by Chizuru who attacks them alongside her twin sister Maki Kagura. As Kyo and Iori defeat the Kagura sisters, it is revealed Maki is an undead fighter revived unintentionally Chizuru's power, the Yata Mirror. Chizuru had been brainwashed by Botan, a woman from an organization known as "Those From the Past". Kyo and Iori are then attacked by Botan's superior, Mukai, who also kills Kusanagi while the clone attempts to save Chizuru. K' faces Mukai and uses the power of Orochi to defeat him alongside Ash's help. Following Mukai's escape, Ash attacks Chizuru, and steals the Yata Mirror, promising Iori to be his next victim. A frustrated K' reunites with his friends as he remains taunted by Mukai. Publication In China the series was divided into two halves: The King of Fighters 2003 composed of five issues, and The King of Fighters 03: Xenon Zero (拳皇 XENON ZERO) composed of eight issues. The two series were combined for the North American release under the name of The King of Fighters 2003. In July 2004, ComicsOne licensed the series with its first volume tying the release of a new video game and kept publishing it after their transition to DrMaster. They were published in five issues of 128 pages from May 25, 2005 to June 26, 2008. Volume 1: May 25, 2005 Volume 2: September 25, 2005 Volume 3: January 25, 2006 Volume 4: March 28, 2008 Volume 5: June 26, 2008 Reception The comic has received positive mixed critical responses. Atomicavanue enjoyed the way fights were displayed as due to how faithful they are to their video game incarnation citing Kyo Kusanagi's moves as an example. Karl Lam from Comic Book Bin agreed, feeling the artwork was good in general and the translation from Chinese to English was well executed. Since the reviewed first issue was mostly centered around the characters' introduction, Lam noticed there was not many interactions. However, he gave the comic an overall score of 9 out of 10. In a more critical review, IGN was bothered by the new main character, Ash Crimson, feeling he was not as appealing other characters based on his characterization and also found it issues in the lack of backstories of the cast. Nevertheless, IGN felt the comic might be suitable for The King of Fighters and agreed the fight scenes were also enjoyable. A similar response in regards to the