Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[Silvereyes]

4 minutes ago, Cuz said:

I've been tallying up my favorite stories from the book for like a top 10 list and I have so much love for Darkest Storm. It's what Ian does best, It brings up and briefly revels in comic's history and the minutiae it's accumulated before consolidating into a cleaner more modern/game Sonic friendly status quo. Ian was a master of collecting enough loose details, and minor, one-off characters, and making a DC Crisis level event of them and I don't think anything did that better than Darkest Storm.

I think that is very true. I mean, I'm not far through Ian Flynn's run of Archie so far, but even reading his 6 issues of the IDW run, you can definetly notice how much Flynn takes note of past events in the games, and utilises that continuity in how characters interact and situations. Like how recently in issue #6 Sonic basically defuses Shadow by bringing up his past of being a villian and comparing it to Eggman, or how the buddy dynamic of Tails, Amy and Knuckles has evolved, or even just using very minor stuff to bring about interesting developments, like noticing Blaze's absence from Forces (why was she absent from that game?) and having it explained, and basically use it so Blaze can stick around in Sonic's dimension for now.

I don't think Darkest Storm will ever be in my top 10 Archie stories, even from just this point in the comic, partly because again, I don't really care much about Naugus or Mogul, and also because alot of the stuff it depends on is from the bad Penders stories. Honestly, I actually find Flynn's first year of the comic to be like a janitor coming in to sweep up the messes Penders left behind. I think Flynn is doing a great job of it, and really getting the comic back to a good state, but I'm also interested in him really doing his own thing.

Hell, same with the IDW run to a degree, since issues #1-#6 is basically about the aftermath of Forces, and now with the announcement of the name of the next arc from issue #9 being

The Battle for Angel Island

and new characters like Tangle and Whisper being ready to be fully utilised, I really want to see how IDW's run begins to take off in its own direction.

[RedFox99]

One of the bigger issues I hade with the Darkest Storm is that the artstyle looks weird.

[Silvereyes]

#168-#169: The end of the Anonmyous arc. Pretty good, A.D.A.M. makes for a good villian as he steals Tommy Turtle's body, and his grand plan involves combining all the coloured emeralds into the 7 Chaos Emeralds. Honestly, considering how the Chaos Emeralds have been properly established since Sonic 2, it's always been a little weird how the Archie comics went with this weird thing where all emeralds were green, there are hundreds of them, and that the Master Emerald was made from a ton of them combining. Not that I exactly endorse retcons, but really it's the kind of thing that probably should of been retconned early on in the comic's run, rather than run this weird alternate version of the emeralds up until 2006, where it is just confusing to anyone familar with the very basics of the game Sonic.

Anyway, it leads to a cool fight with Super Sonic, Super Shadow, and presumably the last time we see Turbo Tails, with it ending rather sadly with Tommy Turtle dying... again, as well as having the 7 Chaos Emeralds to match the video game continuity, although now at the moment they exist in the Zone of Silence for the time being. It's a pretty good story I think, again, it feels like Flynn trying to move everything forward, as well as trying to actually get the comic more in line with the game continuity.

Mind you, these 2 issues really do lay on the fact that Flynn ain't going to back away from the dark stuff that could happen in the previous era, with #168's B story seeing Antoine's dad from poisoning from the Evil Antoine way back, which is actually pretty heartfelt, and #169 seeing Tommy be killed. #169 has a nice B story about Espio going to Charmy's homeland where it is overrun by Eggman's forces, which is actually a neat little story showing off how cool Espio is.

#170: A bit of a inbetween issue, where we see a few minor things happen. Dr Quack thinks he can get Max Acorn out of his coma, and he will need a... chaos emerald to do it? Um, isn't that like needing a nuclear power station to revive a single person? Oh whatever, it's an excuse for Sonic to go to the Zone of Silence and get an Emerald, as well as establish where the other 6 are for the future. They revive Max, and after talking to Merlin, manage to teleport to that alien planet from a few years back and recover Tails parents, as well as establishing the Black Doom army fighting the other aliens from Tossed in Space. Tails parents are back, and Tails dad gets to be on the Royal Council.

Kindof interested to see where this goes, because I have heard from somewhere that apparently Tails parents turn out to be dicks or something later on, but that should be interesting. We also get a couple of pages of Knuckles and Sonic talking, which is fun as the 2 tease each other in the way good mates do, and really just how well Flynn writes the 2 of them together.

We also get a B story which is a callback to the very first issue of Sonic, as he encounters a bunch of '90s badniks and engages them in a '90s comic style. A nice little callback to the past, although with the ad at the end of it, it seems to exist to advertise some kind of collection of older Sonic issues.

#171: A Shadow centric story, as Shadow, Sonic and Nicole venture into cyberspace so Shadow can find out his past. A nice way of basically getting Shadow to stop working for Eggman, and it is nice to see Nicole as a person again, even Sonic gets to briefly flirt with her which is cute. Basically, Shadow gets closure with his past, and also finds out his Shadow the Hedgehog game backstory with Black Doom, because the comic didn't do an adaptation of it. Fun little story, and there is a genuinely hilarious bit with Snively coming to try and kill the Freedom Fighters because Shadow took his last 6 hairs on his head, which he cares about so much he had trackers placed inside them. I love it when the comic can have a little bit of absurdity like that.

The B story is basically some more plot unfolding on Angel Island, with Knuckles dad getting help from Dr Fitivius, who he winds up trusting the Master Emerald too as things constantly go south on the island, with Dr Fitivius hinting towards about his big evil plan for the future.

#172: The conclusion to the Fiona stuff, with Fiona deciding to go evil. To be honest, I'm not too hot on this issue. Fiona basically decides to go fully blown evil after being conflicted over being a good guy in the past, and I must admit I'm not sure how to feel about it. It just feels so sudden, even if they were foreshadowing it with Fiona being absent the last couple of issues. It doesn't bother me hugely, especially since Fiona going bad is something I did know about it before reading this, but it does feel like any depth Fiona had before is tossed out the window.

Still, it is nice to see Sonic and Scrouge fight, with Scrouge deciding to quote the Joker about how one bad day can send you bad, but how Sonic retorts about how Scrouge is jealous that all he needs is a little kindness and he can be like him. Amy and Tails also get their moments which is good as well.

B story is about Amy and Julie-Su training, with Amy wanting to be the greatest Freedom Fighter ever to impress Sonic, while Julie-Su, being surprisingly sensible, says you need to do it for yourself too and not just for a guy, which Amy completely ignores. We talked about the sexual innuendo of #150 with Sonic and Bunnies "nap", but please tell me I can't be the only one who looked at this panel, and thought "wait, did Julie-Su sleep with Vector?"

[Big Panda]

Vector was sleeping on the couch, Julie-Su walked past. That’s all. How would you even...? lol

[Silvereyes]

I've got a bit of a filthy mind. But to be fair, the panel showing it is morning, Vector looking satisfied and Julie-Su's face could certainly imply something.

[DabigRG]

44 minutes ago, Ernest-Panda said:

Vector was sleeping on the couch, Julie-Su walked past. That’s all. How would you even...? lol

Probably because they normally can't go a minute without jabbing at each other.

[Silvereyes]

On 7/20/2018 at 4:28 AM, Cuz said:

The main things I remember about the Sonic X comics were: demonstrably lower stakes, and the biggest word balloons you ever saw in your life. I viewed it like a gag strip or slice-of-life most of the time. Even compared to the anime it lacks tension, but there is a charm to it. If you do skip it #40 happens in the space between #196-197. You'll get a good taste of it there.

I don't have much to do this week, so decided to check out the Sonic X comic, and 4 issues in, I think you've basically hit the nail on the head. Lots of dialogue boxes, and the stakes do feel pretty low, very much villian of the week stuff, especially when compared to the stuff that happens in the main Sonic comic. It's OK so far, but not exactly gripping me. I'm sure I'll read the rest of it soon enough, but I don't plan to talk about it in any detail.

I must admit, having watched X last time like a decade ago, it was interesting being reminded of some of the details of that show, like Knuckles not doing much, that weird sub plot thing with Rouge and Topaz, and the weird side gags they sometimes did.

Although this part in Issue #1 certainly made me drop my jaw. This confuses me on so many levels.

Some of the artwork could be a bit better.

And I think Topaz might be a furry in denial.

[Sgt Nate V]

18 minutes ago, silvereye27 said:

Although this part in Issue #1 certainly made me drop my jaw. This confuses me on so many levels.

Makes sense if you remember that everyone was teleported from Sonic's World to the human world and that Rings are essentially currency in Sonic's World.

[DabigRG]

34 minutes ago, silvereye27 said:

I don't have much to do this week, so decided to check out the Sonic X comic, and 4 issues in, I think you've basically hit the nail on the head. Lots of dialogue boxes, and the stakes do feel pretty low, very much villian of the week stuff, especially when compared to the stuff that happens in the main Sonic comic. It's OK so far, but not exactly gripping me. I'm sure I'll read the rest of it soon enough, but I don't plan to talk about it in any detail.

I must admit, having watched X last time like a decade ago, it was interesting being reminded of some of the details of that show, like Knuckles not doing much, that weird sub plot thing with Rouge and Topaz, and the weird side gags they sometimes did.

Although this part in Issue #1 certainly made me drop my jaw. This confuses me on so many levels.

Some of the artwork could be a bit better.

And I think Topaz might be a furry in denial.

What is going on with Eggman's nose and Knuckles's mouth?

[Silvereyes]

17 minutes ago, Sgt Nate V said:

Makes sense if you remember that everyone was teleported from Sonic's World to the human world and that Rings are essentially currency in Sonic's World.

I guess, still think Eggman would be smarter than that. Was Sonic X that comedic at times? I always remember it trying to be edgy.

1 minute ago, DabigRG said:

What is going on with Eggman's nose and Knuckles's mouth?

Knuckles is meant to have a snorkel on. No idea about Eggman's nose though.

[DabigRG]

1 minute ago, silvereye27 said:

Was Sonic X that comedic at times? I always remember it trying to be edgy.

Oh yeah, it was pretty goofy at times. Don't let Season 3 bleed over the entire thing.

2 minutes ago, silvereye27 said:

Knuckles is meant to have a snorkel on.

Oh, for a second there, your furry comment made me thing it was part of a mask or something.

[Silvereyes]

15 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Oh yeah, it was pretty goofy at times. Don't let Season 3 bleed over the entire thing.

Yeah that might why, Season 3 is space was dark and weird, with Tails being in love with a plant. I think the episode I remember the most actually is the one where Shadows beats the ever living shit out of Tails.

[Cuz]

Yeah X is the series where Sonic travels to remote corners of the globe just to pick exotic flowers for Cream's arts and crafts projects, or snubs the president's publicity stunts to take a disabled girl on a nature hike, and it's requisite fighting tournament episode consist mostly of gag fights. It was probably at it's best when it wasn't doing traditional action things . xD

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, silvereye27 said:

Yeah that might why, Season 3 is space was dark and weird, with Tails being in love with a plant. I think the episode I remember the most actually is the one where Shadows beats the ever living shit out of Tails.

After stalking him and Cosmo throughout the Blue Typhoon, getting launched out of the Sonic Power Cannon, and learning that Knuckles always wanted to go Shadowboxing.

[Silvereyes]

#173: Another sort of inbetween issue, especially considering the kind of shit that is about to go down over the next 4 issues. We get Antoine preposing to Bunnie which is super cute. Basically an issue about that, with Sonic and Sally starting to get back into their own "will they won't they" thing from way back in the first 50 issues. Plot is about them catching Team Hooligan and Mogul and Naugus who thought Rouge was selling the Master Emerald, but it turned out to be a trap. We also get a B story here and in #174 about a Chao Garden, which is a nice little bit of fluff.

#174: This is a fun issue, as we see Bunnie and Antoine about to be married, with lots of little bits for several characters like Tails still being sad over Fiona, Antoine being super nervous, Bunnie and Sally get a nice moment together. Not to mention it is genuinely funny seeing everyone basically tease Sally and Sonic to just try and get back together again. Honestly, this issue proves to me that a Sonic comic can do something like this, have an issue where just a wedding happens is possible as long as you don't use it as an excuse to have angst and sexual tension, and that you need something else going on, with Espio finding out Eggman's plan but getting captured before he can warn the Freedom Fighters. Which leads us to...

#175: Holy hell. Shit gets real. Eggman basically spends an entire issue blowing up the whole of Knothole, capturing basically everyone, and then beats around Sonic and taunts him over his failure. This is certainly a potential darkest issue in the comic's run that is for sure. I think it works for the most part, although I must admit it is perhaps a little too dark for my tastes, even if ofcourse the Freedom Fighters do overcome this in #176/#177. Still, it is very effective for what it is, and it is a good way of asserting how much of a menace Eggman still is after all this time. I'm not a fan of the cover though, I think it is far too edgy for my liking.

#176: Nicole comes up with a plan to save everyone, while Eggman gets close to murdering everyone using his Egg Grapes. Sonic with Tails, Knuckles and Amy breaks everyone out while Nicole rewires Eggman's suit to transport everyone again to a new Knothole build from the Nanite City back in #152. Pretty good resolution, even if the plan is honestly kindof simple. But it is nice that everyone gets saved, with only Charmy getting seriously hurt in the process. I'm not too sure what the point of having a new city is, especially when it looks so similar to the last one, but it is cool that Nicole can now have a physical presence because of it.

#177: Really more of an epilogue rather than a final part to the last 3 issues, but after 2 intense action issues it is good to see things calm down again. It is sad to see Charmy in such a state, as well as Rotor in a neck brace and stretcher. We get more catchup with Dr Finitevus (I'll try and start spelling his name right) hinting towards whatever arc he is going to be in, as well as Tails dad hinting towards wanting to shake up the royalty. We also have Hope screaming at Snively for betraying everyone and a cliffhanger on whether or not he shoots her down. Sally gets a haircut and seems to be becoming the leader of the Freedom Fighters again which is cool, with the issue ending with Sonic and friends blowing up Eggman's battle suit, which is a nice bit of optimism after 2 previous issues of severe darkness.

So yeah, I enjoyed this arc, and look forward to the future, especially as #177 teases at the end, #178 is the House of Cards storyline. Considering how infamous that issue is around here, that should be interesting to read.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

3 minutes ago, silvereye27 said:

#175: Holy hell. Shit gets real. Eggman basically spends an entire issue blowing up the whole of Knothole, capturing basically everyone, and then beats around Sonic and taunts him over his failure. This is certainly a potential darkest issue in the comic's run that is for sure

Oh you ain’t seen dark yet.

Wait till you see the Dark Mobius arc.

Still, #175 is one of my all time favorites.

[Silvereyes]

3 hours ago, Conquering Storm’s Servant said:

Oh you ain’t seen dark yet.

Wait till you see the Dark Mobius arc.

Still, #175 is one of my all time favorites.

Huh, that should be interesting. Mind you, I just read the Enerjak story and the fact that apparently 90% of the Echidna race is dead is pretty horrifying in its own right. The Flynn era maybe far less angsty but it sure can be as dark as the stuff in the Penders run.

#178-#179: House of Cards. Oh boy. To be honest, I don't spend much time on this forum but it is noticable just how many times this little 2 parter has been brought up. I will say that, again, I don't have the same commitment to the comic as others do, when I am reading it after it was cancelled, and these issues are now over a decade old. Still, while it doesn't bother me, I can definetly see why it could bother people at the time reading it.

Basically the plot is this: after some foreshadowing, Tails' dad has led a protest of seemingly half the population of New Mobotropolis to try and protest the monarchy, leading to him being imprisoned over a perceived riot. Tails and Tails' mom decide to break him out, with Sonic tasked on stopping him.

This leads to Tails and Sonic fighting while Tails' mom and dad escape and go confront King Elias, leading to them swordfighting. Sonic and Tails duke it out with Tails pissed over how much of a dick Sonic is (not helped by Sonic being noticably dickish in these issues), and with it being revealed that Tails is still very much sore over Fiona. Sally interupts the sword fight, and the King and Tails' dad make a compromise and put in a council which people can vote for as members, but with former King Max very unhappy over the decision.

The plot is OK. I do have issues, I'm not really sure I can believe the fact that Tails' dad could get that much support over his beliefs, even though it is foreshadowed in previous issues we never actually see him recruit anybody, or indeed find out anyone outside the Tails family any other characters who supported him. Ofcourse, the big issue is Tails and Sonic's fight. I don't hate the idea of it, but I'm not sure if it was led up to right. Apparently Sonic and Tails have been awkward since Sonic arrived back from space according to Nicole, which I don't really buy. I also find it disappointing that this whole thing is about Fiona yet again, when it felt like it had been resolved when Fiona ran off with Scourge. I dunno, I don't hate the idea of Sonic and Tails having a fight but I think it could of been better executed.

[Cuz]

Quote

Mind you, I just read the Enerjak story and the fact that apparently 90% of the Echidna race is dead is pretty horrifying in its own right.

Things are only gonna get worse in that department. The longer Ken's away from the book, the worse a thorn in Archie's side he is and the deeper the graves for his own creations are dug...

[DabigRG]

Okay, what the frick is up with Archie's obligatory deliveries? Last time, they sent me SuperteenS vs Crusaders #1 of 2 and today, they sent me Archie Meets Batman 66 #1.

[Silvereyes]

7 hours ago, Cuz said:

Things are only gonna get worse in that department. The longer Ken's away from the book, the worse a thorn in Archie's side he is and the deeper the graves for his own creations are dug...

Ofcourse, pretty much all the Echidnas were created by Penders? So they are going to be wiped from existence when that Super Genesis Wave thingy eventually hits.

[Big Panda]

9 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Okay, what the frick is up with Archie's obligatory deliveries? Last time, they sent me SuperteenS vs Crusaders #1 of 2 and today, they sent me Archie Meets Batman 66 #1.

Are there seriously still remaining issues of the old Sonic subscriptions that haven’t been spent? Or were you subscribed to Cosmo?

[GentlemanX]

I'm still getting issues (because they ignored my requests for monetary compensation). I had nearly two year subscriptions for both STH and SU both of which had already been extended after Mega Man and Boom were cancelled and my remaining issues for those were transferred. I haven't opened any of the non-Sonic comics, so I could check to see how much I have left later.

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, Ernest-Panda said:

Are there seriously still remaining issues of the old Sonic subscriptions that haven’t been spent? Or were you subscribed to Cosmo?

The former. They went silent for so long that I honestly forgot I had signed up for another subscription on the main book until I suddenly got Cosmo #1 a couple of months back. That persisted up till Issue 5(hence a previous question) and they've just sent those two random shits as of late. 

9 minutes ago, GentlemanX said:

 I haven't opened any of the non-Sonic comics, so I could check to see how much I have left later.

Same here, though I've considered reading Cosmo once I had all of them.

[Cuz]

6 hours ago, silvereye27 said:

Ofcourse, pretty much all the Echidnas were created by Penders? So they are going to be wiped from existence when that Super Genesis Wave thingy eventually hits.

Essentially. The two exceptions being Athair, who was Michael Gallagher's along with just about everything else from the Tails mini-series, and Finitevus. I won't spoil it but they actually get dealt with very shortly before the second wave.

[Big Panda]

Only Ian had to go and retroactively make Finitevus a mutated version of an incredibly minor Penders character, so, technically...