THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST

From January through December of 1992, NINTENDO POWER magazine serialized a manga adaptation of the then-newest LEGEND OF ZELDA videogame, A LINK TO THE PAST. The serial was subsequently collected by Nintendo of America in a trade paperback shortly afterward, and then just last year Viz Media collected it again. It is the 2015 volume which I'm using for this review.

Story and art are provided by the legendary Shotaro Ishinomori, creator of several popular Japanese franchises, beginning with CYBORG 009 in 1963. Though produced by Ishinomori in Japan, this manga was commissioned by NINTENDO POWER for the U.S. market, and Ishinomori drew it in the Western "left to right" reading order, rather than the traditional Japanese "right to left".

The story begins as does the videogame, with our hero, Link, awakened by a telepathic message from the captive Princess Zelda. Link follows Zelda's summons to Hyrule Castle, where he arrives in time to see his uncle slain by the evil wizard, Agahnim. Link takes his fallen uncle's sword and shield and rescues the princess, leading her to safety. But Zelda is swiftly recaptured after she describes Agahnim's plot to Link: he intends to sacrifice Zelda and six other maidens in order to open a portal the "Dark World" where his master, the diabolical Ganon, rules.

Link travels to a nearby village to enlist the aid of a wise man in hiding, and eventually after a few trials, makes his way to the Dark World, where he teams up with a mysterious knight named Roam, rescues Princess Zelda, and defeats Ganon, restoring peace to Hyrule.

SPRINGTIME GRAB BAG

As I've done in past years, I plan to spend the majority of the spring on various assorted mini-series from publishers other than Marvel or DC. The next four Fridays will kick this off, beginning with THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST, a reprint of the manga serialized in NINTENDO POWER magazine back in the nineties.

After ZELDA, we'll take a look two offerings from artist Terry Dodson and a pair of European writers, D-P Filippi and Xavier Dorison -- MUSE and RED ONE. Following the Dodson experience, I've lined up a review of the first volume in Walter Simonson's RAGNARÖK series at IDW.

Then it's into the realm of sword and sorcery for the month of April, and our gateway to that genre will be a MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE graphic novel I've owned for about thirty years, THE SUNBIRD LEGACY. Once that one's in the can, I'll be back to announce the second half of the Springtime Grab Bag, so stay tuned!