Mega Man 1: Let the Games Begin!


 * Next Arc: Time Keeps Slipping

Let the Games Begin! is the first story arc of the Mega Man comic series by Archie Comics. It is a four-part adaptation of the first Mega Man game told in a four issue format.

Part One: Trouble Get!
The story begins with Mega Man trying to infiltrate Wily Castle. He doesn't want to fight, but he must do so to stop Dr. Wily. Mega Man uses the Super Arm to open the door and throws it at the Big Eyes, destroying them. Inside Wily Castle, Mega Man is attacked by the Yellow Devil and they prepare to fight, Mega Man thinking how things came to the current situation. The story then starts from the beginning, with Rock and Roll helping Dr. Light prepare for his speech. Dr. Wily appears backstage, demanding that Dr. Light allow Wily to give the speech alongside him. Dr. Light declines, causing Wily to react a bit more hostile. As Dr. Light heads to the stage to begin his speech, Wily begins to plot. Later that night, when Rock and Roll get Dr. Light to bed, Wily enters the lab secretly. He then takes the six Robot Masters: Cut Man, Guts Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man and Elec Man. In the morning the group sees the news, hearing how Dr. Light's Robot Masters are attacking the city, followed by a broadcast by Dr. Wily, demanding that everyone surrender to him immediately. Feeling hopeless, Dr. Light sulks in regret. Rock, feeling like he has to do something, tells Dr. Light that he wants to become a battle robot. Reluctant but proud, Dr. Light starts to convert Rock into a fighting robot. Upon hearing the name the Mega Buster, Rock's new weapon, he decides to name himself Mega Man.

Part Two: Weapons Get!
Mega Man is teleported to the city, where two soldiers are hiding in fear of him, debating on whether or not to attack him, when they overhear him talking to Dr. Light on the radio inside his helmet. Dr. Light sends him to fight Bomb Man first, which he does, and obtains his Hyper Bombs. He is then teleported to Guts Man and realizes that he has to use bombs to win. He does and gains the Super Arm power. With each weapon and victory, Rock is becoming more sad, which both Dr. Light and Roll pick up on. When asked, Dr. Light says that it's because Mega Man is going against his nature to help and is defeating the reprogrammed robots instead. In his "pun-derful" battle against Cut Man, Roll talks to Mega Man over the headset and tells him that he's helping, not hurting, and his sacrificing everything for the world is good, not bad. Feeling better, Rock defeats Cut Man and obtains the Rolling Cutter.

Part Three: Power Get!
Rock takes on Elec Man, who has based himself in a power plant and is routing electricity to metal areas as traps, which Mega Man avoids. As Elec Man is talking with Dr. Wily, Mega Man appears and disrupts the call before defeating him and obtaining Elec Man's Thunder Beam. Dr. Wily tells his drones to be on standby to recover the bodies of the inactive robots. In his assault against Ice Man, Rock is more aggressive, and even more so against Fire Man. Dr. Light has been working on a new weapon and, with the defeat of Fire Man, quickly teleports Rock home and traps him in a box of magnetic waves. Mega Man accuses Dr. Light of betraying him and tries to break free of the box with every weapon he has while Dr. Light watches silently. When he becomes tired, he notices Roll is watching. She begins to cry and runs from the room, leaving him feeling guilty. Mega Man tells Dr. Light that he wants all of his weapons taken away after the battle is over. Dr. Light gives Mega Man a new weapon, the Magnet Beam, and teleports him to Dr. Wily's fortress.

Part Four: Finale: Showdown Get!
Mega Man infiltrates Dr. Wily's fortress and is attacked by the Yellow Devil, a large yellow blob that reconfigures itself upon defeat. Rock is able to defeat it with a shot to the eye and moves on to another room where he is confronted by the six Robot Masters, revived and healed, all at once. He manages to talk half of the group into letting him by and returning to Dr. Light so that they can be reprogrammed again, and the six begin to fight each other. Seeing an opportunity, Rock moves on to a room where Dr. Wily creates a copy of Mega Man to fight him, one that includes all of the Robot Masters' powers. Rock is first matched attack for attack, but realizes the copy doesn't have the Magnet Beam, which he uses to get out of the copy's reach so he can think.

The Robot Masters enter the room ominously and gang up on the Mega Man copy, defeating him easily while Rock looks on from above. Mega Man jumps down when the fighting is done, perhaps to correct them on their mistake, when they say that their programming said they had to destroy one Mega Man--which they did. They can't defy Dr. Wily outright, but let Mega Man go forward to fight him. Dr. Wily attacks from a squid-like machine, taunting Rock for being a lowly helper robot. Rock attacks with all his weapons, weakening the machine's defenses until he runs out of ammo. Wily laughs until Mega Man jumps off of some debris and destroys the machine with his Mega Buster. He then helps Dr. Wily out of the rubble only to run into the Robot Masters, who are commanded to fight, but deny him, saying their mission was complete. Mega Man, Wily, and the Robot Masters leave the facility where Rock is able to get in contact with Dr. Light and announce his victory. Roll is ecstatic and runs off to find parts to repair and reenergize the robots, while outside the house, Time Man mentions to Oil Man that Dr. Wily activated them for a reason and that time was of the essence.

Trivia

 * The first issue had a sketch variant cover, while issues #2-#4 had a "Villain Variant" cover for sale in comic book stores.
 * In issue #1 there are a few cameos from other Mega Man entertainment when Dr. Light is unveiling the Robot Masters.
 * Before the unveiling in #1, Dr. Wily says to Dr. Light, "I forgot that "Light" makes "Right." In Japan, Dr. Light is known as Dr. Right.
 * Archie Comics will reprint Issue 1 for Free Comic Book Day 2012 using a fully inked and coloured version of Chad Thomas's sketch cover.
 * The first issue had Roll erroneously in her Mega Man 8 outfit. This was fixed for the cover of the Graphic Novel of this arc.
 * The first issue cover shows the robot dog Rush, but Rush is neither mentioned nor seen in the first arc.