Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[Drawloverlala]

I was actually a little surprised by this given the existence of Tails Doll and the characters already being familiar with it when the continuity was reset.

 

Who knows, maybe Breezie will be hosting a Grand Prix race after the crossover.

 

 

what about Sonic All stars racing ? (or all star games)... its kinda the same.. besides we know now that Archie can make crossovers with other SEGA franchises..  

 

 

yay

[QuantumEdge]

Just looked through the Ask Ian answers and when he mentions more Silver and not all written by him I remember once hearing from Tristan Jones that he talked to Paul Kaminski about writing an SU arc.  I think it's fair to guess what's coming after Worlds Unite in that book.

[Sunwalker]

Just looked through the Ask Ian answers and when he mentions more Silver and not all written by him I remember once hearing from Tristan Jones that he talked to Paul Kaminski about writing an SU arc.  I think it's fair to guess what's coming after Worlds Unite in that book.

 

If it will be written by someone who already worked on the book, I think that there is a possibility that the next Silver arc is going to be written by Evan Stanley, from the Silver-centric Ghosts of the Future fancomic. Her name was the first one that came to my mind when I read Ian's answer. 

 

But if it isn't a her, my next guess is that it will be written by Aleah Baker. And my guess after that is Tracy Yardley.

[Tenko]

Hmm..just random thoughts. If Madonna is making a cameo or appearance in the comics, does that mean Sonic's Band and its members might? Max the Monkey, Mach the Rabbit and Sharps the Chicken (minus Vector of course), were the ones that were previously used for Mina's band in the old universe and I don't recall them being used in the new universe yet. Perhaps Madonna will be the singer instead of Mina? Tho I am also partial to that other idea someone mentioned about her being a model for Honey's clothing range.

[Dantemustdie00]

Actually that's a good idea having Madonna be the lead singer of Sonic's old band.

[Zaysho]

Just looked through the Ask Ian answers and when he mentions more Silver and not all written by him I remember once hearing from Tristan Jones that he talked to Paul Kaminski about writing an SU arc.  I think it's fair to guess what's coming after Worlds Unite in that book.

 

Huh, was that recent? I remember asking him last year if he'd gotten the chance to pitch for Sonic Universe but was told it all depended on fan demand. And up until the extra book for "Worlds Unite," he was either illustrating covers or writing the Short Circuits for Mega Man. When I asked if "Worlds Unite" meant he might be getting to do more, he told me the same thing, so I don't think it's a lock for him just yet. That said, I'd love to see how he'd take on Silver's future, even if it's not quite the dystopian one from the old 'verse. Other than that, I think he'd do a great job writing a Shadow/Team Dark story.

[Tenko]

Considering when Silver shows up its generally to do with saving his future its probably a safe bet that if it has parts set in his era it will be rather dystopian. Unless Sega let's Ian take some route where because of the events in the games he was in being resolved that his future is fixed...tho that wouldn't really give him any reason to come visit again, nor would it make for an interesting story arc. It would end up all Penders sipping cocktails by the pool all over again.

[SchemingMinor]

Nice. I like that he plans to bring back the Armada, since the synergy between them and the Eggman Empire complimented each other. They would make excellent rivals and traitors eventually. I would love to see a fisticuffs battle between Eggman and Battle Kukku.

 

And Eggman's currency is called EggBucks though nobody uses it? Sounds to me like it's the Mobian version of BitCoins.

 

(And Ian totally missed the opportunity to call them Sheggkels.)

[kirby1up]

I got a question is there still a chance for monkey khan to return in the comics? It would be nice to see him around the chun-nan area during the unleased story arch

[brohman428]

If that doesn't pan out, just give me Gemerl in an active role and call it a day.

Huh, kinda surprised this option hasn't been brought up until now. Also, looking forward to the Battle Birds and Thrash coming back!

[Pompadour]

I got a question is there still a chance for monkey khan to return in the comics? It would be nice to see him around the chun-nan area during the unleased story arch

Unfortunately I think Archie is currently treating him like they do with the likes of Mina Mongoose. While he wasn't created by the certain lawsuit addict we know and... "love", bringing Monkey Khan back might be too risky. Unless, I guess, his writer outright says they could use him and won't be a big deal, but even then I don't know if they would want to risk it if he changed his mind.

If I remember right, the writer (Frank Strom) ONLY wrote about Monkey Khan and his friends/enemies. He seemed to REALLY like his character, so who knows how attached he is to them today. pffft.

In fact... NO other Archie-centric character from the pre-genesis timeline besides Ian's characters or those adapted from the SatAM lore have made it back, correct? I don't own all the post-genesis issues, so I don't know who all has shown up or not, but I think that's still the case.

I'd like to see Monkey Khan come back though. I grew to like him during the Iron Dominion arc (even if that story dragged out more than it needed to). Even if we can't get him back, I'd like to see Conquering Storm again. She'd have to have a different backstory, but boy she was pretty cool. .

SUPER glad to hear about the Battlebird Army possibly coming back, too. I was wondering if they would! I'm a bit neutral on Thrash coming back, but I never minded him. It'll be interesting to see how they'd adapt him to the new continuity.

[Mauro Fonseca]

Monkey Khan's Frank Strom's. Judging by how Karl Bollers had no idea what was going on, they're not even risking poking any other writer.

 

obligatory "don't google frank strom" warning :V

[Salamander]

Gemerl as the comic's answer to Shard seems like a really good idea.  He's a canon Sega character, so there's no arguing with it.  Does he even predate Shard, though?  That'd settle it.

[Red Hot Jack]

Gemerl as the comic's answer to Shard seems like a really good idea.  He's a canon Sega character, so there's no arguing with it.  Does he even predate Shard, though?  That'd settle it.

Uhm... I kinda hope not, I don't like (lame) replacement, it would potentially make me hate Gemerl. What I think is that Shard (the name being gone forever) is literally Mecha Sonic from S3&K in the new continuity, and I don't know if he will ever become a rebellious hero again.

Madonna looks pretty interesting, if she really is the singer of a music band it would be cool, but what would be even cooler is if Sonic was also part of it, it was HIS band in the scrapped concept after all.

[Drawloverlala]

well.. maybe Ian can use it as Metal Sonic version 3.0 with no personality and just being a souless robot...

like in Sonic Rivals 2.. i wouldn't see a problem with using it just as it is...a Metal Sonic version with no emerald Shard on it..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Njphllf_8&feature=player_detailpage

 

about Gemerl.. hehe i think its good too.. he fits also on that role.. even if its not exactly the same..

besides. good ending

so cute!

[Zaysho]

Gemerl as the comic's answer to Shard seems like a really good idea.  He's a canon Sega character, so there's no arguing with it.  Does he even predate Shard, though?  That'd settle it.

 

Depends on what you mean by predate--the story that was written by Fingeroth ("Heart of the Hedgehog," #86-87) was published in 2000, Sonic Advance 3 was in 2004, but Shard, as we know him, was introduced in 2012. However, Gemerl is such a different concept from a Sonic robot that they're not even comparable. And, right now, we know Gizoids are still on the table, due to them being introduced before Sonic Chronicles was released (it's just their connection to the Nocturnus that has to be avoided) and the introduction of Fix-it and confirmation that Gemerl is around (#257), so should a robot Sonic not work for one reason or another (be it mandates or just avoiding Penders's shit stirring), he'd be a good alternative that gets around everything else.

[Sonic is a Care Bear]

I'd personally like it if they salvaged Pseudo Sonic from the old timeline to fill the void left by Shard. He had a cool design, a bit of a cocky personality and would avoid the whole "1 Metal Sonic" mandate SEGA has.

[Metal the Mario]

I'd personally like it if they salvaged Pseudo Sonic from the old timeline to fill the void left by Shard. He had a cool design, a bit of a cocky personality and would avoid the whole "1 Metal Sonic" mandate SEGA has.

 

I'd be on board with this as long as they use Ben Bates' redesign for him:

 

[Your Vest Friend]

I got SU#74 today, so I guess it's time for another instalment of ripping into a comic.

 

Weirdly enough, a lot of the flaws are the same as the origin story. Overclocked Nicole has that same sense of having absolutely no weight to revelation. We see Ellidy panic and put it on the console, but the glow from it isn't that big or pronounced, and then she's just there next panel fully transformed just a bit taken aback by it. And we don't see Sally react to it either (unless Sally was supposed to be reacting to the power in the next panel, in which case it's badly conveyed and Sally is drawn too off model to be taken seriously). Oh, and Tails? 100% not needed in this arc, he could have been taken out and nothing would change. At least with Big, he's not the focus but you would notice if he was gone. Also Phage ended up being a pretty mediocre villain to be honest. She may do more later, but right now she's just bland.

 

And here's just a minor note that I want to pick up that's more of a future caution. I get the vibe that there's this consistent ideology that the way to give characters more depth and seem more human is to just make them reckless. For Sonic, fair snuff. He's a speedster who follows his heart (I'm sure he'd use less cheesy phraseology than that), recklessness comes with the package. We've already established that there's a fair number who thought Sally being reckless was more of a writing flub because she's supposed to be a tactician. Here's it's Nicole who ends up in that position, but not only does the comic actually outright point it out, it basically champions it as a show of Nicole's humanity shining above her programming. In this case it's more understandable since there was a logical backing as well and Sally was kinda being dumb trying to take on Phage in direct melee, but I hope it's not a recurring theme because there's more to making a character rounded than making them act reckless. 

 

Despite my nitpicks. it's not nearly as bad as I make it sound with so much focus on the negative. Overclocked Nicole isn't the arc's aim, nor is Tails exposition, it's character focus on Sally, Ellidy and Nicole (and Big, partly). To that extent, the arc works. The best parts were the conflict between Sally and Ellidy over Nicole's fate, and the backstory was actually pretty gripping. The biggest flaw is ironically Nicole herself; while she has a fleshed out backstory, she still doesn't seem to have a solid voice and still a bit weak as a character. 

[Kuzu]

Yea, I can't really find too much of a problem with Tails not doing much considering he wasn't the focal point of the arc, but he was still pretty poorly used even in a Supporting Role sense because he doesn't even support anything lol. Big at least added a third party view to the Sally, Nicole, and Ellidy conflict, which helped flesh it out more, which is what I'd expect a supporting character to do, but Tails feels so disconnected from everything in this arc lol. Probably would have been best to leave him out.

 

 

That said, it looks like a nice conclusion and the arc itself was a nice look into Sally and Nicole's relationship, we don't get to see too much delving into most of the dynamics of the characters that don't involve the Sega cast, so this was welcome.

[Ducktor Naldush]

I think that Tails was written in this arc just to have a SegaSonic character on the cover other than Big.

By the way, speaking of the purple cat, he was amazing even if he wasn't the focus of the narrative.

[E-122-Psi]

I got SU#74 today, so I guess it's time for another instalment of ripping into a comic.

 

Weirdly enough, a lot of the flaws are the same as the origin story. Overclocked Nicole has that same sense of having absolutely no weight to revelation. We see Ellidy panic and put it on the console, but the glow from it isn't that big or pronounced, and then she's just there next panel fully transformed just a bit taken aback by it. And we don't see Sally react to it either (unless Sally was supposed to be reacting to the power in the next panel, in which case it's badly conveyed and Sally is drawn too off model to be taken seriously). Oh, and Tails? 100% not needed in this arc, he could have been taken out and nothing would change. At least with Big, he's not the focus but you would notice if he was gone. Also Phage ended up being a pretty mediocre villain to be honest. She may do more later, but right now she's just bland.

 

And here's just a minor note that I want to pick up that's more of a future caution. I get the vibe that there's this consistent ideology that the way to give characters more depth and seem more human is to just make them reckless. For Sonic, fair snuff. He's a speedster who follows his heart (I'm sure he'd use less cheesy phraseology than that), recklessness comes with the package. We've already established that there's a fair number who thought Sally being reckless was more of a writing flub because she's supposed to be a tactician. Here's it's Nicole who ends up in that position, but not only does the comic actually outright point it out, it basically champions it as a show of Nicole's humanity shining above her programming. In this case it's more understandable since there was a logical backing as well and Sally was kinda being dumb trying to take on Phage in direct melee, but I hope it's not a recurring theme because there's more to making a character rounded than making them act reckless. 

 

Despite my nitpicks. it's not nearly as bad as I make it sound with so much focus on the negative. Overclocked Nicole isn't the arc's aim, nor is Tails exposition, it's character focus on Sally, Ellidy and Nicole (and Big, partly). To that extent, the arc works. The best parts were the conflict between Sally and Ellidy over Nicole's fate, and the backstory was actually pretty gripping. The biggest flaw is ironically Nicole herself; while she has a fleshed out backstory, she still doesn't seem to have a solid voice and still a bit weak as a character. 

 

Thank. You.

 

I think you've pretty much pointed out most of my problems with this arc and the directions Ian takes with these characters as a whole. As said many times before, I think Ian struggles with meticulous characters, he struggles to convey their more cerebral approach in a flawed or even quirky light and so they often end up designated to the straight man role and somewhat boring compared to the more impulsive ones. Any time he tries to put them in a flawed light it's through measures like this where they more or less break character and screw their usual ideology just to dive into things, more or less making them a blander version of headstrong characters like Sonic. This likely played even more into why Tails didn't stick out in this story compared to Big. Educated and cautious characters can still be VERY flawed and colourful, sometimes more so than the others.

 

It's indeed not a HORRIBLE arc, I was expecting to be bored out of my mind with this. There's some fun stuff (love Big and Sally's interaction, the former's characterisation is perfect here) but it feels kinda underwhelming. Neither Sally nor NICOLE have proved really vibrant enough to hold up as lead characters and as you said, Phage had a unique concept for a villain but was pretty basic and predictable in how it was executed.

 

Truthfully after reading this arc, you know what I'd like to see Ian try. A BIG THE CAT ARC. No seriously. Come on, Ian.

[Kuzu]

What's with that large ass indent lol.

[Your Vest Friend]

What large indent? It's formatted fine on my end.

[Kuzu]

It took me a second to realize he had most of the post spoilered.