Metroid (Magazine Z)

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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, particularly because her forehead seems too big.
  • A lot of characters are new: the living 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 a comic with an adult theme, it just ruins the seriousness of it all.
  • A quibble, but, when Samus gets the Varia, her suit doesn't change to the Varia design.

Ugly

  • Over all, I didn't find the comic very interesting.
  • 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 about a dozen ancillary characters with plot lines that abruptly stop with the comic, never seeing closure.
  • 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.

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