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Oh yeah, now I remember, Rival Schools!

Several years ago a group of comic creators known as Udon managed to swing the license for Capcom's legendary Street Fighter series. Not long after the non-defunct comic company known as Dreamwave announced several titles of their own, also based on Capcom games. These titles included Megaman, Devil May Cry, Darkstalkers, Rival Schools and more. Sadly Dreamwave's handling of the titles were less than stellar, resulting in many fighting game/comic fans to lament the fact that Darkstalkers and Rival Schools weren't being handled by Udon.

Udon continued on publishing their Street Fighter title, and while sales weren't lighting up the charts, most people who read it agreed that it was a fun little action comic. The creators obviously knew the material, and brought in obscur SF lore that helped add depth to the universe and certain characters stories.

Word eventually spread on the internet that Capcom was less than happy with Dreamwave's work, but were quite happy with the way Udon handled Street Fighter. Rumor and speculation began to fly that they might end up with the Darkstalkers and Rival Schools licenses. After months of wondering it was official.. Udon had been given the publishing rights to the two fighting game franchises, putting in their hands the holy trinity of Capcom fighters.

Then the waiting began. After several months the day finally arrived and Darkstalkers #1 hit the shelves.. and promptly sold out. The same happened with #2, and I believe even #3. Udon seemed to have a hit on their hands. Almost immediately speculation began as to the release date of the third series, Rival Schools.

Time passed, Darkstalkers went on an extended break after 6 issues, and Street Fighter joined it not long after at issue #14. Then Udon fell silent.. months passed with little word from the company as to what would be happening with the titles. Then, finally Udon made an official announcement regarding their hiatus and publishing status. No longer would they be working with other companies like Image Comics or Devils Due Press, instead they would be launching out on their own as an independent publisher. This was the reason for all the delays, they wanted to get all their ducks in a row before publishing anything.

And now we know the status of both Street Fighter and Darkstalkers. Street Fighter will be returning in Nov. as Street Fighter II, and another six issues of Darkstalkers was tentatively set for an early 2006 release, but still.. what of Rival Schools?

The third game didn't have a huge following in the US, in fact most people never even heard of it. This was given as a reason for their delay on publishing it. It was less popular and was therefore more of a risk, plus they were already stretching themselves thin with Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and their continued work for other companies such as Marvel Comics. Thus it seemed that Rival Schools was doomed to remain in limbo.. until now.

Last week news broke of Udon's plans for the title. It will be starting up some time in 2006 and will be illustrated and written by Corey "The Reyyy" Lewis! He confirmed the news on his website and posted a cover he did for a magazine featuring several Rival Schools characters. On top of that, he posted more details, including character designs, on a message board in this thread!

Corey Lewis is currently something of a hot creator. His work on Sharknife earlier this year, garnered positive reviews from such creators as Warren Ellis and Brian Wood, and was positively compared to other indy darlings such as Street Angel and Scott Pilgrim.

Hopefully Rival Schools will fair well and help bring more attention to this talented young creator and his other works.