Manga Reviewer am I…

In somewhat exciting news, I’ve managed to score myself a gig writing manga reviews for everyone’s favorite online anime website, Anime on DVD. To the innumerable masses who devotedly follow my ramblings here at Junker Woland (all none of you), I hope you’ll also take the time to read my pithy comments on some of Japan’s finest crudely drawn cartoon stories.

Incidentally, it looks like that side project I had mentioned in a prior post wasn’t so much dead as delayed; though I no longer have a child’s sense of time, I suppose I’ll continue to fit such comical work into my schedule.

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Street Fighter II – Artist Interview

Ah the early 90s…those halcyon days of 16-bit gaming, when US companies tried their best to obscure any indication a title had arrived on our Puritanical shores thanks to the efforts of those strange warriors living in the mystical land of Japan. Since bug-eyed, bobble-headed anime characters weren’t all the rage back then, it was common practice to have new Americanized artwork commissioned for most game releases.

Which brings us to Mick McGinty. Chances are you’re not familiar with the name (I sure know I wasn’t), but most gamers outside Japan—who remember back when Capcom’s Street Fighter II series was the hottest thing going—have unknowingly spent quite a bit of time staring at his artwork. McGinty, you see, was Capcom USA’s illustrator in charge of both reworking the game’s original designs to fit our North American pallets and creating much of the iconic imagery non-Japanese fans have come to associate with the SFII franchise.

The fine folks over at FightingStreet.com recently had the chance to talk with McGinty and have posted their interview online for all our enjoyment. The layout's kinda funky, and the text has its share of typos, but there’s still some decent information floating around. Just be sure to open the artwork page (preferably in a separate window), as quite a few questions reference specific pieces of art.

Interview: here

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