Ian Flynn Answers Mega Fans’ Mega Questions

Over on the website of Archie’s Mega Man writer, Bumbleking.com, Ian Flynn recently took the time to answer some questions submitted by fans regarding Archie, Sonic the Hedgehog, Power Rangers, The Legend of Zelda, his approaches to writing, Canada, and much more… including, of course, the Blue Bomber himself.

To that last point, we have sorted out and are presenting here unedited the questions which pertain to the Mega Man franchise in particular, whether directly or in part.

#9 What would be the likelihood of a Sonic Universe-esque counterpart to the Mega Man comics?

As of this post? Not likely, unfortunately. The book is doing reasonably well, but not enough to warrant the costs of licensing the other Mega Man universes and producing another monthly book. If you want an X book, or a Legends books, or an “everything that isn’t Classic” book, the current comic’s sales have to increase significantly and stay high.

#11a Of all the MegaMan games not adapted yet, which ones are you looking forward to and/or dreading to adapt into comic format?

I’m really chomping at the bit to get to Mega Man 4. I’ve got big plans for Quint, the Stardroids invasion will be cool, but for me Mega Man 4 has the most interesting story. And given where the characters are in their comic lives, it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with certain crossroards. I’ve literally been laying the groundwork for this since “Spiritus ex Machina.”

#11b Or on the opposite end, which of the games covered so far have you found the easiest or hardest to adapt?

I guess Mega Man 2, since the overall structure was so similar to Mega Man 1, and having the Robot Masters built to be weapons rather than being converted from domestic use wasn’t as compelling as I initially thought it would be. It still came out pretty good, tho’.

#12 How far ahead did you guys at Archie plan on including Sonic Boom and Mega Man X in Worlds Unite?

From the beginning, because we didn’t know if it’d be approved and we needed time to rework the pitch if we couldn’t use Boom. Sega had a few rules about what we can and can’t do for the crossover, but we were cleared to include the franchise.

#22 in the near or far away future… will be a Megaman Legend comic series?

What I would love to do is tell the entire Mega Man timeline. Classic to X, the Elf Wars, Zero, ZX, Legends and get Volnutt off the moon. I’d love to fill in all the gaps. Right now that looks like it’s well outside of my reach, but then again, I never thought we’d be getting a Mega Man book. So who knows?

#38 If you had the opportunity to do a Mega Man Battle Network or Mega Man Starforce comic, would you do it?

Yes.

#43 Will we see any female villains in Mega Man besides Splash Woman and… that Emerald Spears lady?

Simone. And yes/maybe– we’ve got to see what Capcom approves. I definitely have one villainess coming up, and at least two new female Robot Masters, one of which would be villainous.

#44 – If my memory’s accurate, you said you couldn’t adapt Rockman and Forte: Challenger of the Future…but hints of a future adaptation were already put in Rock of Ages. Without spoiling anything, do you have any plans regarding this?

Correct – we can’t use Rockman Shadow or his cadre of Robot Masters. But we can use Quint, who is, for all intents and purposes, basically Rockman Shadow. And we can make up our own Robot Masters. And I did say I had big plans for Quint…

#45 How do you plan to balance the ever-growing Mega Man cast?

Everyone has a job and a place. It shouldn’t be too difficult to keep things manageable.

#46 What is the process for coming up with personalities for each Robot Master?

I look up every tiny bit of trivia I can for any quirks they’re supposed to have. After that, I look at the stages and at the boss fights themselves. From all that I work out their individual personalities.

#53 Any plans to introduce other non-Wily villians into Megaman’s rogue gallery?

Aside from the Emerald Spears? You bet’cha. Had a hint of them years ago.

#56 I know you like planning storylines out way in advance. Was the announcement of World’s Unite a big shake up for you or were you able to handle it better thanks to the first crossover?

I had a bit more forewarning this time. Thankfully, all the titles will be at a nice breaking point once we reach the crossover and be primed to launch into their next big arcs after the crossover. Obviously it interrupts the “Shattered World Crisis,” but that wasn’t due to end any time soon.

#58 Will we be getting more “breather” stories in either Sonic or Mega Man, where as the action is put on hold for an issue?

There will be smaller stories leading up to Worlds Unite. Mega Man #49 will be an especially emotional issue.

#65 Did you retcon the Unknown Soldier 1P cameo from the second issue into Xander?

Yes. I believe that was Paul Kaminski’s idea.

#72 Have you played any of the various Mega Man games?

I have tried all of them at some point or another. I suck at them. Like… it’s embarrassing how bad I am at Mega Man games.

#74 When will you introduce *insert pairing here* into the comic!?

I do not launch ships. I do not sink ships. I am not even on the coast.

#76 Will comic characters like Tempo and Sally appear in Worlds Unite?

Yep. Which ones, though?

#83 Do you have a relative period or issue number set in your mind of when you plan to deal with the rest of the Mega Man game adaptations after 3?

I’ve got the entire series mapped out through Mega Man 10. I… I like to plan ahead.

#84 In the future, can we expect more scenes or moments in the main book between Rock and Tempo? Or just Quake Woman in general?

Tempo exists as a counterpoint to Rock, so we’ll definitely see them interact again at some point. But she’s also proven to have a lot of interesting potential playing off Blues…

#85 Are you planning on introducing anymore original characters to the Mega Man series?

Here and there, yeah, but not too many. Like any new element, they need to add something to the series that doesn’t already exist, or help bolster what’s there.

#88 To date, what has been your favorite issue to write?

That’s casting a pretty broad net. I think “Order from Chaos” and “Thicker than Water” were two of the best stories we’ve ever produced. “Worlds Collide” was one giant party to write. And pretty much any Blues-centric story – “Proto-Type” and his scenes with Tempo – came our really well.

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These are just some of the 91 questions which Ian has answered this time around. If you’d like to read the entire post, just click here!