Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[VO.SUPER]

On 7/22/2016 at 11:49 AM, Sparky said:

I don't see how comics as a medium would limit Sonic's freedom to travel aimlessly.

Big ramble:

I think it comes down to how the games and comics handle continuity differently. I'd say ever since Shadow, the games have only ever held a vague timeline of events that never evolves past a certain status quo. Sure, Sonic and friends go through these big adventures all the time, but the connection between each game seems to grow thinner and thinner outside of cameos and mentions of the events existence. There were no lessons really learned, nothing that will ever change the aspect of how these characters act going forward. I'd actually describe each game being similar to an episode of AoStH but bigger in scale. After the episode/game is over, what the characters (aside from Sonic and Eggman) do inbetween adventures is not important unless it ties into the plot of the next thing. 

I hope I'm making some sense here. 

So sure, Sonic is a wanderer, but then you run into problems like keeping the cast together most of the time. So why is this character here? What is their purpose of being present in this area of the story aside from just being filler or fanservice? Yeah, in the games that's not really a big problem because why a character is anywhere is not really that big of a deal over the fun gameplay. I mean, who cares why Amy was in Spagonia in Unleashed or what she does between games; it's established that she chases Sonic. As silly as that may be, it is what it is. Who cares why Tails was in Apotos? We don't really know where he lives, just that he has a workshop at Mystic Ruins. All these details are left as vague as possible so as not to ground every character in place, so that they can find their way to Sonic, and no one cares.

I guess the problem is that when you have a comic, these holes usually end up being filled either on purpose or accidentally. All the characters start to find a place in society that Sonic doesn't really have. Sonic may be a wanderer, but everyone around him isn't. So then you have to wonder how and why he may run into all his pals on every adventure because that sort of convenience doesn't really fly when there's a harder continuity between issues than between games. 

I'm not really sure how Sonic's wandering could be a major focus of the story really except maybe once every few arcs where you have him just sort of show up to a problem. Sure, I think his wandering could be the focus of one off issues, but really nothing major unless a lot of convenience starts to pile up to get other major characters involved. 

I hope some of that rambling made some sense.

[Tylinos]

So, a bit of a random question, but does anyone here have the Genesis hardcover collection?  Someone I'm talking to is thinking of getting it, and wants to know first if it includes the covers for each issue.

[Sean]

I have it, and it has all of the covers and variants. Since it only contains an excerpt from 225, its cover appears near the very back as a two-page spread.

[Sparky]

3 hours ago, VisionaryofSUPER said:

Big ramble:

I think it comes down to how the games and comics handle continuity differently. I'd say ever since Shadow, the games have only ever held a vague timeline of events that never evolves past a certain status quo. Sure, Sonic and friends go through these big adventures all the time, but the connection between each game seems to grow thinner and thinner outside of cameos and mentions of the events existence. There were no lessons really learned, nothing that will ever change the aspect of how these characters act going forward. I'd actually describe each game being similar to an episode of AoStH but bigger in scale. After the episode/game is over, what the characters (aside from Sonic and Eggman) do inbetween adventures is not important unless it ties into the plot of the next thing. 

I hope I'm making some sense here. 

So sure, Sonic is a wanderer, but then you run into problems like keeping the cast together most of the time. So why is this character here? What is their purpose of being present in this area of the story aside from just being filler or fanservice? Yeah, in the games that's not really a big problem because why a character is anywhere is not really that big of a deal over the fun gameplay. I mean, who cares why Amy was in Spagonia in Unleashed or what she does between games; it's established that she chases Sonic. As silly as that may be, it is what it is. Who cares why Tails was in Apotos? We don't really know where he lives, just that he has a workshop at Mystic Ruins. All these details are left as vague as possible so as not to ground every character in place, so that they can find their way to Sonic, and no one cares.

I guess the problem is that when you have a comic, these holes usually end up being filled either on purpose or accidentally. All the characters start to find a place in society that Sonic doesn't really have. Sonic may be a wanderer, but everyone around him isn't. So then you have to wonder how and why he may run into all his pals on every adventure because that sort of convenience doesn't really fly when there's a harder continuity between issues than between games. 

I'm not really sure how Sonic's wandering could be a major focus of the story really except maybe once every few arcs where you have him just sort of show up to a problem. Sure, I think his wandering could be the focus of one off issues, but really nothing major unless a lot of convenience starts to pile up to get other major characters involved. 

I hope some of that rambling made some sense.

Well, like you said, Amy chases Sonic, and Tails seems to travel a lot as well. He just has workshops to do his tech stuff. Angel Island floats in the sky and Knuckles is a treasure hunter. Eggman has a new base all the time, Team Dark work for G.U.N, etc. So with that, those characters aren't really tied down to one setting, except Knuckles who's setting is mobile, and they all have a reason for being wherever Sonic is when the action happens. Plotwise, it's just each story taking place in a new setting every time. 

[PC the Hedgehog]

Speaking of our good buddy Ian:
 

Make of that what you will.

[Soniman]

As far as I'm concerned that's a no till proven otherwise. 

[Sean]

Ian... just... just say no you're not working on it for all of our sanities

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

Heard you peeps like #284 peeks:

This line just exudes Shardiness. XD

"SMASHING! YOUR FACES IN!"

Bit more refined than his magical flying underpants. XD

Also, Off-Panel:

Enjoy!

[QuantumEdge]

I've only seen preview pages and spoiler panels and already this more than makes up for the months of lacklustre instalments.  Wednesday just isn't coming fast enough.

[VO.SUPER]

7 hours ago, Sparky said:

Well, like you said, Amy chases Sonic, and Tails seems to travel a lot as well. He just has workshops to do his tech stuff. Angel Island floats in the sky and Knuckles is a treasure hunter. Eggman has a new base all the time, Team Dark work for G.U.N, etc. So with that, those characters aren't really tied down to one setting, except Knuckles who's setting is mobile, and they all have a reason for being wherever Sonic is when the action happens. Plotwise, it's just each story taking place in a new setting every time. 

Isn't her chasing Sonic all the time, a trait that people complain about for making her seem one dimensional? Does the girl not have other things to do? We've seen her shop, so she has to have a house to live in.

But why is Tails travelling, unlike in Sonic Unleashed, you have to address the presence of a character. If he's not consistently following Sonic, he can't just be in every adventure.

Knuckles is supposed to be a guardian before a treasure hunter, and having Angel Island float conveniently to the next plot point is a really silly idea. Unlike the games, which have conveniently forgotten his backstory you can't just remove him from the Master Emerald for no reason.

Eggman at least makes full sense. It's part of their relationship that he and Sonic just sort of run into each other.

Team Dark makes sense too though. 

And what about Team Chaotix? There can't be a job everywhere Sonic is. 

What about Silver? You can't just pull him out of the future to threaten Orbot and Cubot for no reason in a comic.

It's a slippery slope I feel like. Sure, Sonic can wander, but I don't think it can be a major element outside of a one off comic issue or two between arcs.

 

[Sparky]

11 minutes ago, VisionaryofSUPER said:

Isn't her chasing Sonic all the time, a trait that people complain about for making her seem one dimensional? Does the girl not have other things to do? We've seen her shop, so she has to have a house to live in.

But why is Tails travelling, unlike in Sonic Unleashed, you have to address the presence of a character. If he's not consistently following Sonic, he can't just be in every adventure.

Knuckles is supposed to be a guardian before a treasure hunter, and having Angel Island float conveniently to the next plot point is a really silly idea. Unlike the games, which have conveniently forgotten his backstory you can't just remove him from the Master Emerald for no reason.

Eggman at least makes full sense. It's part of their relationship that he and Sonic just sort of run into each other.

Team Dark makes sense too though. 

And what about Team Chaotix? There can't be a job everywhere Sonic is. 

What about Silver? You can't just pull him out of the future to threaten Orbot and Cubot for no reason in a comic.

It's a slippery slope I feel like. Sure, Sonic can wander, but I don't think it can be a major element outside of a one off comic issue or two between arcs.

 

Silver and Blaze, because they come across time and dimensions, can conveniently appear anywhere in Sonic's world.

[VO.SUPER]

Just now, Sparky said:

Silver and Blaze, because they come across time and dimensions, can conveniently appear anywhere in Sonic's world.

They can, but why? 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

5 hours ago, Birthday Blur CC14 said:

Heard you peeps like #284 peeks:

 

  Hide contents

This line just exudes Shardiness. XD

"SMASHING! YOUR FACES IN!"

Bit more refined than his magical flying underpants. XD

Also, Off-Panel:

 

Enjoy!

 

I can't be the only one who wanted to hear 

Quote

A royal smashing 

 

[Sparky]

1 hour ago, VisionaryofSUPER said:

They can, but why? 

I'm just saying, if they need to appear, they can without a problem, because they don't live anywhere in Sonic's world or time period.

[sonicfoamyfan9805]

9 hours ago, Birthday Blur CC14 said:

Heard you peeps like #284 peeks:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

This line just exudes Shardiness. XD

"SMASHING! YOUR FACES IN!"

Bit more refined than his magical flying underpants. XD

Also, Off-Panel:

 

Enjoy!

 

and this is just part 1!!! this is gonna be quite a finale

[VO.SUPER]

3 hours ago, Sparky said:

I'm just saying, if they need to appear, they can without a problem, because they don't live anywhere in Sonic's world or time period.

That's not necessarily the issue. It's that these characters have lives outside of the events of the main comic. They are expressed as individuals outside of the events of main arcs, you can't just pull them out every adventure without some justification if Sonic is just wandering around. At least by having Sonic somewhat grounded you have a better excuse to draw them out everytime since they are usually in closer proximity to him.

[Sega DogTagz]

4 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I can't be the only one who wanted to hear 

 

I'll settle for the expertly plugged "Blast Processing" quip. Bravo Ian.

[Kuzu]

Right so I never expressed my opinion issue #284, I got it last night. 

Overall, much better than the previous issues; it doesn't waste time with exposition or trying reestablish characters and gets straight into the action. The Battle Bird Armada cause a distraction with a frontal assault on the Sky Patrol while the Hooligans and Witchcarters get the Gaia Keys and Chaos Emeralds from down below. In one issue, the tide completely turned. Actual suspense and stakes now, I love it.

The coloring and inking are a lot less washed out than before and Skelly continues to have amazing expressions. A very good start to the final part of this whole thing.

[Irish David]

I really enjoyed the story in #283 and the cover art some much, I added it to my comic wall, some more will be added in the coming weeks and hope to get my Mega Drive comic signed by Tyson at Summer of Sonic in a few weeks to put into my frames on my table in the house. Oh the excitement is building 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

18 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I can't be the only one who wanted to hear 

 

I dunno. I kinda felt "Have at thee" would've been better, but I ain't bitchin'. 

Love the Ring Blade/Shield combo on King Nigel Acorn tho. Hell, if they have ring blades, who knows what else the Kingdom of Acorn has, like ring blasters, ring cannons, etc. Adds more intrigue to how they're able to compete technologically with the United Federation given that the UF doesn't have that as far as we know, and just makes me want to know more about the Great War between them.

[Celestia]

Was there still a Great War in this continuity? I don't remember it being mentioned in any post-reboot issues I've read, though I am a bit behind at the moment.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

3 minutes ago, Celestia said:

Was there still a Great War in this continuity? I don't remember it being mentioned in any post-reboot issues I've read, though I am a bit behind at the moment.

Yes, it was a conflict between the Kingdom of Acorn and the GUN/United Federation that was instigated by Eggman, Snively, and Naugus.

They haven't exactly touched upon it much, but given that Snively's origin revealed that they tricked King Nigel into believing the UF would invade his kingdom and the past tension between the two countries revealed in the latest Universe story, that was essentially the prelude to the Great War from what I gather.

[Soniman]

6 minutes ago, Celestia said:

Was there still a Great War in this continuity? I don't remember it being mentioned in any post-reboot issues I've read, though I am a bit behind at the moment.

This hint adding to what CSS said

[Heckboy]

 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Huh...

K, well that's been misleading. I could've sworn their actions led to war that weakened the Kingdom and Federation after Eggman made his move.

And I kinda liked that detail too...oh well. Looks like we dun goofed on that.