Udon Comic's Darkstalkers Issue 1 was written by Ken Siu-Chong with artwork by Alvan Lee, Arnold Tsang and Mark Brooks. The first issue was released in November of 2004 and published by Devil's Due Publishing, Inc. The issue contained the side story, "The Wielding of Dhylec," which centered around Donovan Baine and how he came into possession of his sword. The comic also included a "Darkstalkers Mini," a one page short that featured Demitri Maximov.
The original print of the issue had three variations of it's cover, a large pull out done by Arnold Tsang, one done by Mark Brooks and the last by by Joe Madureira. The second print of the comic received a new cover done by Alan Wang while a special Wonder Con exclusive featured artwork by Long Vo.
Publisher synopsis[]
- "No one could remember how it had come to this.. The world was utterly infested by undead and lycanthropic creatures called 'Darkstalkers.' On his way out of a bar, a young man called Jack laughs off the dire warnings of a terrified man who desperately rambled on about the threat of the darkness. That night, Jack falls prey to Morrigan's despicable and treacherous manipulation and is found as a lifeless husk the morning. At around the same time, somewhere in Romania, Demitri was showing signs of making a comeback. He had been exiled from Makai, but his absence would not prove to be permanent."
- –Udon Entertainment, Darkstalkers Graphic File
Issue Synopsis[]
The story begins 65 million years into the past. On another planet, a being named Pyron from the planet Hellstorm rises to power. Though the planet thrived on war and the belief in survival of the fittest, Pyron's hunger for power grew beyond that. He then became a being of pure energy, draining the life from other worlds to maintain his form, starting with his own. Finding prehistoric Earth and recognizing its use to him someday, Pyron unleashed his Huitzil units to monitor the world until it was perfect for his satisfaction as he fed off other worlds.
In present day Earth, in a tavern in Europe, an old man wards his drinking friends about the Darkstalkers. He describes them as inhuman monsters, from the walking dead to werewolves to ghosts from Asia, saying they cannot be trusted, not even the more docile cat-people. When one of his friends, a fisherman named Jack, scoffs the idea, the old man states he's seen the work of one. One night, getting paperwork at a company warehouse, he say a woman with bat wings on her back murder the guards after luring them into a trap by turning her wings into large razors. Jack convinces him that he may be getting too drunk and offers to walk him home, but he politely declines and admits, since the world will probably end anyway, dying a Darkstalker isn't too awful a fate. He still gives Jack a warning to fear them, though Jack doesn't take it seriously, saying he'd recognize a monster if he saw one.
While walking back, Jack sees a young woman in the graveyard, crying over her dead husband. Learning she has no home since they were immigrants and his death took everything from her, Jack offers to let the woman, who refers to herself as Ann, to sleep in his home for the night. After offering her a sandwich and sharing about how he's been alone since his parents' deaths, Jack lets Ann sleep in his bed as he takes the couch. Ann thanks him, though leaves with a sinister smirk he doesn't see.
Hours later, Jack awakens to find Ann half naked and offering to sleep with him. Jack refuses, stating that while he's flattered she's attracted to him, he won't take advantage of someone's widow. Thinking he's not attracted to her, Ann changes her form to a blonde and then a redhead, shocking him. Ann states she wanted to thank him for letting her stay and make him happy since he expressed a belief he'd never meet anyone. Ann then decides to reveal who she really is and changes to her true form, revealing to be the Darkstalker who murdered the guards, Morrigan Aensland. Jack realizes she's a Darkstalker and that he's been tricked, but is too late to escape as Morrigan approaches him and assures him not to be afraid, promising she "won't bite".
After finishing her time with Jack, Morrigan returns to the Makai and Castle Aensland, where her father's servants, Lucien and Mudo, were looking for her. They upset that she wastes her time with a world where exiled and uncivilized demons are banished to, but she defends it by expressing how she enjoys the souls and dreams she feeds on from human males, taking lives of torment and unhappiness away and in return giving them an eternity of bliss (she keeps their souls as bats and ensures they stay in a state of eternal bliss and pleasure), which is how she sees Jack's fate. When they acknowledge Demitri Maximoff as someone banished to Earth and how Morrigan's father, Lord Belial, isn't as strong as he used to be, Morrigan snaps. After she apologizes for her outburst, she decides to go to bed. After changing into something to sleep in, she whispers "Goodnight, Jack" before drifting off (she is telling this to Jack's soul, now inside her body and that she ensures stays in eternal bliss as a reward for his kindness).
In the human world in the morning, one of Jack's friends arrives to wake him up, as the boat is ready to leave. Upon entering, he discovers Jack's body on the floor, as a lifeless husk with a horrified expression and dried blood beneath him.
Meanwhile, in Romania, the servants of Demitri Maximoff await their master's return...
Characters[]
Main[]
- Pyron
- Huitzil units
- Morrigan Aensland
- Donovan (side story)
Minor[]
- Jack
- Lucien (Morrigan's Servant)
- Mudo (Morrigan's Servant)
Cameos[]
- Lord Raptor
- Anakaris
- Jon Talbain
- Felicia
- Victor von Gerdenheim
- Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling
- Bishamon
- Anita (side story)
Darkstalkers Mini[]
Notes[]
- The publisher sypnosis says that Jack falls under Morrigan's "seduction", but what really happens is that she makes the low act of tricking him by pretending to be a homeless widow crying in a fake grave. She uses this charade to trick the man and get her sympathy, but later fails to seduce him and just kills him draining his soul. It's one of the many things that show that comics writter Ken Siu-Chong didn't know Morrigan's character at all.
- It's mentioned that the Human World is seen as a place for exiles of Makai as well as less civilized demons.
- Donovan's sword is named Dhylec.
- Although Demitri Maximov's last name is also spelled Maximoff in other media.
- Demitri's name is mispelled in the "Darkstalkers Mini" as "Dimitri." This may or may not have been done on purpose.
- Morrigan mentions she enjoys giving humans eternal bliss, which is revealed to be the state the souls of her human victims are left after she suck them, and that they are turned into her bats instead.. However, there is no indication of this in the videogames canon, where she instead feeds from a secred liquid she makes from pleasure, along the fact she has never killed a human in canon.
- This is a very inaccurate version of Morrigan.
Credits[]
| Story by: | Ken Siu-Chong |
|
Pencils and inks by: |
Alvin Lee, Arnold Tsang |
| Backgrounds by: | Scott Hepburn |
| Colors by: | Gary Yeung, Christine Choi, Arnold Tsang |
| Assistant Editor: | Marina Siu-Chong |
| Lettering: | Cyber Graphix |
| Udon Chief: | Erik Ko |
| Guest Artist: | Mark brooks with colors by Danimation |
| Mad-Evil-Foil cover: | Joe Madureira with colors by Arn |
| Capcom mini: |
Corey Lewis (credited as Rey) |
Artwork[]
