"Sonic The Hedgehog" Series Talkback (Spoilers)

[Fifi Fanatic]

The little comic that could has, against all odds, reached #200. That is indeed a cause for celebration.

And if anybody can dig up an obscure villain from the past and make them a major threat, it's Ian. This is the guy who gave us Scourge, who I will go on record and say is better than Shadow!

Congrats again on reaching #200.

[New Noise™]

I haven't bought a Sonic the Hedgehog comic in over six months. The story seemed to be lagging for a little while, so I sort of gave up on the series. Over the weekend, I'm totally going to purchase the two hundredth issue at my grocery store, though. That's quite a feat for a comic.

[Zam]

#201 PREVIEW

Spoiler:

KKKKKKKKKKKKHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!

[PC!]

Monkey Khan is a bigger pompous blowhard than ever.

I have to say I've actually kind of missed the hyperactive little chimp. ^_^

[Zam]

A little of Trivia:

The first Sonic game had a ton of concepts that got scrapped. Among these was "Sonic's Band" for the soundtest (the general concept was reused in some games later, such as Cream and Amy playing instruments). The band, aside from Sonic, consisted of Max the Monkey, Mach the Rabbit, Sharps the Chicken, and... Vector the Crocodile.

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Since Sonic Universe 5 And Sonic 201 are fully out thought I'd give some full reviews on these.

SONIC UNIVERSE 5

Spoiler:

You know they better have Silver either appear in another story at the very end in a one page spread and make a joke about his dramatic entrances or never do it again. He already used that trick in 194 and that was only like 6 or so months ago. Also for someone who wanted to keep the children out of the way, why was Lien-Da firiing a missle at the entire royal family then? Either that wasn't too much a death missle or someone's motivations got changed along the way for uh... no well explained reason. Still a good issue. I liked the interactions between Lara-Su and young Sonia and Manic (especially her Chaos Controling them into bed. I'm sure every babysitter wishes they could do that) as well as her cleaning house against those Dark Enforcers. I do wish we had a reason why out of all the people in the world to pair up we got a Mina/Tails pairing (I do like how they developed Mina and the kids more then we got in the last Years Later arc). I don't have anything against it just want to know more the reasoning behind it. Still fairly good issue.

SONIC 201.

Spoiler:

Let's count the various things that haven't been used in the comic in ages.

1. Monkey King rumbuling with Sonic (mentioned happening in Sonic 92 where Monkey Kahn just came and left in one issue to as Sonic said "just mess things up").
2. The Iron Queen and King being in charge of Dragon Kingdom (All the way back in Sonic 60. Which is also why Sonic thinks he can clean house so easily against them here: because he did so in the span of like 8 pages the first time around and they haven't given him a reason to say so otherwise).
3. Monkey Kahn crushing on Sally. Actually this confused me a bit too when I first read it and thought "wait a minute since when did Kahn like Sally?". And then remembered back in Kahn's first impression in Sonic 55 when he instantly fell head over heals for Sally just seeing her wave her arms. (Some Goku you turned out to be Kahn. Unless you're Dragonball Evolution Goku the only one who actually puts lusting after girls in a high priority list). I don't think out of all the possible Sonic + Sally + someone else love triangles we'd end up getting one involving Monkey Kahn but I guess since most everyone else seems paired off it makes sense).

You know it's kind of funny actually: Having been a fan for so long Ian can pretty much take any point of continuity he remembered from the book and use it. And yet the whole Monkey Kahn idea came from Frank Storm, someone who had barley any true idea about the whole Sonic continuity and really only ended up creating his own super fan character barley anyone tried using until now. Now with Eggman offically in the looney bin this is the bigger tranisition issue explaining and showing off more of the new baddies. The Iron King seems like the typical power hungry jerk, there's some probably going to be used later new bad bunny ninja side kick, and Regina/Iron Queen has uh... pretty disturbing relationship with Snivley. I mean seriously when you're tickling you're "lover" like he's a kid on your lap you know you have problems. Whether or not she's just using him (I kind of hope she isn't since pretty much everyone uses Snivley and it'd be nice to see someone who for once isn't) this is all sorts of wrong.

And in a backstory we see that in addition to being part of some not even talked about anyone Chamelon group Espio's backstory now includes being part of some ninja family. I kind of wish this was better hinted at in earlier stories since it kind of seems more out of left field then it should be even if Espio is under ninja security not to talk about. I mean how about a line or two between Lynx and Espio in another issue Ian if you wanted this to end up being a plot point? Eh oh well, at least chances are Espio isn't going to go Emo Ninja on us. Though I have a weird feeling he's going to end up more developed then Knux is in this story for the time being.

[PC!]

Well, info has been revealed on the newest set of issues:

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG:
203- Bunnie, presumably under Iron Queen's control, fights Sonic. Knuckles fights Espio.
204- Khan and Sonic fight each other for some reason. Knuckles continues battling Espio.
205- Eggman and Sonic team up to face the Iron Queen. The fate of Lien-Da's father is revealed.

SONIC UNIVERSE:
6- The Dark Presence invades the castle.
7- Sonic is ousted. King Shadow returns for some reason.
8- Sonic teams up with Lara-Su and other Freedom Fighter children to reclaim his castle.
9- Knuckles' story begins...

Also, longtime Sonic artist Steve Butler is once again the main artist on Sonic the Hedgehog. Longtime cover artist Spaz returns to cover duties from 203 onward. Tracy Yardley is now the sole artist on Sonic Universe, bother covers and interiors. A new artist, Jamal Peppers, will be drawing the backup stories in the main book.

[Conekiller]

I was really enjoying the lack of "backup stores" for a while there >_>

Hopefully Spaz cleans up his act, his covers have been sorely lacking of late, and his rendering of the characters looks seriously off. I woulnd't mind seeing a return to the covers emulating the Sonic Adventure art style, even with the Archie characters.

[Kazuya Prower]

Originally Posted by Conekiller

I was really enjoying the lack of "backup stores" for a while there >_>

Hopefully Spaz cleans up his act, his covers have been sorely lacking of late, and his rendering of the characters looks seriously off. I woulnd't mind seeing a return to the covers emulating the Sonic Adventure art style, even with the Archie characters.

I hope Spaz's art style reverts to his pre-#75 days, during the #137-150 era or the wonderfully done covers of Sonic Archives. I'm not a huge fan of the invisible eyelids he gives to some of the characters nor the visible teeth when someone has the reaction of this:.

[Zam]

Ooookay, we got two Youtubepoop references on #205:

[dth1971]

I hope Bunnie Rabbot recovers!

[Michael JJ]

Oh, wow, this comic actually has a talkback thread!

Inevitably, Eggman escapes. And it seems that Snivley's relationship with Regenia isn't as perfect as he hoped.

And I love that Off Panel has returned. That's awesome.

[aalong64]

HAHAHA. Oh my god, they actually referenced Pingas in the comic! That's hilarious! I've heard that it's getting better again lately, perhaps I'll actually check it out now. I haven't read it consistently since around 125, so I'll have a fair bit of catching up to do.

[Fool's Gil]

I really need to get back in the series. The last issue I read was #50.

[Temple Fugate]

Originally Posted by Fool's Gil

I really need to get back in the series. The last issue I read was #50.

This probably goes without saying, but be prepared to read an almost completely different comic than the one you left.

And I don't mean that in a bad way at all. It's just very different.

[Fool's Gil]

Originally Posted by Temple Fugate

This probably goes without saying, but be prepared to read an almost completely different comic than the one you left.

And I don't mean that in a bad way at all. It's just very different.

Different like how? Anything you can tell me that won't ruin the story?

[Temple Fugate]

Originally Posted by Fool's Gil

Different like how? Anything you can tell me that won't ruin the story?

There are a slew of new characters to become familiar with, (some from the video games and some exclusive to this comic) and there have been heavy doses of character development/progression among the original supporting cast. This may or may not be a big hurdle to jump when getting back into the comic, though. I stopped reading regularly at #100, but have been able to enjoy the occasional issue since then even without knowing the full story up to that point. I hadn't read a single issue between 125 and 198, but I still thought 198-200 were fantastic reads.

Look at it this way; The series up until #50 was pretty much the SatAM cartoon. After that the comic slowly expanded beyond the cartoon's premise and eventually became a different kind of story, albeit with the same basic "Sonic and the Freedom Fighters vs Oppressive Villain" ongoing conflict. So even though a lot of things changed, it feels like the same book you've read before.

[PC!]

Originally Posted by Fool's Gil

Different like how? Anything you can tell me that won't ruin the story?

A new writer who grew up reading the comic is now at the helm, and many people are saying the comic is the best its been in years, if not ever.

Since you stopped reading at issue 50, I suppose you should know that a Robotnik from another dimension has taken over the role of the original Robotnik, and he has Eggman's design.

Other than that, you should know that Eggman has been temporarily removed as the main villain for the time being, replaced by a technomage known as The Iron Queen.

[Michael JJ]

I just read Sonic Universe #9 and man I was lost. I'm guessing all these guys came in Knuckles' spin-off comic, but that was before I became a reader. Can anyone fill me in? What were Knuckles and Stryker talking about in the beginning? And who was that hooded Mobian that took them to the Sandopolis Desert?

[PC!]

Originally Posted by Michael JJ

I just read Sonic Universe #9 and man I was lost. I'm guessing all these guys came in Knuckles' spin-off comic, but that was before I became a reader. Can anyone fill me in? What were Knuckles and Stryker talking about in the beginning? And who was that hooded Mobian that took them to the Sandopolis Desert?

You would be [mostly] correct. One of them, Dr. Finitevus, who was being spoken of, came in as a major player around a big story arc in the 180's. What you really need to know is he's bad, and Knuckles wants to kick his butt since he got away after their last encounter.

The hooded Mobian, Harry, was pretty much who he described himself as: a cab driver who always managed to somehow get mixed up in Knuckles' and the Chaotix's problems. When Eggman took over Angel Island in the 130's, the Dingos were made to rule over the Echidnas, and Harry got mixed up in that, as well.