Oct 28, 2009 -- 2:57PM, Truest Strike wrote:

Even though I'm sure, according the the info on the last SFIV issue, it will be Juri appearing...I wouldn't mind if it was a new character we haven't learned anything about yet :D

 

This probably explains why this issue was delayed a week.

Udon Question: I am hearing people talk about the Darkstalkers comic coming back in two months. Can we get a confirmation on this? is it really coming back? only two months or later?

Hey all, what's happening?  Just wanted to give my thoughts and spoilers on the latest issue of Street Fighter II Turbo.  Before I do, however, I'd also like to express my deep enthusiasm for the news of the return of the Darkstalker series.  Personally, I hope to see Jon Talbain become more of a main player in the story as well as more monster robot action with Huitzil.  However, I digress, overall I think the theme of this week's Street Fighter issue was "suprise."  Matt has been hinting for the past couple of months that the tournament would not turn out as many fans would expect, and this issue certain confirms that statement.  At the same time, there were pacing issues which I'll more fully discuss later in this post.  Anyway, ONWARD!:

- As has been the norm for the past couple of reviews, I like the way that Dhalsim has been portrayed in the UDON series.  While in the games and movies, there was always a hint that Dhalsim had exceptional talents and abilities, in the comic series these traits have been fleshed out more.  What's great about this issue is that Dhalsim establishes himself to be a very serious threat to Bison, in a way I think that none of the other characters have done.  Not only does he school Juli and Juni, but he confronts Bison head on and basically threatens him all with this calm yogin demeanor.  One could tell from that scene that Bison is worried, in a way we've never seen him before.  GO DHALSIM!!!!

- What I like about the series is that underlying this whole tournament has also been this agenda to take down Shadoloo.  Set-up in the previous issue, one sees Cammy, Chun-Li, and Guilie's subterfuge and misdirection come to fruition.  It was nice to see Chun-Li and Guile fake their losses in order to sneak into Shadoloo's base and topple them from the inside.  At the same time, one sees an ulterior motive from Shadoloo as well.  Seeing the losers and non-participants, like T. Hawk, Ken, and E. Honda captured and experimented upon by Bison shows that Bison can be very underhanded as well.

- The fights were very cool this week.  Definitely liked Ryu's matches.  Certainly liked how he shared a mutual respect with Honda, as well as his reaffirming his stance as a consumate warrior when facing off against Fei Long.  However, the fight that left the deepest impression on me was Ken/Vega.  Seeing him react to the news that he'll have a son shows to me that what Ken isn't some wild playboy punk, but rather a very dedicated and serious family man.  You see how much his family means to him when he Shinshoryuken's the crap out of Vega.  You see this when he must decline the chance to fight with Ryu during the final battle. 

- I do have gripes with this week, mainly w/ the pacing of this issue.  I wouldn't say that everything felt rushed per se, but rather everything felt really, really condensed.  Alot of matches and storylines begin and ended very quickly.  I say that they could have been extended for an issue or two.  Furthermore, there was alot of awkwardness in terms of the artwork.

- Finally, I have to say I really liked this week's back up story.  As opposed to last issue's, I think UDON did a great job expanding on the character of Oro.  As someone who's never played SFIII, I always felt Oro to be a very creepy character.  However, in this issue, I like how he's portrayed as this pretty simple-minded and aloof person.  I cracked up at the fact that though he's achieved this high level of enlightenment, the guy is still bored as hell!  Great stuff.

Anyway, issue was cool this week.  UDON is certainly deviating from what alot of fans expectations, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  Perhaps we'll see Ryu and Cammy in the final battle against Bison, which is rather interesting.  However, it better not lead to Ryu/Cammy romance stuff!  The RCL fanboy in me just wouldn't stand for it!  Can't wait for the next issue! 

I visited my local comic store and they were all sold out of issue #9...

Now the question remains if Chun-Li is going to become a reporter like she is in Mega Man 9? LOL J/K!