Super Mario-Kun is a not so well known manga about the super mario series. This manga reaches out to many of the mario games, includes the original three super mario games for the NES, and Super Mario World for the super nintendo. I have played all of these games and have fond memories playing them. Super Mario Kun is known for its slapstick and crude humor along with its intersting art style. Sometimes it even breaks the fourth wall.

Super Mario Kun is published in Japan and is written by Yukio Sawada and published by Shogakukan. It is printed monthly in CoroCoro Comic. There are over 50 volumes so far and the collection keeps growing every month. In the game Super Mario Maker for the Wii U, to celebrate the comic’s 25th anniversary, a costume for the Mario in Super Mario Kun is obtainable by clearing the Super Mario Kun event course.. I thought Super Mario Kun was really interesting because I had never saw it before.

Hajime No Ippo is a sports anime that is focused on boxing. Like many of my favorite anime shows, it has plenty of epic moments and fighting. Unlike those other shows though, Hajime No Ippo is a little bit closer grounded to reality. In other words, there isn’t any flying, cloning techniques, or energy blasts shot at opponents. It is simply a show about a boxer and his journey through the world of fighting.

The show is centered around the main character, Makunoichi Ippo, who at the beginning of the story is nowhere near a boxer. Ippo is a nice and shy person who is constantly bullied at school but never does anything about it. One day while he is being beaten up and then knocked out by some bullies he is saved by an actual boxer, Takamura, who is also my favorite character. Takamura takes Ippo to his boxing gym where he regains consciousness and gets bandaged up. But Takamura scolds Ippo for not taking up for himself. He then tries to cheer Ippo up by having him punch the sandbag. After showing his amazing power, Ippo wants to start training to become a boxer. Takamura tells him to start running first and to train his jab by catching leaves before he lets him. Takamura also lends Ippo some old fighting footage of the greatest boxers in history. Ippo does what Takamura says and is then taken back to the boxing gym where Ippo is forced to spar against a prodigy, Miyata. Ippo survives and catches the eye of the head trainer who takes Ippo under his wing where the adventure starts

One thing I really enjoy about Hajime No Ippo is that there are a lot of real-life techniques used in the show. For example, Ippo’s style is the peek-a-boo style which was made famously by fighters such as Jose Torres, Floyd Patterson, and Mike Tyson. Ippo also uses a technique called the “dempsey roll” which is a series of bobbing and weaving followed by a flurry of punches also named after Jack Dempsey. The show also has a lot of comedy in it which is always great. Not only are the fights epic but the sparring in it as well. Like any other sports anime, the small techniques are often exaggerated making it all the more fun. Now you don’t have to be a boxing fan to enjoy Hajime No Ippo, which is why I recommend it to anyone. .

Unless you have been living under a rock, you should know who the Incredible Hulk is. The Incredible Hulk is one of the most famous comic book characters of all time. He is known for his green and muscular appearance and also his incredible strength. The Incredible Hulk was one of the earliest comic books that was turned into a live action series. At that time, there weren’t many people who could pull off a live action Hulk except for Lou Ferrigno.

Lou Ferrigno is a retired bodybuilder from New York. He got his stardom from appearing in a documentary called Pumping Iron where he competed against the G.O.A.T Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1975 Olympia. After the documentary he got a phone call saying they were casting for the Hulk tv series. Lou Ferrigno got the role because of his large stature being that he was 6 foot 5 and 285 pounds of muscle.

Lou Ferrigno was the first person who actually look liked a comic book character in terms of the physique. Prior to that, live action comic book characters were a bunch of dad bods who sucked in their stomach to make themselves look bigger. Lou was a real comic book character brought to life. Even though his lines were a bunch of yelling it is still an iconic role. Nowadays actors try to get the physique of their comic book counterparts. I just wanted to point out Lou Ferrigno aka O.G. Hulk was the first comic book physique brought to life.

I am legitimately interested in people’s first experiences with any of the three things mentioned. Only because I know how monumental some of these experiences can be, whether good or bad. Mine was a good one and it gave me an appreciation for something I thought I had a set opinion about even though I knew nothing about it.

The first manga that I have ever read was the fourth volume of Death Note. It was on a day when my school was testing. Some of my teachers that day were prompters for the test and so instead of going to their class I went to my school’s multi-purpose room and completed assignments, but this day I read my friend’s manga. I flew through it because of how invested and interested I became in the story. I was so confused and there were so many spoilers, but I just had to get my little teenage hands on the first volume. I was so confused about the format having to read from right to left, but I loved it! This is where my interest in manga and anime came to life. Before this day manga did not stand out to me so it felt like I didn’t have access to it, but I soon realized it was anywhere books were located lol. Anyways, Death Note holds a special place in my little heart.

If you decide to comment then please tell me your first experiences with any of the three comic mediums.

Hello folks, sorry to keep you waiting but this week I have been in another Spiderman/Deadpool bender. This has to be one of my favorite series I own, and of course whenever you bring up Deadpool you have to bring up the fourth wall. For those of you that don’t know Deadpool frequently lets the audience know he knows he is a comic book character. He curse at the writers, talks to the readers, and has even turned the pages in his own comic book to see how he was going to get our of a situation.

The easiest way for me to explain the fourth wall your looking at a theatre play on stage, the stage is like a box. It has four sides, typically you cannot see behind or to the side of what is going on stage, these are three of the walls. That leave the fourth wall which is transparent barrier that separates the show from the audience. When some one for the show talk directly to the audience you break this wall of illusion. All of you have seen examples of this either in television shows like Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, My Little Pony, and of course the iconic Saved by the Bell. Fourth wall have even hit the big screen in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Fourth-wall breaks are more common today and look like they are here to stay.

I have just skimmed some of my favorite fourth wall breaks but there are many more so let me know in the comments some of your favorite fourth wall breaks moments. I hope this an A+ assignment (wall shatter), ha have a great day.

Yes, I do realize this blog is about “Comics and the Graphic Novel”. And yes, I also realize that Red Dead Redemption II is a video game. But I feel video games and comics go hand-in-hand. I also just really wanted to write about this topic. If you have a problem with that, then this blog ain’t big enough for the both of us, partner.

To start out with, let me tell you what Red Dead Redemption II does wrong: not much. I must admit the movement and physics feel a bit outdated and clunky, as if Rockstar has been using the same game engine with very few changes or improvements for the past decade. Moving your character and his horse around can feel a bit stiff and lead to frustration at times. Another complaint involving the gameplay is that there are stretches that feel like you’re just moving from shooting gallery to shooting gallery, taking cover and firing at one gang of outlaws after another. As I type this out, I realize that the two gameplay complaints are a pretty big deal, but I am still blinded by my love for this game. One final complaint involves the fact that you can’t ride a buffalo. This has been a dream of mine ever since I watched the video below. While it may not likely happen in the real world, Red Dead is one of the few video game franchises that can potentially offer this option.

Now that we’ve covered the bad and the ugly, let’s get to the good. Red Dead Redemption II is more than just a video game. It’s a video game with a storyline so beautifully written, it could (and should) be a movie. Critically acclaimed western movies have made their way back to the big screen in the past few decades, but all pale in comparison to the plot of this game. There are numerous twists and turns with betrayal around every corner, so you’d better saddle up for this bucking bronco. You will cry tears the size of Texas before finishing the main story. Even though he’s a classic cowboy tough guy, you gradually become connected to the main character Arthur Morgan. You also form a bond with the horses you ride, with each one starting out as a wild stallion and being groomed into a noble steed. The soundtrack is breathtaking and very fitting for the setting. There is a surprise musical appearance from D’Angelo which was completely unexpected, but trust me, it works. Aside from the main story, the world is huge with plenty of side missions and easter eggs for hours upon hours of gameplay.

This game came out at the perfect time for me. I caught a cold that turned into a nasty flu that lasted over a month. I struggled making it to class and work every day. But when I got back to my dorm, I had Red Dead to look forward to. (Spoilers Ahead) About halfway through the game, Arthur gets tuberculosis. I found his symptoms to be oddly relatable, and as my dry cough worsened, I wondered if I had something more than just the flu. As Arthur and I hacked up our lungs through the game, it became clear there wasn’t going to be a fairy tale ending in the unforgiving west. My condition started to gradually improve while Arthur’s worsened. I hoped that he would never yee his last haw, but time was hot on the heels of his boots. You choose Arthur’s final actions, either selfish or selfless, but both end in his demise. Red Dead Redemption II does have its flaws when it comes to gameplay, but it has been quite some time since a video game’s story made me feel how I did at the end of this epic western. For that, Red Dead gets 10 out 0f 10 yee-haws.

On my visit home this weekend a friend and I rented the new Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie from redbox. This was my first time watching it and honestly can say it’s one of my new favorite takes on comic based movies.

The concept that not only is there one Spider-Man but multiple universes each with a unique Spider-Thing is really cool to me. Especially considering the fact that it goes beyond the standard just people with spider super powers. There’s a pig Spider-Man and a girl with her robot Spider-Man.

Now onto the title and purpose of this article. As a result of the Spider-Verse, a trend started online where people created or asked others to create what they call their “Spidersona.” This is essentially how would you depict yourself if you were the Spider-Thing in your universe. My favorite example that I’ve seen so far is Australian youtuber Draw With Jazza and his outback artist inspired Spidersona. Go ahead and check his video out, it’s quite entertaining.

If I were to have a spidersona I feel like I would have a difficult time deciding what my most applicable traits would be as I have a large amount of hobbies that I love all equally, but I feel it would be something along the lines of conservation and nature.

What would your spidersona be?

I haven’t read much manga apart for some new My Hero Academias and a little bit of Fairy Tail. That being said I do watch a lot of anime. For the as long as I can remember there has been this debate of which it better: the anime or manga? Now I’m not here to answer this question (because I think this question is subjective to your personal tastes and who is to judge on different types of mediums) but I’m gonna point out a few things I see differently.

Fillers episodes are a common thing in anime that I am not sure if there is of these in manga. What filler episodes are episodes that do not progress in the main story line. Now I love me some fillers but they can be too much. It can be a nice break from a gut wrenching story line but, some animes can get a little over board with it (I’m looking at you Naruto) Again I haven’t read much manga so I don’t know exactly if they have some filler chapters as well. I know they have spin off series of different characters or side arcs but they tend to be in different books and not tied to the main story line.

The story line is another difference between the anime and manga. I know anime often times either condenses the story for either time sake or money. So you could say that anime only users are only getting the tip of the iceberg. Anime can even add some character that are not even in the manga. Now whether this is a good thing or bad thing I can not say. I think anime and manga have both either strengths and weaknesses. There are on different medium which some people prefer and some don’t. They both each give you a total different experience when you read or watch them. I think they should be admired for the uniqueness and not pitted against each other. I like both and would love to read more manga in the future. I’ll leave you with this question and see if you can choose: Anime or Manga?