“Yesterday’s” Comic> Mega Man #1 (Dreamwave)

That’s the problem with variant covers. Sometimes you end up with the freaky one.

Mega Man #1

Dreamwave (September, 2003)

In this version “Rocky” Light is being sent to school by Doctor Light, thinking it will help him grow emotionally thanks to his ID (Independent Determination) Chip. Mega Man is Rocky’s secret identity and he keeps his secret as a robot in both identities. While Mega Man must deal with a saboteur calling himself Barrageman, who is targeting Doctor Light’s new traffic control system, Rocky must deal with the Boltz brothers, three bullies that (according to Rocky’s new friend, Alan) probably stay back just to pick on kids. Rocky interferes with the Boltzs’ attempts to sabotage the mashed potato machine and earns him the admiration of a girl named Chelsea, who even the Boltz back down to. Meanwhile, a helmeted figure with a scarf is watching Mega Man’s fight with another saboteur and thief named Expressman.

What they got right: Augstyn does come up with some cool original Robot Master concepts and the idea of a robot superhero going to school, especially in what appears to be a kids or all-ages comic, is a cool concept. And there’s an interesting supporting cast from the game regulars (Auto and Roll appear) as well as new characters.

What they got wrong: The problem is that the concepts don’t fit as well for a Mega Man comic. I’m guessing this is going to be Rock/Rocky’s first meeting with Doctor Wily, but then why is he Mega Man already? Throwing a “y” on Rock’s name doesn’t change the fact that it will feel strange to fans of the games to see him interacting with kids and pretending he isn’t a robot. The ideas are good but it doesn’t feel right for a Mega Man adaptation, and with the Mega/Gigamix mangas having recently come from Japan and Archie’s series this is going to go over even worse with fans. I like the comic but I can see where fans don’t.

Recommendation: Questionable adaptation aside the comic is off to a good start and establishes what is happening in this continuity. It may be worth a look at least.