Review: Racer X – Tales from the Road One-Shot (Mad Cave Studios)

Racer X and Spritle take the spotlight in a special one-shot issue. Writers Mark London and David Pepose are joined by artists Sebastian Piriz and Alessio Zonno, rounded out with veteran letterer, Buddy Beaudoin. 

Two Princes, the first of stories, Mark London presents a tale featuring a backstory with Racer X working for Interpol, in pursuit of a criminal known as The Viking. Every few pages were shown what appears to be parallels in both the upbringing of Racer X and The Viking, however gradually those paths diverge while the characters inevitably cross paths in what seems to be an ongoing feud.

It’s pretty clear that Racer X, also known as Agent 9, has become proficient in hand to hand combat, as well as a skilled risk-taking driver. Some of the flashy panels illustrating how Racer X methodically shifts from one gear to the next evokes similarities to the intense street racing scenes from Tokyo Drift.  

Pepose offers a lighthearted tale about Spritle, sidekick and comedy relief to speed racer. it’s a funny story of how an aspiring racer gets himself into trouble for the first time. Unfortunately, stealing Speed’s car results in some familiar foes giving chase resulting in a major accident which will likely have repercussions in the near future. It’s pretty funny how the story is narrated by Spritle to inspector Rokugo, bearing a striking similarity to classic manga and anime stories. 

One-shot stories like this are fun. Takes us out of the main arc for a bit and allows writers to get (more) creative with how they envision characters and giving them stories which do not necessarily affect the outcome or possibly contradict the main series. Instead, we get imaginative storytelling which expands the reader’s imagination of who these characters can be.