Stefan's weekly rant

This is another rant about the Street Fighter comic book. As I write this, the series is on issue #12, and a lot has happened so far! At first I was really skeptical about the comic. Not because I didn't trust the folks at Udon (I've been a big fan of theirs for years before this comic), but because I know so much about SF, and I know that it's really hard to work with (Capcom's storylines are a mess!). I think they're doing as well as anybody (besides myself LOL) could do with the comic. I love it!

The current storyline involving the SF2 and SF Zero/Alpha characters is winding down. I don't know if that's gonna finish it, or if the next big story arc is gonna continue with the SF2 & SFZ characters. I hope so! They're the best, and there's still SO much more that hasn't been done yet. However, I know from talking to the creative team last summer that they really like SF3 (I think they're the only ones), and they're looking forward to that storyline.

So for this rant I'm just gonna put forth some of the questions about the comic that are in my head, and some of what I think...

Cammy & Delta Red
I love Cammy for how she plays and how she looks, but the real reason she's my favorite character is because she's got such a wonderful personality and storyline! Cammy & Delta Red got a HUGE push in the 2nd story arc. The other characters in Delta Red aren't really in the game, but Udon treated them almost like real SF characters. That was awesome because they're cool characters in their own rights. It is a wonderful team, and there's nothing I'd like more than to see them spin off in their own comic. That comic would be my dream job ^_^. Cammy's got almost limitless storyline possibilities on her own, and with the team, there's even more you can do with her. It would also be a good chance to cross over other SF characters and give them a bit more than what they get in the main comic. For example, Cammy could sometimes work with Chun Li from Interpol and Guile from the USA. And Delta Red could investigate Shadowloo further and bring in some of those characters. Cammy and the team could easily support a comic of their own, and make the main SF comic better at the same time.

The Shadowloo Dolls
I wonder what's gonna happen to them at the end of this story arc... Are they all gonna die? Are they gonna be saved? Are they gonna disappear and show up sometime in the future? I would love to see them go into hiding after Shadowloo's downfall and wait or work for Shadowloo to come back. In the Cammy novels by Yuka Minakawa (see "Book Reports" on the Cammy Info page) where the concept of the dolls was created, Delta Red Cammy meets 'Juni and Juli' and learns more about her past with Shadowloo. The comic has already created and revealed a lot about them, but I'd love to see them expand even more on the Dolls' characters. However, I realize that they aren't main characters, and there are still too many main characters who have been left out. A Cammy & Delta Red comic would be a great place to explore the dolls further, and leave the main comic for the main characters.

Cammy vs Chun Li 3
Can't have Cammy and Chun Li hate each other, but you also can't let their rivalry go away because it's just too damn good. And besides, Cammy deserves a rematch! They both have jobs to do, and I'm sure they'd work together for that end, but they way they are, you know things aren't settled between them. There's a lot they could do to build on their relationship, and I'm sure the fans would love it! Have 'em work together and be a good team, but always manage to butt heads about something or other.

Cammy's rivalries
Of course Cammy vs Chun Li. But she's still got a rivalry with Vega (aka Bison), Balrog (aka Vega). Cammy and Balrog's rivalry is still a great one that needs to be dealt with. There's a lotta bad blood and strange stuff with those two. And then as stubborn and antagonistic as Cammy is, she could butt heads with any of the other SF characters!
PS - I use the original Japanese names cuz that's what I'm used to, and that's why Vega is the leader of Shadowloo, and Balrog is the crazy Spanish ninja.

Ryu vs Sagat
I would LOVE to see Sagat beat Ryu in their re-match. For one, Sagat is mighty, and I don't think he gets enough respect. Also, a loss would really have an effect on Ryu that could do A LOT with his character development. And speaking of Sagat, I'd just love to see more of him period. He's way too cool and mighty to not be one of the top storyline movers.

Missing characters
SO many characters didn't make it into the comic, and most who did just got a teeny tiny guest appearance. Rainbow Mika, Zangief, Karin Kanzuki, Rose, Dhalsim, and lotta other great characters deserve more time. That's why I hope Udon doesn't rush off to work on the SF3 timeline.

We've seen a bit of Rose helping Cammy, but there's still a lot about her I wanna learn. Rose was supposedly the one who taught Vega (Bison) how to use Psycho Power! But Vega was corrupted by the 'dark side', and Rose feels responsible. What was their relationship before Vega went bad? I'd love to know! And at the end of the SFZ storyline, Vega kills Rose >_< I'd hate to see that, but I think it's important.

SFZ deaths?
Originally, Rose, Charlie, and Dan are all supposed to die! Charlie gets killed by Shadowloo, Rose gets killed by Vega, and Dan gets killed by Sagat. I think Capcom tried to kinda move away from that in the end, but it's still something they could deal with in the comics.

Miscellaneous storyline break
A fun storyline would also be something like an SF vacation! No fighting, just silliness like that famous old Capcom picture of the gang at the beach. Back when I was a big X-Men fan, they used to have little fun comics about stuff like that in-between all the big story arcs, and those were some of my favorite issues.
And another fun thing would be to have an issue of Street Fighter 4-ko manga from different artists.

SF3
I tested SF3 for Capcom when it was still in development, and I hated it. They made it a lot better with the updates, but I still don't like it. Why? Because they broke too much from SF2 (characters, gameplay, and storyline). The only links they have are the shotoclones and Chun Li, and they're the same old boring thing. What about all the other great characters like Cammy, Balrog (aka Vega), Zangief, etc. from SF2? And it would have been cool to see some of the SF Zero/Alpha characters come back in a new form... like a grown up Sakura. So with the comic book I'm REALLY hoping that they fix what Capcom messed up. I wanna see SF3 tied into the other games, and I wanna see my favorite characters alongside the next generation!

Lemme show you how you can tie stuff in... Zangief & Hugo (wrestlers), Cammy & Dudley (both English), Cammy & Guile with Chun Li ('international cops'), etc. It doesn't take much to make it work.

Beyond SF3
There's gonna come a day when the comic book pretty much exhausts the game storylines... then what? Quit the comic or create new stuff? Create new stuff!!! If Capcom won't do it, then somebody should. The possibilities are mind-boggling! Working on that would be my 2nd dream job ^_^