Udon Street Fighter # 6

 By Mark Rodriguez

Charlie has regained his memories and returned to Chun Li and Guile when they were ambushed by Bison. After an epic battle between Charlie and Bison, it seems both of them were lost. Elsewhere, Ryu and Ken make it to the sanctuary, unaware that Sakura and Kei were in the area, and find Akuma. Finally Ryu and Ken are face to face with the man that killed their sensei.

This time around I have both the American and Mexican versions of the issue, so I can do some comparisons or point out any oddities in the Mexican one.

We flashback to twelve years ago as Gouken is practicing his katas alongside a child Ryu. Gouken is proud of Ryu's progress and says he hopes to live to see the day he reaches his full potential and can surpass him.

Currently, Akuma stands before Ryu and Ken. Akuma comments that Ryu was a 'mere pup' when he last saw him. Ryu notices that Akuma is wearing Gouken's beads. Ryu says that Akuma murdered his master, who is also Akuma's own brother. Akuma says he merely defeated someone beneath him. Ryu says that Gouken saved his life once. Akuma says he didn't finish him out of his own weakness. Gouken let mercy family, or loyalty got in the way of victory. 

Akuma says that Gouken was unfit to teach and unable to devote himself to achieving fighting perfection. He says they should thanks for bringing an end to Gouken's folly and principles. Ken has had enough and says it's time to show him what Master Gouken's pupils can do. Ryu and Ken leap into battle as Akuma smiles.

 

Ryu and Ken strike but Akuma vanishes from sight. Akuma calls them slow as he appears behind Ken. Ken does a spinning kick that Akuma blocks as he calls him weak. Ryu throws a punch that Akuma catches. He flips them both to the ground calling them pathetic. Ryu and Ken flip to their feet as Akuma says that Gouken must have taught them something. He demands they show him.

Ken goes for a high kick and Akuma catches his foot. Ryu goes for the low sweep and Akuma swings Ken down onto him. Ryu tells Ken they have to attack him together. Ryu goes for a dashing elbow strike that Akuma blocks. Akuma says they'll never reach their potential until they let go of all their inhibitions and puts winning above all else. Ken charges in for a Sho Ryu Ken, but Akuma teleports past him. Akuma sends Ken flying back with his own Dragon Punch. 

Ken crashes against a pile of logs. Akuma grabs Ken and says he can see the fear in his eyes. He says Ken is hindered by too many Earthly attachments to be a complete fighter. He asks if it's a child or a woman. Ken asks Akuma if he ever shuts up. Akuma throws Ken back and says he will never fight without hesitation if he has nothing to lose. Ryu steps up to fight and Akuma tells him to show him his strength,

As Ryu fights against Akuma, Sakura and Kei watch on. Sakura thinks Ryu is perfect. Ryu goes for a low sweep, which Akuma leaps over. Ryu takes this moment to toss a HadoKen, which shoves Akuma back as he blocks it. Akuma says Ryu is doing better. Sakura suddenly runs in saying that Ryu is incredible. Ryu is caught off guard and asks who she is. Sakura introduces herself and says she's been searching for him her whole life. Ryu tells her to get away.

Sakura bows respectfully and asks 'Master Ryu' to taker on as a student. She'll do anything to prove she is a worthy student, even fight Akuma. Akumja swats Sakura aside like a fly and she bumps into Kei. Ryu makes sure she's OK and Sakura says she wants to try again to prove herself. Sakura's forehead is bleeding, so Ryu tears a bit of his gi off and wraps it around the wound, which becomes her white bandana. Ryu says that Sakura has proven she's a fighter, and now he'll take care of business.

Ryu tells Akuma how he could attack a kid. Akuma says despite that she attacked him with complete abandon, something Ryu should learn. Ryu says maybe he already has and he uses the Shinku Tatsumaki Sempukyaku. Akuma blocks the first kick but the second one hits him in the face. Akuma rubs the blood from his lip and smiles, now glowing with red energy.

Akuma says he will show Ryu the full power of his arts, the Dark Hadou. Akuma rushes in to fight and completely outmatches Ryu. After several attacks, he tosses Ryu into the air, then leaps up above him and blasts him with a Zanku HadoKen.

As Ryu lays defeated, Akuma says he thought he would be a worthy adversary. He says if Ryu was really the best that Gouken's dojo could produce than he was more incompetent than he imagine. Suddenly Ryu's anger flares up and his eyes go red. 

We have a flashback to when Gouken was still training Ryu when he was in his early teens. He wants to see Ryu put his katas into practice against Retsu. Retsu fights with Ryu and knocks him back. He tells him to not hold back. Ryu falls under the effect of the Dark Hado and knocks Retsu back.

Back to the present. Ryu leaps towards Akuma, who side-steps the attack and lands beside him with incredible power. Ryu snaps out of it. 

Akuma says that Ryu has tasted the power of the Dark Hado as he suspected. He tells Ryu that if he wishes to avenge Gouken, he should seek him out at the next Street Fighter Tournament. Akuma grabs Ryu by the back of the head and tells him to embrace his power and to not make him regret his decision to spare hm today. Akuma slams Ryu's face into the ground hard enough to knock him out.

Back to the flashback, Ryu is choking Retsu and beating him down until Gouken pulls him off. Retsu says he's fine but Ryu is a lot stronger than he appears. Ryu tells Gouken he doesn't know what came over him and he just didn't want to disappoint him.

Gouken says he knew Ryu possessed the desire to better himself as most martial artists do. That aspiration can launch fighters to great heights but the same longing for perfection can also destroy them. He hoped that Ryu would experience this, since this was the same power that drove his brother mad. Ryu asks what he can do. Gouken tells him that no matter how strongly he desires victory or how much the darkness inside him hungers for it, to never forsake his humanity for it. Ryu promises to do so.

Ryu wakes up and sees Ken tending to Sakura. Ken asks Ryu what happened, since both Ryu and Sakura were unconscious and Akuma was gone when he woke up. Ryu says Akuma told him to find him at the next Street Fighter Tournament if he's worthy. Ken says Akuma is arrogant and caught them by surprise. Ryu says neither of them were a match for Akuma, and Ryu isn't going to improve just sitting around waiting for the tournament. 

Ken asks what Ryu intends to do. Ryu says he will search for answers. He will travel the world if that's what it takes to discover how to beat Akuma. He says he doesn't have time to get tied down by whatever Bison or the people from Interpol wanted with him. Ken says wherever Ryu goes, he can count on him to follow along with him.

Ken returns to Central Hospital to see Eliza. Eliza hugs him and Ken tells her to watch out for his bruised ribs. He explains that Ryu is OK but there's something he has to tell her. He has to leave on a training mission with Ryu for a few months. Eliza says she promised to never say this, but she asks him not to go. She has something to tell him too.

Ryu waits on the hospital rooftop and Ken joins him ten minutes later. Ken apologizes and says he can't come with him. Ryu understands and says he'd never ask him to. Ken says he would if he could but Eliza is pregnant. Ryu is surprised and says congratulations. Ken says he's been engaged to Eliza since forever but this is a whole new ball game. Ken wonders if Akuma was right about him. He says the last thought he had before crashing into the wall was if he would ever see Eliza again. He wonders if he has too much to lose to become a great fighter. Ryu says it might be backwards, maybe Ken is a complete fighter because he has someone to fight for. Ken says hes sorry he has to take this journey alone. Sakura suddenly shows up and says 'Master' Ryu won't be going alone. 

Ryu is flattered but says he's a student in training as well. Sakura says that teaching is the best kind of training and they'd be helping each other out. Sakura says Ryu saved her life so now he's responsible for it. She's not taking no for an answer. Ken says 'Master Ryu' got more than he bargained for.

Elsewhere in Rome, Italy, Agent Killer Bee wakes up on a park bench with new clothes and a letter in her pocket. The letter says 'Welome to your new life, Cammy. Do not waste it'. Cammy sees that she is in front of the British Embassy. 

Elsewhere Rose is reading her tarots and tells Cammy to take hold of her destiny and not look back on what she thought was her previous life. As Rose tells Cammy that her life as the Killer Bee has come to and end and every ending brings new beginnings we see images of Chun Li mourning her father's grave, Guile lamenting the death of Charlie and remembering his own family, and Ken and Eliza embracing the new chapter of their lives. 

Ryu mourns over Gouken's grave as he promises to return when he is a worthy enough fighter to be proud of. He tells his master not to be concerned, as he hasn't forgotten his promise. Sakura tells Ryu to wait and asks if he's trying to ditch her. Ryu says he won't though he keeps asking himself how she managed to convince him to teach her. Sakura tells his master that she won't disappoint him. Ryu tells her to stop calling him that. Ryu and Sakura walks off towards their new journey.

Cheap Shots- 

We see that Zangief started off in Street Fighter II as the token wrestler guy. Then he returned as one of the 'new characters' in Street Fighter Alpha 2, which was the debut of his Final Atomic Buster. Just when one thought he couldn't get bigger, Zangief appeared on the cover of Street Fighter Alpha 3, cementing his Street Fighter celebrity status. Everyon salutes Zangief as the Red Cyclone has become a crucial element of the Street Fighter Family. The fanbase tells him to stop biting people's heads since that can't be healthy.

My Thoughts- 

The comic came with 2 pages of quick quotes from the Udon Team, from the writers, the pencillers, the artists and the guy behind Cheap Shots and how happy they were to be a part of making this comic series. They honestly did not expect to go past the first six issues, which would explain how the situation between Chun Li, Guile, Charlie and Bison seemed to resolve itself so quickly. If they only knew the juggernaut Udon would become.

I didn't notice anything too particular with the Mexican version of the comic other than one small detail left out. I'm guessing it's due to just how many words you can cram into a comic bubble without making the font too tiny, but when Ryu mentioned not wanting to wait around for whatever Bison and the 'Interpol agents' wanted with him, the Mexican version only had room to mention Interpol. I guess it's pretty lucky that those Interpol Agents took care of Bison, because Bison wasn't going to give Ryu a choice wether he wanted to deal with him or not. Now I wonder what would have happened if Bison showed up as originally planned since Akuma was in the area.

 

While the Mexican version left out the comments from the Udon Staff and the Cheap Shots comic, it did feature a letter from a fan. The fan writes that he is happy with the series and was glad to see they included the Street Fighter # 0 mini comic as part of issue 1 since it was something that only people going to conventions in the US and Canada could get their hands on. He also asks if they can handle other Udon series like Darkstalkers and Rival Schools. The fan goes the extra mile and asks if they can also bring in Wildsiderz, a at-the-time upcoming new series created by Jeff Scott Cambell, who also helped create Danger Girl, a comic that Grupo Editorial Viz was already bringing over.

Unfortunately both Jeff Scott and this fan, Wildsiderz was supposed to go for at least 5 issues (six if you count their issue 0) but it was cancelled after the second issue... I guess I can see why the Udon Team were so glad to see Street Fighter go beyond six issues back then.

The story wraps up a lot of plot threads with the promise of a second Street Fighter Tournament that we might or might not get to see (luckily we did). We got Bison's first defeat, the Charlie story, the Cammy story, the fight with Akuma, the introduction of Sakura and Eliza being pregnant in six action packed issues.

I have to say Sakura was pretty crazy to just rush into the middle of a fight. We don't see much of Sakura and Kei's perspective before she popped in, but can't they tell that Ryu, Ken and Akuma were fighting for real? This wasn't some friendly sparring match she walked into. They're talking about avenging master's deaths and whatnot. I'm also wondering, not counting benefit of hindsight here, why Sakura wouldn't be more impressed with Akuma since he was effortlessly kicking both Ryu and Ken's butts. Ryu is probably more approachable.

The only other thing I'd like to point out was it was cool seeing Retsu in the flashback. It's always cool to see cameos of the Street Fighter 1 guys.

I'm curious where else the story go from here, as I assume we'll slowly leave the Alpha phase and enter the Street Fighter II phase.