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00:00 Mega Man issue 1.
00:02 It starts with boring narration from Mega Man where he states the obvious when faced with robots.
00:08 What does he think if he asks some mindless killer robot to let him pass, he'd get humored?
00:14 Then he asks why there isn't a dory here when it should be self evident that Wily would remove the dory to keep him from getting in.
00:22 The establishing character moment is supposed to tell you who a character is and get you to like him if he's a good guy.
00:29 And these first two pages just tell me he's stupid and a scaredy cat in spite of the arm cannon and all the fighting experience he's had.
00:38 And the fact that it starts out with him already at the fortress is good for skipping straight to the action people want the comic for so they're less likely to give it up.
00:48 But it shows a lack of faith in the non-action padding to not be boring, making me question why it would last too long.
00:56 I hope I see stuff that the games don't already have to offer me to wake me up.
01:01 Because this has just been them doing the predictable stuff but with idiotic dialogue for no reason, which is worse.
01:08 Mega Man changes powers and punches the wall and a robot and gets into the building easily.
01:14 Because apparently Wily didn't have the sense to make the way in indestructible, like make it from carbon nanotubes.
01:22 Even though he had the good sense to make it so there's no door in the first place.
01:26 So it's not like he wanted him to come in.
01:29 He doesn't think of him as his ultimate nemesis at this point who he would've had an incentive to desperately want a very satisfying victory over.
01:40 I didn't get the impression in the Mega Man game that Wily was even aware of Mega Man's progress through the game.
01:47 So he doesn't even know he exists yet.
01:50 So he would've been trying as hard as possible to not be vanquished.
01:55 Not doing anything to make it easier for Mega Man because otherwise it would be underwhelming.
02:00 Then a wall slams to the floor behind him and he says "Hey, but shouldn't you already be used to this? Isn't the end Wily's fortress?"
02:08 So as if this happened tons of other times, he gets hit with the yellow ball which must be at least mostly liquid because he doesn't get knocked over.
02:19 And he gets faced with the yellow devil.
02:22 You'd think it would be called the yellow giant because that's kid-friendly.
02:27 And it's a giant. It looks absolutely nothing like a devil.
02:31 And then the story makes the mistake of doing a boring flashback to a few days ago as if anyone picking up a Mega Man comic for being just like the game wants to see him be a boring normal kid at a time like this.
02:45 But at least this is a bit of story not in the game.
02:48 We see a big stage with a banner above it saying it's the unveiling of Light Labs despite being just a few days ago.
02:56 Like how did it already make a role in Mega Man if he didn't have a lab until after this unveiling?
03:02 Apparently he did so this is just the unveiling of a different lab.
03:06 Dr. Light has his speech written down and is made to look sympathetic by saying he doesn't want to sound presumptuous.
03:13 But wouldn't New Era be just as much that?
03:18 Either way he's being relatable.
03:20 He apologizes to Roll for risking messing up his hair and says something nice to them.
03:25 Wily shows up which Dr. Light's grateful for and I hope there's an explanation for why he liked him before he was causing trouble.
03:33 Which isn't just that he's good at engineering because any engineer is.
03:37 Because I don't get it.
03:39 Mega Man is annoying to Wily by shining his shoes against his will and ignoring him when he tells him no.
03:46 Which doesn't make any sense for someone programmed to be a good helper robot.
03:50 So we can see why Wily didn't grow attached to him.
03:54 Roll offers to help Wily too and Mega Man apologizes and Dr. Light tells Wily to cut them some slack.
04:02 Wily reminds him that he helped build and design the robot Master Line apparently.
04:07 So naturally he wants to be on that stage making the unveiling announcement with him.
04:12 Dr. Light reminds him that he lost his credentials when he did unethical robotics experiments he inexplicably thought he could get away with.
04:20 So him making the announcement with him would be a bad look for the well-intentioned Light Labs.
04:26 I wish the story told me what those experiments were because that seems like a far more interesting story than this when it's just characters standing around and talking.
04:36 I can't take what he says to Wily seriously because I don't know what he's talking about.
04:41 So it just seems like the writer made something up just so that Wily wouldn't get to join in and would be resentful of him.
04:48 Dr. Light tells him he hasn't forgotten all of the work they did in university and thinks he could make up for his mistakes.
04:54 And tells him he's an equal partner in Light Labs.
04:57 Then why wouldn't he be satisfied?
05:00 He says history will remember that he changed the future as well as him. So he shakes his hand smirking.
05:06 And Dr. Light thanks the audience for coming here and starts making a boring, dranked out speech.
05:12 He says better robotics have given people better services and safer work environments.
05:18 Can't wait to see that.
05:20 He then says robotics and people can be made better to achieve a better future.
05:25 But he's not explaining why he thinks it would be a better future so far.
05:28 He explains what all of the first robot masters were originally made for.
05:32 But it seems like a whole lot for me to type about for nothing.
05:36 I'd rather actually see them doing this stuff.
05:39 And I assume that they're just the first models.
05:42 So he's planning to make a lot more of these specific types of robots.
05:46 Because otherwise just a few of these robots wouldn't get very much done.
05:51 I have a question. Why would he even make Iceman when he could explore the poles with a drone a lot faster?
05:58 He doesn't need a robot suited for the cold to do that.
06:01 And a robot wouldn't need a parka to protect himself from the cold.
06:05 It's just a design thing.
06:07 I know it would protect him from the melting of the snow becoming water.
06:12 But I assume all these guys are waterproof anyways because that'd be pathetic otherwise.
06:17 If a robot doesn't need a parka to protect himself from the cold arctic.
06:22 That means he could send any robot to do Iceman's job.
06:26 Plus he's not even explaining why we would want to explore the poles.
06:30 Haven't we already seen everything there?
06:33 Especially since it's the future.
06:35 He brags about the robots as advanced AI.
06:38 And a robot reporter asks him if he's planning to use these robots for covert war operations.
06:44 Since apparently he had built military robots like Sniper Joe.
06:49 First off, he should have known that if he was planning to use them for that.
06:53 Why would he tell the audience about that?
06:55 Is he just trying to get him to act stunned and have his lying be so obvious that people would see through it?
07:02 Why would the jobs of journalists be taken over by robots?
07:06 I get having robots do dangerous jobs.
07:09 But why have them have this job so that a safe job is gone for humans?
07:14 Most importantly, it's shockingly dark that Dr. Light was rendered out of made robots that killed people.
07:21 I don't know why Capcom let Flynn get away with this with a good guy.
07:26 This would mean Dr. Light's partly responsible for the deaths of dozens or hundreds of people.
07:32 Far more if they keep being used.
07:34 Honestly, I think this puts Uncle Chuck's roboticizer to shame in terms of a past full of mistakes.
07:40 And he would have never done this.
07:42 It's definitely worse than unethical robotics experiments.
07:47 Why should I think otherwise when I don't know what those experiments even are?
07:51 I'm guessing they didn't kill anyone or Wily would be in prison.
07:55 And yet him making a speech for Light Labs isn't a bad look for it when he was fine with making killer robots.
08:01 Just because those were made to fight for the good guys.
08:05 And everyone takes him seriously in good faith as someone who's done building weapons and only wants to pursue constructive means of advancing humanity.
08:12 Too bad Wily doesn't point out the hypocrisy in this.
08:15 Even in a thought bubble.
08:17 I understand Dr. Light's a good guy now.
08:19 But I still find it morally grey that he didn't quit when expected to make killing machines.
08:24 He cared more about keeping his job than not being responsible for lost lives.
08:30 Even Gerald Robotnik in issue 98 of Archie said that he wasn't going to let the military get a hold of Shadow.
08:38 It makes it confusing that he's written to lecture Wily like he's a saint.
08:42 That at one point he didn't have the moral high ground.
08:45 But since he qualifies as the atoner himself, it finally makes sense that he wastes time telling Wily he can make up for his mistakes.
08:53 Because that's what he's trying to do.
08:55 And so he knows people who have a lot to answer for can have a turnaround.
08:59 Why does Mega Man look sad with tears drawn to the sides of his face?
09:03 Why does Rool look sad?
09:05 They're okay with him saying this.
09:07 So I have to assume they're just worried people won't believe him.
09:10 I always felt like it could have easily not been that he was asked that question.
09:15 And Wily walks away irritated.
09:17 Without the writer letting him explain why in a thought bubble.
09:21 Like why did he ever do those experiments instead of just making killer robots and weapons for the military?
09:27 If he approves of the idea so much that he wants someone else to do them.
09:31 Things could have easily gone differently for Wily.
09:34 And it just makes it an annoying origin story.
09:36 Like the one for Botnik Prime had the same criticism.
09:39 The story cuts ahead in time to the evening where Rool's bringing Dr. Light a glass of something on a platter.
09:45 And Mega Man's hanging up Dr. Light's coat.
09:47 The reason I don't appreciate their help as much as I think I should.
09:52 The reason I don't appreciate it as much as I would if I saw a member of George Jetson's family being just as helpful.
10:00 Is that they're made to be helper robots for him.
10:02 I don't even know if they have the free will to not want to do this.
10:06 Of course they're helping him.
10:08 They're doing this because they're built to help him.
10:11 It's not as impressive.
10:13 Dr. Light gets questioned on being upset about the reporter's question.
10:18 And says with his hands on them that he built things he didn't agree with in the past.
10:22 To raise the money and fame he needed to start Light Labs in the first place.
10:26 So he thought the ends would justify the means.
10:29 No, he's still morally gray.
10:31 Meanwhile, Wily holds something identical to another green thing near the deactivated Cut Man.
10:37 And holds a green thing near it's open control panel.
10:41 Like he's actually replacing a part of him.
10:43 This could have been avoided if someone had a security system or at least guards to make it impossible for someone to break in here.
10:50 Because someone wanting to steal and sell it for it's parts would be a possibility that anyone should have been aware of.
10:56 I understand why no one would anticipate that someone who'd want to use this robot for violence would come here so fast.
11:03 Because they not only didn't know Wily well enough, but it's not like his country's in a civil war.
11:07 There's not tons of people who'd want weapons to try to overthrow their government.
11:11 And whether they'd want this or someone else who'd want this for violence would, like a mugger.
11:15 They wouldn't know how to reprogram it.
11:17 So anyone who'd want to kill a robot for private use should not know how to take over this thing.
11:22 But still, that badge wouldn't make the robot completely safe to be left easy to access.
11:27 When it's a financially valuable property and thieves exist.
11:31 There's a reason people usually lock their doors.
11:34 No matter how idealistic they are.
11:36 Because it's common sense.
11:37 It wouldn't matter how idealistic these three are.
11:40 They'd still know some people are so poor or greedy that they'd steal anything and at least use a lock.
11:46 But we don't even see Wily get past a lock.
11:48 Which would've made him look competent.
11:50 We already knew from the game's instruction manual that he took over his robots.
11:54 Obviously the whole appeal of seeing it was supposed to be that we'd actually see how he got to them.
12:00 But it looks like all he did was stroll over into a room with no effort and upload a program.
12:05 Go figure.
12:06 When I was learning about what the Robot Masters were made for in Clement's Let's Plays.
12:13 I always imagined that they used to work in those jobs.
12:17 And then got taken over by Wily.
12:20 They never even got to work in those jobs in the first place until after Mega Man beat them.
12:26 It's just not as interesting.
12:28 The next morning, Roll wakes Dr. Light and tells him the Robot Masters are gone from a part of his house.
12:35 I have a question.
12:37 Why were the Robot Masters in his house?
12:40 I was given the impression that engineers in real life are always doing this stuff in a building they work in.
12:46 So why weren't his creations in another building where they could be properly locked down?
12:52 With security cameras.
12:54 And don't tell me it's because we couldn't have a franchise.
12:57 Because Wily could've been made to look awesome by disabling his fancy security system with amazing gadgets he prepared.
13:03 Or at least we could've been told he did have a security system but programmed it to ignore Wily because he trusts him.
13:10 Which is still kinda dumb because he'd think he'd have no reason to go to the Robot Masters by himself in the first place.
13:18 He would never anticipate that he'd want to do that.
13:21 But if he did, it couldn't be for a good reason.
13:24 So either way, he could've taken over the robots regardless of where they were.
13:28 So he didn't need to have Dr. Light act unrealistically like an idiot for no reason.
13:33 I prefer how Robotnik Prime was established to have sabotaged the Roboticizer because at least it was in another building.
13:39 That you could assume would be harder for people to access when they aren't supposed to than a house.
13:45 At least it was realistic that Chuck's invention was in a lab outside of his house.
13:49 While this only seems to be the case because he's an important character from a children's video game series.
13:55 When it could've at least been in a basement... under his garage.
14:00 So Mega Man tells Dr. Light to see the news coverage of his robots causing damage to the buildings and effortlessly defeating the army offscreen.
14:09 I have to assume he only had them attack the buildings to attract the attention of the army to defeat them.
14:14 Because otherwise he'd have no reason to bother.
14:17 Wily hacks into the news coverage to brag that he controls the airwaves and plans to take over the world.
14:23 Because the mad scientist wants to deal with all the paperwork of establishing new laws and running a country.
14:30 I always thought the Robot Masters were entirely built and designed by Dr. Light.
14:35 Not that Wily even helped with them.
14:37 Wily takes full credit for them being built and demands surrender from the world's leaders and to be recognized as the smartest person ever.
14:45 Even though it would be meaningless if no one meant it.
14:47 If he's so smart, why does he think a couple of robots couldn't be stopped if literally every army from the hundreds of countries in the world all at once overpowered them?
14:57 Though I know only a couple of army fighters and machines at once would be able to take them on at a time because they'd occupy space.
15:04 But more space could be occupied if most of the things taking them on could fly.
15:09 So yeah, come to think of it, Wily could've been stopped without Mega Man.
15:13 He just wanted to help because either he was too stupid to think of that, or he wanted to avoid more people getting hurt or worse by ending it early.
15:21 Mega Man turns off the TV and Roll reassures Dr. Light that everyone knows Wily's behind this.
15:27 Good thing, because before Wily hacked the news, I was thinking that people could've assumed Dr. Light was behind this.
15:34 He could've made a fake Dr. Light robot.
15:37 Like he did a trick Mega Man in a game.
15:39 And used that as the person making the speech to frame him and potentially get handed what he wants.
15:45 And then he'd reveal he was the one behind the robot after Dr. Light was put down.
15:49 I guess he didn't hate him enough to do that right now when that'd require waiting before revealing himself when he's an attention whore.
15:56 Dr. Light says nothing can stand up to the robot masters now.
16:00 And Roll comforts him.
16:02 And he's shocked when Mega Man says he'll do it.
16:05 Roll thinks he's being stupid because he could get hurt.
16:08 So she has no faith in him.
16:10 Which makes sense because he's one person.
16:12 And she's obviously picturing him going up against all of the robot masters at once.
16:17 If he had to face even two of them at once in the games, he would've been screwed.
16:21 So Wily was an idiot for not trying that once.
16:25 You'd think he'd know he'd find it just as satisfying to beat him if he overpowered him with at least two robot masters.
16:31 Because it isn't that many.
16:33 Not to dismiss it as too easy.
16:35 Of course, he could also effortlessly beat him by just having the robot masters program to grab him and explode on him.
16:41 And he would've thought of this eventually.
16:43 So for it to be believable, I have to assume he'll always think that'd be underwhelmingly easy as well.
16:49 He's as stupid as Eggman.
16:51 Realistically, Mega Man's scared and doesn't want to hurt anyone but thinks he has to do this.
16:56 I wish he didn't talk so much.
16:59 Dr. Light puts his hand on his shoulder agreeing with him and says that there'll be no reasoning with Wily.
17:05 Logically, he would always know this from now on.
17:08 Not go on to try to talk sense into him and worlds collide.
17:12 So there's a boring predictable page where we see Dr. Light working on armor for Mega Man while there's expendable narration.
17:18 It takes too long with boredom before he mentions the copy chip.
17:22 He says he's proud of him and that he loves music.
17:25 I wonder if we'll ever see a panel where he listens to rock music.
17:28 This won't sink in otherwise.
17:30 If we're just told it and not shown it, Wily doesn't seem like the type to love rock music.
17:36 At least Vector was shown listening to music from headphones.
17:40 I don't know how he decided to call it the Mega Buster.
17:44 Why not Mega Cannon?
17:46 Which doesn't sound quite as lame.
17:48 Mega Man decides to name himself his iconic name after the Mega Buster, surprisingly.
17:54 Oh, that's the end of the story.
17:57 There sure were a lot of wasted, boring panels to make it end so fast.
18:03 I would think that in a normal first story, we'd get to see him fighting the first Robot Master.
18:10 This issue was by Ian Flynn.
18:13 And it's hard to say what it was about.
18:16 Because if I say it's about showing how Wily rose to power in the first game,
18:21 I'd be lying because we weren't shown how he got into the room with Cotman.
18:25 When showing him walking into it wouldn't be hard.
18:28 And it was obvious that if we saw him have to use gadgets to disable the security system,
18:33 that would have been way cooler than this effortless victory.
18:37 It makes Dr. Light look like a moron to not establish that he had any security protecting his Robot Masters.
18:44 With not even any indication that Wily had to lockpick to get to them.
18:48 Because we saw him outside, and in the next panel he was already with them.
18:52 And I'd expect better of a scientist.
18:55 And speaking of expecting better,
18:58 I was surprised that Flynn wrote that he made killer robots in the past.
19:03 It was only to get the money and bans to make Light Labs for the purpose of just doing good,
19:07 and he says he was never okay with it.
19:09 But it's so jarring that he thought the ends justified the means so much that rather than quit,
19:14 he made himself be responsible for countless deaths
19:17 because he thought everything he did to do with Light Labs would make up for it.
19:22 I don't see why it would, considering how many different people are in an army.
19:27 There'd be that many killer robots in the army.
19:31 He doesn't make a compelling argument for why making smarter robots for a better quality of life for people
19:36 would make up for the sacrifice of all those people, when they don't need a better quality of life.
19:40 He should have said he thinks that because the smarter robots will take on dangerous jobs,
19:45 he'll be saving more lives than he took in the long run.
19:48 But with how little we're being told, I disagree.
19:51 I think the military would have made him make so many Sniper Joes and stuff,
19:54 it greatly outnumbered that, especially since they'll always be using them.
19:58 The comic doesn't establish just how likely people are to die in those jobs that would be replaced with robot masters.
20:05 It doesn't state how many lives are saved by that, because there's no way to know.
20:09 So it doesn't prove that it's worth it to wipe out the chances of humans getting those jobs,
20:14 increasing the unemployment rate, getting a few people to turn the crime,
20:17 because now they can't get a job they want or got laid off.
20:21 I guess I like him anyways, but he's got more to answer for than Chuck did.
20:25 It's not even established that someone else could have made those killer robots,
20:29 and so it was better for it to be him, because he would have been the only one who'd go on to make light lamps.
20:35 Because we think only he could have made those killer robots, because they're so smart.
20:40 I'm just surprised Capcom let him establish this about someone we're always supposed to think is a pure good saint
20:45 who's so constantly nice that it's actually annoying.
20:48 He only seems realistic because of this edgy backstory, which makes him have a darker past than Wily.
20:55 It doesn't seem like self-aware writing to take him totally seriously as a saint when he has this anti-hero at best backstory.
21:02 Ultimately, I can't call this a good story, because with the artist refusing to show how Wily got to the robot masters,
21:08 and the writer not bothering to explain that there is a security system, but he's an exception to it,
21:13 it fails at what it's intended to do, because it doesn't show Wily being amazingly competent at thwarting a security system or lockpicking.
21:22 It doesn't even show anything you didn't already imagine happens when you learn that he took over the robot masters from the manual.
21:29 So what is the point of reading this story?
21:32 Well, it's to learn Light's dark and edgy backstory.
21:36 Because that's the only thing not from the games that actually stands out in this story.
21:41 It's certainly not the speech in the part before that, because that was just boring talking we didn't need to see.
21:47 It's sad when that's all that makes a comic worth it and memorable.
21:51 Only Flynn would have written this, because even when he wrote Sonic fanfiction,
21:56 they were mostly under the tragedy category and tended to kill off characters like it was nothing.
22:02 So I know he already has a habit of making things too dark.
22:05 You don't expect something this dark with a classic Megaman series with a character as innocent as Dr. Light,
22:11 so they should have been more careful about who they picked.
22:14 It makes me feel like Capcom had barely any supervision of the comic,
22:18 even though I'm pretty certain it had almost complete control over it and was constantly executive meddling.
22:24 At least I hope that's why the comics mostly just like the games.
22:28 We should have been shown what unethical experiments Wily had made
22:32 to make him end up jealous of Dr. Light enough to betray him.
22:36 Because as it stands, by just being told they were that,
22:39 barely has any emotional impact compared to Light's backstory because it's vague.
22:44 How can there even be unethical robotics experiments?
22:48 Did he put sentient robots through bad things?
22:51 I assume, but why?
22:54 What would he have to gain?
22:56 What would he have to gain from scaring people with robots in experiments?
23:01 Wily is supposed to be the villain of the series,
23:03 so obviously we needed to see at least one panel of bad experiments
23:07 instead of being not a villain yet for most of the story
23:11 and the issue making Light look like he used to be worse than him in terms of consequences.
23:17 Most of the story was a boring disappointment that it wouldn't have been if it had stuck to what it started out as
23:23 with Megaman storming Wily Fortress because at least that had action and fake tension, not just talking.
23:30 It was actually what you'd expect the Megaman comic to be as a result,
23:35 but by not being like the game, not showing what I already saw there,
23:39 the other parts of the comic have at least some worth.
23:42 (upbeat music)