Street Fighter Masters- Guile # 1

 By Mark Rodriguez

Back when Udon had a better comic-release schedule, they released a comic called Street Fighter Prime which introduced new all-villains from the evil organization named Vortex. There would be following Masters issues in which several Street Fighters would run into the different Vortex members, like Guile, Elena, Zangief and Karin. While the Guile issue was supposed to be first, it was delayed and delayed and eventually Zangief beat Guile and Elena to the punch. Now after several months we'll get to see how Guile deals with these Vortex guys. Let's check it out.

 

The story opens aboard a huge ship on the Pacific Ocean, just off Tetpare Island. Guile is debriefed on the Skylancer X-1 and all its features. Guile tells Gibson that the pilot is the important thing, not the plane. He asks about the new pilot coming from South Africa. Gibson tells him that Air Force General Olufemi Lamech Gbajabiamila Gumede has an impressive flight record, 24 confirmed kills and has received the Golden Protea Meritorious Service Medal. Guile is impressed and wonders if he can impress the X-1.

The Air Force general arrives with his men and introduces himself to Guile. Guile tried to repeat his super long name and the general says Lwazi is fine. He kisses Gibson's hand and Guile points him to the plane. Guile tries to describe the plane and Lwazi says if it had wings he can fly it. Lwazi says Guile seems to have a lot of stress, and it must be what keeps his hair up. Guile says Lwazi has 'quite the wit'. Lwazi says Guile looks like he needs to blow off some steam. Guile says they have a small sparring ring in the fantail and Lwazi in on board.

 

At the ring, Lwazi asks Guile if he's ready for the lesson. Guile says lessons are for students, and in this place he wrote the book. Lwazi says arrogance suits him and asks if it will also protect him. Both men fight and they're both fast enough to block and dodge each other's moves. Just then the PA system announces for the test flight team to report for briefing. Guile says that wraps up the fight and gets socked across the jaw. Lwazi tells Guile to always take the shot, even if it seems the fight if over. Guile remarks that he'll remember that.

The two planes, Screaming Eagle and Iron Tiger are deployed and their aerial combat is engaged. Gibson tells Guile and Lwazi that the simulation rounds have been authorized an she wishes them luck. Lwazi says luck if for shallow men, strong men believe in themselves. Guile wonders if Lwazi ever shuts up.

Guile manages to dodge the simulation rounds and Lwazi says he's good, but he will show him excellent. Just then rockets are fired towards the planes and Gibson tells Guile that they are not part of the simulation. Guile asks where they came from and alerts Iron Tiger to watch for them.

As Guile and Lwazi try to avoid the attacks, Gibson says the base is also under attack. Weapons and early warning systems were taken out and the computers are fried. One of the soldiers offers to check computer control and see if he can help. Gibson tells Guile and Lwazi that they're on their own.

Guile and Lwazi choose to retreat but one of the rockets hits Lwazi's plane. Guile's plane is soon hit as well. Later on, Guile is on the ground and he tries to contact the base. He 's headed towards the X-1 and activated its homing beacon. He figures Lawzi is too stubborn to die and hopes he'll make it to the plane as well. 

Lwazi is walking through the jungle, arming himself with sticks when he's suddenly caught by armed men. One of the men is his friend Danny, the soldier that was with Gibson earlier. Lwazi asks if the drones hit their targets. Danny says the carrier is dead in the water and the X-1 landed nearby. Lwazi asks about Guile and Danny says he's dust and adds he almost choked when he dropped his real name. Lwazi says he doesn't fear them. Danny says this is still a gamble and Xavia won't be happy if Vortex somehow gets tied to this. Lwazi tells Danny to shut up and quickly grabs him as he guns down the other two soldiers.

 

Guile steps out from the bushes, his own gun drawn, as Lwazi snaps Danny's neck and drops him. Guile says he has good moves for a pilot. Lwazi says Guile coming in was a good distraction. He says they have to head for the beach and signal for help. Guile says hostiles are still in the area and they're after the X-1. He adds that if they were after them, they'd already be dead so they're after the tech in the X-1. Lwazi suggests going to the beach again but Guile says he already tripped the X-1's homing beacon. Guile says since Lwazi is a Golden Tiger Award winner, he should know that the mission comes first. Lwazi says Guile wins but he feels things aren't going to work out the way he wants.

Meanwhile at the computer control room, Gibson and some soldiers get systems back online. Gibson says a trojan chip spread a virus that shut everything down, so this wasn't a random event. One of them asks who could have done it since everyone was cleared. Gibson then remembers something and runs out. Outside she sees the base recovering from an attack and injured people being carried out.

Guile and Lwazi find the plane and three men going after the engine core. Guile determines they should have transport nearby and sure enough a helicopter flies overhead. Just then Lwazi aims his gun at the back of Guile's head. He says he didn't want to kill him, at least not in this way. Guile asks why Lwazi killed his own men. Lwazi said he needed a bargaining chip in case back up arrived before they got the core, so he needed Guile to keep believing the lie a while longer. Lwazi feels Guile already knew this was a trick and Guile says there is no Golden Tiger Award. Lwazi is angry he fell for it and says his country hands out so many medals it's hard to keep track.

Guile asks Lwazi if he's working for Amnesia or the Secret Society. Lwazi says the worst death for him will to go down without knowing. As he open fires, Guile quickly shoves the gun to the side so he misses. Guiel gets in his stance and Lwazi prepares to fight and says that this is how he wanted to kill him. 

Lwazi goes for a flying punch and Guile backs out of the way. He throws a punch that Guile shoves aside. Lwazi grabs Guile and hits him with a headbutt. Guile sends him flying back with a Flash Kick to the face. Lwazi lunges towards Guile and says it's time for the final lesson. Guile says he won't be holding back and he knocks him off cliff with a Sonic Boom. 

 

With the fight over, Guile turns to see the helicopter making off with the X-1 engine core. Guile goes for his gun, takes aim and fires. Lwazi is in the chopper and says Guile shoots as bad as he fights. The gunshot actually hit the cable that was holding the engine core and it falls into the ocean. Guile repeats the line about always taking the shot, even when the fight seems to be over. Lwazi gives Guile a salute of respect as he gets away in the chopper.

Later on Gibson and Guile discuss Lwazi and it turns out intelligence agencies don't know who he really is and the South Africans never heard of him either. Guile asks why they'd do this since even if they would have gotten the plane they could have wiped the computer and send a destruct signal. Gibson says this wasn't just about the plane due to the Skylancer's designs and weapon software was split up between four separate locations. All those hits were hit at the same time they they were attacked and they got everything, except for this engine core.

Guile said they needed the actual device so they could reverse-engineer it. He determines this was a heist. Gibson asks what they will do since a lot of good people lost their lives today. Guile says they'll find Lwazi and make him pay.

 

My thoughts-

While I'm not sure what cause the delays and for these stories to be released out of order, it's a good thing that all of these stories don't directly connect to each other sequentially. While the common theme will be the fighters running into different members of Vortex, there is nothing in Zangief's comic that suggests that the encounter between Guile and Lwazi already happened or will happen. It seems Elena will also be facing one of the Vortex members, and so will Karin since she seems to be next in line for the Masters series.

Lwazi is super full of himself and he wasted no time in disrespecting Guile and looking to pick a fight. He also likes to refer to his name with different descriptions like 'the name you'll never forget' or 'the name that will always haunt you' and so forth. When it comes to the mission, Lwazi is as cold-blooded as he is arrogant, as he takes out his friends without a second thought.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Gibson again, the one girl reporting to Guile way back in the first issue of Street Fighter. It took me a while to remember her since she looked familiar. Due to Udon's super long-running series with multiple one-shots and minis, she might have appeared somewhere else between then and now.

 

As for the story itself, it was a fun issue and it's cool to finally see Guile on the job. It's not too common that we got to see the air force pilot actually pilot a jet. While it's cool to see Guile use his special moves, I'm surprised that Lwazi didn't have any of his own. It's funny to see how the people in the Street Fighter world seem unfazed by these special attacks. Lwazi took a Flash Kick to the face and was knocked back with a Sonic Boom and continues to fight, not once asking 'how the hell did you do that??'. Are tournaments where people fire off energy attacks and so forth that common in that world? Can you sign up to literally any martial arts dojo at the local mall and learn how to fire off a half-assed version of the Hadoken?

I wonder if eventually there's be a big story or a mini-series where this all comes together and the characters have a final match against Xavia and Vortex. Guile is definitely looking for a rematch against Lwazi.