Udon's Street Fighter Series

[Dr. Doom]

Anybody else reading this? I just picked up Volume 1 (issues 1-6) and I'm very interested in catching up. The artwork is AMAZING, and I'm just a HUGE fan of the mythology and storyline surrounding Street Fighter. The writing is nothing phenominal, but I definately reccomend this series to any Street Fighter fans.

[DrSpengler]

I've been enjoying the Street Fighter comic since it first came out. Got every issue (but the con-exclusive #1/2, gah!).

So far it's easily been the best peice of Street Fighter media to date. Even better than Street Fighter II the movie, which suffered from too many characters crammed into 2 hours. Though outside of the animated movie, Street Fighter hasn't been handled all that well.

Street Fighter II the movie: Great animation, voice acting and music. Of course, I'm referring to the American version which is superior to the Japanese version. Better music featuring KMFDM, Korn and Alice in Chains(the Japanese score was so bland it sounded like they lifted it from library stock) and some pretty spot on voice acting. Impressive, though like I said earlier, it suffers from too many characters getting crammed in.

Street Fighter II V: The prequel series to the animated movie, pretty weak IMO. At least as far as the plot goes. Ken and Ryu travel around fighting things until Bison shows up with a crazy plot for world domination involving a bird statue. Yeeeaaahhhh. It also featured LESS characters than the movie and the show was 29 episodes long! There were also quite a few continuity errors between it and the movie.

Street Fighter Alpha: Ew. Easily the worst of the Street Fighter cartoons. Ken and Ryu fight a mad scientist? Akuma just hangs out on an island with a bunch of wooden statues all day. Then at the very end the movie cuts off right before he and Ryu fight! Weak. Not to mention the lack of characters from Street Fighter Alpha actually getting and screentime. Dan could've been used as comic gold but instead they just showed him getting beat up by Vega for a few seconds. Again, weak.

Street Fighter the series: Better than II V, IMO. Most people hate it because it followed the atrocious live action film, but that aside the series was quite good. Some excellent animation from Mad House Studios (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Perfect Blue, Ninja Scroll, Spawn) als helped. The voice acting from the Ocean Group wasn't their best, but some voices were spot on. And despite what some people might claim, all the characters were in character. And if you ask me, Charlie-being-Blanka was a great concept, I hope they pick it up for the comic. Not a spectacular series, but stil better than the occasionally boring II V. And there was a Final Fight crossover episode, that's pretty cool.

I won't even go into the live action movie. Anyway, those are just my views on the various Street Fighter cartoons. The comic outdoes them all, I've been nothing short of impressed so far.

[azure turtle]

I've also been following this series since issue one. I love how Udon has handled the history behind each of the fighters, and the art is very impressive. The backup stories are fun too, with guest artists and some tidbits on the past of featured characters.

I'm hoping that the comics will eventually show a street fighter tournament. I'd like to see a Ryu/Sagat rematch. :D

[DrSpengler]

Just read #12. *spoilers*

FINALLY! My favorite character, Blanka, makes his grand entrance! And he kicks some ass, too. :D

A shame they didn't make Charlie Blanka, one of the only good ideas to come out of the movie and was executed very well in the tv series. But I can forgive that, as they decided to keep the concept of Blanka being a product of Shadaloo bio-engineering. Pretty cool. Can't wait to see more of him.

[Dr. Doom]

Well.......I'm not gonna sit here and deny you your own opinion, but saying what an awsome idea it is having Charlie be Blanka, and singing the praises of that USA Cartoon.....That's like Slayer playing a concert for the pope, man.....

[Dane E5R]

Couldn't have said it better myself, Alex. And they made Blanka a product of Shadoloo engineering? Ugh, that's officially the first bad move the comic has ever made in my opinion. Even THAT'S a bit too close to the USA series/Live action movie. I'll be picking it up tomorrow to see first hand how they handled it.

[DrSpengler]

I won't defend the movie, it was indeed terrible, but the USA series had plenty of moments and it only loosely followed the events of the movie. Unlike the movie, all the characters resembled their video game counterparts pefectly (the designs were taken directly from Capcom) and they all had their special moves and attacks. Their personalities and histories were also perfectly in character.

In regards to Charlie/Blanka I thought it worked (in the cartoon). It gave Charlie something other to do than die. And unlike the movie, in the cartoon Blanka wasn't some guy named "Carlos", he was Charlie Nash. From the game. There was an episode where he reverts back to his human form, and you guessed it, looks almost exactly like Charlie, complete with jacket, glasses and summersaults. I think the only difference was that he had black hair instead of blond for some reason.

Hell, he resembled Charlie a Hell of a lot more than that 50 year old bearded man from II V.

The Charlie/Blanka thing also gave Blanka some much needed personality and history. Before that his character depth extended no farther than "I'm a monster RAR!". And making him a product of Shadaloo engineering, whether he be a mutated Charlie or not, actually ties him into the story quite nicely. How else would a giant green furry monster like him exist among a cast of more or less normal-looking people?

No, I think it was a good idea. And Udon did a good job avoiding the "Charlie's not Blanka" critics by just making him a mutant created by Shadaloo. It works to explain why he's a freak, ties him into the story and appeases the few of us who LIKED the concept from the USA series.

Blanka's always been my favorite character from the games, I look forward to seeing what they do with him.

[Dane E5R]

Well I can respect your opinion, man, and you have many valid points, but the USA series was a true abomination. Sure the character designs were dead on, but their personalities and backgrounds were not.

Here's 15 issues I can think of off the top of my head, it's been a long time since I saw the show:
1. Gouken was never murdered by Akuma, and is instead alive and well.
2. Ryu and Ken are pretty much the Bebop and Rocksteady of the show, Ken being Rocksteady, and Ryu being Bebop (2nd banana). And like the movie, they were just interested in getting rich.
3. Guile's ex-wife was named Lucinda instead of Julia, and it didn't seem like he had a daughter.
4. Chun-Li said "Fireball!" instead of "Ki-Ko-Ken!"
5. If you ask me, Blanka had TOO much personality. Guile, Chun-Li and Blanka were pretty much the stars of the show.
6. Sakura, instead of simply watching Ryu fight in Japan and idolizing him, actually went to a dojo that was dedicated to Ryu.
7. In the Sakura episode, Ryu was trying to save his cousin. Ryu is an orphan with no known relatives, closest thing he ever had to family were Gouken and Ken.
8. Honda was a computer nerd. What the EFF!
9. Balrog was a computer nerd. What the EFF!
10. Dhalsim was one of Bison's scientists just like the movie. Problem.
11. Chun-Li was a reporter and as far as I know had no links to Interpol.
12. A Street Fighter agency? Give me a break.
13. They made Guile's flash kick a projectile, and it seemed like he used it more than his sonic boom.
14. The final fight episode was actually pretty decent, but I didn't like the Hillbilly Cody. "WHERE'Z MAH JESSI-KUH?!"
15. ...Blanka was Charlie!

Heh!

I also agree that SFII V was pretty weak and didn't really follow canon much either, but to say Alpha was worse than these two? C'mon. At least they didn't change or butcher any of the characters. All personalities and histories were spot on, and it was animated beautifully. It was a bit over hyped, but it was still pretty cool. It would definitely have been better if they had Bison or Akuma as the lead villain instead of Dr. Sadler, but eh, still a decent watch.

[DrSpengler]

Hey, you bring up some good points too, man. :)

Let me just have a crack at this...

Well I can respect your opinion, man, and you have many valid points, but the USA series was a true abomination. Sure the character designs were dead on, but their personalities and backgrounds were not.

Here's 15 issues I can think of off the top of my head, it's been a long time since I saw the show:
1. Gouken was never murdered by Akuma, and is instead alive and well.

True. However, in one of the episodes Akuma attempted to murder Gouken with the perfection of the Raging Demon technique. He defeated Gouken and stole all of his chi, Gouken would have died had Ken not defeated Akuma. Granted, it wasn't a perfect adaptation (Gouken lived) but the writers did do their best to asknowledge that part of Street Fighter history while still making it suitible for a kid's show. They did an admirable job in that respect.

2. Ryu and Ken are pretty much the Bebop and Rocksteady of the show, Ken being Rocksteady, and Ryu being Bebop (2nd banana). And like the movie, they were just interested in getting rich.

Well, when one thinks "Bebop and Rocksteady" they think two braindead muscle-heads who may be strong but can't fight worth a damn due to their stupidity. They seemed more like that in II V, at least the "braindead muscle-heads" part.

While I do admit that it wasn't quite right making Ryu the second banana to Ken, it was a little refreshing considering that all the Japanese-written cartoons have it the other way around. Besides, they actually adressed why Ken took the spotlight in several episodes. It was in Ken's personality to be a glory hog and Ryu's to be the strong silent type. And in pretty much the one Ryu spotlight episode they cover that. Ryu is just as good a fighter as Ken, maybe better, but he'll never admit it since he's so modest. A neat angel.

As for Ken, I won't deny that he was annoying. Cuz he was. But he was the only one of the pair interested in getting rich. There was an episode that covered Ken's reationship with his father, and it was a poor relationship. His father wanted him to be more responsible and Ken just wanted to goof-off. So Ken rejected his father's fortune. His obsession with treasure-hunting was his way of trying to show his father that he couldbe successful...but trying to do it the easiest way possible.

3. Guile's ex-wife was named Lucinda instead of Julia, and it didn't seem like he had a daughter.

To your credit, they got a lot of the name's of the supporting characters wrong. Not only Guile's ex-wife (who's relationship in the series was rather intriguing) but every member of MI-5. I think McCoy was named "Roary" and Lita got named "Eliza". That was a mistake onthe writers part, I won't deny that.

4. Chun-Li said "Fireball!" instead of "Ki-Ko-Ken!"

She said "kikoken" on a number of occasions. To be honest, I can't remember a single instance in which she said "Fireball", though i won't doubt that she probably said it once or twice. Her pronounciation of "yatta!" was also attrocious. However, she did say "Kikoken" numerously.

5. If you ask me, Blanka had TOO much personality. Guile, Chun-Li and Blanka were pretty much the stars of the show.

To be honest, a character can't really have too much personality unless they're a stereotype. Blanka was no stereotype, his inner-turmoil mixed with his history as Charlie among other things made him a pretty involved character. The fact that his life only got WORSE when he got douced with mutagen a second time only made me feel worse for him. They gave his character some peace toward the end of the series, which I appreciated.

I won't argue that Guile, Chun-li and Blanka were the stars of the series, cuz they were in just about every episode. But hey, it was a refreshing change from Ryu and Ken who get all the screen time in the Japanese shows.

6. Sakura, instead of simply watching Ryu fight in Japan and idolizing him, actually went to a dojo that was dedicated to Ryu.

Yeah, that's true. She wasn't nearly as spunky, either. I mean, she did do her "victory" symbol with her fingers and what-not, but she was a little too "grown up". But having her train in a dojo that taught Ryu's style was just about the only way of explaining how her fighting technique was exactly like Ryu's. Well, aside from doing what the Udon comic is doing by having her train with Ryu and all.

7. In the Sakura episode, Ryu was trying to save his cousin. Ryu is an orphan with no known relatives, closest thing he ever had to family were Gouken and Ken.

Well, it wasn't the Sakura episode that had Ryu's cousin but I see what you're getting at and I agree. The writers effed up.

8. Honda was a computer nerd. What the EFF!

Yeah, something that shouldn't have carried over from the movie. But hey, at least he fought and had all his special moves. But yeah, bad idea.

9. Balrog was a computer nerd. What the EFF!

Balrog was even worse, he never fought once. II V wasn't any better. He just LET Cammy beat him up in that show, didn't throw a single punch. Making Balrog a computer nerd was just about as accurate as making him a secret agent or whatever II V did.

So far, I like what I see in the Udon comic. Vega pimp, baby!

10. Dhalsim was one of Bison's scientists just like the movie. Problem.

Yeah, problem but he was no longer a scientist in the show. He was a former scientist who rejected his ways after he created Blanka. In the show he had spent about 5 or more years in the Himalayas training in the mystic arts. It was an intersting character motive, though it deviated from his game origin.

Basically Bison had forced him to torture and mutate another human being through science and he was terribly ashamed for what he did. So he retreated to mysticism and became the Dhalsim we all recognize.

11. Chun-Li was a reporter and as far as I know had no links to Interpol.

Yeah, didn't like that either. However, her role in the AN's (Aligned Nations) Street Fighter agency was the show's version of Interpol, so to speak. Basically she part of an international organization that travelled the world investigating Bison and fighting him. Pretty much everything she did with Interpol in the other shows.

The reporter angle was silly...as was that REDICULOUS ponytail of her's.

12. A Street Fighter agency? Give me a break.

Yeah, that was goofy. Interpol would've sounded a lot better. But I guess they had to give a reason for the show to be called "Street Fighter". Still, getting past the name the Street Fighter agency and the Interpol of the other cartoons pretty much had the same motives and operated in the same fashion.

13. They made Guile's flash kick a projectile, and it seemed like he used it more than his sonic boom.

Oh no, he used his sonic boom a whole lot more. Just about every episode. And I can't recall and specific moments his flashkick was a projectile. He pretty much just used his sonic boom for that.

Which is one thing I liked about the USA series, the fact that they used their special moves often. In the Japanese shows they have to power them up and it ends up feeling like Dragon Ball Z or something. Nothing like that in the games. You can throw 20 hadoukens in a row if you want. Which is how it worked in the show.

14. The final fight episode was actually pretty decent, but I didn't like the Hillbilly Cody. "WHERE'Z MAH JESSI-KUH?!"

Hahahahah. Yeah, I'll give you that one. I also wasn't too hip on Rolento's voice. He sounded like one of the weasils from Who Framed ROger Rabbit. Still, it was animated really well and we got to see some of the Final Fight characters in action. So that was pretty cool.

15. ...Blanka was Charlie!

But...I liked it. :(

Heh!

I also agree that SFII V was pretty weak and didn't really follow canon much either, but to say Alpha was worse than these two? C'mon. At least they didn't change or butcher any of the characters. All personalities and histories were spot on, and it was animated beautifully. It was a bit over hyped, but it was still pretty cool. It would definitely have been better if they had Bison or Akuma as the lead villain instead of Dr. Sadler, but eh, still a decent watch.

Alpha had a lot of problems. The characters they used had perfect origins, there's no faulting that, but the characters thy used were extremely limited. I've seen enough of Ken and Ryu, what about Dan!? He could've injected some much needed comedy into that movie. And to be honest, Sakura was more annoying than funny.

It was just disappointing. When people think "Street Fighter Alpha" they expect a Ryu/Akuma showdown. Typically I won't blame writers fro trying something different with an established formula, but c'mon, who DIDN'T want a Ryu/Akuma showdown?

Adon, Birdie, Sodom and a few others got spots at the very end of the movie, but most of them didn't even have lines. I dunno, I felt gypt.

It was animated beautifully, though. I'll give it that.

[Dane E5R]

Well, I picked up issue 12. Decent issue, and I'm glad it seems there will be less Cammy in future issues. Got a little tired of her and Delta Red. And as you can tell by Doom's signature, I love the way Balrog and Vega seem to have some kinda friendship. It's about time someone made Balrog more than just a brain dead idiot scrub.
On the subject of Blanka..
I don't think he was made by Shadoloo. More, he was captured by Shadoloo and forced to do their dirty work. From the flashback Blanka had, it looks like they used him to train the dolls or somethin'.

[DrSpengler]

Well, I picked up issue 12. Decent issue, and I'm glad it seems there will be less Cammy in future issues. Got a little tired of her and Delta Red. And as you can tell by Doom's signature, I love the way Balrog and Vega seem to have some kinda friendship. It's about time someone made Balrog more than just a brain dead idiot scrub.
On the subject of Blanka..
I don't think he was made by Shadoloo. More, he was captured by Shadoloo and forced to do their dirty work. From the flashback Blanka had, it looks like they used him to train the dolls or somethin'.

Yeah, I got the training part. But I figured he was mutated by their science. I guess only time will tell. In Street Fighter II the movie he was captured by Shadowlaw and used for entertainment, so maybe Udon's going that route.

Speaking of Shadowlaw, that is a MUCH better name than Shadaloo. I know Shadaloo is the original Japanese name and all, but Shadowlaw sounds like a much better name for a terrorist organization.

And yeah, I'm sick of Cammy too. Enough fan service.

[Coola Yagami]

so what is the current issue about?

[ThirdMarioBro]

How many issues have there been?

[DrSpengler]

Issue #14 came out on wednesday and wrapped up the second story arc.

A good arc so far, and we FINALLY get to see Balrog kick some ass. The guy gets shafted in every Street Fighter cartoon. In the movie he just flexed his muscles and fell off a cliff with Honda, in II V Cammy beat the snot out of him and he didn't even defend himself, and in the USA toon he just worked on a computer all day. :ohwell:

The "twist" ending of the arc was pretty cut and dry.

SPOILER.


Bison is alive and well, not that anybody DIDN'T see that coming. When a bad guy falls of a cliff, and no body is recovered, he ALWAYS comes back. A little cliche.

And I'm waiting for them to get around to Blanka's story, he was always my favorite character.

[Dane E5R]

Pretty much the only beef I had with issue 14 (and 13) were the ways they drew Balrog's hair. It was just wrong. But I did like the fact that they let Balrog whoop a little ass. Even if it was on my favorite character. It seems like the comic realm is the only place Balrog gets his just dues. In the Tokuma Street Fighter II comics from way back when, Balrog had just lost his place as one of the four lords of Shadowlaw and was now working as an underworld mob boss/loan shark. By the end of that series, Balrog was a borderline good guy, even saving Ryu from assassination. Grand stuff. As for Bison, Udon's basing the comic loosely on the official Capcom canon, and it's official in the canon that Alpha Bison is "destroyed," and comes back as the skinnier, leaner, and overwall weaker Bison that we saw in SFII. I'm not sure they're going to make him skinny and such, because well, he didn't look very skinny in the end of 14. Some are speculating that they plan to combine the SFA3 and SFII storylines, so they have the tournament and have to destroy the Psycho Drive at the same time. I say that's a brilliant idea.

[DrSpengler]

Yeah, timeline goes what?

Street Fighter
Street Fighter Alpha
Street Fighter II
Street Fighter III

It would be pretty cool if they followed the timeline of the games, thought it might get pretty lame once they hit Street Fighter III. I never really dug any of those characters, save for Sean and Ibuki.

I kinda wish they'd have covered Street Fighter I more closely. Though, once I think about it, they kinda did. Most of the characters appeared, anyway, and they covered the only IMPORTANT event (Ryu defeating Sagat). So it isn't much of a complaint, is it?

However, if what we just finished really was their interpretation of Street Fighter Alpha, I'm just a little disappointed we didn't get any Final Fight characters. Cody, Guy, Rolento, and Sodom really would have been great. But this is a loose adaptation, so there's always hope.

Hey, anybody else pick up the English translation of Street Fighter: Eternal Challenge? Capcom's official companion to the series; very informative.

Among the million things I learned, the most surprising to me was that Mike from Street Fighter I and Balrog (Mike Bison in Japan) are two different characters despite looking almost exactly alike. ALso, Birdie went from white to black. How the hell did that happen?

The book covers only the main Street Fighter universe, so it omits all the Vs titles, the Final Fight series, Street Fighter 2010, and the EX series. Though they all get brief mentions.

Anyway, nostalgia-wise, Street Fighter II was my favorite era of the series. Here's hoping they adapt it well (I'm sure they will).

[Serp]

Yeah I love the Street Fighter Comic. I thing its the best comic of Street Fighter , the ones in the past were pretty dumb.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Hey, anybody else pick up the English translation of Street Fighter: Eternal Challenge? Capcom's official companion to the series; very informative.

PLEASE Tell me where you get this book. That's something I really need for my Street Fighter collection badly. That, and I just want to know what's the history on everything.

Also, do they offer backissues of the Udon Street Fighter comic?

[DrSpengler]

I got it at my local comic shop. A pal of mine tried to order it off Amazon and apparantly it was out of print at the time. I don't know if that's still true. Go to your local comic shop and ask if they can order it for you.

The book-itself is exhaustive. It covers everything. Each character from the series has a bio page, several pages of art, art galleries, each game (Including all the various SFII and Alpha games) have 3-5 page histories, there are interviews...everything! Like I said, exhaustive. Makes the Street Fighter portions of my copy of Capcom Design Works quite obsolete (another great Capcom book for fans). A shame it doesn't cover the "out of continuity" Street Fighter titls, but that's really a minor complaint. THe book is absolutely worth the price.

Back issues fro Street Fighter might be hard to find, Image/Devil's Due/Udon Comics don't really produce as many copies as say, DC or Marvel. And they certainly don't have the back issue ordering policy that DC has (God bless em).

Issue 1-6 were released in a TPB but...it's "manga-sized". Which is really REALLY lame. The art suffers dramatically because they shrank everything. Really bad move on their part. A standard AMERICAN-sized TPB with a gallery of the 10,000 variant covers in the back would have been a better route. *I'd* have bought it, and I alread own the issues individually.

[Dane E5R]

I think they shrank it to lower the cost, both to print it and for folks to buy. If you ask me, the art didn't suffer much. I missed issues 0-6, so I had to pick up to TPB, and I still think it's beautiful. Luckily, I picked it up at the time issue 7 had just come out, so I haven't missed at thing. 8)

[ThirdMarioBro]

Damn, I'd better start catching up. Now to go find that book....

[azure turtle]

PLEASE Tell me where you get this book. That's something I really need for my Street Fighter collection badly. That, and I just want to know what's the history on everything.

Also, do they offer backissues of the Udon Street Fighter comic?
Oh yeah! I was lucky enough to pick up the last copy at my local comic shop. I don't know where else you can get one of these, but maybe you should check the usual (ebay, amazon). I agree with Dr. S, the book is worth the price, which is about $30. It covers a lot of Street Fighter history, and I love how they included bios with a list of super moves for all the characters. And there's tons of amazing artwork to drool over.