By Mark Rodriguez
Based on the crossover fighting game, this comic deals with a tournament in another dimension, and the only way to enter is by dying. Bison had released a bomb in the world that killed most of everybody, and now all the heroes and villains of Capcom and SNK are teaming up and taking sides. Red Arremer from the Ghosts and Goblins games has appeared and decided to recruit Bison. Elsewhere Iori has killed himself to chase his longtime rival Kyo into this world... and has already been killed twice in battle, once against Genjuro from the Samurai Shodown series and once against an Orochi possessed clone of himself. With the rules stating you can only die three times before being gone for good, what awaits Iori Yagami? The prize at the end of the tournament is a wish granted for the winner, be it for good or evil. Who will win? And what will their wish be?
This issue started with the narrator talking about the ideals between good and evil as we see Red Arremer's flashbacks of this battles against King Arthur. Back in present time, Bison decides he wants to see how strong the demon is before siding with him and sends Vega after him. Red can read Vega's mind and we see a flashback of his mother. Apparently his mother was incredibly beautiful, but married an unattractive and weak man. A young Vega witness how the man killed his mother, and from then on he snapped and started his violent crusade against the ugly and weak.
Enraged by having his mind read, Vega strikes with his Rolling Crystal Flash and Red spits out a Fireball. Vega slices through the fireball but Red vanishes before he could stab him. Red appears behind the Spanish Ninja, and before he can slice him with his claw, the demon kicks him in the back and sends him flying. Vega flips to his feet showing he is still ok, and was only testing him out before Bison can challenge him personally.
Bison hits the demon with his Double Knee Press, but he manages to block it with his own foot. Bison then phases away and reappears above him, flying down with his Head Press stomp attack. Red reaches out and pushes up against his feet as Bison unleashes more Psycho Power into his attack. The demon is actually able to push Bison away, but the dictator uses this chance to change his attack into the Somersault Skull Diver that manages to chop him in the face. The demon quickly counters with an uppercut that sends Bison flying back.
Red Arremer says that he will have Bison kill someone in this parallel world if he is able to survive his next attack. Bison, now enraged that he is losing, flies at him with his Mega Psycho Crusher. The demon is able to block and shoves Bison back. Vega realizes that the tournament is for the last man standing and he wonders how he will be able to stand up against these two when the time comes.
Bison wants another round, but Red says he'll admit defeat but since he survived the attack, he wants Bison to kill someone for him. Bison asks why he should agree to anything. Red explains that the forces of good and evil have always been evenly matches, with Athena representing good and himself representing evil. He wants Bison to help tip the scales to his favor.
Elsewhere, Ryu and Kyo are still fighting it out, wondering if this fight is real, or if Akuma and Mr. Karate will show up like they have in their nightmares. Just then, 2 big fireballs are shot out from different sides and clash into each other, forcing Ryu and Kyo to get out of the way and stop their fight. They turn to see Guile, Chun Li, Mai Shiranui and Terry Bogard. Terry tells Guile that Ryu and Kyo weren't fighting to the death, and the two say they were just training. Guile tells them when asked about his greatest desire, his was to return home to his family. Kyo hears this and thinks about his girlfriend Yuki. Terry tells them all if that if any of them wins, they can use the wish to restore the world to the way it was before Bison destroyed America. Chun Li and Mai explain that they all decided to team up and take down the ones that will use their wish evilly. Ryu and Kyo agree and join them.
Elsewhere, Red Arremer has also enlisted the help of Geese Howard and Demitri. The narrator reminds us there are also others out there including Sagat, Vega, Balrog, Hugo and Earthquake and wonder how they will use their wish?
Bison suddenly appears and challenges the heroes to a fight in Union Square new York in ten days, and then vanishes. Ryu says they have to get ready since ten days isn't long. Just then, Dhalsim, Kim Kaphwan and Choi appear, ready to help them out. Ryu wonders why Ken hasn't shown up yet. Kasumi and Tessa also arrive.
The narrator reminds us that besides the teams of good and evil, there is a third team, out for their own goals, including Akuma, Mr. Karate, Shiki and Ryo Sakazaki.
As the day of reckoning draws nearer, Ryu and Kyo discuss what they will do when the time comes. They decide showing up at different times will work out better then showing up all at once.
Ryu goes alone and sees a Tiger Shot coming at him. He quickly tosses a Ha Do Ken to counter it, and Sagat catches it in his hand. Bison had already foreseen that the heroes will come one by one and has sent out his fighters in the same manner. Sagat says it was mistake coming alone. Ryu says since Sagat has become a lackey for Bison, he's been full of himself. Sagat wants revenge for the scar Ryu gave him and their fight begins.
Elsewhere, Kim and Choi are looking for their challenger. Kim decided they should split up and hopes that Choi is fighting for the right reasons. For those that don't know, Choi used to be a criminal and was forced by Kim to team up with him in the King of Fighters tournaments, and by now some of his righteousness has rubbed off on him (and Chang too). Choi seeks out an opponent and runs into Vega.
Vega asks if Choi wants to join with them, but Choi flies at him with his claws. Choi manages to block Vega's claw and stab him in the chest. Vega is angry that his perfect body has been ruined and jumps at him with his Rolling Crystal Flash. Choi flips out of the way but is still stabbed. Choi then starts his own rolling attacks and goes crazy on Vega. The Spanish Ninja is sent flying into a building and his mask is cracked, which only angers him even more.
Iori has returned after his second death and is on the move. Meanwhile, Genjuro found a castle and decided to challenge whoever lurked inside. He finds Orochi Iori chained up and locked in a cell, having been captured by Demitri. Genjuro takes this as a free win and slices the Iori clone in half with his sword.
Ryu and Sagat continue their battle in the streets. Ryu tries to hit Sagat with his Sho Ryu Ken, but is overcome by his rival's Tiger Uppercut. Elsewhere, Geese and Demitri are enjoying some fine wine together. Geese tells him that if Bison can't handle the good guys, they sure can. Just then a bat arrives and tells Demitri something. The vampire then excuses himself and Geese wonders what that was about. The vampire is pissed that Genjuro is ruining his plans.
We have a flashback that Demitri has faced Orochi Iori earlier, and easily defeated him. He realized this version of Iori is a mindless killing machine and decides to chain him up in his castle instead. He didn't count on Genjuro finding him and killing him. Genjuro has realized that for every fighter you kill, you absorb his power and become even stronger. He was originally tracking down Orochi Iori but ran into the original instead.
Demitri teleports into the room angry at Genjuro for trespassing. Genjuro sneers and challenges the vampire to a fight. Demitri tosses his Chaos Flare at the swordsman, who easily chops through it with his Cherry Blossom Slice. He even manages to stab through Demitri's wrist. The vampire goes for a Bat Spin, which the swordsman avoids, and then tosses another Chaos Flare fireball. As Genjuro deflects it with his sword, Demitri appears beside him and punches him so hard, he's sent flying into the other room. Genjuro then hits his Maximum Mode and glows red.
Genjuro goes for his Triple Demise attack that slices the vampire's hand off. Demitri tries to deflects his other attacks but gets hacked up. Demtri is sent flying out of his castle and onto the pavement below. He is so injured he can't turn into a bat to fly away. Genjuro says he can kill him any time he wants, but instead wants him to do something for him.
The fight between Vega and Choi continues. Vega is determined to kill Choi with his Red Impact attack... but misses due to Choi being so short and ducking. Now left wide open for attack, Choi finishes Vega off with his Phoenix Talons attack. Vega is surprised he lost to such an ugly opponent and is killed. Before Choi can celebrate, Red Arremer shows up with Balrog.
Mai and Kasumi are in the China Town of this parallel New York and run into Hugo and Posion. In the SVC game, Hugo was enlarged to giant proportions to contend with Earthquake, so he's depicted as super-huge in the comic as well. Mai tosses her Flying Fan Fandago, and he merely swats them away. Mai and Kasumi decide to take him down with their super moves and Poison gets out of the way. Mai flies in with the Super Phoenix Dance and Kasumi unleashes her Ultimate Ecstasy Crunch (it's a triple energy blade attack, not what it sounds like). Hugo grabs Mai in the middle of her burning attack and basically ignores Kasumi's burning attack, and tosses the Shiranui Ninja into Kasumi, taking out both women.
Elsewhere, Sagat continues his brutal assault on Ryu, but our hero counters with his Shinku Tastumaki Senpu Kyaku. Sagat runs into the whirlwind kick with his Tiger Cannon, as both techniques clash. As the powers explode, Ryu is defeated and fades way. Sagat says he has studied Ryu's fighting style by now, so he knew how to counter it. Just as Sagat relishes getting his revenge, Terry Bogard arrives to challenge him.
We see flashbacks of Terry Bogard, and how he and his brother Andy were adopted by Jeff Bogard. After their adopted father was killed by Geese Howard he went off to train in several different fighting styles to get his revenge. Terry did eventually fight and defeat Geese, knocking him off the top of his tower, but he realizes that revenge is not the answer. Back to the present, Terry is now facing down Sagat.
He notices that Sagat has a gushing wound on his chest due to his victory over Ryu (did the fight re-open the wound again?) and decides to give Sagat to take care of his wounds before starting their fight. Sagat meditates for two hours while Terry stares at him. After the two hours are up, Sagat dashes into Terry with his Tiger Genocide technique... which Terry casually blocks with his wrist as if it were nothing. Sagat tries to use his Tiger Uppercut, which is also blocked and then Terry punches him right through the chest. Since when has Terry entered God Mode? Terry finishes Sagat off with the Buster Wolf and avenges Ryu.
Back to Kasumi and Mai, they are taking a beating from Hugo. We have flashbacks of Hugo being picked on as a child due to looking different. It was until a kid spit on him that he finally snapped and threw him into a tree. From then one he wandered the world until he found Poison who trained him to be a wrestler. Hugo now entered this parallel tournament to get Poison's wish. I guess the comic decided to leave out his history with the Mad Gear gang.
Poison sends Hugo after Kasumi and Mai and the girls need to come up with a plan quickly. Mai says she will hit Hugo with her most powerful attack giving Kasumi time to escape. Mai dashes at Hugo with her Cho Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi attack that is a direct hit... but Hugo grabs her anyway. Mai tells Kasumi to run and she does so. As she runs, she deflects a knife being tossed at her by Poison, that doesn't want her to leave. Hugo spins into the air and lands on Mai with all his weight, injuring her severely. He still grabs her after that and tosses her into a building. He then socks Kasumi to the ground and is ready to hit her again. Just then, fireballs hit Hugo and explode on his back. Kyo has arrived and he sets Poison on fire as well. Kyo tells Hugo that he will his challenger now.
Choi is facing Balrog and Red Arremer. Rather than a fight, Red tells Choi that he's on the wrong team and is evil like them as well. Choi jumps in to attack, but Red looks into his mind and washes away all of Kim's teachings. Now back to his original criminal self, Choi sides with Red Arremer.
Ken finally shows up and says they are all silly for fighting over silly things like good and evil. Red Arremer tries to read Ken's mind and is shocked by what he finds. Ken tells him that his mind is devoid of good and evil. All he wants is power.
My Opinions:
There's not much to say about the story besides the 3-death rule in this parallel universe tournament, and that the good guys and bad guys have decided to team up into groups. Consider that this is several issues in one, it seems each issue goes into one or two long fights, as well as slowly moving the main story forward and also giving some backstory on the characters.
I was pretty sure that Vega's story was made up, but someone who read my first run at this blog mentioned that this bit of backstory was in one of the Capcom guides. So wow. I mean, Vega needed some reason why he's such a psychopath.
I liked Terry's montage showing the other Fatal Fury characters but I wish they showed a Final Fight related one for Hugo and Poison. I'm not sure why for a while there was an actual debate with Capcom that Hugo is not the same Andores we see in those games, though we know Poison was a Mad Gear member.
Based on the crossover fighting game, this comic deals with a tournament in another dimension, and the only way to enter is by dying. Bison had released a bomb in the world that killed most of everybody, and now all the heroes and villains of Capcom and SNK are teaming up and taking sides. Red Arremer from the Ghosts and Goblins games has appeared and decided to recruit Bison. Elsewhere Iori has killed himself to chase his longtime rival Kyo into this world... and has already been killed twice in battle, once against Genjuro from the Samurai Shodown series and once against an Orochi possessed clone of himself. With the rules stating you can only die three times before being gone for good, what awaits Iori Yagami? The prize at the end of the tournament is a wish granted for the winner, be it for good or evil. Who will win? And what will their wish be?
This issue started with the narrator talking about the ideals between good and evil as we see Red Arremer's flashbacks of this battles against King Arthur. Back in present time, Bison decides he wants to see how strong the demon is before siding with him and sends Vega after him. Red can read Vega's mind and we see a flashback of his mother. Apparently his mother was incredibly beautiful, but married an unattractive and weak man. A young Vega witness how the man killed his mother, and from then on he snapped and started his violent crusade against the ugly and weak.
Enraged by having his mind read, Vega strikes with his Rolling Crystal Flash and Red spits out a Fireball. Vega slices through the fireball but Red vanishes before he could stab him. Red appears behind the Spanish Ninja, and before he can slice him with his claw, the demon kicks him in the back and sends him flying. Vega flips to his feet showing he is still ok, and was only testing him out before Bison can challenge him personally.
Bison hits the demon with his Double Knee Press, but he manages to block it with his own foot. Bison then phases away and reappears above him, flying down with his Head Press stomp attack. Red reaches out and pushes up against his feet as Bison unleashes more Psycho Power into his attack. The demon is actually able to push Bison away, but the dictator uses this chance to change his attack into the Somersault Skull Diver that manages to chop him in the face. The demon quickly counters with an uppercut that sends Bison flying back.
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| The day I fought a demon might have been the most important day in your life... but for me... it was... Tuesday. |
Bison wants another round, but Red says he'll admit defeat but since he survived the attack, he wants Bison to kill someone for him. Bison asks why he should agree to anything. Red explains that the forces of good and evil have always been evenly matches, with Athena representing good and himself representing evil. He wants Bison to help tip the scales to his favor.
Elsewhere, Ryu and Kyo are still fighting it out, wondering if this fight is real, or if Akuma and Mr. Karate will show up like they have in their nightmares. Just then, 2 big fireballs are shot out from different sides and clash into each other, forcing Ryu and Kyo to get out of the way and stop their fight. They turn to see Guile, Chun Li, Mai Shiranui and Terry Bogard. Terry tells Guile that Ryu and Kyo weren't fighting to the death, and the two say they were just training. Guile tells them when asked about his greatest desire, his was to return home to his family. Kyo hears this and thinks about his girlfriend Yuki. Terry tells them all if that if any of them wins, they can use the wish to restore the world to the way it was before Bison destroyed America. Chun Li and Mai explain that they all decided to team up and take down the ones that will use their wish evilly. Ryu and Kyo agree and join them.
Elsewhere, Red Arremer has also enlisted the help of Geese Howard and Demitri. The narrator reminds us there are also others out there including Sagat, Vega, Balrog, Hugo and Earthquake and wonder how they will use their wish?
Bison suddenly appears and challenges the heroes to a fight in Union Square new York in ten days, and then vanishes. Ryu says they have to get ready since ten days isn't long. Just then, Dhalsim, Kim Kaphwan and Choi appear, ready to help them out. Ryu wonders why Ken hasn't shown up yet. Kasumi and Tessa also arrive.
The narrator reminds us that besides the teams of good and evil, there is a third team, out for their own goals, including Akuma, Mr. Karate, Shiki and Ryo Sakazaki.
As the day of reckoning draws nearer, Ryu and Kyo discuss what they will do when the time comes. They decide showing up at different times will work out better then showing up all at once.
Ryu goes alone and sees a Tiger Shot coming at him. He quickly tosses a Ha Do Ken to counter it, and Sagat catches it in his hand. Bison had already foreseen that the heroes will come one by one and has sent out his fighters in the same manner. Sagat says it was mistake coming alone. Ryu says since Sagat has become a lackey for Bison, he's been full of himself. Sagat wants revenge for the scar Ryu gave him and their fight begins.
Elsewhere, Kim and Choi are looking for their challenger. Kim decided they should split up and hopes that Choi is fighting for the right reasons. For those that don't know, Choi used to be a criminal and was forced by Kim to team up with him in the King of Fighters tournaments, and by now some of his righteousness has rubbed off on him (and Chang too). Choi seeks out an opponent and runs into Vega.
Vega asks if Choi wants to join with them, but Choi flies at him with his claws. Choi manages to block Vega's claw and stab him in the chest. Vega is angry that his perfect body has been ruined and jumps at him with his Rolling Crystal Flash. Choi flips out of the way but is still stabbed. Choi then starts his own rolling attacks and goes crazy on Vega. The Spanish Ninja is sent flying into a building and his mask is cracked, which only angers him even more.
Iori has returned after his second death and is on the move. Meanwhile, Genjuro found a castle and decided to challenge whoever lurked inside. He finds Orochi Iori chained up and locked in a cell, having been captured by Demitri. Genjuro takes this as a free win and slices the Iori clone in half with his sword.
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| Well, that was awfully convenient. |
We have a flashback that Demitri has faced Orochi Iori earlier, and easily defeated him. He realized this version of Iori is a mindless killing machine and decides to chain him up in his castle instead. He didn't count on Genjuro finding him and killing him. Genjuro has realized that for every fighter you kill, you absorb his power and become even stronger. He was originally tracking down Orochi Iori but ran into the original instead.
Demitri teleports into the room angry at Genjuro for trespassing. Genjuro sneers and challenges the vampire to a fight. Demitri tosses his Chaos Flare at the swordsman, who easily chops through it with his Cherry Blossom Slice. He even manages to stab through Demitri's wrist. The vampire goes for a Bat Spin, which the swordsman avoids, and then tosses another Chaos Flare fireball. As Genjuro deflects it with his sword, Demitri appears beside him and punches him so hard, he's sent flying into the other room. Genjuro then hits his Maximum Mode and glows red.
Genjuro goes for his Triple Demise attack that slices the vampire's hand off. Demitri tries to deflects his other attacks but gets hacked up. Demtri is sent flying out of his castle and onto the pavement below. He is so injured he can't turn into a bat to fly away. Genjuro says he can kill him any time he wants, but instead wants him to do something for him.
The fight between Vega and Choi continues. Vega is determined to kill Choi with his Red Impact attack... but misses due to Choi being so short and ducking. Now left wide open for attack, Choi finishes Vega off with his Phoenix Talons attack. Vega is surprised he lost to such an ugly opponent and is killed. Before Choi can celebrate, Red Arremer shows up with Balrog.
Mai and Kasumi are in the China Town of this parallel New York and run into Hugo and Posion. In the SVC game, Hugo was enlarged to giant proportions to contend with Earthquake, so he's depicted as super-huge in the comic as well. Mai tosses her Flying Fan Fandago, and he merely swats them away. Mai and Kasumi decide to take him down with their super moves and Poison gets out of the way. Mai flies in with the Super Phoenix Dance and Kasumi unleashes her Ultimate Ecstasy Crunch (it's a triple energy blade attack, not what it sounds like). Hugo grabs Mai in the middle of her burning attack and basically ignores Kasumi's burning attack, and tosses the Shiranui Ninja into Kasumi, taking out both women.
Elsewhere, Sagat continues his brutal assault on Ryu, but our hero counters with his Shinku Tastumaki Senpu Kyaku. Sagat runs into the whirlwind kick with his Tiger Cannon, as both techniques clash. As the powers explode, Ryu is defeated and fades way. Sagat says he has studied Ryu's fighting style by now, so he knew how to counter it. Just as Sagat relishes getting his revenge, Terry Bogard arrives to challenge him.
We see flashbacks of Terry Bogard, and how he and his brother Andy were adopted by Jeff Bogard. After their adopted father was killed by Geese Howard he went off to train in several different fighting styles to get his revenge. Terry did eventually fight and defeat Geese, knocking him off the top of his tower, but he realizes that revenge is not the answer. Back to the present, Terry is now facing down Sagat.
He notices that Sagat has a gushing wound on his chest due to his victory over Ryu (did the fight re-open the wound again?) and decides to give Sagat to take care of his wounds before starting their fight. Sagat meditates for two hours while Terry stares at him. After the two hours are up, Sagat dashes into Terry with his Tiger Genocide technique... which Terry casually blocks with his wrist as if it were nothing. Sagat tries to use his Tiger Uppercut, which is also blocked and then Terry punches him right through the chest. Since when has Terry entered God Mode? Terry finishes Sagat off with the Buster Wolf and avenges Ryu.
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| Dayum. Terry Bogard is OP. |
Poison sends Hugo after Kasumi and Mai and the girls need to come up with a plan quickly. Mai says she will hit Hugo with her most powerful attack giving Kasumi time to escape. Mai dashes at Hugo with her Cho Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi attack that is a direct hit... but Hugo grabs her anyway. Mai tells Kasumi to run and she does so. As she runs, she deflects a knife being tossed at her by Poison, that doesn't want her to leave. Hugo spins into the air and lands on Mai with all his weight, injuring her severely. He still grabs her after that and tosses her into a building. He then socks Kasumi to the ground and is ready to hit her again. Just then, fireballs hit Hugo and explode on his back. Kyo has arrived and he sets Poison on fire as well. Kyo tells Hugo that he will his challenger now.
Choi is facing Balrog and Red Arremer. Rather than a fight, Red tells Choi that he's on the wrong team and is evil like them as well. Choi jumps in to attack, but Red looks into his mind and washes away all of Kim's teachings. Now back to his original criminal self, Choi sides with Red Arremer.
Ken finally shows up and says they are all silly for fighting over silly things like good and evil. Red Arremer tries to read Ken's mind and is shocked by what he finds. Ken tells him that his mind is devoid of good and evil. All he wants is power.
My Opinions:
There's not much to say about the story besides the 3-death rule in this parallel universe tournament, and that the good guys and bad guys have decided to team up into groups. Consider that this is several issues in one, it seems each issue goes into one or two long fights, as well as slowly moving the main story forward and also giving some backstory on the characters.
I was pretty sure that Vega's story was made up, but someone who read my first run at this blog mentioned that this bit of backstory was in one of the Capcom guides. So wow. I mean, Vega needed some reason why he's such a psychopath.
I liked Terry's montage showing the other Fatal Fury characters but I wish they showed a Final Fight related one for Hugo and Poison. I'm not sure why for a while there was an actual debate with Capcom that Hugo is not the same Andores we see in those games, though we know Poison was a Mad Gear member.
As for Poison this comic does away with any doubt and calls him a transgender right off the bat. The comic also refers to Poison as 'he' and 'him'. For some it might be confusing as to why she's not an active fighter here, you have to remember this is based on Hugo's appearance in Street Fighter III where Poison was just there for his intro and win poses.
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| Not much of a fighter.... until SF X Tekken and Ultra SF4 that is |
I have to say Red Arremer got a character upgrade, going from being just one of the tougher enemies from the Ghouls and Ghosts series to being the guardian of hell. In this version not only can he make Bison his bitch, but he can also see into the minds of others and find the evil lurking inside, like when he erased Kim's teachings from Choi's mind to make him evil again. The only downside to this is that it's hard to believe that the same demon that has this much power was just a lackey that couldn't take down a guy in armor that tosses magical spears at him in the Ghouls and Ghosts games. Those must be some damn powerful spears...
On the other side we have a few weird characterizations, like Terry defeating Sagat with such ease that you think he was a Saiyan or something. Now I'm as big a Terry Bogard fan as you can get, but even I have to call BS on that. We did find out that as you kill people you gain their power and get stronger... well how many people did Terry kill to curb stomp Sagat so badly? Then we have Ken acting all weird and evil near the end. What's up with him? I know this is the lead in to him becoming Violent Ken like he does in the game... but where did this come from? I would assume Ken would act like his same old self before Bison or Arremer would brainwash him into the Violent version... but here Ken seems kinda twisted from the get-go. I guess all those years playing second fiddle to Ryu had finally gotten to him.
Overall a good read, and since this is the last volume I bought way back in Anime Vegas, the following volumes will be ones I bought through Amazon. Honestly, I would have bought more volumes at the con, but memory serves that 1-3 was all they had at the time. I honestly forgot what I paid for them since manga and comics at cons are rarely sold for the cover price.
Overall a good read, and since this is the last volume I bought way back in Anime Vegas, the following volumes will be ones I bought through Amazon. Honestly, I would have bought more volumes at the con, but memory serves that 1-3 was all they had at the time. I honestly forgot what I paid for them since manga and comics at cons are rarely sold for the cover price.
To read up on part 4 go to- SVC Chaos Volume 4
This was really cool. Yeah Terry's upgraded ability to parry Sagat was freaking hilarious especially how you expressed your astonishment as this obviously a comedic attempt. That had a profound effect. Not just on you but I was shocked by your reaction.
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