Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[bwrosas]

Anyways, let's a take a look at will come of this, in the months to come, more importantly, in #230

What I see, is:

1 Fiest getting involve soon and taking back the blue chaos emerald from Eggman.

2 Zonic showing up and trying to set things right and finally arresting Eggman (Hey Sonic warned him)

3. Things sorta going back to status quo

4. Sally surviving

and

5. Eggman takes another trip to "I'VE LOST MY MARBLES AGAIN" insaneville.

That's what I think we may get out of this come #230 in October. But hey I've been wrong before.

[Blue Blood]

Wow, this is the one and only time I've ever had the slightest interest in the Archie comics.

And that's only cause I want Sally to be deader than dead.

[Flyboy Fox]

@Blue Blood: If you've never had any interest in the comics, then why does it even matter to you either way? Why hate on someone/something in something you have no interest in? ^^;

[Blue Blood]

@Blue Blood: If you've never had any interest in the comics, then why does it even matter to you either way? Why hate on someone/something in something you have no interest in? ^^;

Because even if I'm not interested in the comics, I still don't like Sally from what I have read (or seen on the old shows), and her being being killed off would hopefully be the end of one of the biggest plagues in the franchise as far as I'm concerned. That said, I didn't say it matters to me either way, did I? It would just be an interesting development and would interest me in reading an issue or two.

lolnegrep I knew people would get butt-hurt over someone saying that they'd like a particular outcome.

Edited May 18, 2011 by Blue Blood

[Aquaslash]

Eggman never did anything serious? I don't know about you turbojet, but the times he curbstomped Knothole into nothingness, beat down/captured everyone but Team Sonic and Amy, and THEN beat the slag out of Sonic and proceeded to figuratively teabag him afterwards definitely gave him the necessary badass points in my book.

There's also the fact that he killed 95% of the Echidna species.

Also I have no idea why anyone's getting remotely happy over a comic book "death". Those things like never stick...ever. In fact, I'm just waiting for the Human Torch to be brought back already XD

Edited May 18, 2011 by Aquaslash

[Kuzu]

Eggman never did anything serious? I don't know about you turbojet, but the times he curbstomped Knothole into nothingness, beat down/captured everyone but Team Sonic and Amy, and THEN beat the slag out of Sonic and proceeded to figuratively teabag him afterwards definitely gave him the necessary badass points in my book.

There's also the fact that he killed 95% of the Echidna species.

Also I have no idea why anyone's getting remotely happy over a comic book "death". Those things like never stick...ever. In fact, I'm just waiting for the Human Torch to be brought back already XD

Gwen Stacy?

[Aquaslash]

That's like bringing up Charlie in Street Fighter :|

In before I face the wrath of Spider Man nerds

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

@Blue Blood: If you've never had any interest in the comics, then why does it even matter to you either way? Why hate on someone/something in something you have no interest in? ^^;

Now you see what Shadow fans have to deal with regarding some of his haters, Flyboy.

Welcome to the club.

[dirupti]

I'm going to go with the non-majority here and say I like Sally. Here is my reasons:

1. She was a nice guardian for Tails. (before his parents came back)

2. She makes a nice love triangle for Sonic,(Amy as the 3rd wheel) and hey Archie is publishing these comics. And it ain't Archie without some nice 3 pointed shapes.

3. She is a diplomatic but still fights Robobut, this makes her pretty awesome alone. Seriously try listing a few more female combatants who are also in high place of a diplomacy?

Because I sure couldn't.

Edited May 18, 2011 by dirupti

[bwrosas]

Gwen Stacy?

Point taken.

But to counter that in someway, Stan Lee said in his DVD interview with Kevin Smith in 2002, he was on vacation when her death was wrote in, and he only found out when he got back, basically stating, that he must have said yes to the move, but didn't remember doing so.

[Chooch]

I have no idea why anyone's getting remotely happy over a comic book "death". Those things like never stick...ever.

And that's a stupid practice that should be done away with.

See my previous post.

[bwrosas]

Alpha1 at the FUS had this to say about the whole thing:

I really don't think Ian would just go "Hey major character meet random hidden sentry gun! BLAM BLAM BLAM!" and end it like that. "Life Hangs in the Balance" =/= death as far as I'm concerned and from the looks of preview from the Genesis "reboot" in 226, it looks like they're trying to further constrict the identity crisis the comic has had ever since it's inception what with all of the different continuities that are found within this book.

I read how 225 ends on a different site, but without going into spoilers, If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that when Robotnik activates the Death Egg, it acts like a time machine to once again tell the absolute beginning of this version of the Sonic continuity and make it into the comic's very own identity rather than relying on the previously established ones and then trying to make it "work." All the characters still alive in the current timeframe are present back in this one (though naturally not all together).

Penders already tried to get rid of Sally because he had no idea what else to do with her at the time. His original EndGame vision giving her a "death with dignity" (How this even remotely qualified as such is beyond me, but I digress) was his way of trying to keep everyone relevant that currently existed.

Ian on the other hand doesn't strike me as a writer who would give up that easily since he likes Sally as a character and still has ideas for her beyond reigniting the flame between her and Sonic. All of the characters he has written out during his run, including those fans didn't even care about, have had much more dignified deaths and they weren't even remotely as important, which further should signify that he wouldn't off Sally in this manner.

Examples:

1) Tommy Turtle - a character whom nobody liked and shouldn't have even been alive to start with was the hero in a sense when he regained control of his possessed body long enough to suicidally dive into the Egg Fleet and end Anonymous' plan, as well as buy enough time for Tails & Shadow to send all of the emeralds laying around to a place where they would be "safe."

2) Sir Connery - A character seen maybe once or twice that even the most die-hard comic fans probably wouldn't remember, ended a major conflict by removing the demi-god status that Mogul had just acquired by sacrificing his life to destroy the trinkets (the crown and sword) that were feeding Mogul his power.

3) Locke - Knuckles father was originally slated to die in the future from some kind of cancer at a very old age. Slightly more popular than #1 & #2, he was killed off when he saved his son by removing a hex that gave his son unspeakable power as Enerjak and removing the taint from his mind placed by Dr. Finitevus.

Looking at those examples of lesser known/liked characters, to assume that he would knock off Sally, a character that many of the fans are very emotionally invested in (and not just the older ones like us!), in such a manner as many people are assuming is ridiculous. It would be utter suicide from not only a business perspective, but a career perspective as well. Even the readers who don't like Sally would probably give him crap about how he built up the character interactions between her and Sonic only for it to end just like that.

Although it may be a tad extreme, I am quite sure that this is going to be used as a character development tool rather than something that will further trim the bloated character lineup.

I'm not 100% sure that what I'm saying will be fact, but I am more than willing to bet that this plot device is being used to attempt to bring the comic closer to its own singular continuity rather than maintaining the horrific identity crisis that peaked when Sega started mandating massive changes back around issues #70 onward. Archie Sally is/has been part of the comic continuity since the very beginning and I highly doubt that this will cease to be the case anytime soon.

[Indigo Rush]

SPOILERS! THERE ARE CHILDREN PRESENT!

[Badnik Mechanic]

A review/few thoughts about issue 224. From someone who has never bought an Archie Sonic comic before, but has every single fleetway issue and knows it like the back of his hand.

Today I bought a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog issue 224.

It's the first Archie Sonic comic I have ever bought (if you don't include the Death egg Saga and Chaotix special). So lets see what I think of it and see what a modern day archie comic is like to someone who has no idea about anything archie related other than a swatbot and the use of the word 'Mecha' (because it reminds me of mecca bingo).

Cover: The cover is interesting I see Robotnik saying "I'm baaaaaack!" all dark and twisted looking. Thats cool. I also see some TV screens showing Sonic fighting some kind of bat monkey man with a magic wand. I have no idea who he is, but I can tell he's the bad guy as he has a beard coming out of his neck and shap teeth. Oww and robot claw!

I then see Princess Sally, I know her from SatAM, and her cameo in fleetway which is based off the Sega comic model, and some girly skunk thing. I guess it's a bad guy since sally tried to punch him... why didn't she shoot him with her crossbo.... wrong comic.

Snively and... pink haired girl. I know snively is bad, I guess pink haired girl is too since they're not fighting.

The first page: This is interesting. Mainly because it's only one image and it doesn't do much but set me up for a fight between Sonic and monkey bearded bat man. Other than the title everything else is just exposition. Do I really need to know the tid bit about what planet mobius is? I kinda figured it's a strange place since theres animals wearing clothes... and bat bearded monkey man with his magic wand... which looks remarkably like the Blessed Mace from Demons Souls!

Boy those are huge credits. I don't just mean the fact they credit everyone, they take up a large portion of the comic, why not have it in small print? You still give credit to the staff in a respectful manner but it gives the artist more to do/show off. The small list of characters and who they are is kinda pointless, Sonic... if I don't know who he is why did I buy the comic? Sally, yeah alright maybe some people won't know but 'freedom fighter leader?' Not the most in-depth description. Whats she done up until then? Is that all she does? Eggman, yeah I kinda had an idea who he was... ohhh in hiding you say? Interesting.

But the only thing that helps me out as a new reader is that Skunk Girl is a double agent and... oh... it's a guy... Ok so I'm now educated.

But really, I think this should have the non main characters or at the very least the villains who are not in the games if we're going down that road, otherwise, but this on it's own page and give it a lot more description, kinda like Fleetways Data Zone.

Getting into the comic: I like skunk guys accent. Lots of action so far, had this been Marvel Zombies or any other comic it would probably have been over already.

Ok this is what I'm talking about Right now some kind of fox or squirrel has jumped down and attacked Bat Bearded monkey man, I have no idea who that is or why he's so mad. That would have been handy in that character description thing. Same with purple duck, no clue who that is and had it not been for SatAM, I'd have no idea who Rotor was (he is called that in this comic isn't he?)

Wow, now the comic is going all Star Wars episode 1 with the whole "Who shall be king! Political debate! This is a royal matter for royal people! Theres nothing for you here!" This Mobius is strange, they can't decide who the bad guy is and who the good guy is.

Owww the Death Egg is online! We're all gonna die! Well... I liked Fleetways design better, it had a lot more detail to it. It's had a bit too much sandpaper to it. I don't qui... ... .. Is that... Metal Sonic doing grocery shopping? Well anyway. The big chunk of text at the end. Is that really needed? Do we really need the "Can friend and foe put their differences aside!? The shock! The Horror! Find out! SAME BAT BAT BEARDED MONKEY MAN TIME! SAME BAT BEARDED MONKEY MAN CHANNEL!

Ok so what did I think?

Well in a strange way I liked it, despite not knowing who most of the characters are and no idea who skunks wife is or what she did, I still got the story, I still knew what was going on, lots of action, fighting, more fighting and magic powers!

It's an interesting issue for a non reader to try and get into. Nothing really happened, but so much did, there was a big argument over political/legal matters and who is the king. The sub plot appears to be "We're fighting skunk man for we don't like him! He's a bad guy!" which then becomes "Oh we shouldn't fight him as we can put him on trial instead..." Which finally ends with the death egg powering up.

Oddly I also bought Marvel Zombies Supreme part 4 today. Whats strange is that I enjoyed Sonic more. MZS ended far to quickly and nothing really happened, it felt like it could have all been done on 3 pages. That happens with a lot of comics, I bought the whole Resistance comic series and other Marvel Zombies in the past, they all feel like nothing happens in the issue and the bulk of the comic is just fighting or 'beauty shots' at least with archies sonic a lot happened, or at least it felt like a lot happened. This is good because this comic actually cost a lot less than MZS,

In terms of how do I like this comic coming from fleetway, I'm still not completely sold on it, I will be picking up the next issue and the 'genesis' saga, but I like fleetway much more. One big difference that I can spot is that the artwork whilst being good, feels very rushed. Fleetway was a 2 week thing, and the deadlines for pages were quite short (so says Peter Richardson of streets of rage fame and Nigel Dobbyn/Kitching) Archie is a monthly thing, but the backgrounds just seem to lack a lot of detail. Most of the time they're almost completely white, otherwise they lack most major details, most of the interiors of the palace/parliament building/council chamber(?) the background, the floor, it almost looks like a grayish colour wash at times, compare it to the moment the death egg takes off, that page looks awesome, you could compare it to the page in fleetway when Super Sonic transforms back into Super Sonic and he looks at the destruction he's caused. But then right next to it, it's a very pale looking interior. Even the final Death Egg looks very pale, I think it would have had much more of an impact if that machine really did look like a machine, like it did back in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, tiny lights and a very rough mechanical surface.

I don't dislike the comic, I got into it and if I stuck with it for a few issues I could pick it up, even if there is a back-story that goes back months. But I think that there are a few things that they currently do which don't need to be there and I'd like there to be a bit more detail in the backgrounds/buildings, not only would it add so much to what is already a nice looking comic, because lets face it, theres nothing wrong with the character designs or the work of the illustrator. But it might also give the artist/illustrator a few more bits of 'fun' whilst they work. The page with the death egg take off and some of the earlier frames with skunk man show that they can make the environments look really cool.

Anyway, see you for issue 225... just as soon as my local comic book guy gets it in stock... SAME BAT BEARDED MONKEY MAN TIME! SAME BAT BEARDED MONKEY MAN CHANNEL!

Edited May 19, 2011 by Hogfather

[Your Vest Friend]

I got into it and if I stuck with it for a few issues I could pick it up, even if there is a back-story that goes back months.

Oh you poor, naive soul, you think it's just months...

[Mega]

Bat Bearded monkey man

That's Naugus. He was in SatAM too, though only in one episode.

Edited May 19, 2011 by Mega

[Badnik Mechanic]

Oh you poor, naive soul, you think it's just months...

lol I said months because I think the earliest "See issue" footnote was around 120(?) in this particular issue.

That's Naugus. He was in SatAM too, though only in one episode.

Ah I see, I blame my lack of a SatAM dvd box set.

.... ... Do you reckon he should be called "Bat Bearded Monkey Man?"

[Your Vest Friend]

lol I said months because I think the earliest "See issue" footnote was around 120(?) in this particular issue.

If you really meant #120 there...that would be harking back to the year 2001/2002. :/

If you meant what I thought you meant, that's just the comic not going back over every detail that's important. At a bare minimum, I'd say the backstory of this arc spans to at least #209, earlier for #225 from what I've gathered of it.

Edited May 19, 2011 by VEDJ-F

[leemour84]

hmmmmmmm I sense from 230 onwards will be nice n dark times........ kinda like 'THE DEATHLY HALLOWS' or more (hopefully) in the vein of 'THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK' & 'REVENGE OF THE SITH' style.

[turbojet]

Eggman never did anything serious? I don't know about you turbojet, but the times he curbstomped Knothole into nothingness, beat down/captured everyone but Team Sonic and Amy, and THEN beat the slag out of Sonic and proceeded to figuratively teabag him afterwards definitely gave him the necessary badass points in my book.

All the characters survived, they rebuilt an even better town within two issues. As for kicking Sonic's ass, so? Superman gets his ass handed to him on every occassion by Darkseid, Lex Luthor, and many of his villains. In case of Super heroes, it isn't about whooping their ass because we all know the villain will lose in the end. Spider-man does nothing but get his ass tossed by his fiends only to keep on coming. Killing an important character? That shit is reserved for the best villains. Joker, Sephiroth, Saren villains. After Sonic verbally trounced Eggman, the guy needed this.

There's also the fact that he killed 95% of the Echidna species.

So? Sephiroth killed hundreds of people in his game. But most people don't think of that. They think of Aerith.

Also I have no idea why anyone's getting remotely happy over a comic book "death". Those things like never stick...ever. In fact, I'm just waiting for the Human Torch to be brought back already XD

Gwen Stacey, Jason Todd(for 20 years), Tommy the Turtle, Nate Morgan(two from this series alone), Half the Ultimate X-men crew, Ultimate Daredevil, Harry Osborn(Ultimate), Dr. Strange(Ultimate), Moon Knight(Ultimate), Ultimate Spider-man(yeah, he is dead and not coming back), everything Bendis has ever written(he isn't a fan of resurrecting characters), and Captain America IV(Willaim Nasley). In fact, Spider-man deaths usually stick. It serves as a constant reminder how the superhero life sucks. Sonic should take some cues.

It is quite easy really. Keep her dead. Make it significant.

That's like bringing up Charlie in Street Fighter :|

In before I face the wrath of Spider Man nerds

Except Gwen Stacey died in the same manner that Sally supposedly did. Yes, not everyone has their moment of glory before they die. Makes it all the more poignant.

Sorry guys.

Edited May 19, 2011 by turbojet

[Mega]

I doubt Ian will keep her dead because the man fanbase for the comic is the fanbase that's been with it for a while, I believe. Yeah, there are probably younger readers, but many Archie fans love Sally, and she's one of the main symbols of the comic/SatAM.

Plus, I'm pretty sure Ian likes Sally quite a bit and wants to reignite the spark between her and Sonic. This is probably just a fakeout for the sake of drama.

Now, I like Sally. Not too familiar with her comic book self, but seeing some semblance of SatAM characters still around makes me happy because SatAM is what defines Sonic to me (I knew it before the games).

But that's just my opinion, so. /shrug

[The Illustrious Q]

... ... Do you reckon he should be called "Bat Bearded Monkey Man?"

That's actually really close to what he is in the comic. He's a combination of a bat, a rhino, and a lobster all rolled into one being.

lol I said months because I think the earliest "See issue" footnote was around 120(?) in this particular issue.

198 would actually be the starting point of this whole epic... especially since it's all fallout from the arc that lasted from 200-212.

Edited May 19, 2011 by The Illustrious Q

[Phos]

This is now a Gradius comic. I better see some Moi heads.

But seriously, I think it's a bit lame on their part to foreshadow the death egg like this and not have the characters pick up on it. This is just like the time the technomage chick didn't think to use her powers on the enemy. It sure adds a lot to the drama when all the characters are morons.

As for Sally, there will be some BAWWWWW'ing and then she'll just get better because this comic's vocal audience doesn't want to be challenged.

[Indigo Rush]

I take it we've stopped trying to hide what happens in 225?

[dirupti]

lol I said months because I think the earliest "See issue" footnote was around 120(?) in this particular issue.

Edited May 19, 2011 by dirupti