Street Fighter II: The Search for Ryu.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Ken Siu-Chong
Art: Alvin Lee, Arnold Tsang, Andrew Hou, Alan Tam, Rob Ross, Adam Warren
Letterer: Simon Yeung
What They Say:
Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Street Fighter, UDON’s very first comic story returns as a value-priced 6-issue mini-series! As Chun-li and Guile set their sights on taking down Shadaloo, new World Warriors join the fray – enter Vega, E.Honda, Sakura, and Cammy! Reprints Street Fighter #2 (2003).
Content: (warning: content section may contain spoilers!)
The 30th Anniversary celebration for Street Fighter continues with this second issue of Reloaded! After having reunited with his old friend Ken Masters after the death of their master Gouken, Ryu finds himself an unknowingly wanted man-by none other than the criminal Shadaloo organization! As Shadoloo hunts for Ryu, our other main players for this issue meet up. U.S. Army man Guile and Interpol agent Chun-Li are both after Shadaloo, both for rather personal reasons. The theme of this issue seems to be what I term “The hunt”. Every main player in the book is actively looking or hunting for something or someone. Ryu’s dreams reveal the potential killer of his master, Akuma, and it seems safe to assume that Ryu will look to avenge his late master. Guile and Chun-Li are hunting down Shadaloo and any leads they can find, and Shadaloo themselves are looking for Ryu! Guile and Chun-Li realize that Ryu may be key to their investigations, so we’re then left with two parties wanting to find him. The whole “World Warriors” vibe certainly comes across in this issue, with 2 groups chasing down Ryu’s location only to learn he’s left for somewhere different already.
The issue sees fit to introduce some new players to the arena as well. This issue introduces us to Shadaloo agent “Killer Bee”, High School student Sakura Kasugano, the sumo wrestler E. Honda, and one of Shadaloo’s top men, Vega. Vega seems to be Shadaloo’s active agent in hunting down Ryu, but neither he nor our police and army friends seem to be having much luck. With the hunt for Ryu on, we have to imagine that Shadaloo and our law-abiding team of Guile and Chun-Li will meet eventually. Vega, however, gets one step closer, as he ends up face to face with Ken Masters! There isn’t too much material here, but there’s enough to drive the main point of the issue and continue the plot set in motion. The last part of our issue’s content takes us back 6 months. It’s basically a shortened version of the death of Chun Li’s father, but their timespan seems to be off since Chun Li is a child during this segment but a young adult in the main story. It’s short and nothing but backstory, so it’s not all that necessary.
In Summary:
Ironically, this issue is more story driven than fight oriented. There are only 2 fights, the Vega/ E.Honda fight and the bonus story Chun-Li vs “Killer Bee”. The story seems to be heading towards two things. Shadaloo and the team of Guile/Chun-Li are racing to get to Ryu first, and Ryu is looking for Akuma. events will change drastically depending on who gets to Ryu first, so our law-abiding duo needs to do so first. What exactly Shadaloo wants with the martial artist isn’t divulged here, but given the fact that Shadaloo is a criminal organization, it can’t be good. Dialogue in the story matches the characters who speak, with Ken coming off as brash, confident, but respectful in his own way, while Guile is portrayed as determined and straight to the point. The backgrounds are well drawn, though some feel rather unimaginative. The best art has to go to Ryu’s dream, where Gouken fights Akuma. The bonus story is rather unnecessary, but it also only lasts a few pages, so that kind of balances it out. Will Ryu find what he’s looking for? Who will find Ryu first? Will Akuma make an appearance? These are questions that may be answered next issue. This issue is actually pretty good, and if you’re a fan of the series, I would really recommend it. The art, storytelling, and dialogue really fit the universe, and it’s a great revisiting of an old series!
Grade: A-
Released By: UDON Entertainment
Release Date: December 6th, 2017
MSRP: $0.99
