In 2015 Viz Media reissued The Legend of Zelda Link To the Past comic series that originally ran in Nintendo Power starting in January 1992 for 12 issues. A couple years ago I found it at a store for $20 and picked it up because I remember reading a few episodes in Nintendo Power magazines and quite enjoyed the story and art. I've never read it start to finish and recently sat down and read through the whole thing.

Nintendo Power Magazines were aimed at kids and these comics are too. It's fun reading them now but I never noticed how strange Link acts. I always thought the comics were fun adventure stories but the story is played mostly straight and Link brings all of the comic relief. His facial expressions, way of speaking and how he approaches his quest are very quirky and in re-reading the comics it plays as fun but sometimes breaks the tone of the story.

Shotaro Ishinomori was the artist & writer on the Link to the Past comics and he tells a simple story that follows the game while doing something a bit different. Each beat that the story borrows from the game isn't quite the same and while many bosses are lifted the game whole cloth some, like a giant spider are entirely unique. Shotaro created the original character Roam for the comic that is another knight from Hyrule that competes with Link to kill Ganon. The Link and Roam story receives an interesting end I won't spoil but I felt it didn't quite add much to the story.

The Link to the Past reissue is a highlight from the SNES era but after reading it I didn't feel it quite hit the incredible heights of the Link to the Past game. That's a hard mark to hit for arguably on the best games of all time but if you are a huge Link to the Past fan this is something you should read. The art is incredible and if you are a collector of video game books this will be a fun addition to your collection.