Mega Man 3: The Return of Dr. Wily


 * This article is about the graphic novel; you may be looking for the game Mega Man 3.
 * Previous Volume: Mega Man Volume 2 - Time Keeps Slipping ←—
 * —→ Next Volume: Mega Man Volume 4 - Spiritus Ex MachinaMega Man Volume 3: The Return of Dr. Wily is the third volume in the Mega Man trade-paperback series published by Archie Comics. This volume contains reprints of stories from "The Return of Dr. Wily" story arc from Mega Man #9-#12.

Official solicitation

 * Mega Man is the hit new action-adventure series from Archie Comics!  


 * Mega Man is about to retire his Mega Buster forever!  With Dr. Wily's schemes defeated, our young hero thinks it's safe to return to his life as a helper robot. Wrong!


 * Dr. Wily returns with a vengeance, striking back with eight all-new Robot Masters!  Each one is specifically designed to take down the Blue Bomber, and the clock is ticking before they unleash their terrible power onto the world!  


 * It's up to Mega Man to take on the malicious Quick Man and his seven sinister robot brothers, foil Dr. Wily's insidious schemes, and storm the mad machinist's castle in a tale so epic you'll have to see it to believe it!


 * Mega Man Vol. 3 collects Mega Man #9-12.

Game Differences

 * Like "Let the Games Begin" before it, the arc has significant expansions to the story compared to the games.
 * The Robot Masters are revealed to contain malware bits inside their programming to corrupt Mega Man as a fallback strategy by Dr. Wily, something that is not revealed in the games themselves.
 * Bubble Man is killed by Leaf Shield instead of Metal Blades or another Robot Master weapon strong against him. This was because the writers wanted to show that he sucked.
 * Mega Man doesn't actually infiltrate the castle due to being reprogrammed by malware, unlike in the games.
 * Lights robot masters aid Mega Man during the finale of the story, while they don't appear in the game at all.
 * The Wily Castle ends up self-destructing, while the game doesn't even indicate what exactly happens to the Wily Castle at all.
 * On a related note, Wily is shown to have escaped in the chaos, while in the game, it is never actually shown what happened to Dr. Wily after his surrendering to Mega Man.
 * Mega Man and the other Robot Masters managed to escape by using Item-2s. In the game, however, Mega Man simply walks home (presumably taking a year due to the changing seasons).

Trivia

 * Beside the reprint of issues 9-12 and Short Circuits (with their titles revealed), the graphic novel also includes:
 * some cover sketches;
 * some script and pencil selections; and
 * character profiles of Auto, Rush, Quick Man, Wood Man, Bubble Man, Heat Man, Crash Man, Air Man, Flash Man, Metal Man, Mecha Dragon, Guts Tank, Mega Man? and Mega Man 2's Items.
 * This arc introduces Auto and Rush.
 * Reggae appears in the "Short Circuits" from issue 10.


 * Air Man's line of "You can't beat me" in issue 11 may be a reference to the fan made song "I Can't Defeat Air Man ".


 * Issue 11 also contains Auto asking "How's Blue-and-cyan-with-a-gun-for-a-hand" most likely referring to Brentalfloss' "Megaman 3 WITH LYRICS".


 * When Mega Man throws the Metal Blades at Metal Man, his pose is taken directly from his original Metal Blade concept art.


 * Flash Man's jealousy over Mega Man's hair in issue 11 is a reference to Flash Man's dislike (for wig commercials) in his Mega Man & Bass CD data.
 * Issue 11 has a part of Quick Man's level where Mega Man falls down a shaft avoiding lasers. The scene shown is taken directly from the game and drawn in the comic's style.


 * Dr. Wily's car in the "Short Circuits" from issue 11 is the same as used by him in Mega Man: Battle & Chase.


 * Issue 12 cover is an homage to the European Box art of Mega Man 2.


 * The title of the fourth part of this arc, Charge of the Light Brigade, is a reference to a historic charge of the British cavalry during the Crimean War. It may also be a reference to a poem of the same name by Alfred Tennyson, detailing the afformentioned charge.
 * Rock destroys Wily's attack ship with the Metal Blades and says "I wish I'd copied Metal Man's power first! That would've made all this a lot easier!" This is poking fun at how the Metal Blade can kill almost all bosses really quickly (even Metal Man) in Mega Man 2.


 * When Rock destroys the hologram in Issue 12, Wily says "Pay no attention to that man behind the hologram," paraphrasing a famous quote from The Wizard of Oz .
 * In the end of issue 12, while Roll, Bomb Man, and Cut Man are listening to Guts Man sing karaoke, Guts Man asks for a request, and Cut Man asks for "That song about the wind blowing... or whatever, that one", and Roll promptly says she loves that song; this is most likely referring to Roll's theme "Kaze yo Tsutaete" ("Where the Wind Blows") from Mega Man: Battle & Chase, Marvel vs. Capcom, and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.
 * In the "Short Circuits" comic in issue 12, Mega Man says "I give up, old video games are too hard", which is poking fun at the fact that older Nintendo games for the NES were extremely difficult to beat, for the purpose of making the games last longer.