Keeping this secret was tough, but it's finally out—Udon Entertainment is reprinting Archie Comics' Mega Man series!
In collaboration with Archie, Udon is remastering the comics in an oversized format with new short stories from the original creative team. To top it all off, the first volume will be available in hardcover. More details, including the release date, are coming soon. (UPDATE: Udon has provided an FAQ to some of your burning questions. Check it out here.)
Originally published in 2011, the Archie Comics Mega Man run delivered fresh stories inspired by the classic series, with Ian Flynn as the lead writer. It wrapped up in 2015 after 55 issues, leaving the door open for a potential adaptation of Mega Man 4.
While these reprints don’t guarantee a full revival, a strong reception could definitely turn some heads. Stay tuned for more updates soon!
This is great news for anyone that originally missed out! It was a really fun story
ReplyDeleteI tried reading these, but the crossovers threw me off.
DeleteNice! So, wishful thinking, but...what are the odds that if this release is well supported, Udon will continue the series?
ReplyDeleteI hope we get the whole series, including the worlds collide/unite stuff.
ReplyDeletenot like that mastermix thing where we got one collection and that's it...
Oversized meaning.... Larger than the floppy or larger than the trades? I am assuming the former.
ReplyDeleteIan's involvement with the Timelines series, the OG team making new shorts, the pieces are there, at the very least, for a revival.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how they'll handle the crossovers with Sonic.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is they’ll be skipped, Sega seems pretty intent on ignoring Archie for a while now
DeleteMost likely skipped/possibly edited. It’s a rights thing. Though it might be awhile before those issues are reprinted, so maybe SEGA would play ball (probably not).
Delete(audibly nearby sounds of a certain fish-lipped windowlicker whose name rhymes with Pen Lenders nasally breathing down Archie's/SEGA's necks as he slurps down his mucus with litigiously murderous intent in the distance)
DeleteI mean, Archie/SEGA/Capcom ought to just cut the bull and quash the certain fella who singlehandedly ended the longest running video game-based comic who laughably thinks he owns the rights to characters he signed off legally to SEGA in the first place, because he's just an annoying schmuck who is getting in the way of comic reprints thanks to his mentally hilarious ego. That's why Sega can't "play ball" at the current moment, let alone Archie Comics.
@RockmanNova
DeleteI know he’s an easy target, but this actually has very little to do with Penders, because his characters were already all-but removed for the crossover (aside from like, a mention of Geoffrey St. John). This is squarely on SEGA, because they’re the sole owner of all SEGA Sonic characters, SatAM Sonic characters, and non-Penders Archie Sonic characters, despite what some people think.
Hope they can figure out the rights to reprint the crossover series with Sonic The Hedgehog, as well.
ReplyDeleteI understand that's a whole other issue (LOL, pun).
But it's always annoyed me that while "Worlds Collide" is possible to get in a single "The Complete Epic" volume, the follow-up with more Capcom and Sega characters, "Worlds Unite", was trickier for me to physically collect, because the last four issues were not collected into a third trade paperback volume.
Just getting all of "World Unite" (plus the "Battles" side stories and the "Free Comic Book Day" prelude) in one book would be nice.
Updated art? Why? The art in the comics isn't exactly dated.
ReplyDeleteThose were the same exact words when Archie Comics announced the same thing for Sonic Archives (2006): a reprint of Sonic the Hedgehog's run starting in 1993, the only difference being the release formatted in digest, which is consistent with the companies constant reprinting of Archie-related. I picked up the Archives series both as a chance to relive the series that became a favorite since I was a kid and to preserve the physical copies of the individual issues that, despite only being 13 years old at the time, were still considered old for comics. I noticed the artwork was updated with more distinct shading and colors right away as the original was in the flat, cartoon-style that was similar to the Archie characters, but only because I've read those early adventures so many times. The artwork wasn't updated per say; I call it more of an upgrade. It doesn't look very different at a glance, but like I said, I can see the difference. If you don't believe me, you can look up the art for the Star Wars comic adaptations from the originals by Marvel in the 70s-80s, to Dark Horse's reprints in the mid-90s, and the 2010s reprints from Marvel, the differences is night & day in spite of the 20 year gaps, though which artwork is better is a matter of personal preference.
DeleteMatt here from UDON - we never said anything about updating art in the Mega Man Adventures collections. It will be slightly larger than a normal comic book?
DeleteMatt here from UDON. We never said anything about updated art for Mega Man Adventures. It will be slightly larger than a normal floppy comic book, if that's what you mean.
DeleteThe physical dimensions is what I was referring. Slightly larger than a floppy is fine. Should have room for that.
DeleteHey, that’s neat.
ReplyDelete…Wonder if they’d ever bother to reprint Dreamwave, it’d be quick to complete at least. Though no one’s bothered to reprint Transformers Dreamwave (even though multiple companies have reprinted Marvel), so maybe them imploding makes things too tricky to be worth it.
OMG THERE IS NO WAY MAN for real tho udon is giving us peak megaman but still hope they can reprint/translate some 90s megaman manga even tho they said the art style is not good or something
ReplyDeleteI got these via trade and it always annoyed me that they didn't finish collecting them.
ReplyDeleteI still have the original comics.
ReplyDeleteThis is great, I just really hope Udon actually finishes the entire run this time. I never finished the Archie comics because I opted for the TPBs, which they just stopped after Vol 8 (I think it was meant to go to 12 or 13 to cover the entire comic run). Udon themselves also have a bit of a reputation of not finishing what they start, such as with the Mastermix re-prints of the Ariga manga. So color me a bit skeptical.
ReplyDeleteI have my sources too and saw the new comic covers way early too. Good to see this come back too. Now is there any hope for a new game left?
ReplyDeleteI heard good things about this series. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to purchase these before it was too late. I hope to get these reprints now and I hope they decide to continue the story as well. Especially if they get the og creators back on it again or at least in some advisory position.
ReplyDeleteOMG YES I HAD EVERY ISSUE AND I LOST ALL OF THEM IN A MOVE 3 MONTHS AGO I'M SOOOOOOOOOO GLAD I DON'T HAVE TO BUY EXPENSIVE SECOND HAND COPIES!!!! THIS IS LIKE THE BST NEWS I'M LITTERALLY JUMPING WITH JOY!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow. That cover really invokes the "Graphic Design is My Passion" meme…
ReplyDelete