41 replies to this topic

[Spark]

Is that some Ulises Farinas "art" on that first cover?  Looks like his kind of crap.

[Maruten]

Got to issue five. Frankly I think this kind of crossover is rarely this well executed.

It's harmless fluffy fun. I might enjoy it less if I was there for GI Joe though?

Meanwhile cover-wise, Udon has been on fire with the ongoing.

Spoiler

These guys clearly just want to make cool comic books, and I think for the most part they succeed.

[Bass X0]

It's harmless fluffy fun.

 

Even harmless fluffy fun doesn't get a free pass on quality. It started off well but by issue five, nothing has happened other than tournament fights upon a single arena.  Its like if Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z cut out all content except for the Tenkaichi Budokai fights. But even then those fights are actually entertaining and enjoyable.

 

Satsui no Hado Jinx?  Whatever the hell Rufus has become? No. Neither can be classed as "harmless fluffy fun". Before #5, I would have agreed it was harmless fluffy fun but no more. This is seriously someone's crude fan-fiction being sold as an actual product. Udon cancelled Rival Schools and Darkstalkers, yet this is something they're okay with?

[Spark]

I'm pretty sure IDW is paying Udon for some kind of shared license, so Udon probably doesn't care too much.

[Maruten]

It started off well but by issue five, nothing has happened other than tournament fights upon a single arena.  

 

Which is the whole point of the series, I'd imagine. The fact that it opens up into some actual story in issue five was a welcome surprise, I thought. I was surprised that they Satsui No Hadoed Jinx, but I don't have a problem with it. 

 

I think the book's biggest flaw is that it's really a Street Fighter book with a few GI Joe cameos (it's all tournament fights, Satsui No Hado and Psycho Power machines) and I can't imagine it's terribly satisfying for people who are reading it as Joe fans. Issue six looks like it might address that balance somewhat but we'll see. 

 

Most game- or toy-based fiction can be boiled down to "crude fan-fiction" (insert MTMTE joke here). Luckily, this book is crude fan-fiction that doesn't take itself too seriously. I can see how it wouldn't work for everyone I guess, but for my money it's a heap of... I just can't think of a better word than "fun". 

[lastmaximal]

Yeah, I also would've loved a more story-rich concept where the plot is "GI Joe mission with SF characters involved" rather than "tournament featuring both factions", but I am enjoying the latter even given the immediate constraint of only having so many pages to cover so many matchups. I'm not nerd-magnifying-glass-ing this one.

[Maruten]

I guess these things are pretty dorky but I can't help loving this cover homage business.

[Spark]

Who handled that one?  It's great.

[Bass X0]

Yeah, the cover homages are fun. I'm not denying that. 

 

Luckily, this book is crude fan-fiction that doesn't take itself too seriously. I can see how it wouldn't work for everyone I guess, but for my money it's a heap of... I just can't think of a better word than "fun".

 

To me, Street Fighter and G.I. Joe are serious properties. They're not supposed to be goofy dumb jive. I can accept the Transformers kreons manga not taking itself too seriously and just being goofy fun just because of the nature of the Kreon toys. But I would seriously object if they tried to treat the mainline Transformers with such contempt and disregard. 

 

The Street Fighter vs. G. I. Joe asks itself several questions and then answers them.

 

"How can we ruin Ryu's character?"

 

"How can we ruin Guile's character?"

 

"How can we ruin M. Bison's character?"

 

"How can we ruin Rufus' character?"

 

"How can we ruin Jinx's character?"

 

Those answers go beyond not taking itself too seriously and right into character assassination territory. I just can't have fun seeing my favorite characters reputations being ripped apart like that. Bear in mind, I'm not referring to the whole story's portrayal of those characters. Just certain scenes that goes against everything the character is about. Ryu would not willfully subject someone else to the Satsui No Hadou just to defeat M. Bison. Guile would not act so weak and pathetic when confronted by Zartan disguising himself as an injured Cammy. M. Bison does not rely on a machine to fuel his psycho power and fighting ability then cowers away when the machine is broken and his opponent increases in power. I don't know Jinx from the G.I. Joe comics, but I assume she's better than to give into the Satsui No Hadou. And Rufus... what the hell? Everybody else seems spot on with no discrepancies to how the characters should act like. I would have complained about Dan as he's not portrayed as being *scrubbed* in the games, but then it was revealed as Zartan in disguise pretending to be Dan, so that's okay. 

Edited by Bass X0, 07 July 2016 - 05:45 PM.

[Maruten]

It's by Long Vo. 

[Sockie]

So, uh... returning back to the topic of Darkstalkers...



UDON's previous Darkstalkers comics may not have been my favourites, but I might have to pick this up.

Edited by Sockie, 20 July 2016 - 05:23 PM.

[Maruten]

This month's variant:

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

I'm pretty sure IDW is paying Udon for some kind of shared license, so Udon probably doesn't care too much.

 

Per the issue raised in the title of this thread, I think -- if I remember correctly -- UDON's involvement in the G.I. Joe crossover is somewhere between "jack" and "shit." So whatever anyone thinks of that series, I'd recommend not using it as a metric to determine whether UDON's regular SF series is worth a look or not.

 

That said, I've been a fan of it since the beginning, more or less -- "more or less" in that I read everything up to around the start of Street Fighter... ah, IV, I guess? Publishing got weird, and while I've still got some books and it's on my pull list, my schedule hasn't been good enough to me that I've caught back up as of late.

I have given some of the books as gifts, though, and they've been well received.

 

I particularly recommend the Sakura and Ibuki mini-series -- those are great fun. I enjoyed DarkStalkers and Rival Schools as well.

 

(Oh, and Ash Paulsen is a pretty cool guy.)

 

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

Edited by LBD "Nytetrayn", 25 July 2016 - 04:14 AM.

[Maruten]

One of my favourites.

[Fero McPigletron]

OMG, Street Fighter 2010 was a horrifyingly hard game. I have no idea how folks can finish it.

Loooove that they used X-Men 2099. I collected that

[Dave Zero1]

http://www.udonenter...covers-revealed

If I can shamelessly plug myself for a moment, I wrote a 4 page backup story that will be published in issue 4 of Street Fighter VS Darkstalkers featuring Blanka VS B.B. Hood.

I hope everyone checks it out.

[Maruten]

Udon has a gift for putting great little backups together, can't wait. 

[Dave Zero1]

Shamelessly plugging myself again. 

 

Street Fighter VS Darkstalkers #4 drops today, hope you check it out.

 

Here's a preview Page from the Blanka VS B.B. Hood story I wrote.

 

[Fero McPigletron]

So awesome for you

Blank's my fave and I will always adore Darkstalkers.

[Maruten]

Yeah, the current book is a lot of fun.