By Mark Rodriguez
Cammy is slowly piecing together her past after a captured Shadaloo Doll recognized her as the Killer Bee and told her she was a fellow assassin. Chun Li has been assigned to look over Fei Long, who is currently being targeted by Shadaloo. Elsewhere Ryu and Sakura travel to Thailand to find Sagat but they find Adon instead. What will happen now?
I only own the Mexican version but I did find some pics of certain parts of the American version to compare some of the weirder translations.
Adon says he's been wanting to kick Ryu's butt for a long time, and Ryu asks if they're met. Adon explains that he used to be Sagat's pupil before Ryu humiliated him in the last Street Fighter tournament. He says no master of his is going to lose to whatever weak martial art Ryu practices. He says Muay Thai is the strongest martial style in the world and he'll prove that fact to the world after he stomps Ryu's face.
Sakura says Adon can't insult her master without consequences. Sakura gets into the HadoKen pose and thrusts her palms forward... but nothing comes out. Adon is unimpressed and Sakura says she thought she had it. Ryu says he will take care of this and if Adon wants a fight, then he's welcome to it. Adon says that's music to his ears and leaps forward with a Jaguar Kick. Ryu manages to step aside and dodge the attack. Adon says he's fast, but not fast enough as he knees Ryu in the stomach and then elbows him in the face. He asks how Ryu was able to defeat Sagat. Ryu kicks Adon across the back, which surprises him with how Ryu was able to withstand the elbow to the face without flinching. Adon ducks under a swinging punch and realizes that there's something to him after all.
Ryu uses his Sakotsu Wari (Collarbone Breaker punch), clocking Adon in the face with it. Adon leaps away, hanging onto the side of the Buddha statute in the background. He says Ryu may not be an amateur after all but that will just make his defeat much more fun. Adon leaps in using the Jaugar Tooth attack, but Ryu sidesteps it and punches him in the face strong enough to send him sliding across the ground. Sakura laughs and says that Adon was all talk. Adon hears this and says maybe his elbows should start talking to his face.
Adon say that Sagat is no longer his master and he barely considered that 'old worn-out loser' a fighter. He tells Ryu that Sagat abandoned all his pupils, which surprises him. Adon blames Ryu and says Sagat used to be the best Muay Thai fighter and the personification of what every Muay Thai fighter wanted to become. Sagat was never the same after Ryu marked him. He became obsessed with avenging himself and he even stopped caring about Muay Thai. The last Adon heard of him, Sagat went to India to seek advice from a Yoga Master named Dhalsim. Adon scoffs at the word Yoga and says he will show the world that Muay Thai is the strongest martial art.
Sakura is impressed by the fight and asks Ryu who they will fight next. Ryu says no one, as their next step is to go to India. Sakura says the time they get there she will have mastered the HadoKen and will be shooting HadoKens left and right.
Meanwhile in the MI-6 general HQ in London, their leader is surprised by how much information Cammy got from the agent they captured. Cammy says she convinced him that she was on her side. The chief says if even half of what she found out was true, Great Britian as well as the rest of the world is in serious danger. The chief says they have been monitoring Shadaloo activity but had no idea they were working on a weapon of mass destruction. He asks Cammy if the weapon is nuclear or chemical. Cammy says she could only ask so many questions without raising too many suspicions. She did learn that it's an experimental weapon that will render all conventional weapons obsolete. Wolfman says it's a bold statement and asks if Cammy found out anything else. She says no. The chief will let MI-6 take charge with top priority and asks where they can start. Ginzu says they should start with South America, more specifically Brazil. Lita asks Ginzu what he's got.
Ginzu explains that during the last few months, Shadaloo has been channeling all their funds in an operation in Brazil. He says at first glance it looks like another place to manufacture drugs, but the large amounts of cash says otherwise. Money isn't the only resource being sent there, as the zone is also reinforced with a lot of scientific equipment and personnel. Ginzu can tell that whatever Shadaloo is working on, it has to be big. McCoy is impressed that Ginzu found all that out right in the middle of their meeting, and Ginzu says that information is his specialty. Just then the alarm goes off.
Security cameras pick up that several Shadaloo Dolls and a brainwashed Dee Jay are helping the captive Shadaloo agent, Satsuki, bust out of captivity. Wolfman tells the team to move out. As the team stays out of reach of the incoming gunshots, Lita says she can hear that they are running out of ammo and requests permission to take them out. Wolfman says he needs then alive, and Lita says she hates it when he says that. She pulls her skirt up, revealing several kunai blades strapped around her thigh, which catches McCoy by surprise. Lita teases McCoy, asking if he saw something he liked, which leaves him flustered. Lita asks Ginzu for a distraction, and Ginzu sends out his weird ghost thing that he always has with him. Dee Jay blasts the ghost (which is hard to tell if it will actually hurt it) and Lita finds an opening.
Lita tosses her blades, which disarms and stabs the Dolls and Dee Jay. Wolfman, Cammy and McCoy aim their guns at the Shadaloo agents as Wolfman tells them to put their hands above their heads if they want to keep them. The agents kneel, and one of the Dolls yells out 'NOW!'. The wall next to the MI-6 team explodes, blasting them with the debris. As Cammy gets up, she sees the Satsuki aboard an escape helicopter. She salutes Cammy and the chopper gets away. Cammy is left speechless.
Elsewhere Fei Long gets a call from his agent Benny, telling him to go to his house at once. He tells him that this about the Triads. Fei Long says he'll be on his way. Ten minutes later, Fei Long dashes out of his penthouse. A man casually reading a newspaper notices this and makes a call. He says he'll need to talk to one of 'The Ladies'.
At Benny's house, he is hosting Chun Li while Fei Long is still on his way. Chun Li thanks Benny for his cooperation, saying she wasn't sure if Fei Long was working with the Triads voluntarily or otherwise. Benny said he'll do whatever it takes to help Lei Fong with his problems as these guys have been messing with a lot lately. Chun Li asks Benny if he's been Fei Long's agent for a long time. Benny says it's been too long and they went to school together. Just then Fei Long smashes through the door with a kick. He sees Chun Li there and says he made it just in time. He asks Chun Li if she's trying to use his friends to get to him, mistaking her for another Triad member.
Fei Long swings a kick that Chun Li blocks as Benny tries to explain the situation. Fei Long says he can take care of this 'chick' with his eyes closed. Chun Li takes offense to be called a 'chick'. Fei Long says he meant to say 'Triad Bitch', as he throws a punch at her. Chun Li blocks it and tries to hit her with her low Roundhouse Kick, but Fei Long leaps out of the way. Chun Li says he's going to regrat saying that. Fei Long lands with a punch that Chun Li leaps back to avoid. Fei Long says she's going to regret not bringing more people with her. Fei Long low sweeps her, but Chun Li manages to land to hand on her feet. Chun Li says she doesn't need more than one person to take down a Prima Donna like himself.
Benny tells Fei Long to stop since Chun Li is an Interpol agent, which prevent both fighters from kicking each other. Chun Li shows him her badge and Benny explains that she's here to help with the Triad situation. Fei Long apologizes for calling her a 'Triad bitch'. Chun Li says it's alright, and if she really was one of those hitwomen, she wouldn't blame him for calling her that. Chun Li compliments Fei Long's moves and says she thought movie stars were all wire work and stunt doubles. Fei Long says he thought most cops were overweight doughnut-eaters. Fei Long asks how he can help. Chun Li says he can start by telling her everything he knows about the men that have been harassing him.
In another part of Hong Kong, the leader of the group that attacked Fei Long earlier visits Lady Xiayu and Lady Yanyu. They noticed that he has return without Fei Long. He apologizes and says he was more stubborn than expected and he just needs more men. The Ladies remark that he has failed and giving him more men would further prove his incompetence. They also mention that they heard that he told Fei Long their names before he ran away. The man said he slipped. One of the Ladies says they heard that Fei Long had a meeting with a agent from Interpol earlier and wonders what they would have been talking about. The man apologizes but one of the women hits him in the chest with her staff and launches him into the air. As the man goes airborne, the second weapon lunges at him and slices his head off with her sword. Lady Xiayu and Lady Yanzu stand before the now-murdered man and say that now Fei Long and the Interpol agent must be eliminated.
Sagat Back Up Story-
The back up story opens with Sagat, now all bandaged up and staring at his hand deep in thought. It has been five days since his defeat at the hands of Ryu. Adon stomps the ground behind him and calls him out. He says that Sagat has dishonored the name of Muay Thai and has allowed Ryu to ridicule them. Sagat tells him to leave him be. Adon says he can't believed he admired him as a master. He always thought he held all the answers to becoming the greatest fighter. Adon charges towards him and says that maybe now he should be the master.
Adon knees Sagat in the back of the head, calling him pathetic. Sagat falls to the ground, using a hand to keep himself up. Adon asks if he has lost the will to fight. Adon knees him in the face and demands an answer. As Adon knocks Sagat around, he begins to wonder if he lost his fighting spirit after Ryu had marked him. Adon knees him in the face and says that Saagat's legend has ended.
Sagat ponders that he lost because he grew arrogant and complacent. In his arrogance he had forgotten how it felt to be hungry for victory and to fight with all his heart and soul. The path to be the greatest is never-ending and to defeat Ryu he'll need to improve like he never had before. Sagat thinks he should start by creating a new technique as powerful as the one Ryu used to scar his chest. Adon calls himself the new god of Muay Thai as he lunges at his former master with his Jaguar Kick. Sagat finally understands. He clenches his fist and then leaps into the air, knocking Adon out of the sky with his first ever Tiger Uppercut.
As Adon lands defeated, Sagat says that Adon can call himself whatever he wants. Sagat fights only for one reason... to reclaim his honor. He tears off his bandages to reveal his scarred chest.
My thoughts-
So this issue continues the story for Cammy, Chun Li and Fei Long, but the guy who got the most attention was Adon. The art was pretty cool and I liked how all of his moves were captured in comic book form. Following his story from the Alpha series, he no longer considers Sagat his master after his loss to Ryu. Due to this, Adon has as much beef with Ryu as he does with Sagat. My only nitpick with this, as well as the Alpha games I guess, is the fact that Adon was supposed also have been in the Street Fighter tournament and was the guy to beat before even getting to Sagat.
Adon and Ryu should already know each other, but it seems the Alpha series retconned this out of the original Street Fighter. It looks like the only match that really matters in the first Street Fighter tournament was Ryu VS Sagat in the finals. Now I wonder if, according to Street Fighter Alpha, Birdie, Gen, Geki, Retsu and hell, even Ken were in Alpha's version of the first Street Fighter tournament.
While Adon took center stage and was also shown in the back up story, which explained how he invertedly helped Sagat create the Tiger Uppercut, we saw someone else who was barely there. Dee Jay was shown being another brainwashed Shadaloo soldier. I felt bad for the guy as he got stabbed by Lita's kunais. Hell, he's lucky that Wolfman stopped Lita from killing him and the others, considering he wasn't in his right mind. I wonder if this was just a random way to throw Dee Jay into the story... somehow... or a nod to the Street Fighter II Animated Movie which had a scene where Guile and Chun Li warned Dee Jay that Shadaloo was targeting him. I guess in the Udon comics nobody warned Dee Jay in time.
This was a pretty shoddy way to introduce him in the comics though. I know this issue was centered around Adon... but I would have liked a back up story showing Dee Jay being his cool and chillin' self before Shadaloo got to him.
I only got the Mexican version of the comic but I did find a few scans of the American version which helped with a few weird things. The first was Ryu yelling out 'Sakotsu Wart' which made me wonder what the hell that was. I dug around and found out that was Ryu's collarbone breaker punch he started doing in Super Street Fighter II Turbo and onwards which should have been 'Sakotsu Wari'.
At first I was confused since Ryu doesn't really yell out that attack, he just does it. Second was that it seems there a typo somewhere during the translation process since the American comic does show him saying 'Sakotsu Wari' but that became 'Sakotsu Wart' in the Mexican version. The word Wart doesn't really mean anything in Spanish so I guess that one letter just slipped past them.
The third line was Fei Long calling Chun Li a 'chick' which set her off. The Mexican version had him use the word 'tipeja', which is the feminine version of 'tipejo' which sort of means jerk, idiot or moron. While I admit Fei Long used the word 'chick' in the tone of dismissing her as just some average girl, it's not as insulting as if he had called her an idiot. The Mexican version could have used a better term like 'chica' or 'chava' to sound more dismissive than insulting like the American version.
There were no fan letters this time around, and as you know, the Mexican version leaves out the 'Cheap Shots' one-page gags for some reason. The comic did show the next issue's cover since the Mexican version only goes with one cover rather than the 2-3 variants the American version uses. In that case, I wonder how they choose which cover to go with or do they always choose Cover A? I wonder who chose the cover for this issue. It's cool art, but Vega isn't even in this issue.
The story is picking up and I'm curious where all of this gonna go. It just bites that Dee Jay got such a lousy and random introduction. I know he's a minor character in the gran scheme of things in the Street Fighter world. He doesn't really have any notable friends or rivals in the series, but there had to have been a better way to use the character.
Also hey, this is the 900th post on the blog and also the first blog written up in our new house!
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