MISC. MANGA, *Dragon Crown

Based on the sword and sorcery side-scrolling RPG fantasy Atlus video game, Street Fighter arist Yuztan put together this 2-volume manga series released in English by Udon Entertainment. It takes the idea of the game, and translates it into a series of missions featuring the playable characters.

A group of heroes consisting of by name: Fighter, Amazon, Sorceress, Elf, Wizard, and Dwarf all decide to band together and use their skills in the service of the noble local prince. These include rescue missions, treasure hunts, and monster fighting. The strange part is that like in the game, you can only use four characters at a time, so they show the remaining two characters at the end of each chapter in a short SD strip hanging out at the local tavern waiting for their teammates to return. This leads ultimately to quest for a mystical artifact known as the Dragon Crown which gives its user the power to control any dragon, with which to take over the kingdom.

Yuztan does an exceptional job showing the outrageous fan service-filled features of the characters, especially the Red Sonja-like Amazon and voluptuous Sorceress. Even if you've never played the game, this manga is enjoyable to fans of Dungeons and Dragons or old school action titles like Golden Axe.