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[FUS News Robot]

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG/MEGAMAN: WORLDS COLLIDE



 

PATRICK SPAZIANTE INTERVIEW

Kotaku: To you, what are the most important elements to emphasize in the two main heroes' characters designs?

Spaziante: For the Sonic side I'd have to say speed, while Mega Man has the power (Megabuster). It seems obvious, but those two elements really do guide how you draw the character in almost every situation, whether it be a fight or a conversation.

Kotaku: Were there any games in particular from the Sonic or Mega Man series that inspired a visual take on the various characters?

Spaziante: With Mega Man, definitely Mega Man 8 and the little-known Rock Man & Forte from the Super NES Era, (a dash of the Rock Man Power Battle arcades series thrown in for good measure). From the Sonic side, we like to keep to the most current designs, basically anything from the Dreamcast era like Sonic Adventure, up to the most current releases like Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing Transformed.

Kotaku: Is there anything you're doing with the art to try and communicate that these are two very different heritages/sensibilities that are clashing in the crossover event?

Spaziante: As much as I would love to explore the different house styles of each heritage, we need to make sure the characters and their universes gel together in the comic seamlessly, so we have chosen a hybrid of the Capcom and Sega styles.

Kotaku: Have you had the freedom to diverge from the way the characters have been visually presented before? What kind of changes have you made?

Spaziante: Yes and no, minor artistic interpretation on my part is allowed here and there, but each company has a set guideline for their characters, and I try not to deviate too far from that. We want to remain as respectful as possible to the Japanese designs, while delivering solid American comic book storytelling. It's a fine line to walk, but Archie has been doing it for quite a while now, with Mega Man for the past few years, and with Sonic for twenty years come 2013!

Kotaku: Which character has won you over while you've been drawing them? Who's an absolute chore to get onto the page?

Spaziante: As I have had past experience with both character groups for many years, (especially Sonic), I'd have to say I am pretty comfortable with both universes. If you are asking for favorites, I'd have to say Mecha Sonic from the Sonic Universe & Bass from the Mega Man Universe. On the difficult side, sometimes ANY character, even one you've drawn many times, can fall victim to "artist block"- so I guess it depends on how tired I am, or close to deadline!

[RedAuthar]

I dunno...the concept looks awesome, I just worry about the why part.

Wonder if we'll get a crossover game if this does well.

[Uncle Ben]

Wonder if we'll get a crossover game if this does well.

I'd doubt that. When was the last time Mega Man had a game

[RedAuthar]

Don't remind me....*sinks in depression over MML3 again*

[Uncle Ben]

that bad?

[RedAuthar]

I've been waiting since like 6th grade man.......since 6th grade.....

[Uncle Ben]

damn

[RedAuthar]

And they cancelled Megaman Universe too....

[Uncle Ben]

ouch

[Prime]

Eh, I can't see Sega okaying a crossover game like this. A comic, no problem, but a game? The only way I could see it happening is if Sega was going to whore out the franchise as much as possible.

... Oh wait...

[RedAuthar]

....so it does depend on Capcom.

[Uncle Ben]

I doubt it will happen... im still waiting for a true Mario Sonic crossover

[RedAuthar]

Serious face.

[Uncle Ben]

i wanna see Mario and Sonic teaming up to defeat Eggman and Bowser who are working together. It would be interesting

[blue]

I'm honestly psyche for this, but at the same time I don't want to be too hyped. Otherwise, I'll end up disappointed. As long as we survived the 2012 doomsday prediction.

[Prime]

i wanna see Mario and Sonic teaming up to defeat Eggman and Bowser who are working together. It would be interesting

Except most crossovers aren't interesting in their executiion at all. I honestly can't see a Sonic and Mario crossover being interesting in the slightest.

[Uncle Ben]

well why not?? i understand their play styles are different, but c'mon man, it could be something big

[Prime]

well why not?? i understand their play styles are different, but c'mon man, it could be something big

Because like I said, most crossovers aren't interesting at all. Plus it can be a hard thing to pull off sometimes, especially when the two franchises are nothing alike.

Yeah there have been some crossovers which worked, but the few that worked outweight the ones that don't work.

The original Aliens VS Predator (and I mean the comic published by Dark Horse Comics) worked well because the premise sounded solid. You got one alien race which is the most dangerous creature in the galaxy and then you got another race which are hunters who go for trophies and what better trophy then the most danger creature in existance? Storywise it was good, itwasn't great but it wasn't terrible either and it worked because the premise. Plus it helped that both franchises were owned by 20th Century Fox and that it seemed like a match made in heaven. Then you got the multiple sequel comics and everything else like the video games, novels, and the... movies. And it's been run dry. There's still some of this stuff that works but AVP has been done to death. Plus there's been others likes Aliens VS Predator VS The Terminator which was poor.

Then there's Freddy VS Jason, a movie which had been in development since the 1980s when Paramount Pictures (owners of the Friday the 13th franchise) tried to license the Freddy character from New Line Cinema (owners of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise) but nothing came of it. It wasn't until 1992 when Paramount sold the rights of the Jason Voorhees character to New Line that this idea could happen and even then it took over 10 years for it to happen. It was stuck in development hell for a long time and I've had the pleasure... No wait, displeasure of reading a lot of the unused scripts and they were fuckin terrible. What we got is a masterpiece to what we could of gotten. I know some people who are fans to either one or both these franchises and it's a split thing, some love this while others hate it, but the bottom line is they usually agree that it worked as a story (it's just the directing and acting were terrible for the most part) and it did decent business. There were even plans for a sequel which never came to be (except in comic book form) and now both franchises have been rebooted.


G.I. JOE and The Transformers have crossed over numerous times, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, but the general ideas seem to work and it makes it possible because Hasbro owns both of these. Usually one comic company will own both licenses to these making the crossover possible. There was even a time when two different comic labels obtained the JOE and TF licenses and they worked together to produce two completely unique stories for each other that were published at the same time. And even Hasbro has done crossovers which both franchises in their own toylines. It's something that has been happening since at least 1986 and fans accept it because both franchises have a strong tie to each other.

I think the reason that these examples work so well is because there is a strong enough tie to them, and it helps with the companies that own them too. You can believe that the Alien franchise exists in the same universe as the Predator one, just like you can believe the Transformers co-exist with G.I.JOE. While the Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises were originally owned by completely different companies to start off with, it was the fanbase who craved a clash between these two that kept the idea alive and eventually it was made possible and it worked because both character are supernatural in their own way.

But then you got a crossover like Archie meets The Punisher . Seriously. This was actually a thing that happend and to this day I can't understand why something like this was approved. I'm sure fans of Frank Castle were begging for something like this to happen. Of all the characters are there that Frank could come across, he crossed paths with a total puss.

Sonic and MegaMan in the same universe? Can't really see it. I can only see this Sonic/MegaMan crossover happening because Archie has the rights to both licenses and someone there thought it'd be a good idea to cross them over, and it probably went like this. "Hey, the Mega Man title is selling well, but not nearly as well as the Sonic comic. Maybe we can increase readership numbers if we do a crossover! That could get the kids who read the Sonic title interested in the MegaMan one! I'm sure Sega will agree to this because they love money before good ideas! And Capcom? Eh... They don't seem to give a shit about Mega Man these days, I mean hell, they licensed it to us afterall!"

[LogiTeeka]

Crossovers are one thing (usually because they deal with different universes), but tying in different franchises that exist within the same universe are also just as odd.

For example, Mario first appeared in "Donkey Kong", which also marked the debut of Donkey Kong himself. While Mario himself would later star in his own series (which later spun off the Yoshi and Wario series), Donkey Kong made his return years later in the "Donkey Kong Country" series developed by Rare Ltd., in which Diddy Kong was first introduced. And Diddy would later star in "Diddy Kong Racing", which also included other stars such as Banjo from "Banjo-Kazooie" and Conker from "Conker's Pocket Tales" and the controversial "Conker's Bad Fur Day" - apparently close friends from neighboring islands.

I still can't get over the fact that "Conker's Bad Fur Day" takes place within the Mario universe; they seem like completely different universes. But then again, the Mushroom Kingdom is sometimes described as being in an alternate dimension, but Nintendo never gave a full explanation. Plus the "Banjo-Kazooie", "Conker", and "Donkey Kong" series were created by different developers, so I guess some artistic licence is in order.

Ooh! And Wario was also featured in a crossover game with Bomberman and Mario, Luigi, Peach, various toads, and others also appeared in "Kirby Super Star" and its DS remake as well.

[RedAuthar]

I still can't get over the fact that "Conker's Bad Fur Day" takes place within the Mario universe; they seem like completely different universes.

Half true. It used to be the same universe, however since Rare was dropped, Banjo-Kazooie and Conkers have been retconned out. Though Goomba's still make their way into the Zelda universe as well as Chain Chomps.....