Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[Your Vest Friend]

So it seems Evil Reborn has been pushed back to August 22nd, and the Silver Saga to September 3rd, possibly. 

[Zaysho]

So it seems Evil Reborn has been pushed back to August 22nd, and the Silver Saga to September 3rd, possibly.

...again? WHY?! It can't possibly be for legal reasons when the digital has been out for months already. Cripes, these delays are getting ridiculous... Wasn't "Evil Reborn" supposed to drop this month as was the "Silver Saga"? Man...

[PC the Hedgehog]

I'm surprised Endgame got so much love in the first place.  OK sure it had an awesome final battle with Sonic and Robotnik, but most of the time it was pretty bad, with deus ex machinas, plot device characters and overall bad writing.

When I was a dumb ol' kid, Endgame was the most epic Sonic story ever.

[Big Panda]

If it's any consolation, the third and final volume of Worlds Collide is set to hit this week (and it's up for order at the Archie Shop so you know it's legit).

[Your Vest Friend]

In other news, there's some new covers;

 

 

 

Standard Deluxe edition of Worlds Collide, just for comparison with below.

 

 

Super Deluxe Edition of Worlds Collide. It's more expensive...and look more garish. 

 

 

 

Knuckles Archive #6. Weird that it doesn't match the other Archives in style. Will Sonic Archives go this route too?

[Marcello]

 

Knuckles Archive #6. Weird that it doesn't match the other Archives in style. Will Sonic Archives go this route too?

I hope not. That's a complete downgrade.

[ElectricAngel]

 

In other news, there's some new covers;

 

 

 

Standard Deluxe edition of Worlds Collide, just for comparison with below.

 

 

Super Deluxe Edition of Worlds Collide. It's more expensive...and look more garish. 

 

Huh. I see you put up these covers so I went on Amazon to see if they put these covers on the product page annddd it appears both Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions of Worlds Collide have been pulled from Amazon. At least the in the US. The UK website still has them up. Wonder what's up.

 

Edit: As for Knuckles Archives. The art isn't bad, but it is a bit disappointing. It would feel awkward if they changed the style for Sonic Archives too. The classic SEGASonic style was very fitting and gave the Archives it's own identity, like how Sonic Legacy has that CD style Sonic art.

Edited June 23, 2014 by SwiftWinds

[Delta Starfire]

When you get to Knuckles, the best thing I can advise is to break up the Knux arcs with some issues of Sonic. Not that it was much better by comparison, but it helps dilute the Penders "genius" at least a little bit.

 

That's what I will do. You see, I'm reading the entire series in chronological order (more or less), so it's basically StH interspersed with the specials and miniseries so far, and soon to be interspersed with KtE too. It's okay though. This time, I'm reading it knowing how much better the whole series gets later on, so I'll get through it much quicker, I reckon. Just 'cause I want to get to the good stuff!

 

And when you get to Endgame.... keep your fingers crossed. You will not believe how much that story has fallen apart over the years, especially with knowledge of Ken's bullcrap behind the scenes and since.

 

Well, bear in mind that I first read Endgame only within the last six to eight months (this is how much I dig the comic overall -- I'm already re-reading it within a year of my first reading), so I came to it first as a cynical old woman of twenty-seven. I shall be revisiting it as a cynical old woman of twenty-eight. I expect my opinion of will only really be affected by my knowledge of the series as a whole. As I recall, I thought it was okay. Nothing brilliant, but definitely passable. To be fair, if I had perceived Robotnik Prime as more of a legitimate threat, I might have found the story more exciting, but for most of the first fifty issues, he's such a clown. Even as late as Sonic Blast in 1997 -- the same year as Endgame -- he's still playing the buffoon. His uber-serious phase is so short that the final victory over him just doesn't seem that significant. That is my biggest complaint about Endgame, outside of deus ex machina, plot devices, and plot holes you could pilot an Egg Carrier through.

 

It's strange. The Robotnik of Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog is essentially based on this guy (in a rather convoluted, roundabout way, I know): 

 

 

And we ended up with this guy:

 

 

Whereas StC's Robotnik is based (in appearance, at least), on this guy: 

 

 

But we ended up with this guy: 

 

 

Of course, they all pale in comparison to nervous breakdown, Nic Cage style Robotnik!

 

 

Seriously. That is one of my favourite moments in Sonic comics, period. 

[Dejimon11]

In other news, there's some new covers;

 

 

 

Standard Deluxe edition of Worlds Collide, just for comparison with below.

 

 

Super Deluxe Edition of Worlds Collide. It's more expensive...and look more garish. 

 

 

 

Knuckles Archive #6. Weird that it doesn't match the other Archives in style. Will Sonic Archives go this route too?

What more can they add to this? Oh and knuckles one does look bad just feels out of place when the others where drawn by spaz

[Zaysho]

Do we even know what the difference between the "Deluxe" and "Super Deluxe" editions of "Worlds Collide" is yet? Barring one having a black cover and the other a white cover? I've held off on getting the series digitally or getting the trades, hoping one of these editions might be worth their price tag. I would hope Archie had said something by now.

Knight's cover looks alright, but it is a shame they switched out Spaz. I wonder if he just wasn't available at the time? Hopefully they aren't switching Spaz out for the rest of the Sonic Archives. Or perhaps they'll move him over to the Legacy books if Bates is no longer doing comics work come the end of the Summer. Actually, I find it odd Spaz is credited on that cover; I know he didn't do interiors, and I think the last few covers of the series were handled by Galan, if memory serves (while the final stories switched between Allan, Mawhinney, and finally Penders--though Galan did return to do the Mighty and Ray story). Did he do frontispieces for those stories, I'm guessing?

[Mauro Fonseca]

Or the cover is his. He's done fake-3d stuff before. Not sure whether that'd elicit a cover credit though.

[Zaysho]

Or the cover is his. He's done fake-3d stuff before. Not sure whether that'd elicit a cover credit though.

True, I'd forgotten about his "Best of..." cover.

Though, upon examining it, there's a very faint signature below Knuckles's foot, and it looks like Rafa Knight's signature.

[goku262002]

Boy their really pushing the "We have Rafa Knight and we can do 3D stuff now" covers arn't they?

Don't get me wrong, Rafa is cool as all hell and matches whatever SEGA can do by miles but I'd figure that this was going to be a every once in a while thing, its nearly turning into every other issue.

[goku262002]

Posting from Retro:

Tyson Hesse (of Boxer Hockey and the best Sonic fancomics) is doing pencils of the August issue, a preview:

https://twitter.com/boxerhockey/status/480858348871368705

If anyone needs a reminder who this guy is:

And:

Sweet tits! love this guys art, glad hes doing interiors.

[azoo]

Oh my GOD I'm so hype for the Boxer Hockey issue. Awesome choice.

[Your Vest Friend]

August? Isn't that the first part of "Control" since part 3 of "Waves of Change" is June?

 

Ooh, could that be Mighty Sonic and Sally are reacting to? He might be played a little more eccentric if I'm right given their reactions.

[goku262002]

Wait so he'll be starting off the Warehog arc?! awesome.

Hopefully he gets to do an off-panel too, his humor is damned funny.

[The Tenth Doctor]

If the art is as expressive as usual, imagine his take on an insane Werehog! This issue will be magic!

[Marcello]

Woah, that's awesome! He did an issue for Mega Man and I couldn't but wish then that he'd do a Sonic issue, too.

[Zaysho]

I'm not familiar with Hesse's stuff outside of what he did for Archie's Mega Man, but it's nice seeing he gets to stray from model a bit, though not too far into...whatever the hell I was just looking at on his page. Actually, it's kind of funny he's stuck pretty close to model on Mega Man (I'd say his work looks similar to Powree's, but that's me) but for Sonic he gets to be much looser. It looks like he can make some really fun expressions though, so it should be interesting when paired up with Flynn's script.

[anna]

I love Tyson Heese! I was hoping for this, after seeing his work in Megaman and his Sonic cover art. I can't wait!!

[Sonictrainer]

Woah, that's awesome! He did an issue for Mega Man and I couldn't but wish then that he'd do a Sonic issue, too.

I'm not familiar with Hesse's stuff outside of what he did for Archie's Mega Man, but it's nice seeing he gets to stray from model a bit, though not too far into...whatever the hell I was just looking at on his page. Actually, it's kind of funny he's stuck pretty close to model on Mega Man (I'd say his work looks similar to Powree's, but that's me) but for Sonic he gets to be much looser. It looks like he can make some really fun expressions though, so it should be interesting when paired up with Flynn's script.

 

Which issue of Mega Man did he do?

[Dejimon11]

Which issue of Mega Man did he do?

Issues 34-35

[KnucklesDontChuckle]

Where should I start reading the Sonic Archie Comics? Do I need to read the Archie comics to start reading Sonic Universe!!!!!? 

[Zaysho]

You could've just asked this in the Archie thread, ya know.

 

To answer your question, your best off starting with #252 as that's when things were reset. As for Sonic Universe, yes and no. It helps to read the on-going to get the whole picture and vice-versa, but it's not absolutely necessary. The stories in SU don't always directly concern themselves with the stories of the main book (it happens, though). "Shadow Fall" for example can be read independent of the main book, as it's all about Shadow and fighting the Black Arms, though the events take place in roughly the same time as the events of the on-going. In any case, there are plenty of editors' notes and summaries in the books themselves that give a decent overview if you miss something. Hope that helps!