Hey guys. I read Bucket’s post earlier about what he felt about the SF comic. Aside from the racial sterotyping and other random insulting things he posted, I must say I kinda agreed with him on some things. I thought it would be a good idea to make a thread about what everyone liked and disliked about the SF comic. This way, the UDON folks can see what changes they can make for the fans to enjoy the book better.
NOTE PLEASE POST YOUR OPINIONS IN A NON-INSULTING MANNER.
LIKES:
I love the art for the comic.
The powerfoils are a good idea.
DISLIKES:
Lack of story. There are things about the story that bother me. First of all, there dosnt seem to be enough story per comic. I usually finish an issue in 5 minutes. With all the extra stuff (Cheap Shots, fan-art, advertizements…) you dont get the same amount of story and enjoyment than other comics.
Content of story. Like Bucket stated earlier, you introduce a new character every issue, without giving enough depth to the previous ones. This makes the comic a turn-off for new readers. The fan-boys dont care because they already like SF and know what all the charcters are all about, but people that dont know too much about the games are left in the dark about many characters (ie. E. Honda, Zangief, Sagat). Take Spider-Man for example. They didnt introduce Doc Ock, Lizard, Scorpion, Rhino, Shocker, Sandman, and Venom in the first story arc. It took years and years of stuff before that happened. You guys introduce a new character every issue, and then we never hear from them again. There needs to be a better spacing of the story.
Too many covers. There are usually around 4 covers released every issue there are fans who buy all of them for a collection. This didnt bother me too much until I started seeing “Power” foils that didnt have the characters using any kind of powers at all. Vega and Sakura were just striking a pose. I thought the point was that they were using there power.
My only problem with the comic is that the fights are waaay to short. Most are only about 3-4 pages long and arn’t even that over the top in terms of action. The Akuma fight has been the only one which I truly enjoyed and even that was too short IMO. I the future I hope they include massive fight scenes that take up whole issues or have several fights taking place at once at diff. locations. I almost feel that the story portion is getting in the way of pages that could include more action. I mean the comic is called STREET FIGHTER. I would gladly sacrifice story for more action, because honestly I couldn’t care less about Ken and Eliza’s kid or if Guile will get back together with his wife. I want more Street Fighting! But thats just me.
I would have to say my favorite thing about the comic is the story. Although a little clunky, it moves along at a very fast pace. Almost too fast sometimes.
The thing that bugs me the most about the comic is the boring, lifeless covers. The artwork itself is amazing, but if you look, none of the covers make any kind of since. They all look like posters and pinups. Many times the characters appearing on the covers don’t appear in the issue! Just really annoying.
First, the obvious one, the art is on the most part, fantastic.
Secondly, the backstories. I’ve always loved them, and the idea of having a different artist every time is great.
The Sakura bits are amusing.
I also like how the comic is printed on good quality paper stock. It doesn’t have the cheap feel that a lot of other comics do.
Lastly, I really like how we have a way of relaying our ideas to the guys behind the comic (via this forum to Erik Ko). Getting the opportunity to get the inside scoop on some things (such a pencils or previews) is a major plus side for me also. It definately keeps me into the comic.
As for the dislikes:
I agree that there should sometimes be more time spent on character development instead of jumping back and forth between two seemingly separate stories. However, I have to disagree with DerangedZombie on wanting longer fights. I’ve only felt there should have been a longer fight on one occassion (the Akuma vs. Gouken flashback fight in Issue #2). The Sagat/Ryu fight in Issue 4 has always kind of bothered me. I actually would have probably liked it more had it not been made a fight, but just Sagat dropping in and filling Ryu in on Bison’s scheme (“relax, I’m not here to fight you”). However, the Ryu and Ken vs. Akuma fight in issue 6 was definately awesome, my favorite actually; I wouldn’t mind seeing more fights like that. BUT, I think I may have only liked it since Ryu, Ken, Akuma were all favorites.
I’ve never liked Cheap Shots. I would prefer another page (or more) of “actual comic” to Cheap Shots. But I’m not sure what age group the Street Fighter comic is targeted to. I suppose if it’s for the younger audience, then it should be kept, as I may be a minority here (the 18+ group).
Power foils. Now that someone has mentioned them, I’m not sure that I like them anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I love the art. Jo Chen (+ Arnold Tsang on issue #6) does an awesome job. But they’re just too expensive compared to the regular issue. Maybe instead of foils, change them to regular issues (like the virgin variants)? I still can’t help collecting them (I have all of them up to #8, excluding #5), but it might be a good idea if I stop soon for the sake of saving some $money$ :). So basically, the only complaint I have with the foils is that they’re too tempting for my-impulsive-self, but I don’t wanna miss out on the art.
After reading Leo’s post, I have to agree that I am sometimes annoyed by the covers. Not by any means do I think they are boring and lifeless, nor do I dislike the art, but more that they usually don’t relate to the actual issue itself. I think the Udon cover should relate to the story, and the backup artist’s cover relate to the backup story. I think only rarely should we see a group shot on the covers, but only because I wouldn’t want to get rid of them entirely (#10 is just so cool!).
My only gripe is I’d rather there was no backup story, and that the “main” story took up the whole issue…though keep Cheap Shots ONLY if it remains a Street Fighter humour strip.
If it’s gonna start to try and tell stories about silly Street Fighter cities and farting Edmon Honda’s…I say dump it.
As for the cameos…I like 'em. Sure Dock Ock and Shocker and the like took years to be introduced in Spidey’s comics…but at the same time, Spidey fans weren’t all hanging out to see their fav characters make an appearance, were they?
That’s why I say give everyone (relevant to the time period of course. I wouldn’t like to see Street Fighter 3 characters appear during the current Street Fighter 2/ALpha 2 mix like “era”) a cameo, and then flesh them out when they’re required by the story. Birdie is a good example, as he made for a good cameo in issue #1, but that doesn’t mean he can’t reappear in a later issue.
BTW: Any chance of Final Fight story arc? Maybe Ryu and Sakura helping Cody, Guy and Haggar in Metro city or something?
I know Guy aned Cody will make an apperance eventually, but I’m also hoping Mike Haggar will appear too…,if we’re lucky, maybe it’ll give him a stance of a storyline apperance as a playable in the next Street Fighter game (Well, one can only hope!)
Good thread I guess, hopefully they’ll really change some things if they read this.
I’ll only say the things I dislike…
The story is going too fast, and I mean very fast. If you’re going for only a 3 year comic, then I guess it ain’t that fast, but I really don’t want to see some characters just get passed by just like that, maybe Charlie would be a good example.
The cover’s art is really great and all, but like the others say, maybe it should relate to that current issue? It will actually add more ‘suspense’ to that issue if you had for example a shadow of a figure? Having cover that has nothing to do with that issue sometimes might mislead people, like if someone had never bought an SF comic and wanted to start, and bought the latest issue with the 4 new challengers on it, they might think they’re in it, right? WRONG!
IMO the cheap shots really doesn’t fit well with the comic, I’ve never liked them and I don’t think they should be in there. But I know some people still like them, so I respect their own likes. The Backstories are great, it ‘adds’ more to the main story. I’m just basically saying that I want the ‘main story’ to be longer.
Well that’s all I need to say, they’re just my opinions.
Yeah. I think more character development is needed. the story does go pretty fast and too fast. I agree that more story is needed. and the covers should actually match the what is really inside the comic and not just as a cover with SF chars on it. IMO
I love the art. and the powerfoils are really well done though pricy.
I think Capcom should give UDON longer use of the SF chars that way the comic can develop more.
Arnold Tsangs art. Some of the back-up artist are really great.
Bad:
The writing.
The problems with the writing are all related to each other:
a) Theres too much fighting. Instead of focusing on developing the characters, they just add fight scenes, sometimes fight scenes that really have no point, like Birdie/Guile (a whole fight just to make characters meet?), Vega/Honda (a whole fight just so Sakura can get a picture?), Sagat/Ryu…
b) The pace is too fast. When something happens, its without build up or suspense. It just happens. Rose & Cammy being the big ones. Not surprising, considering most pages are made of fights.
c) No character development whatsoever. Like most blockbuster Hollywood movies, the comic sticks to pseudo-dramatic scenes here and there just for the sake of it. You dont feel for the characters, you dont believe in what they are felling. Its just “oh, look, Chun-li is sad for one panel”. Visiting graves, having flashbacks… Those things have no feeling in it. Theyre just…
d) Clichs. Theres a LOT of clichs. From the way the mind-controlled people act, to Cammys “i was a killer, oh my lost memory” to Ryus whole story… Sure, Capcom takes a lot of the blame, but any writer can take a clichd plot and make unique scripts out of it. Look at Strackzysnki and Moore.
e) Back-ups stealing plots points from the main comic. Info that should be a part of the main story showing up in the back-ups.
The art is inconsistent, and the backgrounds are lazy.
Look at all this complains, some people say that they want longer fights, other say that the fight are too long and they need more story. Some love backup storys and some dont. So it is impossible to fulfill all youre wishes
I am just a Fan boy of Street Fighter, and Ill eat anything. The art is grate and story is really close to the official plot. That’s all I need. Great job Udon crew. Keep up the good work. I salute you!!!
A decent Street Fighter comic is being made! And it’s made it to at least 9 issues!
Udon has been in communication with Capcom Japan, so you know they won’t fuck this up.
The art in the main book kicks ass. The artwork in Cheap Shots, while not being on the same caliber as the rest of the book is drawn appropriately for its purpose: To have amusing side stories in the book and jokes. (Although, either the Cheap Shots should be smaller (blasphemy!) or omit them all together and let Rey do specials (Summer Special, Holiday Special, etc.) )
The Bad:
I agree that the story and the fighting goes way too fast. I understand why you’re trying to fit as much as you can in each issue, though. No matter how much we love them, Street Fighter (and Darkstalkers and Rival Schools) are essentially dead franchises. Every cent made off them at this point is a blessing.
I disagree with the art styles of a few of the backup artists (as you probably know). The funny thing is that when I saw other artwork by issue 8’s backup artist, it kicked ass. Note to backup artists: When you try and do things like homages to other books (Tank Girl), at least warn us first.
The Ugly:
The hate on this board from Bucket of Truth. Go suck a donkey dick you stupid ass. How disrespectful do you have to be to flat-out post on a board, on which the publisher of the books has graciously allowed us contact with him, “I think I’ll just download this issue”? Please kill yourself.
People throwing out non-constructive criticism. Notice that I explained my opinions on the book as opposed to just going “This sucks”. If you’re going to say something, at least be able to back it up…
I too would like to see more character development especially for the main characters. To focus on characterization would mean to allocate more panel time to them. At present, I think Udon is doing the best job they can. With multiple main characters it is difficult for them to partition a large number of panels for any one character because they are limited in space and have only one book. For example, issue 6 focussed on Ryu and Ken exclusively, so by necessity other characters were left out.
When I used to collect X-Men (which also has a large cast), the characters would be split between two or more books. That way the creative team could focus on a few characters exclusively and spend time to develop them. The drawback for the collector is he or she has to buy multiple tiltles to keep everything straight. The drawback for the comic producer it is pricy and risky to make multiple books and it requires a good sized staff.
One thing I liked about the X-men comics was how they liked to, after an event like the death of a character (though noone ever stays dead in Marvel), the next issue is often one dedicated to thoughts and feelings of the comrades of the fallen character. Something like this, for me, adds much life to the characters, as it is how real people would behave. An issue like this for Chun Li and Guile after Nash’s death would have added much to their character development.
In short to help develop characters, perhaps more issues like #6 should be made - focusing exclusively a couple of characters.
I’m pretty happy with it over all. I like the art, the covers, the back up stories and the Cheap Shotz stuff. The writing could use a little improvement still, but I don’t think it’s as bad as some people make it out to be.
Hmm i like the comic. I like how someone mentioned the coverart matching the interiors. Issue 3 had nothing to do with the interiors by putting all the sf girls on there.
If the fights are longer, you get no story. If the stories are longer, you get no fights. To solve this I think a book would have to focus on a fight the whole book and a story on a whole book itself. I think udon is doing the right thing by mixing both in one book so you get the whole deal.
Other than that i think you guys are doing a great job.
