The character of Mega Man was created by the Japanese video game company Capcom. Known as 'Rock Man' in his native Japan, the character debuted in the self-titled Mega Man video game in 1987. While the first Mega Man video game was produced for the NES, Nintendo Entertainment Center, the franchise has released over 3 dozen sequels and numerous spin-offs for various gaming systems over the years
Now here's a fact that most don't know about the character. Mega Man is the name of not just one character; but a whole series of robots created by Dr. Thomas Light. Mega Man robots are not just protagonists. They are villains too. The deranged Dr. Wily developed the Mega Man model robot with Dr. Light and eventually Wily showed his true colors, producing his own line of evil Mega Men androids in many attempts to conquer the world.
Since the inception of Mega Man, a number of manga works have been produced involving the vast cast of franchise characters. Though Udon Entertainment and Viz Media have released a few of those works to American audiences, a large number of Mega Man manga have never been imported from Japan.
In 2011, Archie Comics obtained the license of the Mega Man franchise. Instead of re-releasing English translated manga works, the publisher went the route of producing a series of all-new art and stories. 2012 marked the 25th anniversary of the very first Mega Man video game and Archie Comics pulled out all the stops. Along with a Sonic the Hedgehog/Mega Man team-up that due to shipping delays, didn't hit shelves until the following year, Archie Comics sought to create 12 months worth of stories that celebrated the extensive history of the Capcom property.
In this issue, Dr. Wily has unlocked the formula for time travel. Just as the scientist and his army of evil robots are about to conquer the future, Rock, the original Mega Man robot arrives on the scene... and is immediately swept through time! Going through various time periods, including his immediate past, the far flung future and even all the way back to prehistoric times, Rock experiences aspects from the first Mega Man game to 2011's Mega Man 10!
If the reader of this issue is not the biggest of Mega Man fans, the story, while epic, is very overwhelming. If writer Ian Flynn or the editing team could have included an appendix that pointed out which video games were reference during Rock's various jumps through time, not only would this story have read a lot more clearer, but it could have invited new and emerging Mega Man fans into the franchise. Without it, this issue feels very unwelcoming to newcomers.
Art by Gary Martin.
Cover by Mike Norton.
Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.
Completing this review completes Task #20 (Based on a Video Game) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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