Metroid (Magazine Z)

Covers for both volumes.

Metroid is a two-volume graphic novel written by Kouji Tazawa and drawn by Kenji Ishikawa and published in Japan by Magazine Z from November 2003 to May 2004. It was created as the backstory of the Metroid series particularly the events leading up to and including Samus's Zero Mission.

Status

I don't own this comic, but I have read a translated copy.

Review

Good

• A lot of the drawings in the comic are really nice, especially the action sequences.

Bad

• The story is pretty juvenile and trope-heavy.
• I don't care much for the character design of Samus as an adult.
• How is it a group of pirates are often more powerful than the entire Federation's military? I get that they have Mother Brain to guide them, but they were practically annihilated, and then, after only a decade or so, they become powerful enough to take on a multi-planet federation.
• A lot of characters are new: the Chozo, Samus's side-kicks, etc. However, since they don't appear in any of the games, and only play minor roles in the comic, it's hard to care about them.
• There are a lot of action panels which are either so close up or so abstract that I can't tell what's going on.
• Chibi and super-deformed artistic styles shouldn't be part of an comic with an adult theme, it just ruins the seriousness of it all.
• When Samus gets the Varia, her suit doesn't change to the Varia design.

Ugly

• Despite taking you through all the major events of the Zero Mission, the comic ends without the game's resolution. This wouldn't be a problem since the game resolves the main plot line, but the comic created a dozen ancillary characters with plot lines that never see closure.
• Over all, I didn't find the comic very interesting.

Documents

• 

  Volume 1 (Translated to English).

• 

  Volume 2 (Translated to English).