Street Fighter Prime # 0

By Mark Rodriguez

Udon comics starts another ongoing series, rather than just one-shots with the Street Fighter characters. This time around they'll be facing all-new villains original to the comics themselves. I'm assuming it's to buy more time while Street Fighter 6's story moves onwards as they add more and more DLC characters. I'm also surprised they're starting with a number 0, which is usually reserved for Free Comic Book Day. Let's take a look.

"Enter the Vortex" opens in the Nayshall Desert in Asia. Some men are sitting around a campfire stocking up on weapons. One of the men, Hanuman says he got 40 guns, which will be enough to wipe out Kalima and her resistance. He says it's time they look towards the future of Nayshall rather than the past. A man shows up on a horse saying that he hungers and they will feed him.

Hanuman draws his gun and tells the man he chose the wrong path for a pony ride, since it led him to death. The man, covered in bandages says he has already been at the end of the path of death. His hands glow with energy as he tells the men that he will show them. This man is the amnesiac Bison from SF6.

We go to Tokyo Japan where Karin Kanzuki has called in Chun Li to report a grave crime. The building to the Kanzuki Zaibatsu has been vandalized with graffiti reading 'Karin Kanzuki sucks'.  Chun Li came to help since she happened to be in Japan at the time and she's a friend, but she says this petty vandalism and not something to be investigated by Interpol. Karin picks up her phone and asks Chun Li if she still teaches martial arts at a Chinese orphanage. Chun Li says yes. Karin says she has just fully funded the orphanage for a year, she just requests a day of her time. Chun Li agrees but will have to be on her own time, not Interpol's. Karin accepts those terms.

Chun Li asks if she pulled the footage from the security cameras. Karin says there isn't any footage. The delinquent struck during the time their security was getting an upgrade. There was an eight hour period without a Vortex speed from their external cameras. Chun Li asks about Vortex. Karin explains that Vortex Inc handles surveillance, robotics and medical research. Their security systems handle all their corporate buildings. Chun Li has a hunch and asks if they have an office nearby. Karin says that Chun Li hasn't been to Tokyo lately and points out a huge skyscraper in the distance with the Vortex Inc logo.

Meanwhile in The Colosseo, Italy, Zangief and Marisa are having some friendly sparring. Marisa is happy to be sparring against the legendary Zangief, as well as fighting against some strong enough for her to go all out with. Zangief agrees and says not many can give the Red Cyclone a full workout. Marisa goes for a kick and Zangief catches her leg.

Marisa says it's decided that she must formalize their partnership. Zangief asks about this partnership. Zangief goes for the Tundra Storm. As this happens Marisa says they should form the ultimate tag team... marriage. Zangief is shocked by the words and lets go mid-move, so they both land on their backs. Marisa says she already has a wedding dress which was made by her grandmother. Marisa takes Zangief to see a friend of hers that is great at forecasting relationships. Zangief is still shocked by the word 'marriage'.

Elsewhere in Metro City, USA, Guile is walking down a dark alley. He calls out that he knew a friend once that fought hard for the stars and stripes and for his family. He fought to save his friend from the darkness, which Guile says he has a lot in common with. Guile says he never expected him to just give up and be too scared to keep fighting. 

A man in the shadows throws out a hard hat and Guile blasts it with a Sonic Boom. Ken leaps in and kicks Guile across the face, saying he's still the same old military man looking for a target, Ken throws some kicks out and says he's tired of being targeted. Sonic does a Sonic Blade which makes Ken leap back. Guile then launches it forward, hitting Ken with the Sonic Cross. 

 

With Ken on the floor, Guile says he knows JP framed him for the Nayshall tournament. Eliza, Mel, Chun Li, Ryu, Julia and Guile all believe in Ken and he can come home. Ken says he can't be the man his family deserves until he settles things with JP on his own. Guile says if he can't get him out of his funk, then he can at least point him in a new direction.

Guile says that T.Hawk had a run-in with JP in Mexico (in the Lily Masters one-shot) and he is currently gathering mystical artifacts that can be of great power. It seems JP is going through the Americas and if the pattern continues, US Intelligence says he might going after something he has a photo of. Ken sees that this is a photo of Huitzil.

Elsewhere in Nairobi, Kenya, Elena is hanging out with her friends. One of them says they can't believe she told their professor to smile more. Elena says he always looks so grouchy and a happier day begins with a smile. Elena says bye to her friends as she head towards an agriculture lecture. Suddenly a mysterious man appears behind her, telling her to freeze. Elena thrusts her leg back and hits the man in the midsection, lifting him up onto the air with her foot. She slams him down.

It turns out it was her brother Marcus trying to startle her. Elena asks if he should be in business class. Marcus says she forgot her phone when they went for breakfast and it wouldn't stop buzzing. Elena checks it out and it seems to be from Ibuki. Ibuki and Makoto are coming to visit Elena in Kenya. Elena leaps for joy.

Meanwhile in Palazzo Misterio, Italy, Zangief and Marisa go to see Rose, but she doesn't seem to be home. Zangief shrugs and says he guesses he should return to Russia. Marisa says it's strange that even her students are missing. Marisa comments that Rose says nothing is by chance and her absence might mean to to teach them something in their future. Marisa touches Rose's crystal ball and it starts to glow, startling both.

The crystal ball shows images of Morrigan, a female Jedah (????) and Demitri. A voice is heard saying 'The end of the game is changing, if one player continues to cheat, there will be no victory, only loss. Marisa says this a bad omen. She tells Zangief that he can return to his country since their love was not meant to be. Zangief breathes a sigh of relief.

Back to the Vortex Inc Headquarters in Tokyo, the receptionist tells Chun Li that the CEO will see her now. Chun Li is confused since she only wanted to see someone in the Vortex security department. The woman says that Madam Xavia has escalated her inquiry and she should not keep her waiting.

Madam Xavia is telling her crew that she wants a twenty million dollar stake in the Masters Hotels since she predicts they'll be bouncing back soon. She also tells them that she wants Dr. Jose to produce faster results, so she wants them to move Dr. Woo over to the Crboplasm Project to assist him. She also wants the latest Metro City construction to be up to 50% by the end of the quarter. Chun Li enters the room.

Madam Xavia is pleased to meet Chun Li and welcomes her as an Interpol agent. Chun Li tells her she's not there on behalf of Interpol. Xavia says she has some data that can help into the Kanzuki Zaibatsu situation. However time is money and she had already allotted this time for her calisthenics, so they can fight while they talk.

Chun Li sees that she also a martial artist. Xavia says she is self-taught and studied martial arts history. This involves studying Chun Li thoroughly. Chun Li uses several strikes, which Xavia blocks. She uses her Spinning Bird Kick and Xavia catches her ankle and flips her to the floor. Chun Li says she has studied her and can anticipate her attacks, so she decides to copy a page from Master Gen's book. Chun Li uses Gen's Shitenketsu but Xavia is fast enough to block all of her hand strikes. 

Xavia says it's been two minutes so that's enough exercise for one day. Chun Li remarks that Xavia never tried to strike her. Xavia says she needed the workout, not the win. Xavia explains that while the Kanzuki security feeds were offline the night before, there was a Vrotex work truck left over night. The dashcam footage caught the culprit, Olive Ong. Chun Li recognizes her as a popular punk idol. Xavia says Chun Li seems to have stumbled into a spat between rich girls. She jokes that Karin should watch out for burning bags of caviar on her doorstep.

Chun Li thanks her for the information and asks if she can see some of her moves next time. Xavia says there is a time and place for everything, but she will see them. 

As Chun Li leaves, she talks to Li-Fen via bluetooth and says the meeting went well and she found Karin's answer. She asks if she dug up anything on Vortex Inc. Li-Fen says they're squeaky clean. They haven't been around long but they invested in a lot of start ups and then re-invested that money back into their own tech research. They're also known for their environmental awareness. They're often the leader of adopting new safety and sustainability standards before they become laws. Chun Li thanks her for the info and Li-Fen asks her to bring home some Wagyu steaks from Japan. Chun Li thinks to herself that Xavia was able to block Master Gen's Shitenketsu attack. She says very few people have seen his techniques an have lived to remember them. 

Suddenly the phrase 'there's a time and place for everything' hits Chun Li as she has a flashback to her childhood. She remembers a woman handing her over a flower back when she was child, also using the words 'there's a time and place for everything'. As Chun Li stands there wondering what is going on, she is being monitored by Xavia. Xavia remarks 'only what must happen, little one'.

Back to Nayshall, the mystery man (Bison) killed all the men except for Hanuman. The man says they did not satiate his hunger and neither will tHanuman. He picks up a broken piece of the wooden crate and sees a familiar signal on it. The man asks where he got their weapons, grabbing him by the throat. Hanuman says he got them from a business man named Jacob Pierce. He said they were the remnants of Shadaloo. The man lifts him up and asks him what Shadaloo is.

 

The story will continue in several Masters one-shots, namely Guile # 1, Elena # 1, Zangief # 1 and Karin # 1. 

My Thoughts-

So this issue has a lot to unpack here. First I'm a bit confused by the story continuing on in all the Masters one-shots rather than it just being an ongoing series like Street Fighter Unlimited was. I kinda wish Udon would pick a series and stick with it. I mean it's easier to organize the comics now, but years down the line it'll be confusing if the Chun Li Masters came before the Lily Masters or after the Kimberly Masters one shot.

So Vortex Inc are going to be all new villains and it seems they're targeting the Street Fighters. So far Xavia knows Chun Li since childhood (don't you love these newly introduced characters that were actually there all along) and she seems to be the leader of this new crew. Speaking of which... I'm hoping that Chun Li was using some sort of non-lethal variation of Gen's technique. I mean, how badly do you want to win a random spar match, Chun Li?

Based on the alternate cover that shows all the villains, this punk idol Olive Ong is another member, and is messing with Karin. There's also a big dude that looks like he will be going after Guile in his own one shot, based on the cover. Most notably is the lumberjack woman that we saw in the Blanka one shot a few years back.

Free Comic Book Day- Street Fighter Masters- Blanka
 

If you're not thrilled about the Street Fighters fighting against literal OCs, we still have other plot threads, involving JP looking for magical artifacts as well as Bison wandering the world trying to regain his memories. Bison's story mode in Street Fighter 6 was very vague (mostly him running into Juri) so the comic might give us the confrontation between Bison and JP that we'll never get to see in the games.

I'm very curious to see where this new story goes, as Udon comics have always been fun. However with the story continuing on the random one-shots, I'm not sure where we're gonna see Chun Li face Xavia again. Maybe in the Karin one shot, even though she might be too busy fighting against Olive Ong.

Other highlights, besides seeing the new broken down SF6 version of Bison, is also Elena with her new design, months before her DLC debut. I am curious if Udon will give Makoto and Ibuki SF6-ish designs whenever they go visit her. They might appear in Elena's story mode so Udon can grab the designs from there. 

Of course the fun part, though brief, are the interactions between Marisa and Zangief, which I'm sure is a favorite ship for many. When we went to Stories and had to choose between the cover that features the villains and the cover that shows Zangief and Marisa, we just had to choose the second one.

The comic also shows some cool previews for coming attractions. Not only did they list the next four Street Fighter Masters one shots, there's also a Street Fighter VS Rival Schools comic coming out for this year's Free Comic Book Day. On top of that, Udon now got the Megaman license and they'll be starting a whole new (hopefully) ongoing series. They also have a Megaman Timelines series, which will be one shots covering the classic Megaman series, Megaman X, Megaman Zero, Megaman ZX and Megaman Legends. I can't wait for these. It's gonna be a great year for Udon fans.