#colors: frank gagliardo | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

137. Knuckles the Echidna #29

My Special Friend

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Frank Gagliardo

We have another standalone issue this time! Sally is pissed, as apparently she's just found out that Antoine was a part of the mission to retrieve her mother and brother from the Floating Island a while back, and is yelling at him for never having told her. He guiltily responds that it wasn't his place to tell her, and so she stalks off to see her father. He tries to speak first, but she, to her credit, cuts him off and insists that he listen to her first before he says anything.

I don't know how much the "I was only trying to protect you" excuse flies when she's literally talking about his previous orders to murder all Robians and force her into an arranged marriage. However, for whatever reason she listens to him, and he orders her to the Floating Island to hopefully negotiate some help in the renewed war against Robotnik. Meanwhile on said island, Knuckles is chatting with Catweazle, a face we haven't seen in a very long time, but in case you don't know him he's a cockatoo with a stupid name and a stupid appearance who first appeared very briefly in the Triple Trouble special. He's mostly come here to cheekily complain at Knuckles, first about him spending so much time in the city as of late, then about his own family, the possibility of Lara-Le and Wynmacher producing a new child of their own (which is a subject Knuckles carefully avoids), and finally, about recent sightings of Overlander craft flying around the island.

Gee, I wonder who those could belong to? They spot one flying towards the island at this very moment, and inside is Sally, presumably having "borrowed" it from Robotnik to take it out here. She's apparently feeling very guilty now about questioning her father, which is really something she has absolutely no reason to feel considering the BS he's pulled ever since coming out of the Zone of Silence. Nicole points out that his sickness and trauma from said zone has probably contributed to his irrational behavior, but then Sally says something I find to be extremely out of character, namely that her father's suggestion to dismantle the Robians was an "arguably pragmatic solution," that he must have done it in case of a situation like this where Robotnik was able to turn around and use them against the citizens of the kingdom once more, and that if she'd been through what he had, she might have done the same. Just, what? This is not like Sally at all - sure, she's an intelligent leader who knows how to make the hard decisions when she must, but that has never included literally murdering over four million unfortunate people just because they had the bad luck to be captured in the war. All I can chalk this up to is either her father's frankly quite emotionally abusive demeanor getting to her head, or - more likely - Penders doing a terrible job at writing Sally. This is just not the Sally we've known for over a hundred issues, this is not how she thinks or acts, and it's honestly a really messed up thing to try to write her as endorsing.

But anyway, Nicole advises her to activate a beacon in the ship, which the Brotherhood, still watching from inside Haven, recognizes as broadcasting the king's digital signature. They allow the ship to land, and she plops it down on the grass at the edge of the island right next to Knuckles, who she immediately marches up on and begins yelling at as well. Man, Sally just loves yelling at people this issue, huh?

Okay, that is a genuinely hilarious excuse to give for her coloring changes in the beginning of the comic. I'll accept it because that is amazing. Anyway, she confronts Knuckles about the existence of her mother and brother on the island, prompting him to retort that even he didn't have any idea they were here, and that if he'd known he would have gone straight to her about it. She just responds that she's here to see the Brotherhood, heading off any ideas he then has about her keeping that secret from him by saying she only learned of their existence today through her father. As if on cue, Spectre poofs in with the help of Deo Volente, and in comparison to his edgelord attitude in past issues he's very warm and welcoming to Sally, escorting her to Haven along with Knuckles to introduce her to the family.

I have to point out that the family line given here is in dispute - for whatever reason, several different issues disagree with each other on the placement of Sojourner and Thunderhawk, with some saying Thunderhawk is the father of Sojourner and others having it the other way around. I think the final order decided upon was the one depicted here, with Sojourner being the son of Spectre and the father of Thunderhawk, but even that isn't fully clear. Boy, it sure is fun keeping all these names straight, isn't it?

As Spectre ushers everyone into a meeting room, Knuckles quietly confronts his father off to the side about how his secret-keeping has now led to his friends, as well, being affected. Locke simply retorts that Sally and he shouldn't have been friends to begin with, and when Knuckles irritably challenges the idea that Locke should be able to decide who he can and can't be friends with Locke dismissively states that Sally's "people" try too hard to coexist peacefully with the Overlanders, which has only led to them being constantly embroiled in war. Geez, Locke, any sympathy? Any at all? Neither the Great War nor the previous Robotnik War were the fault of Sally's people - in fact, they were both almost entirely the fault of Robotnik, with the Great War having Kodos share some of that blame - and this current war is hardly their fault either. His assessment of the situation is downright cold. But it turns out, in a sense, he's just following tradition, as evidenced by the response of the other members of the Brotherhood to Sally's petition for aid.

Because she refuses to agree to the use of literally all kinds of technology, which knowing these guys probably includes nuclear weapons, they decide to give her precisely no help at all, and she leaves Haven in an understandable state of anger and disappointment. It's like these assholes don't even consider the fact that Robotnik will hardly be content to stop at the surface world - we already have evidence from more than one incident where the original Robotnik was planning to extend his rule out into space once he was finished with the planet, and considering the new Robotnik literally dimension-hopped to find even more places to conquer once he bombed his home zone into oblivion, I highly doubt he's just going to leave the island alone if you guys try to remain neutral.

Ugh, this whole issue is just a mess. Knuckles visits the Colonel's compound, asking about Sally, and soon finds her sitting at the edge of the island alone. He tries to talk to her, but when she brushes him off again he points out that just as her own father hid a lot of secrets from her in the past, so has his own. He reminds her of their friendship, how they spent many days together as kids and were able to relate to each other over their duties under their respective fathers. Sally is still upset, and asks him why he didn't support her when the rest of the Brotherhood was shooting her down back there, and he points out that he can't buck tradition any more than she can, given their positions.

The Colonel and his wife (still creepily referring to each other as "mother" and "father") watch the two of them argue through the window of the compound, lamenting that they're so young and should be able to play and enjoy life, not have to fight wars and carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. I've already gone over this, but that's kind of the point - that these wars have left the world so messed up that child soldiers are the norm now, not even because a regime forced them to fight against their will, but because they had no other choice - that if they didn't fight, the world would have fallen.

As Sally leaves, Knuckles watches her go, sadly thinking to himself about how the commonalities that once brought them together and made them able to relate to one another were now tearing their friendship apart. He ends up feeling torn between his childhood friend and his duty to his family and people. Honestly, it's a hard choice to make - after all, as much as Sally would like it, he can't just leave the island and come help her out in the war. Even if he did want to ditch tradition and reject his place as part of the Brotherhood, at this point, given everything that's happened in his comic so far, there's so much keeping him tethered to this place, so many ties he'd have to cut if he wanted to go help in the war. It's a rough position to be in, for sure.

Coming up after a few more issues, we actually have the final arc of this series - the Knuckles the Echidna comic was cancelled not long after this, meaning there's only room for one more three-issue arc. To be honest, I'm a little sad to see it go - I know I've been over this many times, but despite the many problems with how he writes, I am genuinely fond of a lot of the characters, plots, and worldbuilding that are in Kenders' works, and it was interesting to see those things shone in their own dedicated comic. We've still got several more issues before it ends, though, so time to move forward!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #kte 29 #writer: ken penders #pencils: art mawhinney #colors: frank gagliardo

9 notes · View notes

sonicpanels · 10 months

Text

Sonic Super Special #7: "Parallel Paradigm"

Writer(/possible uncredited layouts)/Inks: Ken Penders Pencils: Jim Valentino Colors: Frank Gagliardo & Patrick Spaziante Letters: Jeff Powell

Editor: Justin Gabrie Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Archie Comics #Image Comics #Sally Acorn #Eddie Collins #ShadowHawk #Antoine D'Coolette #Miles Tails Prower #Knuckles the Echidna #Rotor Walrus #Bunnie Rabbot #1998

18 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

129. Knuckles the Echidna #26

The First Date (Part One of Three): She Loves You… (And You Know That Can't Be Bad!)

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Chris Allan Colors: Frank Gagliardo

So this arc is kind of… eh, awkward and dull. There's really no action, and it's all centered around love and dating and whatnot like we're suddenly watching a bad will-they-won't-they sitcom. Everything is extremely heteronormative - like look, I get this is the 90s, but everything is about "boys and girls" and just ends up sounding really juvenile as a result - and everyone is really out of character, too. I mean, do Knuckles or Julie-Su seem like the types to wander around all lovesick like shallow high schoolers? Not to mention the Chaotix, especially Vector, are… well… ugh, let's just jump into this and get it over with.

The Chaotix are hanging around in their usual burger joint, when Espio mentions that recently he's heard some surprising news about Prince Charmy - namely, that he's gotten engaged!

Now, you remember how a while back when the Chaotix were first introduced I had to clarify that unlike in the games, where he's six years old, in the comics he's sixteen? This is one of those moments that completely threw me when I first read the comics, because I had been operating under the assumption all this time that he was six. Now, obviously sixteen is still pretty damn young to be getting engaged, but I was sitting here with my eyebrows furrowed wondering why Charmy's friends didn't seem more concerned that this six year old child suddenly had a fiancée. I thought that his parents had arranged his marriage to Saffron (for whatever reason her name is misspelled in this issue, with only one F) and that by going back to his role as a prince he'd basically doomed himself to having his love life strictly controlled. But no, I guess somehow in the short time since he left the group and went back home, he got into a serious enough relationship with Saffron that he proposed (or hell, maybe she proposed, who knows). It's possible there was still pressure from his parents considering his heritage, but for now we can only assume that it was a totally voluntary action on his part to get engaged to Saffron, which is just… really, really weird.

Now Vector is very displeased to hear this. Vector is, in fact, something of a gigantic sexist douchebag in this issue, talking big about how no woman could handle him, prompting Espio and Mighty to joke that Julie-Su is more than his match if they were to go head to head in a fight. We then cut to Julie-Su angrily and viciously firing her blaster while shouting about Knuckles "running out on her."

Geez, man. You think her insurance covers blaster burn marks on the walls? She's mostly angry because she wants to talk to Knuckles one on one, but he's not there with her right now. He's with his father, in some kind of apartment-like space within Haven (it's not really clear, but I'm assuming Haven given we're talking about Locke here) as his father makes him breakfast. Out of nowhere, Knuckles asks his father about "why boys and girls get together," prompting Locke to immediately spit out his coffee. Knuckles, unfazed by the sudden brown-colored backwash all over the table, starts going on about how whenever he's around Julie-Su, he feels "weird."

This is maybe my least favorite part of Kenders' worldbuilding in the comic. Apparently, the Soultouch is an instant romantic attraction between two members of the opposite sex amongst echidnas, essentially love at first sight. It's not outright stated, but in case you haven't guessed, this is why Julie-Su so abruptly left the Dark Legion when she first spotted Knuckles many issues ago, feeling like she "had to find him" but didn't know why. Knuckles asks that if the Soultouch is accurate, why Locke and Lara-Le ended up splitting up, to which Locke shrugs and says that he doesn't know, but even the best of relationships require a lot of work, which is maybe the most accurate thing written in this entire arc. Knuckles then utterly hilariously, and completely accidentally, makes his case for homosexuality by saying he thinks things would be easier if guys stuck with guys and girls stuck with girls, noting that he gets along way easier with his male friends and "doesn’t even think about other girls." Kenders clearly wasn't meaning to characterize Knuckles as a closeted gay, but that's how it comes across and it's amazing. Let Knuckles be gay if he wants, man!

Meanwhile, out on the street, Espio and Mighty start challenging Vector's flippant attitude toward women, taunting him that he probably doesn't even have the backbone to ask a girl out on a date right now. Vector, his fragile masculinity sufficiently rattled, stomps away and begins casing out the women in the area in perhaps the most uncomfortably out of character series of panels I've ever seen.

*sigh* Kenders… why in the unholy hell… did you think this was okay? Remember the sweet but clueless Vector in Sonic X who did his utmost to help Vanilla out and give her nice things because he had a crush on her, not caring about how "hot" she was or that she was a single mother with a little kid? Yeah, this isn't him. Ugh.

Julie-Su, meanwhile, has had enough of moping around in her apartment and takes a walk outside, trying to think of ways she can improve herself and become more confident. She happens to pass by a clothing boutique and glance inside, and as she muses to herself that perhaps she needs to stop being so serious all the time and learn to have a little fun - probably a good idea, considering she was part of a technological military group for so long - a passing echidna suggests to her that she go inside and try out the hat she was absentmindedly staring at. She's startled, but allows herself to be led inside by the echidna and an attendant of the store.

I very much disagree that it's "so her" - I feel like Sarah-Connor-style badass tank tops and combat boots are more her aesthetic - but regardless, the echidna encourages her and then invites her out for lunch. Fun to contrast his polite and complimentary approach towards Vector's more misogynistic one, huh? Back in Haven, while Locke is out of the room, Knuckles' musings are interrupted by Archimedes poofing in and immediately noticing his lovesick state. Upon hearing that Locke was rather awkward in trying to explain the source of his feelings, Archimedes offers his own advice for Knuckles' problem which basically boils down to "you'll never know if you don't take the plunge." Knuckles, encouraged, stands up and has Archimedes poof them away, and a second later Locke walks back in, surprised to see the room empty. Back in the streets, Vector is still trying to "score" to prove himself to Espio and Mighty…

That is the most uncomfortably-drawn swan I've ever seen. Like… why in the world does she have boobs? She's a bird! Birds don't need boobs! Argh! Archimedes poofs Knuckles straight into a restaurant, apparently having homed directly in on Julie-Su, because there she is, out to lunch with Raynor the echidna who asked her out, and to Knuckles' shock, she's holding his hand… better make a move fast, man, cause this polite dude is gonna win her over first!

Friend in Need

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Manny Galan Colors: Barry Grossman

So I think this is actually the first KtE arc that has a secondary story at the end of each issue - previously, they've all had one story taking up the full span of the pages. This story follows Mighty, in which he is approached by Nicolette the Weasel, who prefers to go by Nic due to her full name "not sounding tough enough for a bounty hunter," and who is Nack's previously-unmentioned sister (and looks exactly like him but with eyelashes and a crop top, because girl). She gives Mighty a red collar, which in shock he realizes used to belong to Ray the Flying Squirrel, whom he used to know. He agrees to come with Nic on her latest treasure hunting venture, providing the brawn she needs in exchange for his chance to look for what happened to Ray. While they're flying to their destination, Mighty becomes lost in memories of how he met Ray, leading to one of the most jarring character revelations next to "Charmy is a prince" - all we've ever known about Mighty up till now is that he has super strength and likes hanging around on the Floating Island, but apparently, six or seven years ago he was captured by Robotnik's forces and taken to a goddamn slave labor camp, where he found himself on a prisoner transport cart along with Ray. Ray had a very bad stutter, most likely due to fear and trauma, but was still kind to those around him, and Mighty began to look after him even though he was shackled due to his strength. But unexpectedly, one of the other prisoners on board this cart was Sonic! Keep in mind, we're talking about a cart full of eight year old children that Robotnik was shipping off. Mighty was skeptical of Sonic's confident attitude, with Sonic claiming that he was there to break everyone out, and that Robotnik didn't suspect him since he was only a child and up until recently adults had been carrying on the fight. However, with recent losses, the Freedom Fighters formed by Sally in the Sonic Kids special started taking up arms against Robotnik as well.

Let that sink in, man. This is why the leading members of the resistance against Robotnik were children and young teens. All the adults were dead or roboticized. Anyone who could have fought was gone. These children had no one else to stand up for their freedom; circumstance forced them to step forward and take the lead instead. Remember what I was talking about a while back, about Sonic having trouble settling down after Robotnik's death and how he was so used to war as essentially a child soldier that even in peacetime he found himself unable to relax? This is the true horror of the war against Robotnik. King Acorn's abrupt disbanding of the Freedom Fighters several issues ago may have seemed dismissive and uncaring, but in the end, his point of view does make sense - he doesn't want literal children robbed of their chance to, well, be children. Just think of how many main characters, and hell, even side characters, thought for so long that they were orphans until their family members started turning up after the war. Think about how many are still orphans for all their know - where are Amadeus and Rosemary Prower? Where's Bunnie's parents? Antoine's mother? Amy's parents? That is what the war against Robotnik cost society. It's actually kind of chilling.

Anyway, Nic wakes Mighty up from his train of thought as they land at the site of the now-deserted labor camp. Mighty is a little jumpy, still reluctant to trust Nic fully, but suddenly an unexpected face makes her appearance…

Fiona? As in, the robot that Tails supposedly fell in love with right before his solo adventure? She's a real person? And Mighty somehow knows her? Oh boy, there's a lot to cover here…

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #kte 26 #writer: ken penders #pencils: chris allan #colors: frank gagliardo #pencils: manny galan #colors: barry grossman

12 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

165. Sonic the Hedgehog #97

My Secret Identity

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Nelson Ribeiro and Harvey Mercadoocasio Colors: Frank Gagliardo

So Sonic has his latest plan in place. He's dressed himself up entirely in black clothing, covering everything but his eyes to disguise his identity. In true "cartoon hero disguise" fashion, it's obvious that it's him if you look at him for more than two seconds so that he'll be recognizable to us the audience, but somehow no one who sees him within the comic itself recognizes him. As he gets himself ready for his mission, Geoffrey and his team prepare for theirs as well. Due to the damage the shadow-bot sustained when Geoffrey needlessly fired his crossbow bolts into it, Uncle Chuck's message comes through garbled, leading the Secret Service to believe that Eggman still has the sword instead of Uma. As they discuss their plan of action, Sally approaches to give her own opinion on things.

What I don't get here is that Geoffrey fully acknowledged just a couple issues ago that Sally is a far more capable leader than Elias, and yet he immediately jumps in to argue with her when she gives her own opinion on how the proceedings should go. I guess he really does just hate Sonic that freaking much, huh? Sonic, meanwhile, has snuck out of the village, but while he makes his way through the forest intending to search for Uma, he encounters the Secret Service trudging through the forest as well. Overhearing that they intend to head for Robotropolis to follow their inaccurate lead, he reluctantly follows them there instead… with the goal of protecting them. So Geoffrey does everything he can to sabotage Sonic's status as a hero and his relationship with Sally, and yet the moment Sonic realizes Geoffrey may be in trouble, he immediately goes out of his way to help him - in secret, no less, with no thought to his own ego. Here we have the obvious difference between a true hero, and a self-serving jackass.

In Eggman's HQ, Colin has brought one Professor Cheddermund to share some data he and his people found while traveling space. Eggman acts grateful and escorts Colin out so he, Snively and Cheddermund can "discuss" the data, but instead, strange symbols begin to scroll across the professor's eyeglasses, hypnotizing him… As the two evil geniuses sedate him, Sonic secretly tails the Secret Service, looking out for them as they traverse the dank alleyways of the city - but unfortunately they're not stealthy enough, and some cameras catch them in the act, alerting Eggman. However, barely a moment after the images transmit to him in his HQ, the screens go blank.

Despite his attempts to literally cover up for Geoffrey and his team, they're all captured, and Sonic, in trying to get to them, ends up captured as well. This leads into one of the most unintentionally hilarious pages in the entirety of the Archie Sonic comic series.

Everyone is placed in a cell together, where Geoffrey acts understandably suspicious of Sonic, though he doesn't recognize him. Sonic tells him that he's called "The Sneak," and is an operative from Sand-Blast City here on reconnaissance for his people. Eggman shows up, gloating over their capture, and takes Geoffrey away for an "interrogation," which strangely just means being transferred to another cell alone for a little while. When Geoffrey is returned, Hershey is taken away next, followed by Wombat Stu. When the shadow-bots bring him back and take Heavy and Bomb away, Sonic says that they need to get out immediately, and suggests leaving Heavy and Bomb for now, as since they're robots they can't be roboticized. Geoffrey gets angry at the suggestion that he leave some of his team behind, a sentiment that I actually agree with him on for once, but before they can really get an argument going, a loud explosion drowns them out.

Well, it appears Eggman forgot that one of his prisoners was a literal bomb, eh? They make their quick escape through the hole blown in their cell wall, and when Geoffrey turns around to check on "The Sneak's" status, he's mysteriously gone. However, perhaps their escape was not all it seemed, as Snively and Eggman watch from afar, snickering to each other about how the others didn't even guess that they'd secretly reprogrammed both Heavy and Bomb to orchestrate a fake escape, and now that they're free, the two robots will be able to do a lot more from the inside…

Meanwhile Sonic has, of course, raced away at top speed to get back to Knothole before the Secret Service does, stashing his disguise in a hollow log near the village's entrance. However, before he can reenter Knothole, someone from offscreen yells for him to freeze and surrender… and a notice at the bottom of the page informs us that Sonic Adventure 2 has begun! That's right - next issue we cover the story of Sonic Adventure 2, but like I mentioned before, it's a bit different from the adaption of the first game…

To the Brink

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Green Knuckles and Turbo Tails are currently locked in a fierce battle with each other. Knuckles is mostly lashing out due to pain and confusion, wanting to be left alone, and Tails is fighting back just because, well, that's what you do when a superpowered green echidna starts punching you in the face. He continues to insist that he doesn't want to fight, and repeatedly tries to get Knuckles to stop lashing out so they can talk.

Knuckles, of course, responds to Tails' pleas for him to stop fighting by hitting Tails in the face with lasers from his eyes, because yeah, sure, okay I guess. Tails retaliates by grabbing onto Knuckles' ankles with his namesakes, which are apparently totally prehensile, and dangling him upside down. This pisses Knuckles off even more, and he flips Tails over and begins violently beating him into the pavement, which is of course a totally reasonably and proportionate response to such an act. Merlin and Athair actually consider stepping in at this point, but Knuckles suddenly stops dead, having heard a ghostly echo of Julie-Su's voice calling for him. He immediately disappears in a flash of light, and a distraught Merlin rushes to the unconscious Tails' side, asking Athair how things could have gone so wrong. Athair is confused as well, since apparently according to the both of them, Turbo Tails is even more power than Super Sonic. Athair decides to probe Tails' mind, and what he finds there shocks him - he realizes that this isn't even Tails at all! Somehow, it's a mere copy of Tails - not a robot, but some kind of organic duplicate which thinks and acts exactly like him, and even believes himself to be him.

I mean, I guess discretion could be helpful in this situation, but is it really a good idea to just plop this imposter Tails back into Knothole without telling anyone? This means the real Tails is out there somewhere, somehow having been kidnapped when no one was paying attention. But who could have taken him, and how, and why…? Well, we'll have to wait for answers on that one, as now we move into the preboot's take on Sonic Adventure 2!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 97 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: nelson ribeiro #pencils: harvey mercadoocasio #pencils: ron lim #colors: frank gagliardo

4 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

171. Sonic the Hedgehog #103

Freedom Fighters of the Galaxy (Part One)

Writer: Michael Gallagher Pencils: Jim Valentino Colors: Stephanie Vozzo

So for the next couple of issues, we're actually taking a bit of a break from the heavy stuff. For those who don't know, Michael Gallagher was actually a main writer for the Marvel Comics' Guardians of the Galaxy series during the 90s, and this story is a parody of it. To be clear - I usually have a policy of "if it ain't canon, I don't care" but we've covered alternate-zone Sonics before, and this is technically canonically taking place, just in a parallel zone instead of in our very own Mobius Prime. Zonic arrives to welcome us into an alternate zone for the duration of this story, a zone that exists a full millennium into the future. Mobius is by now a barely-habitable wasteland full of burnt-out husks of buildings and flames that consume the skyline. Lovely place! A spaceship descends onto the planet's surface, and Sonic emerges dressed in a black and silver suit, only to have a being who looks like Tails in a black cosplay wig jump down to him from above. Sonic begins asking how long he's been away from the planet, and when "Tails" seems confused he launches into an explanation of his recent past.

Well that sucks, man. The other being, who introduces himself as "Tailon," explains that at some point during the War of the World a thousand years ago, the Freedom Fighters lost their main champion and subsequently lost the entire war. The planet was burned and became largely uninhabitable, even killing Robotnik himself, but some Mobians did manage to survive, and Tailon is the descendant of one of those survivors. Suddenly, they're attacked by a band of "brass knuckles," which are of course robotic echidnas, and Sonic works with Tailon to defeat them. However, even more arrive, too many to fight on their own - but at that moment, another spaceship descends from above, and a group of other superpowered beings emerges.

Now, I have never actually read the Guardians of the Galaxy comics, nor do I know anything else about any iteration of the series besides what's in the first modern movie, which I've only seen once anyway (I'm not really into superheroes, sue me), but the wiki assures me that all of these guys' names and powers are based on the heroes in the comic that Michael wrote for. Together, everyone works to defeat the rest of the brass knuckles, with Michael unable to resist his usual weird penchant for making Bunnie (or rather, "Bunni") shout bizarre and mildly-offensive taunts relating to the American Civil War, and afterwards the Freedom Fighters of the Galaxy explain how they came to be after the planet was burned.

That is… incredibly depressing, what the hell? I don't know, just that shot of an exhausted and beaten-down group of Freedom Fighters walking through the smoking, ruined city streets is really sad. Anyway, despite there only being one inhabitant of each new planet, they somehow managed to populate said planets, evolving into new forms over the centuries. Bunni's ancestors gained acrobatic skills and fiery hair, 'Twan-Du's ancestors literally shaped their toupees into crests to collect solar energy (and I guess that makes them good archers or something?), Rotor-27's ancestors developed into a martial culture that prided themselves on strength, and Saleta's ancestors settled "Bluto," the planet furthest from the sun, and learned to harness the powers of light. Everything was fine, until just a few years ago, when a genocidal species called "The Shark" (which an editor's note informs us evolved from technology that the Forty Fathoms Freedom Fighters launched into space during the War of the World, officially cementing their place as the most useless and harmful Freedom Fighter chapter ever) descended upon the solar system and literally. Ate. Everyone. They just… ate everyone, man, and after they consumed all living matter on every planet (except for Mobius, apparently) they left, with only Saleta, Bunni, Rotor-27, 'Twan-Du, and Hawkhawk surviving. Thus, they formed their Freedom Fighter group, and now intend to protect the galaxy from all evil! Obviously, Sonic and Tailon are invited to join up as well, by which I mean Hawkhawk aggressively orders them to join, and as Sonic understandably balks at his rudeness, an explosion interrupts their discussion, and… this… abomination emerges from the smoke.

I don't think you guys understand just how freaking hard I lost my crap when I first saw this. I just collapsed straight into hysterical laughter and had to take a break from everything, because the sheer absurdity of a naked, silver-coated Snively riding a surfboard that says "bad boy" burned itself into my brain for all eternity and would not let me go. This is objectively one of the best panels in the entirety of this comic and you cannot convince me otherwise. Go ahead. Try to find something funnier than silver bad boy gremlin man. I dare you.

Myth Taken Identity (Part One)

Writer: Michael Gallagher Pencils: Dave Manak Colors: Frank Gagliardo

So you remember how a whiiiile ago, I said that it seemed kind of bizarre that Wombat Stu would so easily leave behind his fellows in the Downunda Freedom Fighters, without even so much as a goodbye? Well it turns out that they've actually been holding auditions to try to find a replacement member to bring their team back up to five. However, everyone who auditions is terrible, and the team resigns themselves to remaining at four for now, eventually taking to reminiscing about the "good old days" back when they first formed the group. Walt, Bill, and Guru found each other first while out wandering, and upon seeing a factory polluting the landscape they ran to check it out. There, they found a prison camp run by Crocbot, who planned to run cruel experiments on his captives, whom the three quickly freed. Wombat Stu showed up then, having been keeping an eye on the camp for some time but not having the manpower to take it down, and eagerly joined up with the other three as they press onward, trying to find Crocbot's main headquarters. On the way they met Barby, who at the time was a roaming mercenary who wanted to take down Crocbot as well, and they agreed to officially form up into the Downunda Freedom Fighters.

Alerted by the cry, the four remaining members rush outside to find one of the Mobians who auditioned for their team looking battered and worse for wear, ranting about how he and the others were attacked by the bunyip before fainting dramatically. Hey, remember how when Crocbot was unplugged all the way back in StH#61, Crocbot also mentioned something about the bunyip? There was a little tease-y textbox back then inviting people to write in if they wanted to hear about the bunyip adventure, but it had been so long I almost thought they forgot about it. Not so, however! Apparently we're finally tackling the bunyip problem, starting with finding out exactly what it is and why it's been attacking random people…

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 103 #writer: michael gallagher #pencils: jim valentino #pencils: dave manak #colors: stephanie vozzo #colors: frank gagliardo

3 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

168. Sonic the Hedgehog #100

So you remember what I said last issue about the SA2 issue seeming like it was just thrown in there last minute, with an almost flippant disregard for how it should affect canon? How it seemed like the writers were just eager to get it out of the way so that they could get back to the story they were already in the middle of? This and the next issue support my theory. This is the big 1-0-0 - the comic has finally hit triple digits, and as such you'd expect this issue to be something truly amazing, really special and bombastic in the same way that Endgame was. And yet… all things considered, despite the cover page, it's fairly ordinary. In fact, the next issue is a lot more game-changing, making me think that with the addition of Sonic Adventure 2 into the mix, the team simply pushed their next few planned issues forward one, making the issue that was initially planned as the hundredth issue into the hundred-and-first. It definitely ends up giving this issue and the next very strange vibes, as they try to make this one seem incredibly epic when it just… isn't. But that's no reason to complain, after all - there's still some very important events to cover in this issue, so let's move into it!

Reunion

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Stephanie Vozzo

We're finally getting the chance to see what Eggman's big plan is for the Overlanders. With the help of Snively, he's upgraded his systems (because remember, he's still a robot himself) so that he's capable of roboticizing anyone with a single touch…

Well that's not good… Sally, Rotor, and Tails, meanwhile, have just managed to learn of the location of the Sword of Acorns from Uma when Kodos shows up to attack them. Sally evades his blows and races off, determined to get to the sword before Kodos. At the same time, Nate leaves Knothole, telling Mina that he intends to warn the Overlanders about the deadly radiation that permeates Robotropolis before it kills them, and Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine catch up to Tails and Rotor in time to hear about Sally going after the sword, and are disturbed to see Uma lying dead nearby, thinking that Kodos killed her. Sonic races off to catch up with Sally before it's too late, as she reaches the fissure in the forest where Uma told her the sword is hidden. However, Kodos is still hot on her tail…

Sonic stands frozen in shock, almost unaware that behind him, Bunnie, Antoine, and Tails have begun to fight with Kodos, ultimately knocking him out. Together the entire group approaches the edge of the cliff, staring down towards the darkness into which Sally has fallen, believing her to be dead from the fall. Sonic quietly states his intention to go down and retrieve her body, but before he can find a way down, a blinding flash of light emits from the crevasse. At the same time, Nate enters Robotropolis and is quickly captured, with Eggman gloating about his plan to now use Nate as bait to lure Sonic in before trapping him inside with his energy dome. But back in the forest…

Well, that's intense.

Sonic and Sally finally find themselves face to face for the first time in nearly two months, and don't know quite what to say to each other. They don't get very far beyond slightly strained greetings before Mina shows up, causing Sally to turn away to hide her feelings as Mina informs Sonic that Nate has gone to Robotropolis. And so, everyone in the group set out to rescue him before anything bad happens to him. Meanwhile, Eggman has Nate brought to him to ask him a question of a scientific nature…

Aw yeah Uncle Chuck! Sonic rushes further into the city while Chuck escorts Nate to a slightly safer location for the time being, and soon the three meet up, with an overjoyed Sonic hugging his uncle tightly. Everyone else, at the same time, has headed to a different part of the city, where they know the roboticized Mobians are all being kept hidden from the Overlanders' eyes.

Both groups meet up, and crowds of terrified Overlanders scatter, believing that they're being invaded by the Mobians. Nate realizes that the energy dome is still keeping everyone trapped, so he splits off secretly from the group to find a way to lower it. The crowd reaches the edge of the dome, realizing they're unable to leave, and a holographic image of Eggman begins to gloat, but then the dome suddenly dissipates, leaving everyone free to escape. But what of Nate? Sonic thinks everything is fine, not yet realizing that he's missing…

Oh… oh no…

Welcome to the Dark Side

Writer/Pencils: Ken Penders Colors: Frank G.

This story for some reason begins with a brief recap of Dimitri's entire life story, including his previous tangles with Knuckles and the loss of his powers to Mammoth Mogul. We then open with Lien-Da rudely retrieving Julie-Su from her cell on board the Dark Legion's battleship. Man, how long has it been since we've even seen Julie-Su? She was captured back in Sonic Super Special #14, so that makes fourteen issues of no Julie-Su, which if you ask me is a cardinal sin. Back on the bridge, Dimitri expresses surprise at Knuckles' appearance, claiming that he figured Knuckles was sealed away into an alternate dimension along with the rest of his island (oh, so that's what the orange energy blast did). Lien-Da then returns with Julie-Su, who is overjoyed to see Knuckles.

Oh… well that is quite an offer, Dimitri. One I wouldn't have expected you to make. Julie-Su is outraged, but Dimitri chides her for it, reminding her that she was once one of them as well. Knuckles, feeling he has no choice for the sake of his own people, agrees, and soon another energy beam fired from the ship's quantum cannon has opened a tear in between dimensions, bringing the Floating Island back. But along with the Floating Island comes a couple of characters we haven't seen in quite some time… namely, Tobor and Kragok! If you'll recall, time in the Twilight Zone moves much more slowly than in this dimension, and so they appear to be still locked in their fight from when they fell into the other zone in the first place. Tobor is initially overjoyed to be back, hoping he can finally enjoy his life with his family, but is then horrified to find that his benefactors are none other than the Dark Legion. Kragok tackles him midair, and Tobor, making up his mind, decides that if he has to die to defeat the Legion, then so be it. He grabs a now-terrified Kragok, and directs their fall… straight into the quantum cannon.

This is quite bittersweet. No one really wanted poor Tobor to die, especially not after the hard life he had, but after hundreds of years, he's finally reunited with his father for good. As they walk off into the afterlife together, Knuckles, now resigned to the fact that he's a Dark Legionnaire, asks Dimitri if there are other ways for him to save his family and friends from danger. Dimitri gives some stock villain response about how his people have followed a "different path" from that of Knuckles' family line, and when Knuckles tentatively agrees that maybe he should try something new, Dimitri welcomes him to "the dark side," which is definitely not something that someone evil would ever say! Yeah, Dimitri seems trustworthy for sure! Go Knuckles!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 100 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: ron lim #pencils: ken penders #colors: stephanie vozzo #colors: frank gagliardo

4 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

163. Sonic the Hedgehog #95

Okay, I'm calling it. Whoever drew up the initial plans for that cover has one hell of a webbing fetish. Spaz, Harvo, whichever of you it was, I'm onto you.

Enemy Mine

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: FRY Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Sonic the Hedgehog, as one might imagine, is immensely relieved to be out of school for the day.

*sigh* Oh, Geoffrey. You were just on the cusp of being an actually likable character, and then the power went to your head. Have you forgotten that not only did Sally reject you quite a while ago, so you have absolutely no recourse for being so weirdly protective of her time and space, but that Sonic is literally her childhood best friend whom she prefers to spend most of her time with? At this point you're literally just being a dick for no good reason. I wouldn't be surprised if Sonic has tried to visit her multiple times ever since being confined to Knothole, only to get the same response each time, and afterwards, Geoffrey would just so happen to neglect to mention the attempted visit to Sally. Oh, I'm sure he'd justify it to himself as just making sure she's not distracted from her royal duties, but we all know the real reason why he's continually turning Sonic away like this.

Back in Robotropolis, Eggman has brought Snively out to see Colin, and Snively acts genuinely happy to see his father once again, though we know it's just an act. However, a few blocks away, every Overlander on the street finds themselves scared half to death as a rampaging Kodos, foaming at the mouth and yelling incoherently about losing the sword, bursts from the very pavement below and begins swinging his greataxe wildly. Eggman immediately recognizes Kodos, and dispatches some shadow-bots to chase him out of the city, only furthering his carefully crafted image as a protector of Overlanders against the "furry menace."

Within Knothole, Sonic happens upon Tails' abandoned bookbag in the dirt on his way home, with his internal monologue telling us that he should have recognized something was wrong right away, but at the time only figured he was helping Tails out by retrieving it. He returns home, unenthusiastically replying to his parents' questions about his day at school and skipping out on dinner in favor of lying in bed musing. After a moment's thought, he realizes that he can't stand hanging out in Knothole and doing nothing any longer, and so under cover of darkness he sneaks out, intending to head to Robotropolis to hopefully help the unwittingly-imprisoned Overlanders there.

Basically everything Bunnie ever does only cements her position as one of my favorite Sonic characters of all time, to be honest. Also, I forgot to mention it last issue, but her new outfit is ridiculously cute and suits her super well. She and Sonic make their way to the city and do some aerial reconnaissance, and are stunned at the sight of the Overlanders seemingly peacefully living their lives within the city, unmolested by Eggman's nefarious plans. With no real way to "rescue" the willing citizens of the city, they head back, but on the way happen upon a scene neither of them would have expected in a million years.

Back in Robotropolis, Eggman calls Snively to his HQ, ready to reveal to his nephew finally why he hasn't roboticized everyone in the city yet. He gestures to something offscreen, of which all we can see is a pair of robotic boots, and Snively wipes away a tear of admiration at whatever he's seeing… this can't be good. Meanwhile, Hope goes to bed after her fright last issue, mentioning to her grandma that she saw a robot that looked like an animal, and Agnes reassures her that there's probably a good explanation for it, though she begins to wonder to herself if that's true after all. Within the forest, Sonic and Bunnie leap into action against Kodos, since he seems to be clearly the crazier of the two combatants in front of them. In his rage, Kodos grabs Bunnie and throws her into Sonic, dazing her, and Sonic, with his previous failure to protect the king from injury still fresh in his mind, insists that Bunnie head back to Knothole without him, which she does angrily since she doesn't want to be left out. Sonic tries to use his speed to fight against Kodos, who is still screaming nonsense about the sword, clearly addled out of his mind by something, and when Sonic tries to dodge he falls straight into a web spun by Uma Arachnis herself, becoming stuck and unable to evade Kodos' next axe strike. However, just before he's cleaved in two, Uma leaps in while her enemy is distracted and knocks him cold.

ARE THOSE SPIDER EGGS? Okay, no. No, no, nope, not doing this. I am not prepared to watch Uma Arachnis become the mother to a thousand tiny spider Mobians crawling all over the place. It's just not happening. I'm moving into the next story now. Goodbye.

When Destiny Calls

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Knuckles is having an extraordinarily bad day. The Chaos Syphon has only accelerated the growth of his powers, and now he finds himself on the floor in the Southern Tundra, overwhelmed by agony. Athair and Tails teleport in, and Tails is horrified to see his friend in pain, darting forward to try to help. However, Knuckles warns him away, and suddenly the image of the Floating Island appears before them.

Tails is transported to the island by Athair, and finds Knuckles inside some kind of facility there, sobbing on the ground and begging for the pain to stop. Honestly, it's painful to watch even as a reader - I know I won't stop going on about how awful Gala-Na is, but this is her fault. Well, I guess technically a lot of it is Locke's fault, but damn, at least he cared to some degree about protecting his son from suffering. Meanwhile Gala-Na was, again I stress, totally ready and willing to abduct and torture a teenager to soothe her own fears about his relation to Dimitri. Tails rushes over to Knuckles, again stating his desire to help, but Knuckles, seemingly not recognizing where he is or who Tails is, punches him square in the jaw before releasing another uncontrolled blast of energy, knocking Tails out. Athair teleports Tails away once again, and brings him straight to the lair of… Merlin Prower! Hey, remember him? We've only ever seen him a small handful of times, as just a lonely old wizard watching over his nephew from afar, but now he's angered to see Tails unconscious and injured, blaming Athair for what's happened. Athair insists that the world now needs "the Chosen One," because again, remember, that's what Tails apparently is in this universe, but Merlin says that it's not Tails' job to save the echidnas from their own hubris.

Well now! This is an actually interesting tidbit of information here. How exactly have the Ancient Walkers come to the brink of death, since they're essentially deities? I suppose those answers will have to wait…

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 95 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: james fry #pencils: ron lim #colors: frank gagliardo

3 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

162. Sonic the Hedgehog #94

Okay, okay. I know. I know how many of you just put your heads down on the table in complete exasperation. I get it. But just stick with it. Bear with me here. I had the same reaction when I first read through the comics - the reaction of why the hell does a Sonic the Hedgehog comic have a back to school episode?! - but in the end, it does tie further into previous points I've made about Sonic's character as well as the state of the war. That said, Spaz, what the hell happened to Mina up there? Why does she look… like that? Sonic and Tails look totally normal but Mina looks like she was dragged straight out of some badly drawn early 90s anime that only aired once in Japan and was never even officially subbed because it was so low quality. I know you're a better artist than that, Spaz, we've seen your work before! Come on!

New Order

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: FRY Colors: Frank Gagliardo

So right away, we've jumped forward a month and a half from last issue. That's one hell of a time skip, especially for a comic that doesn't usually do big time skips.

Of course, Sonic is not at all happy about being confined to Knothole. We’re talking about a character whose entire personality has always revolved around being able to run free and fight back against anything threatening his friends, who's now stuck hanging out in his room all day. Worse still, the entire time he's been in Knothole, he hasn't seen Sally once, having been prevented from seeing her by a combination of his house arrest and her royal duties. He still finds himself thinking about her, however, and she in turn has been thinking about him.

I honestly really like the use of Art Mawhinney's art to indicate that she's looking at a photo from when they were younger, given that his cartoony style contrasts with the more anime-like style that the comic has been going for lately. Also, while it's great that Sally has her family back at last, it's still concerning that they've been monopolizing 100% of her time lately so she hasn't had any time to see her old friends, even though they live in the same village. Sonic has also found his mind preoccupied with thoughts of the Overlanders he failed to save, who are still stuck inside Robotropolis for the time being, with shadow-bots enforcing nighttime curfews on them and keeping a close eye on their activities. Colin, exploring the palace, finds his brother working on something in the lab, and in the interest of keeping his dealings secret Eggman overenthusiastically invites him, along with Agnes and Hope, to spend some time together as a family. Hope, to her credit, seems very suspicious of Eggman, officially making her the smartest Overlander here despite being only fourteen or so (at least, the wiki has extrapolated that age from the dates of other significant events like the Great War and the length of the first war against Robotnik, though I'd personally put her at more like twelve). Eggman, to deflect from questions concerning how much he's changed over the years, asks Colin to describe why he and the other Overlanders were apparently just hangin' out in space for the past ten years.

Really, this entire interaction seems like something that should have happened right after the Overlanders' first entrance into the city, not six whole weeks afterwards, but eh, whatever. Anyway, Sonic finds himself unable to sleep properly the night before starting school, and gets irritated when Tails teases him about Sally being in looooove with him and wanting to get married in the future. The next morning, they find themselves roughly awakened by an earthquake, and immediately spring into action, falling right back into their routine as heroes.

At least Sonic is still able to keep his heroic actions up even when confined to the village, eh? In Robotropolis, Eggman visits Snively in his prison cell, and Snively begs not to be roboticized for being caught out after dark. Eggman agrees, in return for his loyalty of course, as well as zipping his lips about Eggman's true intentions for the Overlanders. He even decides to give Snively a little more incentive, in the form of a promise of revenge against his father Colin for not recognizing his brilliance all those years ago…

After breakfast, Sonic and Tails meet up with Bunnie and Rotor. Amy, if you'll recall, is still back in Mercia with her cousin Rob, and interestingly, Antoine isn't part of the crowd heading to school at all, suggesting that by now he's past high school age, making him the oldest Freedom Fighter. Sonic is concerned and disappointed that Sally is nowhere in sight, and reluctantly parts from Tails to go to his own class, since Tails is with the younger kids. However, back in Robotropolis, Hope has found herself becoming too suspicious of Eggman to ignore her concerns any longer…

Uh oh, Hope, you may have seen something you weren't supposed to see… better get back to safety before Eggman finds out about that and silences you. Tails is heading toward his class with the other kids when he realizes he's lost his bookbag somewhere, and in retracing his steps to find it, he suddenly finds himself confronted by the ghostly image of Athair, who tells him that he's needed as the Chosen One immediately and teleports him away, to the bafflement of a watching turtle in the hallway. Sonic gets to his class, and Mina is happy to see him there, thrilled that they're sitting near each other. Bunnie arrives as well, but when Sonic tries to introduce her to Mina she only gives her a cold "howdy," her mood suddenly turning quite chilly. And then, their teacher arrived, and class begins…

So this is what I was talking about before. We've already been over in previous issues how when it comes down to it, Sonic and the other Freedom Fighters are child soldiers who have never known a day of peace in their life. At least back when Robotnik was thought to be defeated permanently and the king was trying to get the kingdom back to a state of relative normality, Sonic was able to partially come to terms with the idea and find happiness in being able to settle down with his family. But now, the kingdom is back in a state of active war, and here he is, the spearhead of the resistance, forced to stay out of the conflict and learn physics and algebra in a standard high school setting. It's obvious that it's getting to him in a big way. We sort of end up stuck in this strange position where on the one hand, yeah, children and teenagers shouldn't have to be the ones on the front lines of a war, and should get a chance to just act their age and have a childhood, but on the other hand, Sonic the legitimate war hero is now stuck in Knothole with his hands tied, twiddling his thumbs while everyone else, even the others his age and younger (remember, he's the only Freedom Fighter on house arrest), are free to go and do whatever they like. It doesn't even seem like anyone has had the idea to try and get the Sword of Acorns back from Eggman, even though that's what started this whole mess. Honestly, I just feel bad for him. Once class has finally ended - after one hour of agonizing boredom for Sonic - he and Bunnie approach Nate, asking why they haven't seen Sally at the school yet. They're shocked to hear that she is instead receiving private lessons at the castle, only further isolating her from everyone else…

The Best Laid Plans…

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Rom Lim Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Unlike the previous story, there's no time skip at all between last issue and this one - I'm just going to presume, honestly, that the disappearance of the Floating Island is an event that happened during that time skip, and the main story has only just caught up to it, because otherwise the timeline makes no sense. Nic is surprised to find Nack returning to her without Knuckles in tow, but is quite pleased when he tells her they got their money and a bonus to boot, and can wash their hands of the whole affair. As they leave, they remember that they left Charmy and Saffron further into the woods, but decide not to worry about it, as in the end, what can a couple of little bees do? Charmy and Saffron, meanwhile, begin to realize that they've been left alone, and immediately spring into action, hoping they can reach Knuckles before anything bad happens. Unfortunately, that's not really in the cards, as Knuckles has already been hooked up to the Chaos Syphon, with another echidna linked in on the opposite side, presumably to act as a conduit for the energy being sucked from Knuckles so it doesn't just explode into the air. At least, that's what I'm assuming, because it doesn't really specify, but this echidna does become important later on, so I figured I should mention him. Gala-Na again offers a weak non-apology for what she's about to do, before ordering the syphon switched on.

So, this is torture. This is just straight up an actual torture scene. Gala-Na is knowingly, willingly, torturing a sixteen year old because she's afraid of the power he wields despite him not even asking to be born with it in the first place. If anything, Locke should be the one facing punishment for what he's put Knuckles through, but of course, we know Penders would never let that happen. Knuckles starts screaming uncontrollably, and to the shock of the echidna onlookers, begins trying to resist the power of the syphon, making Gala-Na worry he might actually break free. The other echidna on the receiving end of the energy also begins to feel the pain, yelling that he thinks he can't handle any more, and while the others try to encourage him to hang in there, Charmy and Saffron happen upon the awful scene. As Knuckles finds himself actually reduced to begging for it to stop through gritted teeth and Gala-Na gives another "apology" to her "young friend" (can you guys tell how much I hate her? Is it too obvious?), Charmy and Saffron dive in towards the operators, hoping they can stop the syphon before Knuckles gets hurt too much more. Of course, this is Penders writing, so he can't resist throwing in another weird, stilted 90s feminist comment somewhere.

Earth to Penders: women don't actually talk like that. Also, oh yeah, remember that whole "flight mode" thing where apparently bees can turn small or big as they please? I almost forgot about that, but I guess that's what's supposed to be happening here. With the device shut off, Knuckles breaks free of the syphon, but only seems more powerful than ever, with his irises replaced by pure white eyes, and as everyone watches he disappears in a flash of energy. Gala-Na, aghast that her plans seem to have only made things worse (GEE, YOU THINK, GALA-NA?), tries to contact the weasels once again before they get out of range, but they witnessed the entire thing from the air and refuse to get involved any more than they already have, leaving a horrified Gala-Na to stand over the now-unconscious echidna on the receiving end of the energy, wondering what to do next…

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 94 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: james fry #pencils: ron lim #colors: frank gagliardo

5 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

136. Sonic the Hedgehog #77

Rebel Without a Pause

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: FRY Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Amy Rose, having been watching out at the entrance to Knothole, excitedly calls out to the village to inform them of the return of Bunnie, Antoine, Tails, and Sonic's parents, who have brought Jeremiah along as well. Jules and Bernie explain to Dr. Quack how they kept their free will with their wedding bands, and the king arrives on scene to confront the former Freedom Fighters about their disappearance and Sonic and Sally's whereabouts.

Oh, that sounds promising. In the desert that separates Robotropolis and the Great Forest, which is a nice big geographical landmark that we've never been informed exists until now, the two subjects in question are leading the rescued Mobians including Mina back to Knothole when Nicole detects three shadow-bots in weird floating egg-pod-thingies zooming toward them. Everyone begins to run for the forest, but of course, Sonic wants to turn around and fight them.

While they're arguing, they find themselves surrounded by the shadow-bots, but before either side can strike first, Dulcy arrives and swats the bots away. She offers to give everyone a lift back to Knothole on her back, and as they climb on, we find out that we're not done with unexplained interludes in space yet! Despite the satellite saga being over now, we get this mysterious page…

Well, what could this be? I suppose we'll have to wait for a future issue to find out…

In Robotropolis, several shadow-bots arrive at Robotnik's "cyber-bunk" to wake him up from resting after his infection with the virus last issue, and give him the news that the three shadow-bots in the egg-pods were destroyed. Irritable, he decides to once again interface with his computer in the creepiest manner possible to find out Knothole's location.

Man, you'd think he would have learned by now just to use the search bar, huh? Back in Knothole, Dulcy drops everyone off and then flies off to do who knows what, but when Sonic and Sally enter the village they're a bit unnerved to find that no one seems happy to see them, instead whispering and gossiping as they pass. They're met by Bunnie, Antoine, Tails and Elias, who tell them that the king wants to see them. The king is in a building with Dr. Quack, watching over the queen still in her coma in the stasis pod, and just as Dr. Quack mentions he may have an idea how to cure her Sally walks in. To his credit, King Max doesn't scold her or anything, just hugs her and tells her how happy he is to have her back. When she walks back out, it's Sonic's turn, and the king immediately tells him to shut up and listen. He starts sharply recounting how Sonic disobeyed him publicly on two different occasions, making Sonic look guilty and upset from being scolded, but then…

You know, maybe King Max isn't so bad after all! Seems like he can be cool now and then, huh?

Tales of the Great War (Part 5): For Better or Worse…

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Chris Allan Colors: Barry Grossman

Man, have you noticed how the numbers in each subsequent title of this ongoing arc never match up between issues? So far we've had Parts One, 2, III, Four, and 5. It's like the Fast and the Furious franchise up in here.

That night, Jules and Bernie sit down at a campfire with Bunnie, Tails, Antoine and a few other eager listeners to recount more of their memories of the Great War. During a particular mission in which they were trying to ascertain what had happened to Kirby himself, some time after the previous installment given that Jules and Bernie were now married, Jules sustained a bad hit from an Overlander gun. Bernie, in a rage, fought hard so her husband could be evacuated from the battlefield and onto a shuttle piloted by someone who definitely looks like Rotor's father (really, at this point it seems like every Freedom Fighter's parents besides Bunnie were all involved in the previous war together).

They flew him back to Mobotropolis for treatment, at which point Dr. Quack performed a goddamned seven-hour surgery on him while everyone waited outside nervously for a prognosis. However, unfortunately, informing everyone that Sally was dead back in Endgame wasn't the first time Dr. Quack had to be the bearer of bad medical news.

Well, now we know how Jules ended up being Uncle Chuck's main test subject for the roboticizer. Meanwhile, we get yet another old exchange between the king and Julian, in which the king asks Julian for more advice concerning the Overlanders and Julian once again encourages him to fight aggressively since the Overlanders won't give up until all Mobians are dead. Really, I don't know why we keep getting these little pages with these two over and over, since they say basically the same thing to each other every time. However, Bernie, still telling the story, then says that from there on everything went from bad to worse…

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 77 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: james fry #pencils: chris allan #colors: frank gagliardo #colors: barry grossman

4 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

156. Sonic the Hedgehog #89

Thicker Than Water

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: FRY Colors: Frank Gagliardo

We have another misleading cover page today! Not as bad as the last issue's, but seriously, what's up with this lately? It's not just limited to this series or this era, necessarily - I distinctly remember a cover from the Archie Sonic X spinoff where Sonic was randomly tied up on top of an office-standard water cooler when nothing even remotely of the sort happened within the actual issue - but I don't know, it just bugs me a bit when it does happen. In this story, Sonic is not "besieged," nor does Sally yell accusations at him while holding a purse for no reason as depicted above - instead, as Dr. Quack wheels the injured King Max away for surgery, Sally simply tearfully asks Sonic how this happened.

Elias decides that he should be the one to talk to his sister, and as he races off after her, we hop over to Robotropolis, where Eggman has finally returned home from the Station Square fiasco only to find his science lab trashed. Of course, he immediately suspects that Sonic is behind this, and sets about reviewing security footage to determine exactly what happened while he was away. Meanwhile, back in Knothole, Geoffrey oversees the return of the Sword of Acorns to the royal reliquary while Rosie reassures Sonic that the way the battle went wasn’t his fault.

Oh, hey Mina! Still relegated to a bit part, I see. Elias finds Sally looking incredibly downcast and lost, sitting by herself on a dock next to a nearby pond, and sits next to her. She says that lately, she's felt like everything around her has been spiraling out of control, referring not just to Eggman, but the return of her own father as well.

I agree with Elias - it's obvious that King Max's decision to name Elias as his successor was fueled by his bitterness over Sally refusing his orders to join his cult and marry her arranged partner, not by an actual assessment of who was more fit to lead. Sally, upon hearing that Sonic was the one to rescue Elias, realizes she was wrong to put blame on him for leaving her father behind, and instead is overcome by a rush of gratitude to him for saving her brother. Sonic, however, is having a rougher time of things. His parents try to reassure him that he did the right thing, but he's more distracted by thoughts of his uncle, still unable to get it out of his mind how Chuck and Muttski regained their minds for a brief moment thanks to the Sword of Acorns. And he's not the only one thinking about the sword - Eggman, upon checking his security logs and learning what the sword did, orders his robots to find the weapon at once, wanting to have control over such a powerful artifact. Sonic's mother cooks her son some chili dogs to try to cheer him up, but all it does is make him lose himself in his thoughts about Uncle Chuck once again. Meanwhile, Mina, passing by and smelling the food, is reminded once again of her lost family, and makes a decision that she needs to stop moping and do something about her feelings soon. That night, Sonic makes a decision of his own, sneaking out of his house under the cover of dark and heading for the reliquary.

Oh, no, Sonic, don't make another stupid decision…

A royal guard calls urgently for Sally and Elias where they still sit by the pond, informing them the surgeries on their parents have been completed. They rush to the med-lab apprehensively, and find the king lying in his bed, tired but alive and well, holding onto the hand of a sleeping Alicia in the bed next to him. She's pulled through, and as they watch she begins to awaken.

And as the whole family is finally happily reunited, with tearful joy, Sonic races out of Knothole with the stolen sword in hand, unaware that a shadowy figure watches him from behind a tree…

A Matter of Self Interest

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Knuckles has decided to lead his group across the waters to Albion by boat this time, instead of channeling his inner Jesus. Whilst they row towards the island city, Rob updates Bunnie, Antoine and Amy on his and Knuckles' adventures here last time, ending with him questioning why Knuckles didn't decide to stay in Albion with the rest of his fellows. It's revealed then that Gala-Na, the echidna who welcomed the group in the past, has been watching their approach on a screen along with several council members, including our old pal Yanar. They have a discussion amongst themselves that reveals that Rob has been the liaison between their city and the rest of the world for some time now, and that they are currently keeping an unspecified stranger in their midst which makes them wary, a stranger who resembles Antoine greatly…

Knuckles and the others finally reach Albion's shore, and as Knuckles ties up the boat and leads the others toward the city, Rob and Antoine carry on a conversation about how the last time Rob fought the High Sheriff, he lost him in the chaos and doesn’t know if he's still alive, something which naturally leaves Antoine feeling less than reassured. A familiar sight greets Knuckles as he approaches the city - once again, Gala-Na has arrived to welcome him in. (She's also mistakenly colored red for several of these next issues, even though she was originally purple.)

Gala-Na leads everyone to their quarters for the night, intending to let everyone have a good night's sleep before they begin to investigate the High Sheriff and the disappearance of the Floating Island. However, Knuckles is still very perturbed by the events of the past few days and sits on his balcony, unable to sleep. Yanar, watching him from the monitors in the council's chambers (seriously, what is it with echidna councils and spying on people through hidden cameras all over the place?), decides to go and visit him to explain what's really going on. He reveals that Albion knew what had happened to the Floating Island as soon as it occurred, leaving Knuckles outraged that they didn't offer their help before now despite the event happening not even 24 hours ago. You literally got to them faster than they could get to you, Knuckles, what more do you want? Yanar deflects Knuckles' blame and instead brings him to a lab nearby, where Knuckles is shocked to see…

Excellent timing, High Sheriff! Knuckles prepares to face off against Antoine's father, but suddenly a massive explosion rocks the complex, shaking awake his other four companions in a panic off in their respective rooms. Oh boy…

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 89 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: james fry #pencils: steven butler #colors: frank gagliardo

3 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

153. Sonic the Hedgehog #87

Heart of the Hedgehog (Part 2): Lava Story

Writer: Danny Fingeroth Pencils: Sam Maxwell and Jim Amash Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Things are getting dicier by the second, the lava within the volcano's mouth roiling and getting ready to erupt at any moment. With Tails still trapped mere feet above the lava pool, Sonic recovers from the blow delivered by Metal Sonic last issue and continues to push on at top speed to reach his friend. However, predictably, Metal Sonic has more traps set for his quarry along the path - including a net that entangles Sonic before he has time to stop.

Well well, the power gem gave Metal Sonic not only a personality and sentience, but also apparently a raging thirst for sadism! Metal Sonic cackles at Sonic's determination, reiterating that while he intends to give Sonic a fair chance to save Tails, "fair" is a highly relative term, as he can change the rules of his own game any time he wants. Sonic, uninterested in hearing his evil spiel, continues to run on, and Metal Sonic continues to show off how he's faster and stronger than Sonic, putting obstacles in his path at every opportunity.

Sonic is reminded of how powerful he himself was when transformed into Mecha Sonic, and decides that for the moment, instead of trying to outrace his doppelganger, he can perhaps put him out of commission until he's gotten Tails to safety. He grabs the remnants of the net he was trapped in and quickly uses it to wrap Metal Sonic up against a nearby tree, then races away, with Metal Sonic genuinely impressed at his ingenuity, as if it takes a special kind of genius to figure out that tying someone up when you want them out of your way is a good idea. With his main obstacle removed for now, Sonic makes it the rest of the way to the volcano unmolested and finds Tails, still hanging there above the lava.

With Tails freed, Sonic gets ready to race out of there before Metal Sonic shows back up, but of course, a net can only hold a superpowered robot for so long, and said robot chooses that moment to make his reappearance, mocking Sonic for thinking he stopped him.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Metal Sonic, this is a comic for kids and teens! Don't be inserting your kinky sadistic fantasies into this situation! Sonic tries to reason with Metal Sonic, calling back to when he was also a robot and how instead of going with his programming he fought it, and citing the joys of life and love as a reason not to be a murderous asshole, but Metal Sonic refuses to listen, saying having power and strength is more important. Sonic, realizing the futility of talking to him, tells Tails to fly away to safety while he holds off Metal Sonic, but Tails refuses to leave his side even if it means death. At that moment, the volcano begins to quake, and Sonic and Tails both get their feet caught in a crack in the ground, unable to escape the lava or fight back. Things look bad, until…

Metal Sonic uses, uh… a blast of air, or something, to hold the lava back, while saying that he now realizes Sonic was right and he can be more than his programming. Sonic and Tails try to argue with his sacrifice, but he convinces them this is the only way any of them will survive, and as they run away from the volcano to safety, Metal Sonic sadly says that it's better if he sacrifices himself, as he's just a cold unfeeling robot. That's… actually hella tragic, man. Someone tell that robot we love him after all, already. It's interesting to note as well that in many ways this actually mirrors the ending of the Sonic OVA (which was released in English only a couple of years before this issue came out), in which Metal Sonic is similarly consumed by rising lava while sacrificing himself to save Sonic's life after coming to gain his own emotions and feelings. As Sonic and Tails look back from a safe distance at the lava pouring from the volcano, Sonic tells Tails that it was his actions that turned Metal Sonic around in the end, as while Sonic's words were just that, words, to him, Tails' refusal to abandon his friend made those words real, and in a way helped Metal Sonic gain a soul. And on that bittersweet note, they turn and head back to their friends at the crashed shuttle, ready to finally head home.

Against the Haunted Past (Part 2)

Writer/Pencils: Frank Strom Colors: Frank Gagliardo

So, back to Monkey - uh, sorry, I mean Ken Khan's predicament. Somehow, he's been captured by Eggman, who's turned the Temple of the Golden Lotus in Kar Leung into a base of operations for the roboticization of the locals. However, he wouldn't do something as demeaning as roboticizing Ken outright, no… instead, he's going to implant him, awake and without any anesthesia, with control chips directly into his brain to ensure he can never rebel again!

This! Is! Horrific! Seriously, what's with all the messed up stuff in these past couple issues? Ken is of course entirely unwilling to sit around and let this happen to him, and uses his strength, enhanced by the power of his headband made out of the golden ring, to break free from his restraints, which shocks Eggman as he doesn't remember him being so strong before. He orders his swatbots and roboticized slaves to recapture Ken immediately, and Ken makes a break for it down the hallway, looking for a way to take the facility out of commission so that Eggman can't roboticize his entire village. He successfully finds the main power generator of the place, but while he's looking for a way to disable it, the swatbots burst in and fire wildly, hitting the generator and causing it to go critical.

…welp, we just witnessed the creation of a brand new tragic backstory! Seriously, though, Ken has been through a ton of horrific events in his life - being used as an experiment for cybernetics against his will, losing all his friends and family to the same experiments, being sealed away alone in a tiny pod for ten years, and now, just when he thought he could settle down in his ancestral home and protect the citizens of his village, he loses all of that as well. This is a strong setup for some serious future angst.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 87 #writer: danny fingeroth #writer: frank strom #pencils: sam maxwell #pencils: jim amash #pencils: frank strom #colors: frank gagliardo

4 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

127. Sonic the Hedgehog #72

I, Robotnik!

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Frank Gagliardo

So Rotor and Nate have been teaming up lately to invent a new device they call the "telecrate," which is basically just a CRT TV. Using Robotnik's leftover technology from the city and ring technology, they produced enough to install one in every Mobian household in both Knothole and Mobotropolis, just in time for a televised speech by the king later that evening.

Ouch, how did everyone somehow forget about Rotor's family until now? I'm surprised that he hasn't brought it up before, considering it's been months now since Robotnik's demise. Everyone says their goodbyes, and later that night Sally heads to the castle to be there for her father's address. At first, once the cameras start rolling, everything goes smoothly - King Acorn thanks his citizens for their efforts in restoring the kingdom, and begins outlining his plans for proceeding in the following months. However, a familiar sight soon greets us - the sight of a satellite, an N-SAT unit, activating high above the planet's surface. The broadcast begins to fizzle out, and a new announcement takes its place.

Nice misspelling of Robotnik's own name up there. Seriously, how do you mess up something so basic as the name of the comic's longest-running villain? As the kingdom watches in shock, the tale of Robotnik's life story begins. We learn for the first time that he has a brother named Colin somewhere, clearly Snively's father since Snively is Robotnik's nephew. In early adulthood he was apprenticed to Nate in the city of Megapolis, but soon took over Nate's position for himself. However, it wasn't long after this that the Great War began.

Damn, so the Ultimate Annihilator was a plan of his from the very beginning? How did he only manage to get his hands on the ore for it eleven years after his takeover began? Eh, whatever. The broadcast mocks Charles and Jules for taking him in, King Acorn for being foolish enough to give him a place in the court, and Kodos for, well… having the misfortune to be the one whom he ousted for the position of Warlord. However, when Snively arrived to pledge his allegiance to his uncle, and the war between the Overlanders and Mobians had been ended, Julian decided to turn his attention from mere revenge against his own kind, to a takeover of the entire planet. The broadcast gives a rather… slanted description of him generously giving jobs to the willing Mobians who happily submitted themselves for "modifications" to work in his lovely factories, before moving on to his disgust with the Freedom Fighters who arose to oppose him. Adorably, Antoine cheers at this while watching the broadcast - even with their group technically dissolved, camaraderie between the former members still keeps them close. However, the broadcast then decides to focus on a strangely specific incident…

Well, how strange. We certainly haven't heard much of E.V.E. or Robo-Robotnik in some time. The broadcast concludes by thanking Robotnik for having sacrificed his life for the protection of the planet, leaving the citizens of the kingdom in stunned silence. Sally contacts Sonic shortly thereafter, and they discuss the possible causes of this happening, eventually coming to a tentative hypothesis that it was caused by the use of Robotnik's own tech in constructing the telecrates. Sonic hangs up and informs his parents that everything is fine.

Aww, that's kind of sweet. It's good to see Sonic maybe learning how to settle down and bond again with his parents. However, we the readers know that this wasn't just a glitch in the system. While Sonic and his parents spend some quality time together, we zip away to somewhere else, somewhere far from Knothole, to find a disturbing scene…

R…Robotnik…?

Tales of the Great War (Part One) - The Shot Heard 'Round the World!

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Barry Grossman

Tails and Amy, at some point during all of this, have decided to continue their little reading adventure through Kirby's history book. Back during the days of King Alexander's reign, contact between Mobians and Overlanders was fairly uncommon, until one day when Prince Emerson, son of King Theodore (son of Alexander) was out and about, and happened upon an Overlander boy around his age called Paladin. They chatted from across the river, and Paladin showed Emerson how he was going target shooting with his revolver, demonstrating how he could bullseye a branch above him. Emerson, fascinated, climbed over a branch to try it out himself, and was startled by the recoil from the unfamiliar weapon. Paladin, pleased with Emerson's interest, decided to demonstrate his ability to shoot a more difficult target - a bird sitting on another branch.

Great going, Paladin! Seriously, Emerson is an anthropomorphized animal himself, you really think he'd be cool with you randomly murdering another animal, sapient or not? Paladin ran away in horror as King Theodore approached, freezing in horror upon seeing his son's dead body on the ground. However, he didn't call for revenge - instead, he mandated that his people never contact any Overlanders again, and never use guns. However, according to the book, this policy would inadvertently led to even worse trouble in the future…

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 72 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: steven butler #pencils: art mawhinney #colors: frank gagliardo #colors: barry grossman

5 notes · View notes

mobius-prime · 4 years

Text

150. Sonic the Hedgehog #84

Perfect Chaos

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Frank Gagliardo

The cat queen has decided that the best way to settle the differences between her clan and the echidnas is to force Locke into mortal combat against a champion of her own, Razorklaw. Locke tries to reason with her, saying they should talk things out peacefully, but she insists on the fight, and so Locke readies himself for battle.

And that, my friends, is why you do not mess with a Guardian. Locke turns to the queen as Razorklaw lies unconscious on the ground, and once again insists on a peaceful discussion, which she has no choice but to accept. Meanwhile, inside Station Square, Sonic continues his own fight against Perfect Chaos, protected from the worst of the battering by his super state. In the middle of the battle, some debris goes flying, and a piece knocks Antoine on the head. Antoine tries to do the whole "leave me, save yourself" tragic hero thing, a line which Bunnie and Knuckles promptly ignore in favor of carrying him to safety.

As Sonic continues to fight Perfect Chaos, Locke has his discussion with the cat queen, where she explains stiffly that she's not inclined to trust echidnas after her clan's past with them. Locke tries to claim that for the most part, his ancestors always tried to do good (a very skewed view of past events, if you ask me) but the cat queen simply pulls back the leaves of the brush nearby, revealing something offscreen to Locke that makes him stop in his tracks with a shocked look. Back in the city, Knuckles has arrived at the city's main power plant, the one Tikal said is still connected to the waters underneath Perfect Chaos.

It's still so bizarre to me that in the preboot universe, Sonic is apparently unafraid of water and totally fine with swimming, while Knuckles is unable to swim and scared of water. It's such a complete role reversal for the two compared to the games, where Knuckles is a casually strong swimmer and Sonic sinks like a terrified rock. While he faces his fears underneath the water, Sonic, beginning to feel the effects of exhaustion from the ongoing fight, decides to fly between the buildings at high speeds, hoping that Chaos can't keep up with him. Sally catches his attention and hands him a copper pipe for some unfathomable reason (considering he takes it and then just never uses it), telling him that Knuckles is working on getting the generator working again, and Sonic continues to fly as Tails grabs Sally and lifts her to safety.

Knuckles dives once more and attempts to lift the machinery into position, at first struggling with the weight, but then suddenly his pupils turn into images of Chaos Emeralds and he lifts it successfully, I guess calling on his innate Chaos powers or something. The generator roars to life, shocking Perfect Chaos, and the jolt reverts it back to its zero state, with all seven Super Emeralds likewise turning back into chao that float peacefully around their god as Knuckles emerges from the waters.

I mean, I gotta agree with Sonic - that was an incredibly abrupt ending. And what zone are you even talking about anyway, Tikal? You're from the past, not a different zone! Ah, whatever, this adaption was already weird enough as it is. Everyone says goodbye to Knuckles, and he heads out to return the shards of the Master Emerald to his island, leading into the backup story.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler and Pam Eklund Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Knuckles glides back to the Floating Island, where he finds Sabre and Spectre waiting for him, pleased at the retrieval of the shards. They direct him to a new altar, which Knuckles finds familiar.

With the emerald restored and the island once again rising into the air, Thunderhawk offers to fly Knuckles to the Mysterious Cat Country where his father awaits him. Knuckles meets an escort from the cat warriors, who take him to the Chaotix who are happy to see him safe and sound, and he notices that they were all staring at something through the bushes, where his father is waiting with the queen…

Oh, yeesh.

The cat queen, now friendly, explains that due to her people's past history with echidnas, she had genuinely thought they were planning to attack and invade once again, and honestly, given what the Knuckles Clan tried to pull, she had every reason to believe that. Thankfully, Locke was able to convince her otherwise. Locke reveals that he knew some of the history of the Knuckles Clan, including how every echidna in the group of settlers besides the warrior caste had rejected Pachacamac's campaign against the native cats, but when he and Lara-Le were searching for a name for their child they'd discovered that part of their history, and decided that it was an appropriate time to reclaim the name for good instead of evil. While I can appreciate somewhat the wish to reclaim old names from negative parts of the family history, we're talking about a people who literally tried to butcher the native inhabitants for no other reason than that they wanted the land and the cats weren't about to move. I'm honestly surprised the cats never tried to destroy such a horrific statue depicting this ancient imperialist regime. At least things ended amicably enough, and everyone heads out, returning to the Floating Island now that the Master Emerald has been restored.

So - what about everything else, though? What about the Flicky bird Amy saved? What about Gamma? What about Zero, or the Station Square missile attack, or Tails' growing independence from his childhood hero or any of the other important plot points from the game? Well, the simple answer is we don't care! Seriously, the comic just completely abandons those plot threads and moves on from here. That doesn't mean we're done with Station Square just yet, or that we'll never see any of those characters again, but I suppose the comic just didn’t deem it important enough to cover those things in its adaption of the game, and so we don't get any kind of closure on them until much further on from now (like, we're talking over a hundred issues here, so don't hold your breath). But yeah, that's the end of the Sonic Adventure adaption! Certainly it was very different from the game, though it tried to be mostly faithful to certain plot points, and it's interesting to see how they tried to bring certain concepts in line with those from the games while still staying true to the world the comic has built up so far.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 84 #writer: ken penders #pencils: steven butler #colors: frank gagliardo

4 notes · View notes