By Mark Rodriguez
Here is the 2017 Free Comic Book Day offering for Udon's awesome Street Fighter comic series. This time the main focus was Rainbow Mika and female wrestlers that exist from the wrestling federation she is a part of. I'm not sure if they cameo anywhere in Street Fighter 5, but these characters exist within Capcom's character files.
First Story-
The comic begins with Dan, getting ready for a big match in the ring. He thinks back to all the defeats he has suffered at the hands of several Street Fighters, and all the extensive training he has gone under to rebuild himself. As he heads past the crowd, that he is surprised is actually applauding him, he enters the ring and prepares to face his opponent. That person is none other than Rainbow Mika, and she brought her trainer Yoko Harmageddon with her.
The ladies state they're not here to fight Dan, but the current chairman of the CWA that has been ruining things for the female roster. The chairman is Belger (that somehow survived that big fall at the end of Final Fight?). In the stands, Sakura and her buddies from Rival Schools are watching. Kei says Sakura is taking this storyline way too seriously, but Hinata shows that she's even more intense.
Mika complains on how since Belger took over the CWA, the male wrestlers have gotten luxury locker rooms with hot tubs and massages, while the women get a damp basement. Belger says the male wrestlers are the money makers and he shouldn't have to spend extra expenses on the 'eye candy'. The women take offense to that. Belger says if they can prove they can beat a man, even a pathetic one like Dan, he can give them a better locker room. Dan is confused but wants no part in their feud, but is picked up and tossed by Mika. He's caught in mid-air by her partner Nadeshiko, They both execute the Peach Assault move on him (double ass to the face).
Dazed and confused, Dan is still standing, so Yoko decides she needs more women for the job and call someone else. A Canadian themed wrestler named Maple Storm comes in and offers Dan some Poutine while saying they don't really need to fight. Dan accepts it, but Maple flicks the food into his eyes, burning him. Mike and Nadeshiko say it's one of the oldest tricks in the book and shove him against the ropes. As Dan bounces back from the ropes, Maple hit him with her Klondike Gold Rush and basically Spears him down.
The girls celebrate but Dan is still standing. Yoko calls up more girls to finish the job. Sunrise Nishisemba, Raika, Fuka, Vivian Nishiki, and Pepe Ishiwata all show up. Dan accepts the challenge, but Sakura and the rest won't sit idly by and let him fight alone. Giving each other wrestling nicknames, Sakura 'The Flower Kick Kid' Kasugano, Hinata 'The Whirlwind' Wakaba, Natsu 'The Power Attacker' Ayuhara, Shoma 'The Slugger' Sawamura and Roberto 'A Genio' Miura all decide to jump in, while Kei stays in her seat. Kei needs to find non Street Fighter friends.
As the fight begins, Natsu serves her volleyball and Roberto kicks his soccerball into the ring, but Maple destroys both with hockey pucks. Then then get grabbed by Sunrise and hits them both with a double backbreaker. She then tosses them out of the ring. Shoma tries to hit Pepe with his bat, that she blocks with a steel chair. Pepe swings the chair at him a few times, but Shoma smacks it away with his bat. He's then hit by a double chair shot, courtesy of Raika and Fuka.
Sakura and Hinata face Mika and Nadehiko. Sakura apologizes since she is a big fan and friend of hers and Mika says a girl sometimes got to do what a girl got to do. Vivian, from outside the ring, grabs Sakura and Hinata by the leg and yanks them back so they fall on their faces. While they're dazed, Mika and Naddie grab them with scissorlock suplexes, taking them both down.
Dan stands alone, surrounded by the CWA female roster, but he boasts that he has a powerful attack yet to unleash. He builds power and slams his fist onto the ground, but all his 'Raging Dan' does is vaporize his clothes, leaving him in his underwear. Mika jokes how his underwear says Tuesday, even though it's Friday and Vivian sneaks from behind to hit him with the Nishiki Nad Knocker. The other girls all take turns beating the crap out of him and Yoko finishes him off, finally knocking him out.
Dan wakes up in a locker room and the women all thank him for doing such a good job of 'putting them over'. Sunrise said he did a great job selling her chest slap. Yoko says Dan can now work for them as a jobber and make it far in this business, and Belger actually decided to upgrade the locker room, starting with a hot tub. Mika and Nadeshiko invite him in the tub. Dan notices that he's got tons of cash, is surrounded by female wrestlers and is invited to join them in a hot tub. Dan wins again.
Second Story-
Back in the 80's Haggar and Zangief are wrestling in the ring. When it looks like Haggar might win, he is tripped off the turnbuckle and lands with the ropes between his legs. NotGorbachev has come to help Zangief take down the American personally. I say NotGorbachev because while in Street Fighter 2 it really was supposed to be the Russian president at the time, I think Capcom went back and said it's just someone that looks like him. Anyways, the NotPres puts Haggar's legs in a submission move that he calls 'The Walls of Berlin' but before the future Metro City mayor can tap out, someone else comes to his aid, complete with an American bald eagle.
This is none other than Reagan himself to even tells 'Mr. Secretary' to 'bring down that wall'. Reagan and Haggar bounce off the ropes and hit Zangief and NotPres with Spinning Lariats. As the crowd cheers 'USA! USA!' Haggar tells the President he is happy to serve even if just for a bit. Reagan says he can help by using his charisma to run for mayor. Haggar says he doesn't know the first thing about politics. Our 40th President tells him that knowing how to put on a show is already being halfway there.
A week later, Zangief trains hard in Russia to redeem himself against the Americans. He starts practicing his Spinning Pile Driver on bears.
My thoughts
I love this issue! It was just so much fun and full of cool moves and random silliness! I do find it kinda WTF that Belger of all people is not just alive and well, but running the CWA. I guess he found out crime doesn't pay, or at least, if he wants to do corruption, it's better to do pretend corruption in a wrestling federation. I guess you can say he was playing a Vince McMahon role.
I was really surprised to find out the extra wrestlers exist, at least within Capcom's files. I thought they were made up or possibly based on real Japanese wrestlers. I wouldn't have minded a NotAsuka or a NorKairi Sane type cameo. But yeah, Capcom designed a bunch of extra wrestling females from the same wrestling federation that Mika and Naddie are from and I guess Udon decided to use them all in this story. They did a good job. Fuka and Raika are sisters and current tag team champions, and we got to see them work together, and Pepe even got to use the steel chair on her bio card.
It was also cool to see Sakura and the Rival School characters be in this, but I'm also glad they got to be in on the action as well and not just had that one cameo in the stands. C'mon Capcom, make another Rival Schools game for the modern era already. These guys are too cool to remain forgotten.
While it was disappointing we never saw the girls all battle each other like the cover suggests, Dan is always good for comedic relief. Similar to the story in the annual where he had to fight a car and got to keep it in the end, I do like this silly trend of having Dan's losses turn into wins.
As for the second story, it was good old fashioned America VS Soviet Union Cold War era cheese. Reagan using his famous 'tear down that wall' line and NotGorbachev doing the Walls of Jericho and calling it the Walls of Berlin was just too much. I love it.
Another thing I loved, due to me getting into wrestling as of late, is the extra wrestling lingo used as well. I wasn't expecting them to use terms like sell and put over. For those not 100% familiar, putting over is purposely losing in such a way it makes the winner look great and garners a big pop from the crowd. Selling a move is the art of making a move, in this case, Sunrise's chest slap, which supposedly isn't done as hard as can be, but acting convincingly that it did hurt like hell. On the contrary, a no-sell is when someone does take moves that look like they would take you out and act unaffected by them, like Hogan used to. And overselling is when the acting gets carried away and the wrestler accidentally hams up the 'acting like he's hurt' so much that people can tell it was fake. The funniest part is that Dan was actually getting beat up for real, and even when Sunrise was holding back, it still hurt like hell for him.
Anyways, this was a fun issue and I really am glad that I didn't miss it. Udon basically does two kinds of stories. The long multi-issue epics based heavily on the game's backstory, and the silly ones that plays with the character's personalities and also their backstory. This is probably my favorite of the silly stories.
Did you get your chance to get this book last year? What did you think about it? As always, comments and feedback and more than welcome.
Here is the 2017 Free Comic Book Day offering for Udon's awesome Street Fighter comic series. This time the main focus was Rainbow Mika and female wrestlers that exist from the wrestling federation she is a part of. I'm not sure if they cameo anywhere in Street Fighter 5, but these characters exist within Capcom's character files.
First Story-
The comic begins with Dan, getting ready for a big match in the ring. He thinks back to all the defeats he has suffered at the hands of several Street Fighters, and all the extensive training he has gone under to rebuild himself. As he heads past the crowd, that he is surprised is actually applauding him, he enters the ring and prepares to face his opponent. That person is none other than Rainbow Mika, and she brought her trainer Yoko Harmageddon with her.
The ladies state they're not here to fight Dan, but the current chairman of the CWA that has been ruining things for the female roster. The chairman is Belger (that somehow survived that big fall at the end of Final Fight?). In the stands, Sakura and her buddies from Rival Schools are watching. Kei says Sakura is taking this storyline way too seriously, but Hinata shows that she's even more intense.
Mika complains on how since Belger took over the CWA, the male wrestlers have gotten luxury locker rooms with hot tubs and massages, while the women get a damp basement. Belger says the male wrestlers are the money makers and he shouldn't have to spend extra expenses on the 'eye candy'. The women take offense to that. Belger says if they can prove they can beat a man, even a pathetic one like Dan, he can give them a better locker room. Dan is confused but wants no part in their feud, but is picked up and tossed by Mika. He's caught in mid-air by her partner Nadeshiko, They both execute the Peach Assault move on him (double ass to the face).
Dazed and confused, Dan is still standing, so Yoko decides she needs more women for the job and call someone else. A Canadian themed wrestler named Maple Storm comes in and offers Dan some Poutine while saying they don't really need to fight. Dan accepts it, but Maple flicks the food into his eyes, burning him. Mike and Nadeshiko say it's one of the oldest tricks in the book and shove him against the ropes. As Dan bounces back from the ropes, Maple hit him with her Klondike Gold Rush and basically Spears him down.
The girls celebrate but Dan is still standing. Yoko calls up more girls to finish the job. Sunrise Nishisemba, Raika, Fuka, Vivian Nishiki, and Pepe Ishiwata all show up. Dan accepts the challenge, but Sakura and the rest won't sit idly by and let him fight alone. Giving each other wrestling nicknames, Sakura 'The Flower Kick Kid' Kasugano, Hinata 'The Whirlwind' Wakaba, Natsu 'The Power Attacker' Ayuhara, Shoma 'The Slugger' Sawamura and Roberto 'A Genio' Miura all decide to jump in, while Kei stays in her seat. Kei needs to find non Street Fighter friends.
As the fight begins, Natsu serves her volleyball and Roberto kicks his soccerball into the ring, but Maple destroys both with hockey pucks. Then then get grabbed by Sunrise and hits them both with a double backbreaker. She then tosses them out of the ring. Shoma tries to hit Pepe with his bat, that she blocks with a steel chair. Pepe swings the chair at him a few times, but Shoma smacks it away with his bat. He's then hit by a double chair shot, courtesy of Raika and Fuka.
Sakura and Hinata face Mika and Nadehiko. Sakura apologizes since she is a big fan and friend of hers and Mika says a girl sometimes got to do what a girl got to do. Vivian, from outside the ring, grabs Sakura and Hinata by the leg and yanks them back so they fall on their faces. While they're dazed, Mika and Naddie grab them with scissorlock suplexes, taking them both down.
Dan stands alone, surrounded by the CWA female roster, but he boasts that he has a powerful attack yet to unleash. He builds power and slams his fist onto the ground, but all his 'Raging Dan' does is vaporize his clothes, leaving him in his underwear. Mika jokes how his underwear says Tuesday, even though it's Friday and Vivian sneaks from behind to hit him with the Nishiki Nad Knocker. The other girls all take turns beating the crap out of him and Yoko finishes him off, finally knocking him out.
Dan wakes up in a locker room and the women all thank him for doing such a good job of 'putting them over'. Sunrise said he did a great job selling her chest slap. Yoko says Dan can now work for them as a jobber and make it far in this business, and Belger actually decided to upgrade the locker room, starting with a hot tub. Mika and Nadeshiko invite him in the tub. Dan notices that he's got tons of cash, is surrounded by female wrestlers and is invited to join them in a hot tub. Dan wins again.
Second Story-
Back in the 80's Haggar and Zangief are wrestling in the ring. When it looks like Haggar might win, he is tripped off the turnbuckle and lands with the ropes between his legs. NotGorbachev has come to help Zangief take down the American personally. I say NotGorbachev because while in Street Fighter 2 it really was supposed to be the Russian president at the time, I think Capcom went back and said it's just someone that looks like him. Anyways, the NotPres puts Haggar's legs in a submission move that he calls 'The Walls of Berlin' but before the future Metro City mayor can tap out, someone else comes to his aid, complete with an American bald eagle.
This is none other than Reagan himself to even tells 'Mr. Secretary' to 'bring down that wall'. Reagan and Haggar bounce off the ropes and hit Zangief and NotPres with Spinning Lariats. As the crowd cheers 'USA! USA!' Haggar tells the President he is happy to serve even if just for a bit. Reagan says he can help by using his charisma to run for mayor. Haggar says he doesn't know the first thing about politics. Our 40th President tells him that knowing how to put on a show is already being halfway there.
A week later, Zangief trains hard in Russia to redeem himself against the Americans. He starts practicing his Spinning Pile Driver on bears.
My thoughts
I love this issue! It was just so much fun and full of cool moves and random silliness! I do find it kinda WTF that Belger of all people is not just alive and well, but running the CWA. I guess he found out crime doesn't pay, or at least, if he wants to do corruption, it's better to do pretend corruption in a wrestling federation. I guess you can say he was playing a Vince McMahon role.
I was really surprised to find out the extra wrestlers exist, at least within Capcom's files. I thought they were made up or possibly based on real Japanese wrestlers. I wouldn't have minded a NotAsuka or a NorKairi Sane type cameo. But yeah, Capcom designed a bunch of extra wrestling females from the same wrestling federation that Mika and Naddie are from and I guess Udon decided to use them all in this story. They did a good job. Fuka and Raika are sisters and current tag team champions, and we got to see them work together, and Pepe even got to use the steel chair on her bio card.
It was also cool to see Sakura and the Rival School characters be in this, but I'm also glad they got to be in on the action as well and not just had that one cameo in the stands. C'mon Capcom, make another Rival Schools game for the modern era already. These guys are too cool to remain forgotten.
While it was disappointing we never saw the girls all battle each other like the cover suggests, Dan is always good for comedic relief. Similar to the story in the annual where he had to fight a car and got to keep it in the end, I do like this silly trend of having Dan's losses turn into wins.
As for the second story, it was good old fashioned America VS Soviet Union Cold War era cheese. Reagan using his famous 'tear down that wall' line and NotGorbachev doing the Walls of Jericho and calling it the Walls of Berlin was just too much. I love it.
Another thing I loved, due to me getting into wrestling as of late, is the extra wrestling lingo used as well. I wasn't expecting them to use terms like sell and put over. For those not 100% familiar, putting over is purposely losing in such a way it makes the winner look great and garners a big pop from the crowd. Selling a move is the art of making a move, in this case, Sunrise's chest slap, which supposedly isn't done as hard as can be, but acting convincingly that it did hurt like hell. On the contrary, a no-sell is when someone does take moves that look like they would take you out and act unaffected by them, like Hogan used to. And overselling is when the acting gets carried away and the wrestler accidentally hams up the 'acting like he's hurt' so much that people can tell it was fake. The funniest part is that Dan was actually getting beat up for real, and even when Sunrise was holding back, it still hurt like hell for him.
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| No one sells a move like Dan! |
Did you get your chance to get this book last year? What did you think about it? As always, comments and feedback and more than welcome.
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