien" thing played out exactly as I expected (sans bubble lead), but I would have loved to see GutsMan's reaction to the GutsTank.

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Issue #12 came in today... and I didn't receive #11. I'll wait another two weeks to see if it shows up, then I'll bug Archie's customer service once again. I like to think that I get a very reliable mail service, but it's no fun if things go missing at random!

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That's no good. Are you waiting for 11 to read #12, or do you do the digital thing as a backup?

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I'll wait until I receive it. A bit more time won't kill me, and I'd rather see them all in the same format.

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I'm completely losing track of this. Which issue have you people received last, and when (approximately)?

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I got issue 13 (first of year 2) about a week or so ago, haven't had a chance to read it yet. I renewed the day I received issue 12.

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I ended up writing to Archie's customer service once again, and they resent me issues 11 and 13. I hope this is the last time this happens, it's annoying to have a subscription if you still need to make sure you receive everything properly.

On a side note, I find it cute how their customer service always replies to messages while signing them as "Archie Andrews"!

Now, on the latest issue...

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Holy crap it's a Super Adventure Rockman arc... o.o I'm going from surprise to surprise with this thing! I've long thought that Safari Wily was one of the best takes on the character, and it's awesome to see it show up somewhere else. I should replace the Wily in this forum's logo with the Safari one.

The early introduction of Dr. Cossack will require them to make some minor adjustements to their retelling of Mega Man 4's story, but I think it's for the best. This allows them to include more characters without having a constantly pull original ones out of thin air, and the stories can only get richer as a result.

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Speaking of shipping weirdness, I changed my subscription address to my parents' place when I renewed because I didn't trust my mail carrier here to get it to me without bending and folding the heck out of it, or in a timely fashion.

Issue 13 arrived at my parents' on time and in lovely condition, so I was very pleased with my decision to move it. Then issue 14 arrived--at my place!? Still in pretty decent condition and not particularly late, but... what happened? Why has this reverted back to my old address? What if I had actually moved and couldn't receive mail here anymore? Very screwy, A.A.

Anyone want to place bets when and where my next issue will arrive?

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Issue #15 came in today!

... but I never got #14... *deep sigh*

This is the one good thing to come out about Mega Man in the past 2 years, and I can't even enjoy it properly. I don't know what to think about this anymore. My mail service is usually very reliable, so I don't understand why only those comics are going missing. I'm going to call the post office and ask them directly what's up, since everything seems fine on Archie's side.

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Once again I got my comic at the old address instead of the new. I would say the error is most definitely their side, Doc.

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I found the phone number for missing mail issues, and I was about to call the post office this evening. Guess what was waiting in my mailbox?

That's right, issue #14! Better late than never, I guess! This one has a different plastic wrapper and return address from the usual (including #15), so I'm wondering if it wasn't sent from a different warehouse or something. There's hope for this thing yet.

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I'm loving the gradual build-up for the Mega Man 3 AND Mega Man 4 plotlines. I think the story flows better when the story arcs spill a bit from their 4 issues format!

Edited by Dr. Cossack on July 19, 2012 at 22:09:00

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If you're like me and you've been wondering which issues you'd need to grab for the upcoming Mega Man / Sonic crossover, here's the answer. I've transcribed this based on this article.

April
Mega Man #24
Sonic Universe #51

May
Sonic the Hedgehog #248
Mega Man #25
Sonic Universe #52

June
Sonic the Hedgehog #249
Mega Man #26
Sonic Universe #53

July
Sonic the Hedgehog #250
Mega Man #27
Sonic Universe #54

August
Sonic the Hedgehog #251

Considering my luck with shipping, I won't subscribe to either Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe to get this. Instead, I'll wait for the obligatory compilation / comic book / whatever thing that Archie will release shortly after the arc is over.

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I was thinking about ordering the individual issues, just because I like reading the comments and such that they don't include in the TPBs.

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Archie's making special subscription deals for the Worlds Collide crossover!

They've got an offer that'll subscribe you for 12 months of all three comic series (US / Canada), which obviously covers the period during which the crossover will run (4 issues in each series). It's not much of rebate over taking 3 individual subscriptions, but it's conveninent. Of course, if all you want are the Worlds Collide issues themselves, it'll be cheaper (but less conveninent) to purchase those separately.

Recently added is another option to get the same as above, PLUS all 15 alternate covers (US / Canada). That's obviously more expensive, but then you're sure to get all the core material.

Waiting for the obligatory collection would be simpler, but despite what I wrote previously, the completionist in me is tempted to go for the full offer. That cover of Drs. Wily and Robotnik drinking champagne on a tandem bike is almost worth it by itself!

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