25th August 2016, 5:57 AM
Nintendo Power only ran one Mario comic in it's entire history, so yes, that's the one I'm talking about. I liked the Zelda comic too, but it did feel a bit rushed. So many things were just glossed over, and while the ending was bitter sweet, I didn't really feel like that touching moment had been earned.
That said, the run of Nintendo Power comics is still very good. The "big four" (Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, and Metroid") they released back to back in the early 90's still stands out as quality stuff, and stuff Nintendo still calls back to. Nester's recurring comic was also pretty enjoyable, though by it's nature (a weekly one-off series lampooning the big game of the moment) it was often hit or miss in how funny any one comic was. Still, I remember it fondly enough. Having Nester grow up and have a kid to pass the torch to in the final issue's comic was a good way to conclude it. It's too bad Nester's one actual video game appearence was a Virtual Boy game, and a bowling one at that. There were a few others, like the early Battletoads comic. Those weren't as good as the big 4 though. Battletoads in particular is that special kind of "so bad it's good" though, so I still recommend giving it a read. Probably the WORST bit of fiction they ever attempted in Nintendo Power went to that prototype for Captain-N short story they wrote in the earliest issues. As a kid, I didn't think it was so bad, but wow these days it is one of the most painful reads I've ever seen.
I've checked through those high quality comics I just mentioned (in particular the big 4), and I noticed something. Those 4 comics were all written and drawn by a variety of Japanese people. That's right, it's written in Manganese, but it doesn't suck! There's not a single overbearing idiot protagonist and crew of "I beat you, now we're friends" allies to be found. No creepy "oops I fell on your boobs" moments or "I'm pulling out a deus ex technique to beat the baddy" situation to be found in any of them. Further, the artistic styles of all 4 are very distinct from each other, and none really resemble the "stereotypical anime style" so many of those shows do these days. It's very surprising, but then I remember that the entertainment industry in Japan has entered a real rut as of late, seemingly getting all their ideas off a bullet point style list, and it wasn't always like that.
That said, the run of Nintendo Power comics is still very good. The "big four" (Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, and Metroid") they released back to back in the early 90's still stands out as quality stuff, and stuff Nintendo still calls back to. Nester's recurring comic was also pretty enjoyable, though by it's nature (a weekly one-off series lampooning the big game of the moment) it was often hit or miss in how funny any one comic was. Still, I remember it fondly enough. Having Nester grow up and have a kid to pass the torch to in the final issue's comic was a good way to conclude it. It's too bad Nester's one actual video game appearence was a Virtual Boy game, and a bowling one at that. There were a few others, like the early Battletoads comic. Those weren't as good as the big 4 though. Battletoads in particular is that special kind of "so bad it's good" though, so I still recommend giving it a read. Probably the WORST bit of fiction they ever attempted in Nintendo Power went to that prototype for Captain-N short story they wrote in the earliest issues. As a kid, I didn't think it was so bad, but wow these days it is one of the most painful reads I've ever seen.
I've checked through those high quality comics I just mentioned (in particular the big 4), and I noticed something. Those 4 comics were all written and drawn by a variety of Japanese people. That's right, it's written in Manganese, but it doesn't suck! There's not a single overbearing idiot protagonist and crew of "I beat you, now we're friends" allies to be found. No creepy "oops I fell on your boobs" moments or "I'm pulling out a deus ex technique to beat the baddy" situation to be found in any of them. Further, the artistic styles of all 4 are very distinct from each other, and none really resemble the "stereotypical anime style" so many of those shows do these days. It's very surprising, but then I remember that the entertainment industry in Japan has entered a real rut as of late, seemingly getting all their ideas off a bullet point style list, and it wasn't always like that.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)