I’m not really a “fighting game” enthusiast but I do like Virtua Fighter, in part because the first one the only fighting game on the PC that I can still play on Vista and one of a handful of fighting games I own (there a few on the NES including wrestling games). I even like the anime, although it takes some liberties with how you’d think the characters would be presented. A little closer to the source material is the 1995 comic book from Malibu, a one-shot that never became a full series. And yet Mortal Kombat had a full series and a bunch of one-shots. Stupid Outworlders.
“Mosquito” round 4
The Battlefield: Virtua Fighter #1 (Malibu Comics; August, 1995) no title
The Promoters: Mark Paniccia (writer), Patirck Rolo (layouts), Scott Reed, Moose Baumann (also color design–whatever that means), & Abraham Madison (finishers), Teresa Davidson & Patrick Owsley (letterers), and ‘Bu Tones (interior color)
Akira goes to introduce himself to Pai. Two problems. Akira gets along with his father (or so he says) and Pai….doesn’t. That must have been an awkward conversation. Also, Akira forgot about personal space.
I think we all know what joke goes here, so let’s move on.
Not exactly the best first impression, but it beats accidentally kissing her while enjoying her least favorite meal. Did I mention the anime was more lighthearted and Akira was basically Goku without powers?
click to vote in this week’s tournament
BW Media Spotlight 
[…] Pai (ShadowWing Tronix) […]
LikeLike
I thought Marvel Comics did this? Akira and Pai were never seen or mention to have feelings for each other and half the characters don’t interact, and it doesn’t seem likely that they have known each other… so it’s not really closer to the source material… not even a little.
But at least the anime had a clear, non-confusing plot, along with good characterization and background music. This comic has a rushed storyline. In the anime the fights don’t drag on and that it doesn’t resort to the repetitive tournament crap.
Akira is too much of a Ryu clone in the games… in the anime, he actually had a personality. A awkward one, but a personality nonetheless. This comic almost has him acting like… Johnny Cage…
LikeLike
To be honest, I have and love the first game and there isn’t a lot of backstory. This was based on the first game so only Pai and her dad would know each other. The second tale had Jackie looking for his sister so they haven’t even met at this time. I think this was meant to be a prequel to the game. Had they continued on like they did Mortal Kombat maybe the story would have gotten better.
And thank you for acknowledging the anime. I was starting to think I was the only one who liked it because I can’t find mention of it anywhere. Did they release the rest of the anime in English on home video? I couldn’t find more than the first four on VHS when it was first released.
LikeLike
[…] have a lot of story besides the backstory so it’s open territory for making a story around. In the past I used it for a Friday Night Fight and it’s another comic I could have sworn I reviewed for […]
LikeLike