STREET FIGHTER #6 REVIEW

[Brian Wilkinson]

Reviewer: Brian E. Wilkinson, bewilkinson@comixfan.cjb.net
Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: Stage 06

It's the battle you've been waiting for as Akuma finally makes his move!

Story by: Ken Siu-Chong
Art by: Alvin Lee, Rob Ross, Alan Tam, Kevin Yan, Hanna Chen, Shane Law, with Joy Ang, Arnold Tsang, and Andrew Hou
Cover Art by: Alvin Lee
Cover Colors by: Ramil Sunga
Power Foil Cover by: Jo Chen
Cheap Shots by: Rey
Lettering: Cyber Graphix
Assistant Editor: Marina Siu-Chong
UDON Chief: Erik Ko

If it's one thing that Udon knows how to do well, it's how to choreograph a fight on panel. Page after page of the vicious and long-expected fight between Akuma, Ken and Ryu just leaves the reader feeling winded and breathless. So many books these days rely on explosions, shadows and other devices to do their story-telling for them, but for once we have a book that shows it like we all want it to be. Street Fighter is a book by the fans, for the fans.

Akuma is a ruthless villain and an excellent foil for both Ken and Ryu. While Akuma taunts the pair endlessly you can see how much more in-depth and pyschological this book is than you'd expect. It's still not on par with the mind-tinkering on shows like The Sopranos or anything like that, but for a pop-culture shot of comic fun it's pretty darn good.

The action is crisp and clear and the pencils are just gorgeous. The colors make everything literally jump off the page. This is how you do action and character development in one blow. The only complaint is that this issue just zips right by as a reader and when you pay good money, you don't always want it to be over before it has really begun.

Still, you have to wonder about the future of this book. Soon it will be switching studios, but with a few major plots (like M. Bison) seeming to be done with rather quickly I'm a little concerned about how far this book can go. Sure we get great fights but some may just want to pick up a controller and play these fights out on their TVs. Still, with dozens of characters left in the wings and a following that is still going strong, hopefully this book can continue on for quite some time.

The writing as I mentioned does a good job of blending action and thought and the art paces it well. To continue on as a strong and viable product, I'd like to see more character interaction, less of the recognizable costumes, and more of an overall purpose or mission that binds these characters together. You can work in the tournament and various facets of it into a series in itself. A 24-issue series dealing with one tournament and the events both inside and outside of it. But here I am trying to write the thing instead of enjoy it.

And that's a no-no.

For what I do get I quite enjoy. Udon seems to have a handle on the product and Capcom is most likely getting a creative boost out of all this so I wouldn't be too surprised to see a lot of tie-ins in the near future.

You can see the manga influence here as well. Especially when Sakura is knocked away by Akuma after being completely foolish and trying to interfere. The shot up her skirt is a bit much, but I'm sure all the young fans will appreciate the panel quite a bit.

The issue has a few nice twists and turns, including Ryu's flashback and Ken's revelation about Eliza's condition. These are nice additions to the Street Fighter mythology and are sure to keep fans coming back for more.

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Finally someone gave one of these comics a good review. everywhere else i go , this book is getting bad reviews.

THIS SERIES ROCKS!!!

[Dragon]

Only a good Rating i'm hurt, this is by far one of the Best series out, it feels like i'm playing Street Fighter with out even actual playing it. The artwork is perfect the stories are great. And the Cheap Shots are the funniest things i've every read. If your not Reading Street Fighter you better or i'm sending Akuma your way.

[seth_raditz]

Udon always produces the best work. If i've got a couple of quid left at the end of the month, i'll pick up a copy.

[Anthony Lucynski]

Originally posted by APG
Finally someone gave one of these comics a good review. everywhere else i go , this book is getting bad reviews.

THIS SERIES ROCKS!!!

Welcome to the boards. This book has continued to rock, and get positive reviews here since I first was given the honor of previewing the series back before it launched.

Consistantly one of the titles I look forward to on a monthly basis, and I'm glad to know that Brian thinks the same.

Anthony L

[Eric Filemyr]

Originally posted by Brian E. Wilkinson

The writing as I mentioned does a good job of blending action and thought and the art paces it well.

Exactly. This is why I think this book suceeds so well. Considering that the Street Fighter franchise does not have much in the way of story and is mostly based on action, this book gives us a lot of story, even adding things like Eliza's shocker. Plus, when there is fighting, which this book features more than almost any book anywhere, it looks and feels like the game. This is why I think this book may well be the best video game adaptation in a long time. Keeps a lot of fighting, but as it is in a more literary medium than video games, it adds adequate story.

[Telepath]

i thought elizas revelation was hardly very shocking infact i thought it was bloody obvious.

[Benjamin Ong]

Originally posted by APG
Finally someone gave one of these comics a good review. everywhere else i go , this book is getting bad reviews.

THIS SERIES ROCKS!!!

Are you Erik Ko? Or one of the UDON guys? :p

Anyway, SF continues to be one of the best, BEST comics out there these days! Looking forward to more SF under the Devil's Due imprint.

[udon-eko]

No, I am here Ben.

Yeah, I was wondering which place do you see bad reviews about SF? So far, I have seen some good, some OK..... once in a while I see bad reviews just by "manga haters".....