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Post by ShayMay on Apr 27, 2011 23:30:58 GMT
Preview here. Looks awful to me. The cold open is one of the worst I've ever seen (doesn't help that, as a technique, it's been done to death). The dialogue just... gurns at you, it's patronising to the point of being insulting. "How did it come to this? Things seemed so simple a few days ago..." is something I probably could have written back in primary school. To anyone who has played the original games (let's face it, that's going to be a large number of the people reading it), this is re-treading old, worn territory. I know, the origin has to be re-told at some point, but I can think of a dozen more eloquent and exciting ways to do it than this. Mega Man himself... has absolutely no consistency. One minute he's pleading with Big-eyes to let him pass, with a look of terror on his face, then he's feeling hard-done-by because there isn't a door for him to enter (urrgghh, he's your enemy, you stupid [censored]), then he's suddenly defiant, roaring at Wily (with a giant explosion coming from his head), telling him he can't keep him out... and then he's making (what I have a hard time calling) quips? "What a gloomy place. Then again, what was I expecting... Light Labs?" Um... *ba-dum-tish*? Is that a joke? If it is, newcomers will be incredibly confused as to who Light is, and everyone who's familiar with it will be old enough to feel incredibly awkward at just how unfunny that was. And then, the Yellow Devil appears. Our hero looks on defiantly, a witty remark forming on his lips... "Hello." Rancid. Finally, the art is average. The Big-eyes on page 2, while I assume they're meant to be looming and foreboding, just look like someone's forgotten to colour them in. Mega Man himself has been put together strangely (look at his pelvis on page 4), and the rest, well... while it looks clean and spiffy, to be sure, it also looks very dull and by-the-numbers; there's no movement to it. I was expecting much, much more from this. |
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Post by Alex on Apr 27, 2011 23:37:23 GMT
The art is fantastic, never mind average. It's a great, dynamic and sharp looking style and really makes classic Mega Man look like a great modern character without actually redesigning the character.
I'd definitely love to see a whole comic in that style.
The writing/dialogue though? Eurgh. Seems like such a wasted opportunity...
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Post by ShayMay on Apr 27, 2011 23:49:34 GMT
I'll certainly grant that it is sharp and updates Mega Man really well.
But in my eyes, it isn't dynamic. I'm not seeing the character move as he should in a comic book; for example, when dodging the Big-eye stamping down, he looks like he's just... floating there. It all seems kinda still and clinical - even the blur lines are done meticulously.
Still, that's definitely a personal complaint, and I can see merit to the art and why people would like it. Heck, I'd still pick it up... if the writing wasn't complete tripe.
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Post by Baron Canier on Apr 28, 2011 10:28:44 GMT
Mega Man ripping the wall of Wily's fortress apart to get in is a reference to the first Mega Man game: you have to use Super Arm to demolish a wall.
The art style is lovely, but you're right about the pacing and dialogue being sub-par and Mega Man's attitude being erratic. As an introduction this doesn't seem like the best approach. Still, this already looks better than Dreamwave's debacle.
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Post by Devo DrakeFox on Apr 28, 2011 14:24:45 GMT
"AVERAGE", YOU SAY SHAY!? .... Get. Out.  |
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Sockie
Big Time Boomer
Posts: 104
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Post by Sockie on Apr 28, 2011 14:34:39 GMT
Heck, I'd still pick it up... if the writing wasn't complete tripe. I like how you've come to that conclusion after five pages of the first issue. Seriously, you can at least wait a few issues for Ian to get his groove going before declaring stuff like this. |
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Post by Alex on Apr 28, 2011 14:40:14 GMT
Or, you could use the preview that's meant to sell people the comic to judge that it's not worth wasting money on and... erm, not waste money on waiting for Flynn to 'get his groove going' when he's meant to be a professional writer and shouldn't have submitted anything so sub-par if he's meant to be capable of better.
That seems like a much more sensible plan.
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Slender Man
Big Time Boomer
And then I just chundered, everywhere.
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Post by Slender Man on Apr 28, 2011 14:44:36 GMT
Heck, I'd still pick it up... if the writing wasn't complete tripe. I like how you've come to that conclusion after five pages of the first issue. Seriously, you can at least wait a few issues for Ian to get his groove going before declaring stuff like this. When I'm reading a novel, the first 5 pages have to draw me in and interest me, else I'm not going to read the book. I'm not going to continue reading something that I think isn't good. I'm not gonna wait for the author to 'get his groove going'. |
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Post by Baron Canier on Apr 28, 2011 14:55:06 GMT
The entire point of a multi-page comic preview is to convince you to buy it. It's meant to be encapsulate the comic as a whole and show you what you're in for. If that same preview only puts people off then something's gone wrong somewhere.
I could agree with something akin to "read the whole issue", but "multiple issues" isn't gonna fly; all works have the potential to improve, but the creators have to snare your interest with what they're offering now, not promise it'll be better later.
I'm still gonna stand up for the art, though.
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Post by Devo DrakeFox on Apr 28, 2011 15:17:53 GMT
If either of the comic shops I go to start selling Mega Man, I reckon I'll invest in it. The artwork is beautiful, so far, I hope Flynn maintains this standard. As for the story itself, the first arc is supposed to be Mega Man recounting the events of his first battle against Dr. Wily (ie, the first game). If the story is accurate, splendid. if not, well...  |
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Post by ShayMay on Apr 28, 2011 15:28:14 GMT
I like how you've come to that conclusion after five pages of the first issue. Seriously, you can at least wait a few issues for Ian to get his groove going before declaring stuff like this. Sorry, but that is nonsense. As has been said above, the reason this preview exists is to make people want to buy it. I have seen the preview, and it has failed to capture, engage, or interest me, and in fact has genuinely made me wonder how this got past Archie's editors. So I will not throw my money at it in the hopes that it gets better. If it does get better, I might give it another try then. But with the money I save from not buying something I am 99% sure I won't enjoy, I can probably buy a bottle of Irn-Bru and a dolly mixture, and glean enjoyment from that. Also, I can't help but notice that everyone who's defended it can't actually praise the writing either. People seem to be jumping to Flynn's defence, rather than the comic's defence (and actually, I like Flynn and was surprised at the standard of writing demonstrated here). "AVERAGE", YOU SAY SHAY!? Yeah, it genuinely looks average to me. It seems to be either too cluttered or too plain, the poses make the characters look static, and there seems to be excessive detail where it's not needed (a recurring complaint, Spaz seems to have a thing for individual blades of grass). Again, I'm sure that's just a "me" thing, and I can certainly see why people like it. And I don't dislike it, per se, there are enough good things to mention to balance out the stuff I complain about, but it isn't stellar to me. If either of the comic shops I go to start selling Mega Man, I reckon I'll invest in it. The artwork is beautiful, so far, I hope Flynn maintains this standard. As for the story itself, the first arc is supposed to be Mega Man recounting the events of his first battle against Dr. Wily (ie, the first game). If the story is accurate, splendid. if not, well... Don't you mean Spaz? And I'd prefer it if it took some liberties with the stories, a la Megamix. I mean, I've played the game, and the story was simple as could be there, I don't think a comic needs to be dedicated to it. |
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Post by Baron Canier on Apr 28, 2011 15:37:51 GMT
If the comic follows the story of the games exactly then it'll be dull as dishwater. They need to follow the path of the Mega/Gigamix or MSPaint Masterpieces if they want to maintain interest.
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Post by Devo DrakeFox on Apr 28, 2011 20:13:37 GMT
'Scuse me, I mean Spaz, yes.
I have the three Megamix books myself and I love them. But Archie can't be expected to follow them too closely, otherwise they'll just be ripping them off. They're sure to have some ideas for which direction to take the series that will be original, though I imagine it will be quite hard trying to compete with all the other Mega Man-based works out there, there's been quite a few.
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Post by Baron Canier on Apr 28, 2011 20:42:20 GMT
...the comparison to Megamix was made to imply "follow their example by crafting fresh stories from the source material" not "copy the Megamix stories exactly".
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Post by MentalAnalysis on May 4, 2011 17:06:45 GMT
The artwork looks amazing. I cant really say anything about the story until I actually read the thing.
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Post by Devo DrakeFox on May 12, 2011 15:26:53 GMT
I saw Mega Man Issue #1 at Frog Bros. yesterday, so I picked it up. The artwork throughout the issue is splendid and the story is accurate to the original game, thus far. Unfortunately, that means a general lack of originality in terms of the story, since everyone who's played the first game pretty much knows how it goes. Still, the game didn't exactly give precise details to the story's progression so there's still hope that Archie's interpretation can present something that will surprise long-time fans of the Mega Man franchise. I think I'll be buying this series, provided that Frog Bros. get it in regularly.
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Post by Baron Canier on May 12, 2011 22:22:27 GMT
Jesus Christ, the first appearance of Doctor Wily is hysterical. They cast him in shadow and make him look like a [censored]ing vampire.
Overall it's all right, I suppose. Nothing really stellar. The art is still the best thing about it. There's a few obvious easter eggs scattered about the place, too.
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Post by madhair60 on May 13, 2011 9:48:12 GMT
Wish I could find the damn thing in a shop. When they get the chance, could someone PM and let me know whereabouts I could find it? I'd be very grateful, I think.
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Post by Devo DrakeFox on May 13, 2011 10:47:55 GMT
Forbidden Planet
60 Burleigh Street
Cambridge
CB1 1DJ
Does that help, Stu? ;D
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Post by The KKM on May 21, 2011 4:19:55 GMT
Edit: No. Don't actually post where to find illegal downloads.
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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Jun 1, 2011 22:55:45 GMT
OK, so I got two copies of this today, one variant. Overall, the art is lovely. The story is pretty accessible to non-fans, though it's dumbed down a lot, possibly to get some kids reading it in the early going. That said, it's Mega Man, nobody's expecting Shakespeare.
The first issue is basically the backstory to MM1, it's a decent version of it and one that works. The only continuity gripe I can spot is Dr Light demonstrating the Mega Buster's charge attack, which Mega Man didn't have in the first game. Rock is built up as a good hero with strong moral values, that's a plus point.
I'm most interested to see how Flynn characterises the Robot Masters, though, particularly since the DRN bots aren't really evil. It'd be cool if he took a leaf from Mega Man: Powered Up and just had MM defeat but not destroy the bosses. But we shall see!
So yeah, it's pretty cool. Not groundbreaking but it's a video game comic, man.
So: how do Nintendo not have a comic these days?
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Post by Baron Canier on Jun 1, 2011 23:00:58 GMT
That's easy to answer: comics are more or less a niche medium these days and that niche is progressively shrinking.
In regards to the Light Numbers, I'd prefer it if they lived if only to give the good-guy side some more variety. Having the likes of Guts Man or Elec Man to interact with (and help out in a pinch) could be great fun.
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Post by madhair60 on Jun 2, 2011 8:25:54 GMT
Is issue 2 out yet?
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Post by Mark on Jun 2, 2011 8:45:25 GMT
Ehhhh, I don't think I'll be picking it up. My friend was harping on about it but I just don't like it. I'll stick to the games.
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Post by The Shad on Jun 2, 2011 9:32:26 GMT
OK, so I got two copies of this today, one variant. Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy |
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