Mega Man #51

By Ian Flynn, Edwin Huang, Gary Martin, Gabriel Cassata, John Workman

If you haven’t jumped on board with Archie’s latest Mega Man/Sonic crossover, I would highly suggest that you do so. This arc is a million times better than it has any right to be, and just when you think it can’t get any crazier, Ryu from Street Fighter shows up to Hadouken a hole through a robot kangaroo. Like I said, this stuff is insane and needs to be read.

This issue focuses on the forces of Sonic/Mega Man/Mega Man X attempting to stave of the army of Undead Mavericks from X’s timeline. Sigma (the crossover’s main antagonist) has achieved unimaginative power and has now decided to seek even more. The last few issues of this crossover have been very interesting because at this point in time, the heroes are essentially losing. Characters like Sonic and Mega Man are predictably hopeful, but they really don’t have much reason to be. Their situation is very bleak. Even though characters from Street Fighter show up to kick butt, in what can only be described as the comic book moment of the year, things are still out of hand.

Fortunately, our heroes have decided to do a little recruiting. Using the Genesis Portals, our heroes are on the lookout for some more brave characters. This is how we’re going to get all of those sweet cameos promised to us when Worlds Unite was first announced. Both Sega and Capcom have a treasure trove of great characters, so it will be exciting to see who shows up and who doesn’t.

The art in Mega Man is always great and Worlds Unite has been no different. Huang is giving us a style perfect for a well-designed Saturday morning cartoon (remember those?). With all of the action and insanity, this comic is essentially the goofiest cartoon of your childhood dreams. Not to mention, the character designs and detail are incredible. You can tell that Huang really wanted characters like Ryu and Ken to look as authentic as possible. As a guy who has clocked in numerous Street Fighter hours, I can appreciate the effort.

There is always a lot to love about Mega Man, but a Mega Man comic with Sonic and Street Fighter? That’s on a whole other level of pure awesomeness. The Archie Action! line is somehow getting even cooler.