From Ken Siu-Chong, writer. Joe Ng, art. Espen Grundetjern, colors. Ludwig Olimba, flats. Marshall Dillon, letters. Published by Udon Entertainment.

This was an odd book to read.

I grabbed it just because it is a comic. That’s all. I love comics and must always have more. I’m familiar with the Street Fighter characters but have barely played the game over the course of my entire life.

So I didn’t really care what was happening or get into the story. There is too much that depends on the stories that have come before. Across all media I’m guessing. None of it drew me in or made me care about the story here.

Which got me wondering about an average person picking up Spider-Man or Batman. Do they care? Is the story too dependent on previous knowledge or an assumption of fandom that it lands flat to new eyes?

That said, the art was amazing. I remember years ago hearing that the Samurai Jack cartoon wasn’t going to have black lines in the art. There aren’t any black lines in life. A white shirt doesn’t have folds or creases made out of black lines. The art in this comic was like that. Great job with pencils, inks, and colors to achieve this. Great anatomy for the biggest and smallest characters in the franchise too. Every variety of human form looked great. I could get wrapped up by the pretty art even though the story was doing nothing for me.

So is it my fault for diving into a franchise without starting at the beginning? Or is it the comic’s fault for not being new reader friendly? This is a problem much larger than this issue.