Novas Aventuras de Megaman
The Brazilian Megaman Comics

Cyborgs. Angsty teens. A scantily clad heroine. No, this isn't a hentai doujinshi, this is the world of "The New Adventures of Mega Man"!

This was a comic published only in Brazil and the MAN (Capcom) would probably prefer everyone to forget this ever existed. But it *did* exist. And dirty secrets have a way of turning up ...

Right before I start, I'd like to give credit for 90% of this information to Rodrigo Shin, who made detailed summaries of every single issue and provided scans for them all as well! For a more in-depth look into the series, head on over to his site! Instead of giving issue summaries, I'm going to give an overall summary of, not only the plot, but also of the characters.

According to Daniel HDR's website (HDR worked on at least issue 16 of the series) this was published by Magnum Press (which, surprisingly, HDR says is a US and Brazilian company). According to the site Magnum Press had the license from 1997 (when they produced Megaman #2) and 1999 (when they produced Megaman #16). The series stopped at that issue because the publishers had money problems. Many plot lines were cut off.

The Megaman Brazilian comic was indeed given the official nod by Capcom of Brazil. So, in terms of Megaman comics, that puts it up there with the comics from Dreamwave, Captain N, the Ariga Megamix, and those other Megaman comics. Remember, Capcom produces no comics of their own, they license the name.

The Overall Summary

A lot of the story is rooted into the past ... and truthfully, a great deal of that past is retconned in by later issues. But, in an attempt to make sense of it, I'll present it here in a cohesive fashion.

The story really starts with Roll. It turns out that Roll was originally human, but was captured (along with many other little girls) and turned into a cyborg in a project called "Saint Lazarus". Of course before that she was stripped ... her penchant for getting nekked started young. The idea was that they were using the brain as a organic computer ... for mysterious reasons. In the one issue they say she's the first success out of hundreds, but also say that other cyborgs like her work on the moon, and as sex slaves in the Amazon.

The culprits? Mr. Holzenbein, Dr. Wily, and a young (red haired) Dr. Light. Apparently they all worked at the Holzenbein House at this point.

Racked with guilt he steals Roll's brain away to become his daughter. He's then shown with a mostly-complete Protoman, so it's presumed that Roll allowed him to perfect actual robots somehow.

Stare at Rush for a long, long time because that's the only place he shows up. You'll notice Megaman has a diamond on his helmet ala the MM TV show here; that was in full swing at the time.

The game plots happen, more or less, as you might expect. Wily does his thing over and over again and Rock is sent to stop him.

At some point time in prison causes Wily to crack up and building seriously dangerous robots. This reached it's peak in Megaman 8 with Tenguman mentioned specifically. it's implied that he wasreaquainted with Holzenbein House (or possibly the masterminds in the last issue; it's left mysterious) while in prison and it`s because of their support that he was able to make deadlier robots.

At some point in this time Light makes X, Slasher, and Zero. Well, in issue 9 it`s implied that Zero was one of Wily`s deadly creations, but later on he`s explicitly said to be made by Dr. Light.

In the comics, MM8 led to Wily's arrest. After that the governments of the world decided to scrap all the robots of the current generation. Dr Light disobeyed them and hid Megaman and Roll in "energetic cocoons" (in seperate locarions) to power-up for 30 years in order to upgrade their now-outdated tech. He ordered Slasher, Protoman, and X away while he stayed in his lab to finish the upgrades for the two robots. (I suppose he didn't care about preserving Rush.)

Meanwhile, a new line of robots was created to replace the old models by "a big Japanese company". They were given "intelligence, independence, and self-sustainability" and were heralded as a new form of life. They called this new generation "Neo Mavericks." Not that there were Mavericks in the story before. And ... not that they intended these guys to actually become mavericks by rebelling (the definition of the word maverick). I suppose they just thought the name sounded cool.

In short order an atom bomb, sent by Wily, was dropped on Light's Lab. Yes, that's right. An atom bomb. Despite this, however, Slasher & co. were able to take Light's body out of the rubble (weak atom bomb, apparently) and watch his final moments. At the same time (I suppoise) Dr. Cossack was murdered by Wily in cold blood.

Much to the surprise of everyone, the Mavericks rebelled ("went maverick") against society and joined forces with Dr. Wily. Together they constructed an army that attacked the world and took it over. Dr Wily crowned himself the emperor and the remaining humans were enslaved.

Slasher, Proto, X, and Zero go into hiding and fight Wily by themselves. At some point Protoman joins the Six. Presumably, as the first robot created, he can be allowed into the first of the Neo Mavericks. Equally presumably it's an elaborate plot to overthrow Wily. I'm doing a lot of presuming because it's never actually explained in the comic at all! At someother point, X goes into retirement and lives in a quiet suburban house somewhere in Brazil.

This leads into the first issue. Roll's traversing the desert searching for Dr. Light's lab when she is attacked by bounty hunter robots called Sand Troopers. She just manages to escape from them because she is weak at the moment. Then she falls under the sand and finds the lab. There's a capsule with Megaman inside, and she tries to open it but is attacked again and gets very damaged. Then Megaman awakes and beats them easily. He is confused and noticed that he is stronger now and Roll explains what she knows of the past to him (Light is dead, the government turned against them, and then they were put into "cocoons" and upgraded). Why Light never told them this before he put them into capsules is not explained.

So they decide to fight against the leader robots to free the slaves. They go to a city near there to make contact with the rebels and formulate a plan, in an airship left for them there by Dr. Light.

Wily is watching them (somehow), along with 5 mysterious robots. They think Megaman is no threat, but Wily disagrees and he has a plan to turn Megaman to his side. Which, as it turns out, amounts to just letting the Mega crew destroy the opposition sent against them by people not affiliated with himself. He hopes they'll get rid of Holzenbein.

In issue 2 they meet X. Apparently, he's retired a a small suburb and they crashed into his house randomly. He agrees to travel with them because family has to stick together. We're also (forcefully) introduced to Princess, who will continue to make single panel appearances in most of the comics until she's both figuratively and literally forced out in issue 7.

Their efforts to combat Wily mostly involve them randomly traveling around Brazil and encountering resistance where they go. Kalinka appears in this story, and strangely, she still looks like a teenager even 30 years after Rock and Roll went into stasis (X question this at one point, but an explanation is never given; it's likely she's a cyborg like Roll is). Kalinka also has a bodyguard, named Nástenka.

I guess they never played MM7, or just don't care, because Forte is named Slasher, and was created by Dr. Light. He is sort of shy and the quietest robot, and possibly the weakest character of this story. It's hard to believe, eh? They track him down and he joins them for "mysterious" reasons.

Highlights of their adventures include Roll being angsty about her mysterious past, Roll having her body destroyed, Roll being put into a washing machine (lots to do about Roll, eh?), X and Mega entering into a race, battling a group of Neo Mavericks, and, finally, being captured by Protoman and his band of merry men ("Slasher", Zero, and X; yes X was working for Proto all this time).

Yeah, Zero does appear in this story. Wily seemed to fear Zero at first, but later he just didn't seem to care about him anymore. Since the manga came in before X4 was released, Zero isn't one of Wily's creations in this story. No elements from the X series were included here, except by X and Zero, and the term "Mavericks". Therefore, no Dr. Cain, Repliroids, Sigma, etc.

By the way, the reason Roll is almost naked is because Blues took out her clothes while she was unconscious (not for that, perverts), and put those metallic thingies in her body. Roll was using decent clothes during most of the comic, until Blues captured her, along with Rock and the rest of the gang.

After they're captured the comic stalls for about four issues. During which it's revealed that Protoman is a member of the Six and that X and Slasher knew and that there's some ... unnamed good reason for it all, but we'll never know it. Some human rebels also show up and do absolutely nothing.

Wily arrives with a horde of Robot Masters to kick everyone's ass. Seems like now was the time to blow the Six, and the Mega Crew away ... and he nearly does so until aliens show up and stop the fight right in it's tracks!

Wait, what!?

Someone's been playing too much Megaman 2!

Holzenbein comments that the aliens were, somehow, behind it all and Wily totally freaks out when he sees them. apparently his mysterious past has something to do with these aliens. The comments at the end of the issue promise an outer space adventure, who (or what) the Holzenbein House is, and the mysterious ways of Voodoo ...

Happily, the series ends here.

Meet the Cast

Megaman. Oh, yeah, consistency is not really the cornerstone of this comic. Well, he looks like he does in the games. In the earlier issues, the comics switch from being TV-inspired to being game-inspired depending on who's doing the art chores. Aside from being "stronger", violent, immature, and kinda dumb, he's exactly like his game counterpart.

Okay, so he's nothing like his game counterpart! He's, at least, better than ...

Roll. The comic's really all about Roll. Roll's upgraded into a "Lazarus-64 model", which is a robot that can rebuild itself practically from scratch. The definition of this gets rather stretched as the series goes on; at first it seems she just has the ability to rebuild herself using tools and such, but after she gets completely destroyed she spontaneously rebuilds a new body for herself and, after that, is shown to regenerate at a rapid speed. Except when it's cool to show her hurt.

Personality-wise, she's Megaman's older sister. Basically the brains of the group, she leads them on their journey and later on takes part in the fighting after getting a new body which has a standard Mega Buster. She also has a knack for getting naked. She changes in front of her bro and X, seemingly oblivious to their reactions. the artists constantly draw her with different clothes on (starting with a cartoon-inspired look) until they settle for a look that lasts the longest: totally naked. Yeah, there's not much more to strip away after that.

Despite being blown apart at one point, Roll has no idea that she is / or memory of being human. You'd think someone might notice that pink thing in her brain box. She becomes the series McGuffin. Wily wants her for her "organic computer" capabilities. Holzenbein wants her as the "only robot with a soul." Protoman wants her in order to restore her memory and other "mysterious" reasons. X wants her for sex. And the Aliens want her ... God only knows why the aliens want her!

In issue 2 they meet up with Megaman X.

Megaman X: The most advanced robot ever. He's able to think and feel just like humans do. And the Neo Mavericks. So, really, he isn't all that advanced within the comic's universe, but the games says he is, so ... he is.

X is arrogant and a total lecher. He first has a crush on his sister Roll, but this gets transferred to Nástenka after she's introduced. X also has a rivalry with Rock and is shown to be just as (im)mature as he is throughout the series.

Nástenka and Kalinka. Kalinka is the same daughter of Dr. Cossack that you're familiar with and Nástenka is her bodyguard (presumably also made by Dr. Cossack). I'm guessing she's supposed to be Roll's sister (just based off the picture shown of Roll's sister back in issue #4), but nothing was made of it at all. Kalinka's also, likely, a cyborg like Roll (as it's been 30 years), but nothing was ever made of that either.

When we're first introduced to them, Kalinka had built a portal to alternate universes with the hope of spreading communism throughout the multiverse ... and to bring back some help for their world too. They ended up with Princess. After getting rescued by Megaman and X they tag along and do allot of nothing. Although Nástenka becomes X's new crush.

No, that's not Bass ... it's Slasher! That's about the coolest he gets up there, so take a good look. Anyhow, he "mysteriously" shows up a couple of times when Megaman, Roll, and X are in trouble and X demands some answers. While he doesn't give any about himself, he does inform the group about how Light died (which X could have done, incidentally ... none of them thought to ask). Presumably Slasher was keeping an eye on the group for Protoman (whom he was in direct contact with).

In this series, Slasher was made by Dr Light. I think they only played the intro to Megaman 7 without any real exposure to Megaman 8 because that's the only way they could misunderstand which side "Slasher" is actually on. Aside from a penchant for blowing stuff up, Slasher doesn't have much of a personality. When he first appears he saved MM et all and then tells them off. He does this again the second time he appears. In his third appearance he's revealed to be bitter about Light dying to upgrade the lot of them.

Slasher is shown to have concern for his siblings and cries out Roll's name when she collapses one time ... much unlike the real Bass. Slasher really wants to come clean about Protoman's mysterious plot.

Princess. AKA "Mary Sue". Like every other female in the book, she's drawn totally different from issue to issue. She's a character created by a "mad writer" to "kill all the characters and take over the comic". Literally. Yes, that was his plan. The writer, José Roberto, was going to write Princess killing the entire Megaman cast and taking over the comic; turning it into Roberto's own original work. The editor, Sérgio Peixoto Silva, found out and fired Roberto after issue 5. In issue 7, Princess herself would be blasted out of the comic. Of course, by then, Roberto had made all sorts of odd changes to our favorite franchise.

Princess herself has an egotistical personality and is quite the loudmouth. She's very proud to be Brazilian (as are all of the characters ... even Megaman). She wants the other characters gone to promote Brazil's native ideas. She's shown blasting things Dragonbal Z style, so she has general blasting powers. She also has a robot "pet" named Turbo who has super speed and extendable arms. She comes from another dimension (brought to Mega's world by Kalinka's dimensional hopping device when she's formally introduced to our cast) ... she doesn't last long after that.

Wily's one of the big bads in the comic. He's survived the years by making himself into a robot ... I guess. He does have Arm Cannons at one point, so he'd have to be a robot, right? They never actually explain it. He's terribly mysterious about his plans, but they somehow involve Roll. He`s been after a biological computer for ... mysterious reasons. He`s already taken over the world, so ... yeah.

He's much more competent and evil in this series than in the games ... I mean, he doesn't do much until issue 15. But he does kick everyone's ass after he arrives!

Mr. Holzenbein, the head of Holzenbein house. It's not really stated what Holzenbein House does, but it's sorta implied that it turns little girls into cyborgs and sells them to people all over the galaxy. It's also said they do clone banks and harvest fresh organs (also, presumably, from kidnapped little girls). His headquarters is also a rocket ship ... just in case the need it to ... you know ... escape ... like all corporate offices.

Even though he's a scientist, Holzenbein is revealed to be heavily into voodoo and, in the comic, sacrifices a little girl for ... no particular reason at all (it takes four issues and yes, they actually say it's for no reason at all). Like all the characters, he's particularly interested in Roll, the only robot with a soul. Maybe sacrificing Roll will give him power? No clue and it's not explained.

He's temporarily joined forces with Wily, but like most of Wily's entourage, he's just biding his time until he can backstab the good doctor. He also has a black haired henchman who stuck with him through all the years. He's the guy who kidnapped Roll and singled her out for "roboticization" way back in issue 4. We finally learn his name in issue 13 - Hans. Took them long enough to let it slip ... Apparently bladie kept the voodoo sacrifice thing a secret from him for a long time.

Holzenbein has another lackey too. Fifi. His secretary. Apparently she's in charge of cleaning duty after Holzenbein sacrifices one of his little girls.

The Six! They're the original Neo mavericks that plunged the world into chaos. They're first referred to by name when they're drawn as nondescript shadows ... the outlines look like two of the Neo mavericks shown just a page before their shadowy appearance in the first issue, so the implication is that they're them. Of course, they look nothing like that when the light's on them (hole mowhawk aside).

And, what about the guy in red? Well, he claims to be one of the Six in the beginning of issue 7 but, obviously, he too looks nothing like either the shadows of the Neo Mavs from issue 1, or the revealed looks of the Neo Mavs from issue 13.

Oh, yes ... Protoman is also a Neo Maverick. Despite him being the first of Megaman's generation and all. It's never really explained how that worked exactly, but one supposes the Neo Mavericks were based of Protoman's design.

None of the Six (sans Proto) are actually named. MYSTERIOUS!

The first robot made by Dr. Light. Protoman is terribly "mysterious." In that his actions and motives are never explained. He spends 4 issues complaining that Megaman won't let him explain, but you'd think he'd spare us a thought bubble or two!

Protoman is part of the main baddies, the Six. He's never shown in their planning sessions, though, and operates out of a (laughably easy to find) secret base (which the Six know about). Apparently he has video cameras everywhere and also Roll's off switch. He hints at wanting to restore Roll's missing memory from her human days, but doesn't let Bass tell her or anyone else too much and seems to be working off his own leisurely time table.

Like Protoman, Zero's terribly mysterious and powerful. He's, pretty much, Protoman's lackey and fights his siblings when the inevitable big battle comes. He does hesitate to strike down Roll, however, so he has some sentimentality in him. Or maybe it's just because Roll's important.

Human rebels! They don't do anything aside from wasting comic space close to the end of the comic's run.

Names are: Edouard / Maurice, Celina, Alan, and Otto. Apparently Alan is jealous that Celina likes Otto.

And the aliens. They're behind everything! And they don't want anyone to die ... not even Wily. They also want Roll. Somehow they have been behind everything and manipulating everyone.

When the aliens arrive, it's our signal to end this train wreck!

Miscellaneous Minor characters

Sand Troopers.  Guys who attack Roll before she finds Megaman.

Maludijan.  Mayor of Sao Paulo, he destroys Roll's body before being destroyed himself. Apparently he's an annoyance to Wily.
 
Turboman "X".  It's Turboman except now he runs a race. The "X" part of the name is likely just a typo on the cover.

Jirimum, the cangaceiro robot.  Attacks the group for no reason and is promptly destroyed by a revived Roll.  Another annoyance to Wily.

G-Man.  Sumo-wrestler who exhibits endurance powers.  G might stand for Great or Gordo (Portuguese for fat).

S-Man.  Samurai-type of robot.  Uses a sword.  Two guesses on what the S might stand for.

N-Man.  Might stand for Nitro (as in "speed").   

Magicman. (M-Man?)  Made before MM&B.  He shot out fire in the shape of a phoenix based off the "ace of hearts" .... from the dialogue his powers relate to a deck of cards.

Killer - He wants to rip people apart and bath in their blood and guts. Very "Rarrgh". One of the few Robot Masters named in the comic. I guess "Gutsman" wasn't good enough for them...

On Megaman 3

Instead of the main characters; Spark man, Magnet man, and Snake man make short appears. They were almost identical to the games; they appear in #16 when Wily is attacking the city. That's all, I'm afraid!

Minor Production Notes

New Adventures was different from a normal manga. Firstly, it was drawn fully in color. The artists were also fans, which had to submit their works, and have them approved before being allowed to draw at least one issue. Therefore, two issues drawn by the same artist was something rare. Sadly, the artists didn't really care about matching anything the previous artist did initially, which led to Megaman and X being drawn as teens and chibis in alternating issues. Thankfully they settled on an adult look halfway through the series.

The writers changed after issue 7 due to the first writer's desire to hijack the series for his own ends, as stated earlier. The plot isn't in line with the games, as reading the article could tell you. It's probably the greatest diversion from a licensed material in the franchise. If the summary above seems confusing, it's due to the confusing nature of the series. At one point Holzenbein takes two issues to sacrifice a girl. By the third he changes clothes and seems to be finished with it ... except, in the final issue, he's back in his Voodoo garb and at the end of his sacrifice again!

A great deal of the comic was devoted to market testing - different art styles as well as different story types. Often it would switch from action / adventure to angsty stories to silly and humorous. There was also a great desire to put Brazilian culture into the series, with many jokes relying on Brazilian colloquialisms. By the time they got the feel of the series down, it was just about cancelled. It seems like the writer really didn't have an overall plot in mind when writing as many issues feel like filler (and the final fights lasting an absurd amount of time).

Aside from inconsistent art and writing the series was plagued with delays. From several months to a few years. There was a range of excuses for this, but it was likely due to unprofessionalism (things not getting done on time), and a lack of money overall. The series unceremoniously ended at issue 16 with the writer promising a new, exciting story arc when the series returned.

All in all, the New Adventures of Megaman is a very obscure part of Megaman's history. While it isn't of the best quality, it's finds like this that make the Megaman franchise rich and interesting.

Editions

1. O Herói Desperta! ("The Hero Awakes!")
2. Encontro de Irmãos ("Meeting of Brothers")
3. Fechou o Tempo! ("Weather Roughens Up!")
4. Neste Numero: Pedaços de Roll ("This Number: Pieces of Roll")
5. Turboman X Mega and Xizinho! ("Turboman X, Mega, and Little X!")
6. Roll de Casca Nova! ("Roll with New Shell!")
7. A Turma Aumenta! ("The Party Grows")
8. Porradas de Montão! ("Whole Lotta Clobbering")
9. Neste Numero: Revelações Do Passado! ("In this Number: Revelations From the Past!")
10. Surgem os Neo-Mavericks! ("Arise the Neo-Mavericks!")
11. "Ele" Voltou ("'He' is Back")
12. Se Correr, O Bicho Pega ... Corredor Polonês. ("Caught if you Run, Stand Still you're Done ... Polish Corridor.")
13. Bringa De Familia! ("Family Fight!")
14. Alianças E Traições ("Alliances and Betrayals")
15. Começa A Batlha! ("The Battle Begins!")
16. Contato! ("Contact!")

Special Thanks and Links

Thanks to MoonLight and Robert Oakes for overall information on the series.

Ederson Neander Nogueira dos Santos for a summary of the first issue.

And a very big thanks to Rodrigo Shin, who made detailed summaries of every single issue and provided scans for them all as well! For a more in-depth look into the series, head on over to his site!

O Ácido Cinza - Rodrigo Shin's site featuring full download of the comic as well as detailed issue summaries!
http://www.danielhdr.cjb.net - site with one of the only known artist for this series.
Eduardo Francisco Interview - interview with another artist for the series.
Megaman Chile - Where I "found" most of the scans, but just about no information. In Spanish.
O Mundo de Rockman - Where I "found" more Brazilian MM pictures.
Mangax - Where I "found" Megaman 6.
RMX Rockman RPG Forum - Where I was given permission to use AquaMary's scans of her own personal collection. The site itself was pointed out to me by RADIX. Thanks both of you!

View the Novas Aventuras de Megaman Image Gallery

Download Megaman #6 - in ENGLISH! It's a zip file. The art's not bad on this issue. Scanlation by Rockman X DRN. Thanks, Rock!