Mega Man Issue 20 (Archie Comics)


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Mega Man #20 is the twentieth issue in the Mega Man comic book series by Archie Comics, released on December 2012.

Publisher's Summary
"'Rock of Ages.' Join us for a very special anniversary for the Blue Bomber! Dr. Wily messes with powers beyond his control, sending ripples through time - and sending Mega Man on a whirlwind trip through his own life - and all the perils to come!"

Rock of Ages
In the not so distant future, Dr. Wily invades the Chronos Institute with the Mega Man Killers and Genesis Unit and takes control over a time travelling device. Mega Man arrives to stop Wily, but when Wily activates the time machine to travel a few decades in the future, Mega Man is caught by the machine's energy and collapses. When he awakes, he is in the Lanfront Ruins with Dr. Wily, and Ra Moon is attacking them. (Mega Man #31) Mega Man is confused as he had destroyed Ra Moon in the past, but when he is ready to fight, there is a flash and Mega Man finds himself fighting Gamma again. (Mega Man #48) There is another flash, and Mega Man sees he is in space. Mega Man realizes that Dr. Wily hit him with something that is sending him to the past, but he doesn't remember ever going to space before. He wonders why he is in space, and a green robot says that it is destiny. The two robots start fighting and another flash happens.

Mega Man now is facing a giant machine hanging in the ceiling. When he takes down the machine, he sees Dr. Cossack inside, who apologizes saying that he had no choice, and now, because of Mega Man, she's dead. Not understanding the situation, Mega Man asks who is dead and if Dr. Cossack can help him with the time-displacement affecting him, but another flash occurs and he sees a blue robot with green hair that attacks him. Mega Man jumps on time again and sees two robots (Knight Man and Yamato Man) fighting in an arena, and sees himself (alongside Dr. Light, Roll, Auto and Eddie) watching the fight. Now that no one is attacking him, Mega Man takes the time to process what is happening, and decides to go to Light Labs to see if there is a way to make him stop jumping through time.

Mega Man jumps to the future again, and he sees the city under attack by a giant robot, and a black robot starts fighting with Mega Man. When they punch each other, a flash occurs and both Mega Man and the black robot go forward to the future. They are in a strange island and see a robot fall from the sky. Bass doesn't care about what is happening, and asks Mega Man what is the "funky-looking thing" in the sky, which surprises Mega Man as he had not seen the abnormality before. They jump through time again, and Proto Man asks Mega Man and Bass to help him stop King, who is raiding the robot museum. Mega Man asks Bass to focus on their problem, and they travel to the future again, now being in a city. In the top of a building, the green robot that Mega Man had seen in space, challenges him to face his future. Bass is ready to fight, but Mega Man tells him to cool down and pay attention to their problem. Mega Man notices that the energy abnormality in the sky has been growing every time they jump through time, and believes that collapsing it will solve the problem. Bass is annoyed and wonders if destroying Mega Man would also solve the problem, but before they fight, the two warp through time and meet Splash Woman underwater. Mega Man is attacked by Splash Woman, who says she will not face deactivation quietly. Mega Man avoids her without understanding the situation, and when Bass prepares to attack her, Mega Man stops him and they travel through time.

Mega Man and Bass appear in Light Labs, and Dr. Light asks if they found what is needed to cure the Roboenza outbreak while taking care of Roll. Mega Man apologizes to Dr. Light because there is something he must do first, saying he will explain it another time, and he goes outside with Bass. Mega Man believes that whatever is happening to him and Bass can be stopped by destroying the giant anomaly which nobody but they notice and has been following the two the whole time. Bass doesn't mind blowing things up, but asks if Mega Man is sure that doing it will not erase him from the timeline or something else. Mega Man doesn't know, but it is a chance both are willing to take and they fire. A large flash occurs and Mega Man returns to the present. Rock suffers a power spike and Dr. Light, Roll and Auto check if he is alright. Dr. Light doesn't understand what happened as Rock's systems are reading normal, but his internal clock has jumped ahead by years. Rock says he doesn't know, but given enough time, they might find out.

Phoenix Wrong
Dr. Wily creates Police Man, a robot intended to infiltrate the local law enforcement and bend them to Wily's will. However, Police Man beats up Wily with a nightstick and starts charging him for several crimes, including theft, disturbing the peace, assault, "forgetting to call your mother on her birthday", and reckless driving. The name of the Short Circuits strip, "Phoenix Wrong," is a reference to the "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attourney" franchise.

Characters

 * Time Man (Cameo)
 * Ballade (First appearance)
 * Enker (First appearance)
 * Punk (First appearance)
 * Buster Rod G (First appearance)
 * Dr. Wily
 * Hyper Storm H (First appearance)
 * Mega Water S (First appearance)
 * Rock / Mega Man
 * Dr. Light
 * Ra Moon
 * Gamma (First appearance)
 * Quint (First appearance)
 * Dr. Cossack
 * Terra (First appearance)
 * Yamato Man (First appearance)
 * Knight Man (First appearance)
 * Eddie (First appearance)
 * Auto
 * Roll
 * Mad Grinder (First appearance)
 * Bass (First appearance)
 * Duo (First appearance)
 * Proto Man
 * King (First appearance)
 * Rockman Shadow (?) (First appearance)
 * Splash Woman

Locations

 * Chronos Institute (First appearance)
 * Lanfront Ruins
 * Wily Station (First appearance)
 * Light Labs

Others

 * Sakugarne (First appearance)
 * Cossack Catcher (First appearance)

Foreshadowing
The issue as it came out showcased events yet to happen to Mega Man based on yet to be adapted games, but several moments came to pass in later issues:
 * Super Adventure Rockman: Wily waking up Mega Man was later seen and brought into detail during issue 31.
 * Mega Man 3: Wily's taunt to Mega Man when on Gamma was later shown in issue 48.

Trivia

 * Although Rush appears in the cover, he is not present in this issue.
 * The border of the variant cover is the same as the North American Mega Man box.
 * The Wily Castle in the variant cover is inverted.
 * The design of the Chronos Institute's time travelling device appears to be based on the time machine from Mega Man: Upon a Star.
 * In addition, Wily, while marveling at the time travel device he stole immediately before Mega Man entered his fortress, commented that it was "almost like [he's] done it before," referring to the Ruby Spears Mega Man cartoon episode "Future Shock" and foreshadowing the events of Worlds Collide.
 * Apparently, Quint appears twice in the comic. In his second appearance, after the event from Mega Man & Bass, he is without Sakugarne and says "No more will I simply be Mega Man's shadow!", implying that's actually Rockman Shadow or at least a future story arc based on Rockman & Forte: Mirai Kara no Chousensha using Quint.
 * Comments made by Mega Man throughout the comic's story (such as reacting to Ra Moon and Gamma's presence as if he had encountered them before) indicate that this story takes place well into the future of the currently released story arcs.
 * Although the time travelling segment of the comic incorporated all the events of the games (exempting Rockman Soccer), the main plot was a combination of the plots of Mega Man: The Wily Wars and Mega Man II.
 * The events of this arc are briefly referenced in Mega Man Issue 38, where Xander Payne briefly emerged from the time anomaly, only to be forced to enter back through time travel when Mega Man and Bass blew up the anomaly.