Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[Betz]

4 hours ago, Ernest-Panda said:

Considering the new game isn't set to be announced for another month, it'd be strange for them to gradually reveal its comic adaptation now.

That's the thing. No one would expect it. There's been an unusually big focus on Mega Drive don't you think? I'm just saying...

[Tomzilla98]

What if the mystery cover has to do with the last comic bundle (which seems to be 2200 bundles)? Perhaps the last bundle will be revealed then, although that seems like a scam to those 2200 people who bought bundles prior, if that's the case...

 

[Dr. Detective]

So yes, I finally got the final issue of Eggman's Dozen and yes, as a whole and complete Sonic Universe Story arc, I absolutely loved it. However, this final issue had the biggest and most glaring problem of the four, namely for the rushed conclusion. This highlights, once again, a problem that Sonic Universe often has because it's shackled to the four issue format.

Sonic Universe always falls into this pattern where the third issue ends on a full page spread of the final boss thing that you're going to see them fight at the beginning of the last issue. And then the last issue puts itself on auto-pilot and wraps everything up extremely quick, to the detriment of the story arc. I remember being particularly bothered by how The Tails Adventure ended. The absolute worst example for me remains the first Silver Arc where this supposed genius Enerjak just allowed a bunch of people to live for his amusement and then got beaten by Silver because Silver could grab his energy and toss it back at him. And instead of just switching to physical attacks he just kept hurling beams of light at Silver. And for some reason regular Silver is strong enough to grab Enerjak's energy. If that was Super Silver, I'd be able to buy that a bit more but as is, it really just makes the whole Enerjak thing look like a joke. To me at least.

This arc didn't really suffer that much from it though. It had the added benefit of everything leading up to it being good. Not to mention, despite the conclusion being a bit too fast, I didn't feel insulted by the way it resolved. I also do wish to hammer home how much I do like these people. Hopefully, the Freedom Fighters may actually produce people I care about after this.

[goku262002]

17 hours ago, kimplix said:

Somebody should probably send that to Aaron right away.

[MetalSkulkBane]

4 hours ago, Dr. Chaotix said:

The absolute worst example for me remains the first Silver Arc where this supposed genius Enerjak just allowed a bunch of people to live for his amusement and then got beaten by Silver because Silver could grab his energy and toss it back at him. And instead of just switching to physical attacks he just kept hurling beams of light at Silver. And for some reason regular Silver is strong enough to grab Enerjak's energy. If that was Super Silver, I'd be able to buy that a bit more but as is, it really just makes the whole Enerjak thing look like a joke. To me at least.

Enerjack supposed to be a genius? He was echidna drunk on power, he was anything but clever, no matter how he talked. That's just ego.

And I believe Silver was using enemy strength against himself. You know, like tripping a strong guy that is charging at you. And he didn't beat Enerjack that way, just slowed him down for long enough fro Jani-Ca to take him down. Makes sense to me.

Personally I preferred Silver Saga ending, because there was a tension in the issue. Eggman Dozen 3 ends with saying "I'm not done yet"! And in 4th they go down like a chumps.

[QuantumEdge]

14 hours ago, The KKM said:

I'll be surprised if this specific image is more than a variant. Anything else and by this point we'd be starting to see some sort of arc logo.

I'm starting to suspect it's a Comic-Con variant.  The timing works out, since it'll be revealed well before anything at San Diego is under way and it seems strangely early to reveal the nest Sonic issue.

[Big Panda]

1 hour ago, QuantumEdge said:

I'm starting to suspect it's a Comic-Con variant.  The timing works out, since it'll be revealed well before anything at San Diego is under way and it seems strangely early to reveal the nest Sonic issue.

If it is, then they're purposely leaving out the "CONVENTION EXCLUSIVE" header that appears on all Comic-Con covers.

[Forte-Metallix]

Looking good!

Whether this is the next arc or just a variant, I think I might pick this up.

[Zaysho]

I think it's a little weird they'd recruit Spaz for a variant and not a main cover, if that IS the case.

What if we're getting a break from the main story once the Shattered World saga ends and catching up with Sonic's past (the game stuff)? That or it could be some sort of tie in for "Mega Drive".

[Mauro Fonseca]

Again, if so, I really do believe y now we'd be seeing some bit of some arc logo as they tend to do in recent years.

[DabigRG]

Excuse my naivete but what do yall mean by bundles? Of what?

7 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Enerjack supposed to be a genius? He was echidna drunk on power, he was anything but clever, no matter how he talked. That's just ego.

And I believe Silver was using enemy strength against himself. You know, like tripping a strong guy that is charging at you. And he didn't beat Enerjack that way, just slowed him down for long enough fro Jani-Ca to take him down. Makes sense to me.

Personally I preferred Silver Saga ending, because there was a tension in the issue. Eggman Dozen 3 ends with saying "I'm not done yet"! And in 4th they go down like a chumps.

 

Also, he's actually "K'nox © ". Not exactly the smartest Echyd'nya © on the Floating Island. 

[SBR2]

59 minutes ago, The KKM said:

Again, if so, I really do believe y now we'd be seeing some bit of some arc logo as they tend to do in recent years.

The Arc name is usually on the top right hand corner which is still hidden. The Issue Number's also hidden so I think those are important man

@DabigRG Humble Bundle is a service where you buy in bulk various Bundles ranging from Comics to Games I'm not sure if they do anything else. The money spent goes to Charity.

.

[andrewtuell1991]

Just a quick little theory I have about the gradually revealing cover.  I don't think it's a variant cover of Sonic: Mega Drive because looking the left edge where it currently only has "the Hedge" spelled out there's only enough room left for "hog #XXX".  Since Sega is temporarily easing restrictions for using the classic designs, and since the comic is coming off an exhausting 3-year long arc following a forced reboot of the series, wouldn't it be great to get an info dump on the pre-252 events of the post-SGW timeline.

Think about it, one of the biggest problems with the Shattered World arc was the pacing as Ian was forced to rebuild the history and world from scratch to replace 350+ issues of the old universe with a rough equivalent and there's so much of the new universe pre-252 that we don't know about.  In what order do the games happen? What significant changes where made to the games' stories compared to how they played out in the games? How soon were the Egg Bosses of this universe establish compared to the Grandmasters/Sun-Bosses of the old universe? etc. etc.

Ian has been giving bits and pieces of the new pre-252 universe in the form of flashbacks and Sonic Comic Origins which have yielded some interesting information such as Tails Skypatrol taking place immediately after Sonic 2 8-bit and Breezie owning Casino Park which Neo Metal Sonic funded.  But the drip-drop style of receiving information is taking it's toll on the comic's pacing as it has to devote a chunk of it's time to rebuild the world, timeline, and characters.  Some arcs like Champions (StH #268-271) can do it and still tell a good story but others like Eggman's Dozen (SU #83-86) could've used those extra flashback pages to better flesh out the story.

Therefore, I think the comic should abandon the drip-drop style and use the next arc to better reveal the past events of the new timeline via flashbacks from various characters or something like that.  I think it could be done with the new standard 4-issues an arc format.  Have the first issue devoted to revealing as much pre-Sonic 1 history as Sega will allow followed by a more solid timeline of the post-SGW version of the Mega Drive trilogy (and Tails Adventure if it still occurs before Sonic 2 16-bit like in the games).  Issue #2 would be devoted to the Game Gear games, CD, Knuckles Chaotix, and the exact placement of when the Freedom Fighters met Lupe and Dulcy (pretty sure it's after S3K).  Issue #3 would cover the 6th gen console and handheld games (Adventure duo, Heroes, Shadow, Advance trilogy, and Battle) and Issue #4 would detail the 7th gen games (2006, Rush duo, Rivals duo, Riders trilogy, Colors, Generations, and when the Egg Bosses were established).

That way future could devote less time to filling in the gaps as the readers would have a more solid grasp on what came before.

[Your Vest Friend]

That issue 2 would be awkward as heck, because it'd be a mix of classic and modern looks for the flashbacks (the Chaotix are absolutely barred from getting their classic looks since they're not grouped under the retro brand). 

[SBR2]

That...Actually would be pretty awesome. A Four Issue arc that's about giving us the bullet points of the new Timeline would be pretty perfect honestly.

[QuantumEdge]

The idea wouldn't have a lot of substance, considering the vast amount of games to cover in so few pages, but the clearer picture would be more than enough compensation to make it a worthwhile opportunity.

[Sean]

Just grabbed the bundle. Pretty sweet deal honestly; I guess I'll just get Sonic Universe 17 and Sonic Boom 11 on comiXology and wait to see if the upcoming add-on is Worlds Unite.

[andrewtuell1991]

18 minutes ago, QuantumEdge said:

The idea wouldn't have a lot of substance, considering the vast amount of games to cover in so few pages, but the clearer picture would be more than enough compensation to make it a worthwhile opportunity.

Pretty much my point.  At least the pre-252 timeline wouldn't be as vague and muddled as it currently is and we'd be given the power-point version of major events and be given a basic sense of chronology.  The only other solution I can see is doing a post-SGW version of "The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia" but that would probably be too time and resource consuming.

[Big Panda]

28 minutes ago, QuantumEdge said:

The idea wouldn't have a lot of substance, considering the vast amount of games to cover in so few pages, but the clearer picture would be more than enough compensation to make it a worthwhile opportunity.

You say that as if it'd only be a single issue...

But anyway, I just had another thought occur to me: what if...

...it's a new issue 1?

[Mauro Fonseca]

Then they'd have milked those news for all they're worth already.

[MetalSkulkBane]

54 minutes ago, andrewtuell1991 said:

Just a quick little theory I have about the gradually revealing cover.  I don't think it's a variant cover of Sonic: Mega Drive because looking the left edge where it currently only has "the Hedge" spelled out there's only enough room left for "hog #XXX".  Since Sega is temporarily easing restrictions for using the classic designs, and since the comic is coming off an exhausting 3-year long arc following a forced reboot of the series, wouldn't it be great to get an info dump on the pre-252 events of the post-SGW timeline.

Think about it, one of the biggest problems with the Shattered World arc was the pacing as Ian was forced to rebuild the history and world from scratch to replace 350+ issues of the old universe with a rough equivalent and there's so much of the new universe pre-252 that we don't know about.  In what order do the games happen? What significant changes where made to the games' stories compared to how they played out in the games? How soon were the Egg Bosses of this universe establish compared to the Grandmasters/Sun-Bosses of the old universe? etc. etc.

Ian has been giving bits and pieces of the new pre-252 universe in the form of flashbacks and Sonic Comic Origins which have yielded some interesting information such as Tails Skypatrol taking place immediately after Sonic 2 8-bit and Breezie owning Casino Park which Neo Metal Sonic funded.  But the drip-drop style of receiving information is taking it's toll on the comic's pacing as it has to devote a chunk of it's time to rebuild the world, timeline, and characters.  Some arcs like Champions (StH #268-271) can do it and still tell a good story but others like Eggman's Dozen (SU #83-86) could've used those extra flashback pages to better flesh out the story.

Therefore, I think the comic should abandon the drip-drop style and use the next arc to better reveal the past events of the new timeline via flashbacks from various characters or something like that.  I think it could be done with the new standard 4-issues an arc format.  Have the first issue devoted to revealing as much pre-Sonic 1 history as Sega will allow followed by a more solid timeline of the post-SGW version of the Mega Drive trilogy (and Tails Adventure if it still occurs before Sonic 2 16-bit like in the games).  Issue #2 would be devoted to the Game Gear games, CD, Knuckles Chaotix, and the exact placement of when the Freedom Fighters met Lupe and Dulcy (pretty sure it's after S3K).  Issue #3 would cover the 6th gen console and handheld games (Adventure duo, Heroes, Shadow, Advance trilogy, and Battle) and Issue #4 would detail the 7th gen games (2006, Rush duo, Rivals duo, Riders trilogy, Colors, Generations, and when the Egg Bosses were established).

That way future could devote less time to filling in the gaps as the readers would have a more solid grasp on what came before.

 

Damn you andrew! Now if it''s going to be anything else I'm going to be totally disappointed!

[QuantumEdge]

1 hour ago, Ernest-Panda said:

You say that as if it'd only be a single issue...

But anyway, I just had another thought occur to me: what if...

 

  Hide contents

...it's a new issue 1?

 

I don't mean just for one issue, I mean even for a whole four part story it'd be a big mantle to bear.  There's so many game's stories to tell, maybe even more original past events.  That a lot to condense into something that doesn't push the boat out to five parts.

As for your own theory, I don't think they'd be quite as cryptic with that sort of seismic change as they are with this cover.

[Shadowlax]

At least it wasn't the star wars prequel thing I thought it was going to be when a lot of that cover was still covered up.

 

What does he mean by " star wars prequel " thing , the thing I have been afraid of sega doing for a while and it seems like we dodged a bullet.

Think baby han solo

[Shaddy Zaphod]

Yeah, as unlikely as it is, seeing the start of the saga from Eggman's cout up to the current 252 would be so fucking awesome.

I think that between all the games Archie uses elements from (and has combined together, like S2-8bit and Sky Patrol) it could definitely fill most of those 251, and the rest could be between them, explaining stuff like the wolf pack and other villains' stories like Naugus. You could even do universe arcs for Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow's game-specific arcs

[Dr. Detective]

19 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Enerjack supposed to be a genius? He was echidna drunk on power, he was anything but clever, no matter how he talked. That's just ego.

And I believe Silver was using enemy strength against himself. You know, like tripping a strong guy that is charging at you. And he didn't beat Enerjack that way, just slowed him down for long enough fro Jani-Ca to take him down. Makes sense to me.

Personally I preferred Silver Saga ending, because there was a tension in the issue. Eggman Dozen 3 ends with saying "I'm not done yet"! And in 4th they go down like a chumps.

Yes, that's what I said. I said Silver was using the enemy's strength against himself. And I also said that the reason I hated it was because I didn't like the aspect of regular Silver being able to handle Enerjak's God Energy like that. And I also said I'd have stomached it more if he were in a Super form but as is, it felt really odd. It made absolutely  no sense for Enerjak to keep attacking Silver that exact same way after Silver succeeded at throwing his energy at him the first time. It'd be as if the strong guy you tripped got up and kept charging the same way expecting a different result but ended up getting tripped over and over again. I didn't say anything about Jani-Ca or the sword because that's not what bothered me. I felt the Silver Saga ending was what you claim the Eggman's Dozen ending is but much worse. And the Eggman's Dozen ending actually is what you claim it was, as I also stated, but I felt it was a lot less insulting since the threat felt as though it had been reasonably dealt with up to that point. At the end of the third Eggman's Dozen issue, it was very obviously Naugus' last gambit. 

I also really, really don't care if he's supposed to be smart or if he's drunk on power or not. "Supposed genius" is my personal insult towards his portrayal there. Someone who managed to take over the Earth going out in such a very odd stream of convenient events that straight up makes him look like an idiot doesn't sit right with me. I remember being actively very angry at that ending when I had first read it. Nowadays I'm just indifferent to it all. I'll probably never go back to read it again anyway and it doesn't matter because it's story is irrelevant now.

But yes, this is a consistent problem that Sonic Universe has, whether Eggman Dozen did it better or worse, it still happened in Eggman's Dozen all the same and I get why others might see it as a problem.