Well, here's a little surprise that came out nowhere. During the "Archie Comics Means Business" panel at NYC Comic Con today, Archie Comics announced the production of a new Mega Man comic book -- the first since Dream Wave's ill-fated 2003 four issue series. Details are fairly scarce right now but according to initial info, the book will be based on the classic series and is slated for release in 2011. Ian Flynn (of Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog fame) and Patrick Spaziante will write/illustrate respectively. (UPDATE: sample artwork released, pictured right)
No word if it will be a single issue or the beginning of a series, but this is exciting news nonetheless. Comic Con is just getting started so hopefully we'll learn a bit more about the project in the coming days. I'll keep an ear out!
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UPDATE 2: Pictured above is a sample piece of concept art from the comic via Comics Alliance. Furthermore, a press release for the series just hit the web, too. The write up dates the comic for Spring 2011 and even teases the possibility of branching off to explore X, Zero, and Legends story lines. Select portions of the PR below, full piece can be found in the above link:
"With the aid of his mighty Mega Buster blaster arm and a killer creative team including renowned artist Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante and infamous Archie action/adventure writer Ian Flynn, Mega Man is equipped to blast his way back into the comic book world in his own monthly action. Arriving Spring 2011, the new Mega Man™ comic from Archie Comics promises to build a faithful legacy while exploring a vast universe of heroes, villains, and robots."
“Readers can expect non-stop action, as well as an exploration of the themes of family, choice and loyalty that make the Mega Man franchise a property that connects on a very personal level,” continued Kaminski. “From there, we hope to fully explore not only that classic world, but the other spin-offs including Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man Legends and more!”"In honor of the announcement at NYCC, Archie Comics and Capcom® will each be hosting signings of an exclusive print with the Mega Man creative team Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante and Ian Flynn."
Attending Comic Con? Hop on over to Archie's booth and get those prints!
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UPDATE 3: More concept art. Via The Sonic Stadium:
Now THIS, I'd like to see.
ReplyDeleteWHOA. Now this is unexpected!
ReplyDeleteHwat?
ReplyDeleteMan, I still have some of the old Sonic comics by Archie, and.. they're saturday morning cartoon stuff, with cheesy made-up characters and ridiculous plots. I know it's been a long time since those comics, but if this isn't very different, it's probably not what we'd like to see done with MegaMan.
ReplyDeleteHitoshi Ariga is enough for me, thanks.
ReplyDeleteHow about some more X series comics? That series has a TON of untapped potential!
/can never please the fans
So now we have, um, the Rockman MegaMix ones and Archie's...
ReplyDeleteLet's see how it works out. I have faith.
Initial reaction: "What."
ReplyDeleteReaction upon seeing Spaz's name: "Sold."
Spaz is a phenomenal artist, as his time spent doing the Sonic comics (not to mention DreamWave issue 4) proves.
The Sonic comics have been going downhill for a long time, as far as storytelling goes. As long as the writing for this Mega Man comic stays fairly true to the mythos and "feel" of the source material, I'll be thrilled.
fugly art.
ReplyDeleteArt style is kinda cute. But I probably won’t be getting the issues of this, but I’ll keep an eye on it.
ReplyDeleteIronically, I too have been working on a comic series based on the original Mega Man as well…
Not interesting. it will fail like first four issues in the past. It is useless anyway.
ReplyDeleteJust like this post.
DeleteNo!! #*@&!!! No no no no no no no no no n--Aaaaauuaaaaauuuuugh!!! *nerdrages all over the god damn place*
ReplyDeleteI...hate you, Archie Comics. Just because your Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is #@*&ing collapsing around you doesn't give you the right to #*$& tamper with my Rockman.
Seriously. This greatly displeases me. -_-
I have nothing against western art in general, but MegaMan has a distinct Japanese style. This sample art... I'm not thrilled to see it.
ReplyDeleteEven Udon shows some sensibility towards the japanese style - check out the work of guys like Omar Dougan. I don't know how Archie got this instead of at least them.
Protodude How come there isnt any mention about Mega Man 8-bit Deathmatch RELEASE?
ReplyDeleteMega Man looks kind of off in that sketch. I hope they tweak him a bit.
ReplyDelete@WTF?
ReplyDeleteWill get to that later today. I posted that it was coming out today earlier this week, so it's not like I'm ignoring it.
@Anon7: How did I know that you would come in with your anti-non-Japanese-MM-stuff attitude and make me regret checking the comments?
ReplyDeleteI, personally, am quite excited for this. :)
I actually really like that art.
ReplyDeleteOkay. I've had some time to calm down and rationalize the concept a little and I came up with a counter-point to myself.
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong about this. It could be interesting and keep the feel of the games. Back when they started Sonic the Hedgehog, they had absolutely nothing to work with, so they had to make their own characters. But here? Now? In 2010? We have scores of characters to work with, some good, some evil. But my faith in Archie is extremely low, so I have my most sincere doubts that this will turn into anything short of one huge cluster bomb of failure.
Well, even though some of the designs look pretty awkward, this is still very interesting, and VERY unexpected.
ReplyDeleteLook at Spaz's concept art in Update 3. It looks identical to the Capcom art of the late 90's/early 2000's, one of my personal favorite art eras for Capcom. I'm friggin STOKED.
ReplyDeleteThere better be some original characters(Just so long as they aren't like Princess from Novas de Adventuras de Megaman @~@). I mean I hope they have a lot of the old characters, but some new ones wouldn't be bad. It's be awesome if they introduced Brain Bot~
ReplyDeleteAnyways if they aren't too expensive I'll probably buy them~ It'd make good stocking-stuffers for me
owo.
Bear in mind that Archie's Sonic comics have gone through many artists and editors. Personally I think they've been in good shape ever since they killed Tommy/knocked the Emerald count down to 7 (issue 169). Before that, yeah, it was pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteWhile I fully expect many MegaMan fans to rage over every possible inconsistency and more, I for one look forward to this comic.
Okay, those new arts look MUCH better.
ReplyDeleteWow, this really did come out of nowhere! I know Archie comics is very well established and hopefully this new comic lasts a long time. The blue bomber joins the blue blur in Archie's line up? Who would have thunk it.=P I wonder if they will make it their own like Dreamwave did, or will they stick to the original story? This is rather exciting!
ReplyDeleteSome the comments, especially the negative ones make me want to facepalm, seriously.
ReplyDelete-For one, this title was only recently announces so we have next to no information.
-Two, it's not Archie's fault that Sega mishandled the franchise because they can not tell a coherent story.
-Three, UDON likely got passed over because of distribution. You will only find UDON in comic specialty shops while you will find Archie Comics in a number places, including grocery.
-Four, I have the utmost faith in Ian Flynn. Sonic the Hedgehog improved by leaps and bounds because he is a fan himself and passionate about the characters. I know he can deliver on Megaman.
awesome!
ReplyDeleteWow, this looks AWESOME.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of both ian and
spaz so this is going to be great.
Thanks for posting!.