30 Days of Sonic DAY 2 - Comic Panel of the Week 0: 'Rivals' [30DOS22]

[JonoD]

My all-time favourite comic thing on this theme... I have to go outside the box and say it's this 2-part poster from StC done by Carl Flint.

I honestly don't know what it is about this poster that made me love it the moment I saw it, but there seemed to be something inherently more special about a poster that you had to collect both parts of in order to get the whole picture. Something about the direct head-to-head nature of the piece is also a trope I've always loved seeing, and this pic also very much features a who's-who of the two different opposing sides of the comics. Absolutely love the fact it's got characters like Shortfuse, Metamorphia Grimer and of course that amazing rendition of Robotnik.

Unfortunately, I only ever managed to get the first half of this image (with the heroes), but if there was ever ANY piece of original StC art I'd like to see, it would be the art for this poster.

[Solister]

Not sure if this fits, but after playing SADX for a whole summer in 2014, when the Sonic Universe issues were brought to my country I was going nuts when I saw the story was evolving to include Perfect Chaos (sorta).

[WanderingBleats]

I have a memory like a sieve lately, and can't remember much of what I've read from the comics prior to my most recent run (which is currently ongoing). Plus, I only read scattered issues of later Archie. So this might not be my all-time favorite of any Sonic comic I've ever read, and Dr. Mechano already posted all the El Gran Gordo screenshots, but I guess I'll just post one of my favorite rival stories from early Archie.

#25, the Sonic CD adaption. Look at that golden Eggman statue! Look at Sonic and Metal Sonic going at it! It's great. And I can't post one favorite thing, so I'm going to post three.

I love this story because it's the perfect mix of Michael Gallagher's cheesy newspaper strip comic humor and the style and tone from the games.

Look at this panel! It's great, both dialogue and artwork. It manages to be stupidly goofy and really cool at the same time. Even in his earlier works, Spaziante did a great job capturing the essence of what made Sonic cool. I love this so much I'm not even going to complain about them insisting on calling Metal Sonic Mecha-Sonic at this point in time!

The big standout moment of the issue is the race between Sonic and Mechal Sonic. This is the first time in Archie it's really felt like a robot has matched Sonic in speed and agility, and forced him to fight in a way that actually feels like he's putting his skills to use, rather than goofy plots that are less about how to use his speed effectively and more about zany slapstick. Don't get me wrong, I love the latter. But seeing this two-page spread after the first 24 issues was really impressive.

But Metcha Sonic didn't hog all the glory! The rivalry between Sonic and Robotnik is here too. And this page stands out to me as the best representation of that:

On the surface, just the dynamic motion and the psychedelic colors of this scene are enough to make me really appreciate it. I really can't emphasize enough that Spaziante knew how to bring out the essence of Sonic. But also, I want to talk about Sonic and Robotnik's interaction here. I think a good rival should bring out the best in their rival, and Robotnik is doing that here! Seeing Sonic ready to charge into battle to save his friends, clearly concerned about their well-being but not scared of what danger lies ahead for him in the slightest makes me like him a lot more. I like it when Sonic shows genuine care or affection for his friends, especially Tails. And it just makes him feel so cool and heroic. For Robotnik's part, silly gag about messing up his lines aside (which I still think is very charming), he's managing to be intimidating in a stylish way. That's not as deep as what it did for Sonic personality-wise, but there's not a whole lot to work with with early Archie Robotnik in that regard.

So, yeah! Maybe not my number one favorite rival comic of all time, but my favorite I can remember right now that has nothing to do with luchadors. Please read this issue, it is great.

[Rabid-Coot]

Not a long lasting rivalry but a shapeshifting villain weaponising the concept to trick Sonic.

Spoiler

 

[Multikaris]

One underrated rival for the hedgehog is Chaos. Consistently in every continuity, Chaos is a living embodiment of Sonic’s worst nightmare, but Fleetway takes it further and turns Chaos from a misunderstood man-beast into one of the most personal and sadistic enemies Sonic has had. Chaos Energy, in the Fleetway continuity, is an evil force itself, and Chaos, being empowered by it, endangers Sonic’s sanity every time he engages him in combat. It’s not only that, he’ll gleefully murder a long-time friend to torment Sonic.

 

That’s not some heroic sacrifice; Chaos has plain and simple murdered Johnny before Sonic’s very eyes. His entire power set seems to counteract Sonic, not just being made of water but also his “fear aura” and his ability to spread Chaos energy.

 

As a bonus, here’s him earning the ire of video game critics everywhere:

[Polkadi~☆]

I wanted to post the Sonic and Metal Sonic battle from Archie Sonic #25, but I don't want to potentially just copy someone else's post, so I shall instead present something from IDW Sonic 30th Anniversary!

The Heavy King has taken all the Chaos Emeralds, and Sonic & friends (and Eggman) seemingly have no way to stop him; That rotten egg keeps deflecting every attack they make with the power of the Chaos Emeralds! But Sonic has a plan to bait him out of using the Chaos Emeralds, and the Heavy King is certain that he will not fall for it.
Unfortunately, for as much as the regal robot will try to deny it, the Heavy King and his creator Eggman are very alike. And if Sonic knows how to push all of Eggman's buttons, he can easily push the Heavy King's buttons too... by striking at his pride!

You can really feel Sonic's attitude in here, he knows how to take the advantage by enraging his enemies into taking irrational actions, much in the same way another comic book superhero, Spider-Man, will use the same trick against his own foes. And boy, does it work like a charm against the Heavy King, with the panel layout combined with the artwork showing the Heavy King's building rage.

No matter how tough you are, no matter how proudly you carry yourself, Sonic knows how to knock you down a peg.

[Sapphirine Wind]

I don't read enough comics to truly give a unique panel, but @Dreadknuxstarted this one off with a panel I have seen and enjoy.

I truly dislike it when villains try the "you're no different than me!!!" and the narrative/characters treats it as a point. That's why I like that panel so much; Sonic turns it on its head "You could be like me if you tried" and it's not exactly wrong! Scourge doesn't have to be Anti-Sonic; Buns Rabbot shows as much (granted, its after her team turns on her, but she still turned around).

It's also a good way to establish that Sonic won't change. Sonic won't let one bad day turn him into a bad guy because the content of his character is stronger than that; he has people that he cares for (who care about him), he loves the planet, he loves freedom, and he hates authoritarianism.

Sonic won't abandon his values when things get tough or when they're less convenient. Scourge chooses the easy way out by being a villain.

But that's how I interpret it.

[Sega DogTagz]

I've always gotten a kick out of this little exchange.

 

 

The entire flow of this 2 v 2 was all kinds of fun. Watching the switcharoo tactic backfire in spectacular fashion was more satisfying than it ever should have been and it forces you to re-evaluate some things. One of Archie's go-to's when dealing with a rival that is overly spec'd to deal with a specific target is to throw something different at it. Watching Bass and Metal, quite frankly overpower Sonic and MegaMan reinforced how threatening they really are and makes for awesome theater.

[Marcello]

IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Annual 2020 "Reflections"

 

Generally speaking, I don't really care for Metal Sonic. Usually he's kinda boring,

But here, the whole story really, where he sees Sonic struggle with the metal virus and tries it on himself, only realizes it can't work on him, because he's just a robot and not the real Sonic, and he never will be the real Sonic, is great. Just a genuinely great character moment.

[The Tenth Doctor]

I just love this moment here from Sonic Universe. Shadow and Knuckles are in a fight against each other and fall in a river. They soar down the river, put their differences aside and get out together. You can see how tired they are, yet they snap right back to fighting. Love how even in a fight, they respect each other enough to save each other and rest for a minute.

[Nix]

One thing that I enjoy about Sonic's other media offerings is how they expand upon Sonic and Metal Sonic's rivalry. While Metal Sonic frequently shows up as a boss, we don't really see him and Sonic just kind of... talk with each other? The most notable instance of them interacting like this in the games off the top of my head was at the end of Heroes, and that was just to set up one of the worst one-liners ever.

IDW in particular has done a pretty fantastic job in portraying their relationship. It's just kind of interesting to get a sense where Sonic's head is at with Metal, especially with how Sonic's outlook on Metal is notably informed by his experiences with Omega and Gemerl.

The comics have been really good about including these smaller, character filled moments when the stakes aren't quite so high, and I enjoy every bit of it.

[iDEATH]

I dunno what to say... I'm just feeling particularly anti-monarchy this week... 

[Sonictrainer]

10 hours ago, iDEATH said:

I dunno what to say... I'm just feeling particularly anti-monarchy this week... 

It looks like I'm the one that's going to need context for this one.

[Johnny Boy]

 

My favorite panel is from Archie Sonic Universe issue 36 where Sonic takes the cube and warns the Babylon Rogues that he WILL come after them if he finds out anything happened to his friends. What I love about this is that it shows one of those rare moments when Sonic stops screwing around and is dead serious for once. And since Archie Sonic is the most powerful version of the character, Jet and crew would’ve been really screwed if Sonic decided to make good on his threat.

[Tornado]

On 6/2/2022 at 4:35 PM, Ryannumber1gamer said:

As a quick runner-up:

From the World Adventure/Unleashed arc in Post Reboot Archie - Knuckles and the Werehog's interactions are easily one of the best things we get from it, as little as it is. Seeing Sonic being able to relate more to Knuckles due to the Werehog's strength and brawler nature is just a super fun dynamic to run with, especially with how Knuckles and Sonic continue to tease each other during their appearances in the arc. It's just a fun usage of the transformation.

Realistically this would have to be my answer. I got Archie for a solid decade but don't *really* remember much of any of it unfortunately (and I stopped following it entirely even while still getting it a bit after the fallout from The Slap™; and I was an idiot and didn't keep any of mine as ii was); but I did follow the thread on SSMB off and on a lot and this stuck out to me a lot as being really cool usage of the idea and maybe even a followup to the idea popular when the game was knew of how Knuckles would have been in Unleashed.

[Sean]

Knuckles was my favorite rival as a kid even if it no longer applies after SA1. It's mostly for aesthetic purposes and how I knew Knuckles' personality back then than for reasons to do with him being better than Shadow or whatever. I like the blue/red combination and Sonic's outgoing temperament to Knuckles' more serious (and dense) demeanor. Plus I think Knuckles is always fun to play as whenever he shows up. Their interactions in the comics around this time were pretty fun and while Super Sonic VS Hyper Knuckles was just some filler issue, it still had some fun art to it like this panel where you see something straight out of a special stage from the games.

[Zaysho]

So, I admit I'm bending things a bit here but for consideration I'm posting a cover, not a panel or page (so if it doesn't count, it's because I decided to throw out my other ideas and I have myself to blame), and I think it relates to what others have discussed already regarding Scourge. For just a moment, I want to go back-back to his roots and share one of my favorite pieces of art associated with him. Is the actual issue all that? Not really. The story itself at once provides a glimpse at how the "Anti Mobius" (eventually renamed "Moebius") works in its own weird way but also doesn't really do anything particularly special with the concept either. At this stage, it's just flipping what goes on on Prime Mobius to the opposite. Sonic is the greatest hero on Prime? Evil Sonic is the lamest villain on Anti. Knuckles is a hardheaded, punch first, ask later dude living on a floating island? Anti-Knuckles is a pacifist (but still throwing hands because okay) with a thick Irish accent living under the sea (don't... ask about the accent, I still don't get it 26 years later).

Something about Spaz's covers always seemed to do more than just summarize the story going on, like he was able to maximize its potential to be really cool and exciting within the world of Sonic, even when the contents could be lackluster. I get this is probably an oversell on my part, after all, it's not unheard of for comic covers to just lie and Archie had more than its share of that. I was never big on "Evil Sonic" as a character even as a kid just because he was a loser, and before his makeover into Scourge, the writers really only ever did that with him. Like that was just his point of existence to contrast Sonic.

It's what always made his transformation into Scourge and his development stepping out of Sonic's shadow (and forcefully moving his own world out of the Prime Mobius's shadow at that) a huge surprise to me when I started reading the book again in college. The character just came a long way, and it goes to show a good writer can make something interesting out of something fucking stupid with a bit of creativity. I'm not saying Scourge himself is peak character design or writing but... man I liked him in the end. Shame about that whole lawsuit and all but it is what it is.

[Your Vest Friend]

Oh I have 40 minutes to post this oops.

Okay, par for my brand (in the 2010s lol), I'll post about one of the more...obscure rivalries, with the culmination of their panel time.

The Fearsome Foursome (aka Sergeant Simian, Lightning Lynx, Flying Frog and Predator Hawk) are peak weird Archie history. Originally introduced as Mammoth Moguls' cronies in the Battle Royale special, they acted as rivals to both the Freedom Fighters and especially the Chaotix (back when they were basically a second FF, and before Sonic Heroes was ever a thing) by posing as one or the other to force infighting between the two. They were pretty easily foiled though, and the only one that's seen clearly on panel in that issue is Sgt Simian.

After that, they had a tumultuous history in the comics, allying and working for different villains, being roboticised and back (and having fake robotic doubles at one point), being Egg Graped and back, trying to free Mogul multiple times and all the while having to fight the FFs and Chaotix over and over. Sleuth Dawg and Drago joined with them formally at some point, and this is when they were renamed into the Destructix. This period also saw them become most notable for joining up with Fiona Fox and Scourge during the whole Enerjak Knuckles kerfuffle, a byline which would continue for the rest of the comic...until the Genesis Wave where they were wiped out.

Anyway, the context for this panel is that it really doubles down on their team dynamic, confirming that they really are alike to the FFs and Chaotix in their loyalty to each other despite being strangers brought together by chance. For story context; because of a bunch of bullshit rules during a ninja clan takeover, Lightning Lynx has to go back to his clan when the Ragyu ally with the poor man's Princess Iron Fan (because LEGO is expensive lol). This is because Lightning is revealed to be a ninja in this very arc, since Espio was not a ninja when he debuted. The rest of his team aren't happy about this, so Fiona tries to get Sleuth to help, but he steps down and bounces from crime altogether, and hands the leadership over to her then and there. She uses her newfound leadership to go to the Dragon Kingdom, managing to run into the heroes' away team in the process. They briefly work past their history to make a deal on Sonic taking on Conquering Storm, since their pride does not come before their teammate. Sonic utterly thrashes Lightning when he challenges him in order to win the love of Conquering, and she rejects him once again, shattering his heart. It's here that the rest of the Fearsome Four step in, making it clear that even through all the exiles and outcasting he's been dealt, he will always have a place with them.

Their last arc would go even further into this, with all the backstories being revealed in the same way the Chaotix had theirs elaborated on to emphasise their present brotherhood, and they make it clear to Scourge that they're only willing to listen to him on the merit of having the trust of other members. This sets them up to come back to the crime scene even stronger when they manage to get to Moebius.

Then they die and the Hooligans basically take over their niche in respect to the Chaotix due to their role being significantly different than it was in 1995. And then they effectively die due to the classic split in IDW and the Chaotix are basically left with no rivalries at all there.

woo

[Silvereyes]

Honestly, thinking of the concept of rivals, I feel like there are many characters you could consider being a rival to Sonic in different ways. Most obviously in the meta sense Sonic was meant to be Mario's rival in the gaming world. Then in the worst issues of Archie, you had Sonic being Tails rival for Fiona's affection. Sonic and Geoffrey's rivalry might be the worst actual rivalry Sonic ever had, where it is used as a tool for pointless melodrama and you root for neither character due to them acting like douchebags. I feel like that for a good rivarly to work, you need characters who bounce off of each other well.

Most of the moments I can think of have already been talked about. Saying that though, I also do like a rival who appears who is basically just a big beat stick for Sonic to overcome, and I feel like most robot/mecha/metal Sonic variants are just that.

[Sternosaur]

It might be a little too early to talk about these two since they were recently introduced in the Imposter Syndrome Mini-Series, but I can already tell we are going to be in for a treat with these two!  They're like the perfect evil rivals to Sonic and Tails.  Being inspired by the infamous Ashura glitch from Sonic 2, for obvious reasons the new IDW Sonic series couldn't use Scourge, so I feel like this was the next best thing.