If you are reading this, then you probably have been surprised to find that
this sprite comic actually has some updates and life back in it. If you were
expecting a long overdue new comic issue, I must apologize. The visual apsect
of the comic probably won't come back for a long while, but this is to make up
for that in some way.
About four or five years ago, I started Metroid the Comic for much the same
reasons I started Neo-Force; story. Almost every sprite comic on the web focused
on comedy and cheap gags, creating the thought that a sprite comic has to be a
series of jokes, focusing on humor. I made it my objective to create a sprite
comic that focused on character and story, and told the story in a serious way.
This was met by many sprite comic writers with unease. It defied their convention
of how a sprite comic was to be made. It probably didn't help that the visual
look of both Metroid and Neo-Force was a realism-focused "32-bit" visual style instead
of the cartoony visual style used by most others. But it was what I wanted to do.
While Neo-Force was generally left be by dissenters, it was Metroid that took a
large amount of flak for the simple fact of its nature as an alternate universe
storyline. Because it intentionally drove a division between itself and the canon
of the games, this comic was the target of many flames and closed-out views from
people who decided, without reading the comic, what it was supposed to be. However,
despite this, Metroid continued to span three volumes, and was in the middle of a
very large spanning storyline, ending the first issue of the third volume on a cliffhanger.
Three years ago, disaster struck this ambitious sprite comic.
A freak power surge took out the main computer platform on which
this alternate universe tale of the classic game series was made,
and thus further issues could not be produced. I sat on it, trying
to get the data recovered and the hard drives repaired so that visual
medium of the comic could continue, but I think it's been long enough
that at the very least, the story itself should be told and completed.
There was a lot planned for Metroid. Rather than just outline what I had
planned to so with the comic, I finally decided to write the final issues
of Volume 3 out as a series of chapters, and conclude with the storyline's
fourth and final volume in book format. While the prefered visuals will not
displayed in the sprite format of the comics, those volumes that have been
completed should be able to provide enough that forming the needed imagery in
your own mind will not be difficult.
I will probably also be writing the planned prequal volumes as well in book
format; Star Hunter Chronicles as the story of the young Samatha Aran during
her time with the Federation Enforcers, and Mission Zero, which tells the tale
of John Aran, Samus and Samatha's renowned father who started the personal war
between his family and the Space Pirate commander Riduri.
If you are an old-time reader of the comic, then I must apologize sincerly for
the three year wait to see the conclusion of the story. I've spoken with a few
people who still remember the early days of the comic, and they were not happy
with the comic nearly dying on such a terrible cliff-hanger ending to the third
volume. I hope that this may make up for the long wait, and hopefully will allow
your own imaginations to see the world of the comic's story.
For those of your that have only recently found this comic, then I must inform you
that, as you probably have noticed by now, this comic does NOT take place in the
canon universe of the games. It is a very AU story and setting, so do not instantly
assume that I know little to nothing of the games. I know very well that in the games,
Samus Aran is a woman. The splitting of her character into older sister and younger
brother was to personify the two sides of her personality, and to reference the
original Metroid, in which Samus was refered to as a male persona in all written media
until the surprise of the ending.
I will also warn you that the books, like the comic, will not gloss over or
romanticize the gruesome aspects of war. It shows war as it is; pain, loss,
and the horrible consequences that come with conflict. I tell it as it is.
This is your warning if you have issues with such matters.
As a matter of courtesy, I will provide a recap and summery chapter so that all
readers might get quickly caught up with the story. I would prefer that you indeed
read the comic itself, but this is so that anyone who is new might get some needed
background information, and old readers might get a quick refresher after so long.
For Those Who Came in Late
Volume 3
Return to the Beginning
Retribution
Volume 4
The Insurgence War
Volume 5
And War Ends
Mission Zero
Character Bios
Samus Aran
Samatha Aran
