Reunions are short-lived, as the next and likely deadliest adversary since Speed’s previous encounter, has plans for vengeance of his own. Speed Racer meets his match in Issue #6: The Racers’ Reckoning!
The Macguffin in this exciting episode is known as the GRX engine, developed by Dr. Ben Cranem, the father of our giant hulk of a racer, Carl Cranem, who vows revenge on the Racer family.
As tensions continue to flare between Speed and his father, Cranem has his own family legacy to reinstate and uphold. A brief backstory reveals friends turned rivals as Pops Racer and Ben Cranem, developed an extremely volatile engine which Pops felt was too dangerous to be put to use. It’s safe to assume that things didn’t turn out well for the scientist, putting his son on a path for vengeance.
Sounds like Dr. Light vs. Dr. Wily for you Mega Man fans out there.
The second half of the issue features a dramatically intense race, where Speed not only contends with the other racers on the field but also with constant warnings of danger from his father.
We are also introduced to Glorianna Flux, the benefactor for Cranem and the GRX Engine.
As “Mean” Gene Okerlund would say, “you can cut the tension with a knife.” Ultimately, Speed’s ego proved to be the deciding factor in the race, leading to disastrous results.
Issues like this keep Speed Racer at the top of the charts. As with the previous episodes, there’s no shortage of intensity and high octane action. Cliches aside this is probably one of the fastest reads, and this is a compliment. This issue in particular has a feel where turning the pages isn’t fast enough to keep up with the action.
I honestly don’t know how they do it. Pepose, Tinto, Beaudoin, now joined by Jao Canola on colors and Chas Pangburn editing, consistently produces one of the best reimaginations of a classic and beloved character. The inclusion of short-lived or occasion recurring characters from the series into bigger and badder rivals is a nice touch which benefits both fans of the classic series a new readers.
