Experience the story of Resident Evil 2 in a bizarre new way in this totally off base Chinese comic

Sometimes mutation is the sincerest form of flattery. If something doesn’t inspire some sort of expansion or iteration, chances are it wasn’t that interesting to begin with. This ability to riff on itself has been key to Resident Evil’s continued success as a franchise. Not only has each game in the series found a way to spin the DNA of Resident Evil 1 into something new and disgusting, but Capcom has allowed all manners of original comics, movies, and animated specials to come along for the ride as well.  The looseness of lore, which includes ancient mold monsters, futuristic artificial islands, leech lads, invulnerable clones, and of course, viruses and parasites a plenty, allows for the artists behind the series to excuse just about any wild idea they could dream of.

But even Resident Evil has its limits, and this 60 issue Resident Evil 2 manhua (the Chinese equivalent to manga) pushes all of them at the same time.  Spotted on Ian Macewan’s Bluesky timeline, this series was never officially localized, making it a form of lost media for some, though fans have since taken up to mantle of assuring its translation and preservation. 

It starts off with a few new characters added to the mix, like Leon’s old friends Dena, Baidu, Yalan Wu, and Charlie, but none of them go beyond what you might expect to read about in files that might have been lying around in Leon’s locker in the original game. But it’s only a few issues later that a giant robot based on Mr. X enters the fray, along with a masked muscular man named Apex Warrior, and a handsome man named God who sits on a throne made of bone. You may think these are throwaway additions, but God actually plays a major part of the story off and on until the end. 

There’s also a shocking amount of time focusing on Leon’s Dad, who may or may not have been killed in an incident related to pro basketball and a can of Umbrella-brand beer. Oh, and who’s that beautiful billionaire posing elegantly in a bathtub before flexing his muscles nearly naked for no reason other than because he can? He doesn’t show up for a while after the initial zombie outbreak moves into the rearview mirror, but I couldn’t go on with this paragraph without mentioning him. 

As one might expect, the art gets less impressive as the series goes on, and by the end, it’s connections to Resident Evil are barely recognizable, but the changes happen gradually enough that it’s easy to stay sucked in for the entire 60 issue run. You can read every page over on Project Umbrella for free. If you do, come on back here and post your favorite screenshots of the action. Mine is probably when a giant herbivore Licker the size of Godzilla battles a dinosaur, but it’s hard to pick just one.

You can find the whole translated series here.