Zelda: A Link to the Comics

On 03/28/2016 at 08:38 AM by daftman

Back in the day—the early '90s—Nintendo Power ran some comics for Super Mario World and A Link to the Past. As far as I know the Mario comic is still lost to time but the Zelda one got a nice trade paperback release last year and I recently finished reading it. Man, did that take me back! The storyline is a very loose adaptation of the SNES game, which most of the time is for the best, I think. The art is very expressive, though surprisingly not very "anime," if you know what I mean, and is laid out left-to-right since it was intended for a Western magazine. It holds up quite well! It's just a fun, breezy adventure. What surprised me most was how humorous it was and the humor was very anime, er, manga I should say, since the author was a famous old manga artist (Sotaro Ishinomori) at the end of his career.

If you like old manga or you get warm and fuzzies at the mention of Nintendo Power, you really gotta get this. I just hope that Nintendo releases that Mario World comic eventually.

Cary Woodham

03/28/2016 at 12:55 PM

I remember the comics in Nintendo Power but I never got into them that much for some reason. I did read them, but I preferred reading the reviews and previews more. I did like Howard and Nester, though, because it was so stupid. I am proud to say that I did meet Howard Phillips once in person. Nintendo should bring back Nester. I know he's been in some games in the past, like Nester's Funky Bowling, Pilotwings 64, and NES Play Action Football.

daftman

03/29/2016 at 08:50 AM

A Nester comic collection would be super niche and I'm sure it would never happen but that'd sure be cool.

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/28/2016 at 02:23 PM

Damn, that's a cool picture. Could you maybe get the Mario World comics via back issues of NP?

03/29/2016 at 08:55 AM

Nintendo Power is no longer around, unfortunately, so I'd just have to hunt down used copies online. Being the sentimental type, I actually would love to get a complete set of NP but I'm sure it would be pretty expensive to do

KnightDriver

03/29/2016 at 12:44 AM

I'd grab some old NP mags if I saw them at my library's book sale anytime. I got some Dragon mags there a year ago. I can only hope.

03/29/2016 at 08:57 AM

Like I said to Joe, I'd love to get a complete set of NP but I'm sure that'd be expensive and then there is the matter of having space for that many magazines...

03/29/2016 at 10:58 AM

I got most of my NPs via garage sale back in the day, I imagine some folks would have some at modern garage sales as well.

03/29/2016 at 04:47 PM

I guess there must be a digital collection somewhere like there is for Dragon Magazine. It's nice to have the real thing in your hands though.

03/31/2016 at 08:25 PM

There's always RetroMags.com!

04/01/2016 at 01:13 AM

Oh cool! Thanks for the link.

The Last Ninja

03/30/2016 at 10:26 AM

I picked this up awhile back. It was an impulse buy when I saw it at the comics store. I love it! The art, characters, and story are all great. I really hope they release the Mario comic in the same way. I would buy it in a heartbeat!

03/31/2016 at 08:22 PM

Agreed!

PixlBit

Zelda: A Link to the Comics

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