Irenic Automaton

Already on the first page, three Maverick bosses get defeated. It not only reeks of terrible pacing, but makes X's journey look too easy. Not to mention, excluding Kuwanger was a stupid choice since he and X were once friends (at least in MHX). He was definitely one of my favorite Maverick bosses in that game along with Sting Chameleon, Storm Eagle, and Armored Armadillo. Seeing him wasted like this is disappointing, but not at all that surprising, given what we've seen with Spark Mandrill in the previous issue.

Oh, and what do you know? Luna and Minerva are actually drawn normally for once. I wasn't expecting that since this is Udon we're talking about. But I'm not going to give credit or cookies to Hanzo Steinbeck for doing the bare minimum of representing women respectfully in a comic book. This should be the norm, not the exception.

I really dislike how Zero was inserted into this issue as tagging along with X. How are you gonna doubt the guy who took on seven Mavericks solo, especially the more difficult ones like Storm Eagle and Boomerang Kuwanger? And with upgrades no less. I thought this was supposed to be X's story, but I guess the chuds at Udon couldn't resist some Zero glazing. As if we needed more of it.

Oh, and I really hate how he talks here. In the Timelines and first issues, he speaks normally. Now suddenly he talks like he's a Southerner in the US? Why? What was the thought process behind this choice? It doesn't make sense and makes Zero seem incredibly out of character.

Dr. Light's "this world of man" really irritated me. It's archaic and doesn't make sense for a future setting like Megaman X where even now in 2026, people are using "humans" or "humanity" to describe homo sapiens. Male comic book writers not referring to humankind as man challenge: IMPOSSIBLE.

Oh, and there's supposed to be some kind of Transformers joke in this page, but since I'm not big on that franchise (I grew up with Beast Wars and watched the Armada anime series), I definitely missed it. Don't understand the reasoning for this except that Dan Arseneault worked on the Transformers comics before writing for the X series. Not saying there isn't an overlap between X and Transformers fans, but I don't think that overlap is common. I dunno. Seems like a weird choice to include when you're trying to market your comics towards hardcore and casual fans alike.

This is actually a decent page. X knowing that he can easily destroy this robot but actively chooses not to is great storytelling for his character. It makes me wish we had more moments like these where X shows restraint and doesn't resort to killing to get the job done.

Oh, boy! Another typo! I get that Udon is not on the same level as Marvel or DC, but come on. There's no excuse not to have this stuff proofread before finalizing it.

This actually seems on brand for Sting Chameleon. Dude was not well-liked in his unit which prevented opportunities for a potential promotion, so I wouldn't put it past him to use his stealth abilities to ambush the entire 9th Special Rangers Unit.

I dunno, but Zero incapacitating a Maverick boss with one stab feels like glazing when you consider that the fights X had took more effort. However, the next page...

I like X saving Zero this time around and finishing the job. This page was peak aura farming for X.

This page is my favorite. Zero gassing up X as he makes his grand entrance in the fully assembled First/Light Armor. He looks adorable.

That's it for now. Definitely an improvement from issue #2, but the comics still struggles with pacing, typos, weird dialogue choices, expanded lore that is immediately forgotten and goes nowhere, and bringing absolutely nothing new to the plot of X1.

We start off with X defeating Spark Mandrill. If you think this is bad with Mavericks getting destroyed in less than two pages, wait til you see the next issue. Also, lol at Dan "burrowing" Mandrill's defeat quote from MHX. All he did was change some of the wording. How original.

This. Page. Makes. Me. Angry.

Where do I even begin? Why is Luna posed like her back is broken? This is the same egregious nonsense with male comic artists like Greg Land and Rob Liefield who don't know how women's bodies work or proper female proportions. Oh, and and don't get me started on her commenting on X's rank. Bro has been clearing through bosses easily with upgrades, and you're out here questioning his abilities? Be so for real.

Here's one of the few interesting pages, but they go nowhere with it. Having Sigma be aware of these mysterious upgrade capsules is good and makes you wonder what he intended to do with them if he was able to open them. Too bad we don't see this again.

This is actually good. I like X's connection to the good doctor becoming stronger with each upgrade. Though, I'd love an explanation for this.

Ugh. Why did we have to make Zero have a connection with the capsules? Why must we have this unnecessary Zero glazing in X's own story again? Unless, the connection is simply Dr. Light and Wily, then it doesn't make sense. Even then, Bass was said to steal the schematics for X, not his armors, so idk.

Another instance of stealing exact lines from MHX, even though this comic is barely even based on that game. Not to mention, Capcom apparently being against using the redesigns to be more consistent with XDive, which doesn't make sense as that game isn't even canon. Capcom being Capcom, I guess.

For someone who calls himself "this huge Megaman lore and history guy" how do you screw up the name of one of X's special weapons? Do the people at Udon even proofread this stuff before finalizing it? This isn't the first this has happened either.

Like I mentioned in the previous post, I don't feel comfortable with X swearing. He's too nice for that IMO. Zero, maybe I can see. But X? Dude is too wholesome and polite for that.

I'm only posting this page because of how cool it looks. X's face in the bottom right corner makes me swoon so hard.

And here's another gooner bait page! Why are her boobs bigger than her head? Why is she squeezing them together like that? For reference, here's how she looks in her concept art for MHX. Nothing like the comic at all and is just an example of exaggerated female proportions. Ugh.

That's it for now. While I do like Hanzo's art, I hate the way he draws the only two female characters. I'm really tired of Udon sexualizing women in their comics in order to get them to sell to a certain demographic. It's alienating to female fans like myself who've been involved in the fandom since 2000. It's really telling how they cover up poor writing with art that borders on softcore porn and fetish bait. Yikes.

Issue #3 is next. Stay tuned.

Now, I'll give credit where credit is due to the artist in this issue (Hanzo Steinbeck). X looks REALLY good here.

From here, it's just more action sequences. No major storytelling here. The bottom panel of X made my brain blue-screen. WHY IS HE POSING LIKE THAT?

I will say, I like X's uncertainty here. It fits with his early days as a reluctant Maverick Hunter in his first major war.

Like I mentioned in previous posts, the Dr. Light interactions are by far my favorite, but they go absolutely nowhere with them. Lasting for about two pages, then it's straight back to the game's "plot".

LOOK AT HIS CHEEKS. THEY'RE SO SQUISHABLE. Sorry, that's all I have to say for this page.

Here, we see X's mercy and reluctance to kill. This is one of the things that made this issue decent as it also establishes Storm Eagle and X's friendship, like in MHX.

This was my favorite page, aside from Dr. Light. X trying to save not just his enemies, but those who were close to him really shows his gentle and compassionate side without turning him to the gloom and doom Debbie Downer from X7.

Bad Zero! I don't know how I feel about the characters swearing. Maybe Zero is acceptable, but in later issues, X does it and it just makes me feel like that isn't something he would do. Also, that one panel I hated in Timelines was redrawn and looks a bit better? Also, why is his bottom lip so shiny? It's killing me. X, please.

I gotta love Zero's comments every time X gets an upgrade. He's basically gassing up his bff and it's cute af.