DC's new weekly digital series kicks off with faces getting impaled with fists and lots of other ninja action. Get over here and read!
DC Comics has been doing a pretty bang-up job when it comes to playing around with their video game properties. Good or bad, at least they look at their various games and decide to give them a shot as a comic book, which is more than Marvel's been doing since, what, Halo? Whether it’s Scribblenauts, the Arkhamseries, Infinite Crisis, and so on, DC's at least throwing out what they can and seeing what sticks. Their comic prequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us is still going strong and the 77th issue (36 for Year One, 24 for Year Two, 15 so far for Year Three, and two annuals) just came out this week.
Mortal Kombat X is coming soon to a console near you in just a few months and they’re seeing if they can pull that same magic by releasing a weekly digital comic that will gradually be released in print form. Luckily, Netherrealm Studios is under the Warner Bros. umbrella, so there are no potential rights issues with this property. Mortal Kombathas shown up as a comic in two forms over the years. For various games, tie-in one-shots would be made available, either through mail order or buying special editions of the games. Then there was the Malibu run that told stories with the characters through an endless supply of miniseries and one-shots. That was – good God, really?– twenty years ago.
Doing a new series, or at least a series that ties into the upcoming video game, makes plenty of sense. Mortal Kombat has its own interesting mythology stretched over so many games. After Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, the series’ story started to get out of control and the creators knew it. Rather than continue going forward, they found a way to reinvent the wheel through a time travel story, allowing an alternate timeline to take place starting with the original three games. The new game is going in a new direction with a story that’s spanning 25 years with emphasis on new characters and aged icons.
But much like Injustice: Gods Among Us’ take on the alternate DC Universe, there’s a whole world to explore here. Not only can we investigate the build-up of the new game’s story, but we can also see what’s going on with the pre-existing characters and concepts that won’t be in the new game. The less popular characters like Dairou, Li Mei, and Hsu Hao are definitely not going to be in the game, but they’re still out there, right?
The series is by newcomer Shawn Kittelsen and Dexter Soy. The comic takes place in-between the previous game and the upcoming game, but doesn’t simply pick up where 2011’s Mortal Kombat left off. That game’s story mode ended on a dark cliffhanger that suggested that the events of Mortal Kombat 4would happen and Earthrealm would be doomed with almost all the heroes wiped out. Through a couple of lines of dialogue, it’s established here that the threat has already come and gone and the world is still standing, though suffering at least some level of loss. Scorpion refers to it as "The Netherrealm War" and the whole situation has surprisingly transformed him from confused anti-hero to a genuine good man who has regained his lost humanity.
Most of the first issue introduces a friendship between Scorpion and Kenshi, two popular Mortal Kombatcharacters who have never before had any kind of relationship or even interaction in the games. At first, Kenshi’s storyline involving the Red Dragon crime syndicate suggests that he would be in the Mortal Kombat Xgame, but as the issue progresses, it appears that we’re getting something else entirely. Considering the game’s time jump, it looks like we’ve discovered the next original character.
As the comic series is meant to act as a bridge, so many intriguing questions arise. The latter part of it deals with Sub-Zero and we’re left to wonder who he really is. Is he one of the previous Sub-Zeroes back from the dead or is he a new ninja taking up the mantle? Several names are brought up in relation to him and that only makes his history more suspicious. Then again, my main criticism is how the last page is made up of so many cryptic cliffhanger bits that it’s basically nonsense.
It wouldn’t be Mortal Kombat without the violence and boy is that ever there. Even with DC’s more mature bend lately, the blood is a bit over the top at times and they even sneak in some salty language. Didn’t even know you can curse in a DC comic, especially with no sign of a mature rating on the cover. Whatever, you know what you’re getting into.
Mortal Kombat X will continue its weekly schedule for the next few months, leading into the game’s release. Who knows if it’ll follow in Injustice’s footsteps where they keep churning out more and more stories long after the fact. All I know is that I’d like to see where the series goes after that strong first issue.
Gavin Jasper is waiting to see how Mokap fits into all of this. Follow Gavin on Twitter!
