Mega Man #34

By Ian Flynn, Tyson Hesse, Patrick Spaziante

Mega Man has been great. If you follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook, then you’re probably sick of hearing me sing the praises of Archie for putting out such a ridiculously awesome comic. Now, it’s finally here. Issue 34 contains the backup story we’ve all been waiting for: Mega Man X! Is it good? No, it’s not. It’s freakin’ fantastic.

The main feature continues the fallout from the Curse of Ra Moon storyline. Mega Man and his band of heroes have returned to the Amazon Jungle’s Temple of The Moon, in order to find something to clear the Villainous Dr. Wily’s name. Crazy, I know. However Wily did save Mega Man’s life, so I suppose he owes him one.

Once again, Break Man steals the show. Flynn has written Mega Man’s brother perfectly, with equal parts mystery and redemption. This issue is a bit of a slow burn, but it’s worth it to see what Break Man is up to.

The Mega Man X backup is absolutely incredible. The only problem is that it reads very quickly and it will have you begging for more. It follows the original SNES Mega Man X game verbatim. Not only that, but Flynn adds a certain flare that makes the story of X both compelling and heartfelt. I really can’t recommend this story enough.

The art in Mega Man is always pretty standard Archie All-Ages stuff. Not that it’s bad, though. Tyson Hesse’s pencils are cartoony, but also have some obvious manga influences. Patrick Spaziante draws the Mega Man X backup and while his style is similar in tone, it gives X a needed edge that makes it feel more mature. Also, Matt Herms (colorist) deserves a ton of credit for making Mega Man so colorful and X so blue and sterile. That little touch does wonders for the story.

Any Mega Man fan that’s been drooling over the Mega Man X solicitations needs to jump on issue 34. This is some really groovy stuff. Mega Man is certainly not for everybody, but it has a childish charm that leaves many fans (me included) very happy. Long live Mega Man and long live X.