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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Jun 7, 2011 13:06:36 GMT
OK, so I got two copies of this today, one variant. Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Because I'm a comic book collector. That's easy to answer: comics are more or less a niche medium these days and that niche is progressively shrinking. I guess, though that always struck me as more of a problem in the UK, less so abroad. Though come to think of it, it's been a while since I bought a comic that wasn't DC or Marvel, so point taken.
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Post by Baron Canier on Jun 7, 2011 13:43:16 GMT
It's a global obstacle for the medium. Even heavy-hitters like DC and Marvel only average about 150,000 sales (give or take) per issue, which is pretty pathetic. Sales only spike during events, which is why the last decade or so has been event after event after event.
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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Jun 23, 2011 15:15:50 GMT
So: issue two. I think it's already an improvement over the first issue. It's a shame there are three fights condensed into a single issue, it makes the pacing all messed up. That's the problem with writing specifically for arcs rather than writing for the needs of the story.
It's pretty clear that part four will feature a rematch with the Robot Masters, as in the games. Can the comic really follow that structure every time, though?
Mega Man's character is built upon a little and there's some groundwork laid for Protoman to show up later.
And it's pretty funny, too, especially Cut Man's awful jokes.
All in all, good stuff.
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Post by ShayMay on Jun 23, 2011 15:54:18 GMT
Oh yeah, I read this.
The first comic continues to baffle me, because besides the abysmal preview pages, it's actually quite good. It's not perfect, but the characterisation, the pacing, the art, even, just... everything picks up. It also has a Neige cameo, which made me squeal like a little girl.
The second issue is average, imo, a major step down. Cut Man made me want to cut myself and the rest was entirely forgettable - yeah, he's fighting the Robot Masters, remember that from Mega Man 1? In fact, all it does is make me want to play Mega Man 1 rather than read a half-hearted attempt at retelling the story.
Before anyone says "how else could they do it?", I'll just point at Mega Man MegaMix and save you the trouble.
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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Jul 10, 2011 14:23:41 GMT
Issue three, then. Weak.
The battles are too short. This ought to have been a ten-part story after a four-part introductory arc, instead the Robot Masters are lucky to have ten panels. They're dispatched painfully easily, making them look pathetic, which is fine inasmuch as they're Dr. Light's robots so they're not specifically designed to be evil, but it doesn't help that the initial arc has Mega Man walking all over everyone.
Generally, then, the pacing is horrendous. Here's how I'd have broken down this arc:
1. Introductory chapter, we flashback to the start of the MM saga and are introduced to helmet-less Rock, Roll, Dr. Light and Dr. Wily. Truth be known, as introductions go, issue one was pretty faultless. The wonky characterisation and Rock throwing a paddy at Wily's fortress could have done with being cut, mind. At the end of the issue, Wily seizes the Robot Masters and yadda yadda yadda you know the rest. 2. Bomb Man fight. I would actually lead with Cut Man since he and Guts Man are the most popular in this bunch but, hey, Flynn went with Bomb Man so why not? 3. Guts Man fight. 4. Cut Man fight. 5. Elec Man fight. 6. Ice Man fight. 7. Fire Man fight. 8-10. Wily's fortress infiltration, Yellow Demon fight, CWU-01P fight, Robot Master rematch (in which they could either accidentally knock one another out or realise their original programming and turn on Wily), Dr. Wily fight.
Bottom line is this: four issue arcs will not be sustainable or entertaining for every game if Flynn is going to whizz through the fights like this.
Anyway, in other related things of interest:
Mega Man lets the power go to his head and throws a tantrum. Shockingly out of character, though Capcom have to have authorised it, so there we go. Anyway, Dr. Light gives him a lecture about responsibility and Mega Man swears to never be a [censored] again. Cool. The whole thing is embarassing and Roll is annoying in it. These are pages that should have instead been used to flesh out the fights. Fire Man is on the variant cover this issue. He lasts three panels. That says it all.
The art is mostly fine, as per, though there's a panel where Mega Man's climbing a ladder in Elec Man's lair and it looks like he's waving rather than raising his hand to climb. That little glitch aside, I've not really got any complaints. The only issue is some of Mega Man's palette changes don't come across well (his Ice Man colours don't look sufficiently different enough) but that can't be helped.
Mega Man gets the Magnet Beam which, as I'm sure we all remember, is the single most [censored]ing annoying to use piece of trash in the first game. Can't wait to see how stupidly that's implemented next issue, if it is at all because so far there's been sod all point him getting the Charge Shot which he didn't ought to have anyway.
On a personal note, I think it's kind of a shame the Robot Masters aren't showing their personalities, though that's what happens when they get so little page time.
Next issue's cover has Copy Robot, CWU-01P and some Robot Masters, but no Wily. All this plus the Yellow Demon which Mega Man has yet to fight from issue one to be resolved in one issue. Flynn, you're pushing it.
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Post by ShayMay on Jul 18, 2011 10:46:58 GMT
I think Flynn went with Bomb Man because he's quite a popular starting point. If you beat him first and go in order from there, you don't have to repeat Elec Man's stage to get the Magnet Beam.
Issue 3 genuinely annoyed me. The only bit that even suggested any sort of imagination went into this was the bit with Elec Man powering his level's electrical traps. However, it wasn't the lack of imagination that ground my gears. It was Dr. Light's speech.
A bit of context: Mega Man gets a bit depressed at getting so power-mad, and asks Dr. Light to take his weapons away. Dr. Light's response? To recite the chorus, very nearly word-for-word, from the Megas song: "The Message From Dr. Light". I don't have any problem with a shout-out, and I would have grinned had perhaps a line from the chorus been thrown in. But this was the entirety of the chorus. That's beyond a shout-out; that's borderline plagiarism. It's lazy, it doesn't fit 100% given the preceding and following lines, and it just smacks of Flynn trying to get in good with the internet crowd. He's done it before, sure - who can forget "Snooping as usual?!". But that made sense in context, and was three [censored]ing words. This is taking fans' work, using it to buffer your own script, and walking away with a big wad of dosh, AND the internet's tongue up your colon. Deplorable, imo.
It doesn't help that they REALLY stood out from the rest of the comic because they were probably the most well-written lines in the damn thing.
And I still don't care for Spazz's artwork.
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Post by madhair60 on Jul 23, 2011 13:41:04 GMT
"Big wad of dosh"? Sorry? I'm pretty sure he's not getting the Mad Dollar for writing Archie comics.
Additionally, you are out of your tree.
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Post by ShayMay on Jul 23, 2011 13:49:44 GMT
He's earning enough to make a living though. That's a "big wad of dosh" to me. And no, I've made entirely justified and well-reasoned points.
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Post by madhair60 on Jul 23, 2011 15:12:58 GMT
You say you don't have any problem with a shout-out, then you have a problem with a shout-out, which is all it is. Clearly. You then said he is a plagiarist (well, you said borderline, but it's offensive enough an accusation that we might as well go whole hog) for inserting said shout-out. He may have contacted the creators. We don't know. They might be thrilled that it's in there, we don't know. I don't know. We both know as much as each other about Flynn's motivations, which is [censored]-all. But don't default to plagiarism when there are so many variables. Seeing as you're wilfully ignoring so many potential explanations, I can't reasonably consider your argument justified nor well-reasoned. Don't get me wrong, the comic is not good, but this staggeringly brief reference to the fandom is the least of its problems. Still love you.
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Post by ShayMay on Jul 23, 2011 15:40:11 GMT
I feel that there is a vast difference between a shout-out or reference and... well, this. To take another Flynn example, there's a particular part in StH/Sonic Universe (don't know which, don't much care), I think I have a picture of it... Yeah, there. That's a brief reference to the Princess Bride, I believe. That made me grin - it's one line, used as a joke, that makes sense in context. The problem I have with what happened in the Archie Mega Man comic is that Flynn has used their lyrics (with their permission, I found out after some searching, more on this in a bit) ad verbatim, without them being credited or acknowledged anywhere. Now, I may be alone in this, but I would be pretty hacked off at that were I the Megas, because more people are going to read this comic and assume that I copied him. The Megas did give their permission, so they're cool with it, and that's their choice. But to me, it's still lazy, cheeky, and just not professional - especially as there was no lead-up to or reason for that line. It seems to me like an excuse to go "I don't have to write these few lines, I'm just going to nick 'em from something else". It's why I have a problem with internet humour in general. The rest of the comic is [censored] as well, don't get me wrong. But at least it's organic [censored]. I may have my priorities wrong. I accept that as a distinct possibility. you said you didn't love me it's too late now
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Post by madhair60 on Jul 23, 2011 16:01:35 GMT
I only have an issue with you calling it plagiarism. You now know it isn't, since he got permission.
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