Speed Racer 0 review – Mad Cave Studios Free Comic Book Day Special

Speed Racer 0 is an intriguing opening act for Mad Cave Studios’ new take on Speed, Spritle, Pops, Racer X and the gang in Palm City. This initial offering was part of the Free Comic Book Day 2025 festivities.

Writer David Pepose pens the first chapter modernizing Speed’s activities. Speed doesn’t do his racing on a track but is a superstar street racer — undoubtedly one of the easiest and sensible tweaks to a character for contemporary audiences that’s been in existence since the 60s.

Speed’s brother Spritle is a streamer capturing all of Speed’s exploits with his handy drone. Longtime Speed Racer fans need not worry, Speed Racer 0 also features Chim Chim resting on Spritle’s shoulders.

For Speed Racer 0, Pepose sets up another adversarial group — the police, led by Inspector Rokugo. Davide Tinto’s artwork certainly has the racing on the razor’s edge feel. Speed Racer 0 features dynamic panels Tinto constructed that do an excellent job of capturing the feel of the original anime and constant motion. The racing sequences are very well crafted with Tinto making a big deal every time Speed unleashes a new trick with Mach 5.

Rex Lokus’ vibrant color work also aids in conveying that high energy feel of the cartoon series. Letterer Buddy Beaudoin adds creative font placement to emphasize sound effects and intense dialogue.

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Writer Mark Russell, artist Chris Batista, inker Sabrina Cintron, colorist Carlos Lopez and letterer Beaudoin use the second half of Speed Racer 0 for their introductory preview of Racer X. Like with Speed Racer, which starts in August, there is a waiting period for Racer X’s adventures. His solo title is slated to start in September.

Based on this preview, that will be a long wait for a character with so much potential to carry his own title in support of the main Speed Racer series. Racer X is stopping a gang that’s gunning for Speed.

As mysterious as ever, Racer X efficiently takes down the gang. In a fun bit of narration, Russell has Racer X calculating all of the costs associated with this mission like the several thousand dollars for the gang’s motorcycles and the $18 chain he uses to take them out.

Batista has been a longtime reliable artis who’s skilled at telling a strong story with concise and enthusiastic art. Since Racer X doesn’t get behind the wheel long in this issue, Batista gets to lean on his more superhero fighter experiences to show Racer X in action. Cintron does a fine job of embellishing Batista’s artwork and lining it up smoothly for Lopez’s bold colors.

Speed Racer 0 does an excellent job of getting fans of teh characters ready for the start of the new series when they launch later this year.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Mad Cave Studios

Enjoyed Speed Racer 0? Check out the 2008 Speed Racer film on Blu Ray now at Amazon.

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