#40 Fathom Freedom Fighters

[madmans-scrawlings]

Some more redesigns from the list I've got planned. More 40 Fathom Freedom Fighters. This time the designs weren't as hard to get to as Noah the Bottlenose Dolphin. Manta is now a female named Rei and PBJ is now Parcha. Rei is more technologically inclined and Parcha is the team medic, using old remedies he learned from his family. Above them are the 25YL kids, Manic and Sonia, heavily redesigned to make them not cookie cutter copies of their parents. Nicole's console is on Manic's lap. I forgot to draw her holographic form but you get the idea. I think I'm making good progress with these. I just need to color them.

[mobius-prime]

77. Sonic the Hedgehog #49

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Escape from the Floating Island

Writers: Mike Gallagher and Ken Penders Pencils: Sam Maxwell Colors: Karl Bollers

After another recap intro page, we're thrust right back into the action from last issue's literal cliffhanger. Sonic finds himself plunging down a terrifying drop with certain death at the bottom. He's too exhausted from all the chaos to try his figure eight move to hover, so instead, he decides on potentially the most ridiculous and disgusting option possible to save his skin instead.

This madlad grabs the stink lines and dirt from his own horrifically disgusting socks, throws it in an arc, and races along it like it's solid ground to reach actual solid ground. I cannot even begin to fathom how something like that works, but hey, it works, and Sonic is able to run for it away from Geoffrey and his troops, who are forced to take the long route back through the caverns to follow him, though they still have the advantage of the tracking device implanted in his shackles.

Back at Knothole, everyone learns how Robotnik was able to carry out his plan. The miraculously-revived king was no more than a robotic duplicate.

The real king, still crystallized, is currently within his base, where we see another familiar face - Dr. Quack, handing over Sally's death certificate (which actually lists Sally's full name as "Sally Elisha Acorn," though her middle name's spelling was later retconned as we'll see) to Snively and demanding that Snively "fulfill his end of the bargain." Wait, what? Snively merely opens a wall panel, to reveal Dr. Quack's wife and children, imprisoned behind bars. When Dr. Quack reacts in outrage and anger, Snively blasts him with some kind of energy beam as motivation to behave.

Wait… falsified? So Princess Sally isn't actually…?

Yeah, here's the thing. I was playing along with the narrative before, but I'm sure anyone reading this without having read the comics beforehand was saying to themselves "Of course she's not actually dead, she's one of the comics' main characters! They wouldn't just kill off a main character in such a sudden, ignoble manner!" But that's where you, my good friend, are wrong as hell! See, this scene marks a hard right turn that Kenders was basically forced to make by (from what I've heard) Sega themselves. At about this point in the comic, he'd gotten it into his weird little Penders-y head that no one really cared about Sally anyway, that she was an unpopular character who "cramped Sonic's style" as the cool guy he was always meant to be, and decided to kill her off for real. As in, her "death" in the first issue of Endgame was actually meant to be 100% serious, with Sally gone forever. Of course, this immediately resulted in a huge outcry from devastated fans who loved Sally and didn't want to see her suddenly killed off, and so Penders had to rewrite the next three issues to make sure she could be brought back. But shh! You didn't hear that from me! We're still pretending to be shocked that she's not actually dead, okay?

Meanwhile in the wilderness, Sonic is trudging his way along, exhausted and desperate for help. Suddenly, he remembers that by doing a certain whistle he can call Dulcy to him, and she arrives, eager to help. She also says something… very interesting.

So dragons can sense truth, huh? *takes deep breath* WHEN WAS THIS ESTABLISHED?! I get that in this case King Acorn was going to sentence Sonic to prison anyway given that he was just a puppet of Robotnik's, so her testimony might not have mattered anyway, but damn, dude! Where was Dulcy when Sonic was accused of treason back in StH#40? Where was she when literally anyone was saying something suspicious or seemingly impossible? Dulcy alone could have solved like half the plots of this comic series by herself! Sigh. Kenders, you really need to learn to stop including random facts like this out of the blue when you've written yourself into a corner. A real writer doesn't solve plot holes through a deus-ex-machina, they cry and eat Denny's at 3am while their plots fall apart! No I'm not speaking from experience! Why do you ask?

Well, back at Hershey's place, Drago's only being more and more of a douche. Hershey has only just heard the news about Sally's death, and is horrified when Drago gleefully reveals that she's the one who did it! But how?

Yeah, turns out she was convinced by him to wear a Sonic costume, somehow, and the eyepieces made everyone look like Snively. She thought she was helping the Freedom Fighters by killing Snively, but was the one who dropped Sally all along. She's devastated, and left to sob on the ground as Drago happily celebrates his own genius in trusting Robotnik for personal power, because that's never backfired in anyone else's face before, has it?

Now we finally get to see what happened to Antoine and Bunnie after they were captured last issue. They've been hauled all the way to a prison in Downunda, and shackled to the wall, fitted with customized collars. Bunnie's is merely tuned to sense when she uses her bionic parts' capabilities to try to escape, while Antoine's is tuned to explode violently if Bunnie's collar gives the signal. Ouch, man.

They soon find that Walt Wallabee and Barby Koala are locked in with them, looking rather the worse for wear. Before they can get further than basic introductions (remember, only Tails has met these guys before), who shows up to greet everyone but Crocbot! Apparently, he didn't actually die when his tank exploded back in the Tails miniseries. He was badly damaged, but built himself back up from combot parts and has taken control of this region once again, running this slave labor camp to mine ore for Robotnik. He was pissed at his past defeat, and so made it a point to capture the Downunda Freedom Fighters the first chance he could. Yeah, capture, not kill. 'Cause remember how this guy has a hard-on for cold-blooded torture?

Who knows how long those poor Downunda Freedom Fighters have been locked up in here, man. At least they're still alive, right?

While all this has been going down, Dulcy has been flying Sonic to his requested destination - the Floating Island, where he hopes to get help from the only neutral third party he really has left. Unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten that whenever he and Knuckles appear in the same issue together, it's a hard rule that they have to start punching each other for no reason.

This time, however, they're barely able to start their shenanigans up when they're interrupted by Geoffrey and his troops parachuting in to recapture their quarry. Oh boy, more drama! Guess we’ll see where it all goes in the big landmark issue #50…

[nuttyrabbit]

I think I need a refresher-- who are the $40 Fathom Freedom Fighters, again? are those guys the ones who apparently were before the FF's?

No, they’re the oceanic FF group that appeared early on and looked like generic animals

[oldmanforwards]

2004/07/23 Fw: DO YOU KNOW WHAT LOSING WILL MEAN??????????

Please take the time to read this.  The following was written by someone unknown to me. It was forwarded by people that inadvertently cut out the writer's name. Too bad, indeed. The writer should be this country's leading contributor to our Foreign Policy thinking, if not our actual leader. Please read it, and, if you think it is so absolutely correct as I do, forward to other people with the ability to think. Jim Carlin ******************************************************  

To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it. Our country is now facing the most serious threat to its existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime and mine (which includes WWII). The deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact that there are very few of us who think we can possibly lose this war and even fewer who realize what losing really means. First, let's examine a few basics: 1. When did the threat to us start? Many will say September 11th, 2001. The answer as far as the United States is concerned is 1979, 22 years prior to September 2001, with the following attacks on us: Iran Embassy Hostages, 1979; Beirut, Lebanon Embassy 1983; Beirut, Lebanon Marine Barracks 1983; Lockerbie, Scotland Pan-Am flight to New York 1988; First New York World Trade Center attack 1993; Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Khobar Towers Military complex 1996; Nairobi, Kenya US Embassy 1998; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania US Embassy 1998; Aden, Yemen USS Cole 2000; New York World Trade Center 2001; Pentagon 2001. (Note that during the period from 1981 to 2001 there were 7,581 terrorist attacks worldwide). 2. Why were we attacked? Envy of our position, our success, and our freedoms. The attacks happened during the administrations of Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton and >Bush 2. We cannot fault either the Republicans or Democrats as there were no provocations by any of the presidents or their immediate predecessors, Presidents Ford or Carter. 3. Who were the attackers? In each case, the attacks on the US were carried out by Muslims. 4. What is the Muslim population of the World? 25% 5. Isn't the Muslim Religion peaceful? Hopefully, but that is really not material. There is no doubt that the predominately Christian population of Germany was peaceful, but under the dictatorial leadership of Hitler (who was also Christian), that made no difference. You either went along with the administration or you were eliminated. There were 5 to 6 million Christians killed by the Nazis for political reasons (including 7,000 Polish priests). (see http://www.nazis.testimony.co.uk/7-a.htm). Thus, almost the same number of Christians were killed by the Nazis, as the 6 million holocaust Jews who were killed by them, and we seldom heard of anything other than the Jewish atrocities. Although Hitler kept the world focused on the Jews, he had no hesitancy about killing anyone who got in his way of exterminating the Jews or of taking over the world - German, Christian or any others. Same with the Muslim terrorists. They focus the world on the US, but kill all in the way - their own people or the Spanish, French or anyone else.. The point here is that just like the peaceful Germans were of no protection to anyone from the Nazis, no matter how many peaceful Muslims there may be, they are no protection for us from the terrorist Muslim leaders and what they are fanatically bent on doing - by their own pronouncements - killing all of us "infidels". I don't blame the peaceful Muslims. What would you do if the choice was shut up or die? 6. So who are we at war with? There is no way we can honestly respond that it is anyone other than the Muslim terrorists. Trying to be politically correct and avoid verbalizing this conclusion can well be fatal. There is no way to win if you don't clearly recognize and articulate who you are fighting. So with that background, now to the two major questions: 1. Can we lose this war? 2. What does losing really mean? If we are to win, we must clearly answer these two pivotal questions. We can definitely lose this war, and as anomalous as it may sound, the major reason we can lose is that so many of us simply do not fathom the answer to the second question - What does losing mean? It would appear that a great many of us think that losing the war means hanging our heads, bringing the troops home and going on about our business, like post Vietnam. This is as far from the truth as one can get. What losing really means is: We would no longer be the premier country in the world. The attacks will not subside, but rather will steadily increase. Remember, they want us dead, not just quiet. If they had just wanted us quiet, they would not have produced an increasing series of attacks against us over the past 18 years. The plan was clearly to terrorist attack us until we were neutered and submissive to them. We would of course have no future support from other nations for fear of reprisals and for the reason that they would see we are impotent and cannot help them. They will pick off the other non-Muslim nations, one at a time. It will be increasingly easier for them. They already hold Spain hostage. It doesn't matter whether it was right or wrong for Spain to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Spain did it because the Muslim terrorists bombed their train and told them to withdraw the troops. Anything else they want Spain to do, will be done. Spain is finished. The next will probably be France. Our one hope on France is that they might see the light and realize that if we don't win, they are finished too, in that they can't resist the Muslim terrorists without us. However, it may already be too late for France. France is already 20% Muslim and fading fast. > If we lose the war, our production, income, exports and way of life will all vanish as we know it. After losing, who would trade or deal with us if they were threatened by the Muslims. If we can't stop the Muslims, how could anyone else? The Muslims fully know what is riding on this war and therefore are completely committed to winning at any cost. We better know it too and be likewise committed to winning at any cost. Why do I go on at such lengths about the results of losing? Simple. Until we recognize the costs of losing, we cannot unite and really put 100% of our thoughts and efforts into winning. And it is going to take that 100% effort to win. So, how can we lose the war? Again, the answer is simple. We can lose the war by imploding. That is, defeating ourselves by refusing to recognize the enemy and their purpose and really digging in and lending full support to the war effort. If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. If we continue to be divided, there is no way that we can win. Let me give you a few examples of how we simply don't comprehend the life and death seriousness of this situation. - President Bush selects Norman Mineta as Secretary of Transportation. Although all of the terrorist attacks were committed by Muslim men between 17 and 40 years of age, Secretary Mineta refuses to allow profiling. Does that sound like we are taking this thing seriously? This is war. For the duration we are going to have to give up some of the civil rights we have become accustomed to. We had better be prepared to lose some of our civil rights temporarily or we will most certainly lose all of them permanently. And don't worry that it is a slippery slope. We gave up plenty of civil rights during WWII and immediately restored them after the victory and in fact added many more since then. Do I blame President Bush or President Clinton before him? No, I blame us for blithely assuming we can maintain all of our Political Correctness and all of our civil rights during this conflict and have a clean, lawful, honorable war. None of those words apply to war. Get them out of your head. - Some have gone so far in their criticism of the war and/or the Administration that it almost seems they would literally like to see us lose. I hasten to add that this isn't because they are disloyal. It is because they just don't recognize what losing means. Nevertheless, that conduct gives the impression to the enemy that we are divided and weakening, it concerns our friends, and it does great damage to our cause. - Of more recent vintage, the uproar fueled by the politicians and media regarding the treatment of some prisoners of war perhaps exemplifies best what I am saying. We have recently had an issue involving the treatment of a few Muslim prisoners of war by a small group of our military police. These are the type prisoners who just a few months ago were throwing their own people off buildings, cutting off their hands, cutting out their tongues and otherwise murdering their own people just for disagreeing with Saddam Hussein. And just a few years ago these same type prisoners chemically killed 400,000 of their own people for the same reason. They are also the same type enemy fighters who recently were burning Americans and dragging their charred corpses through the streets of Iraq. And still more recently the same type enemy that was and is providing videos to all news sources internationally, of the beheading of American prisoners they held. Compare this with some of our press and politicians who for several days have thought and talked about nothing else but the "humiliating" of some Muslim prisoners - not burning them, not dragging their charred corpses through the streets, not beheading them, but "humiliating" them. Can this be for real? The politicians and pundits have even talked of impeachment of the Secretary of Defense. If this doesn't show the complete lack of comprehension and understanding of the seriousness of the enemy we are fighting, the life and death struggle we are in and the disastrous results of losing this war, nothing can. To bring our country to a virtual political standstill over this prisoner issue makes us look like Nero playing his fiddle as Rome burned - totally oblivious to what is going on in the real world. Neither we, nor any other country, can survive this internal strife. Again I say, this does not mean that some of our politicians or media people are disloyal. It simply means that they absolutely oblivious to the magnitude of the situation we are in and into which the Muslim terrorists have been pushing us for many years. Remember, the Muslim terrorists stated goal is to kill all infidels! That translates into all non-Muslims - not just in the United States, but throughout the world. We are the last bastion of defense. - We have been criticized for many years as being 'arrogant'. That charge is valid in at least one respect. We are arrogant in that we believe that we are so good, powerful and smart, that we can win the hearts and minds of all those who attack us, and that with both hands tied behind our back, we can defeat anything bad in the world. We can't. If we don't recognize this, our nation as we know it will not survive, and no other free country in the World will survive if we are defeated. And finally, name any Muslim countries throughout the world that allow freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of the Press, equal rights for anyone - let alone everyone, equal status or any status for women, or that have been productive in one single way that contributes to the good of the world. This has been a long way of saying that we must be united on this war or we will be equated in the history books to the self-inflicted fall of the Roman Empire. If, that is, the Muslim leaders will allow history books to be written or read. If we don't win this war right now, keep a close eye on how the Muslims take over France in the next 5 years or less. They will continue to increase the Muslim population of France and continue to encroach little by ! little on the established French traditions. The French will be fighting among themselves over what should or should not be done, which will continue to weaken them and keep them from any united resolve. Doesn't that sound eerily familiar? Democracies don't have their freedoms taken away from them by some external military force. Instead, they give their freedoms away, politically correct piece by politically correct piece. And they are giving those freedoms away to those who have shown, worldwide, that they abhor freedom and will not apply it to you or even to themselves, once they are in power. They have universally shown that when they have taken over, they then start brutally killing each other over who will be the few who control the masses. Will we ever stop hearing from the politically correct, about the "peaceful Muslims"? I close on a hopeful note, by repeating what I said above. If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. I believe that after the election, the factions in our country will begin to focus on the critical situation we are in and will unite to save our country. It is your future we are talking about. Do whatever you can to preserve it.

[silviajburke]

An EXPLOSION Near My 4yr Old Son…

This post An EXPLOSION Near My 4yr Old Son… appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

I was on a trip over the weekend with my 4-year-old son Caleb, when an explosion detonated 40 yards from us. Dirt and gravel shot skyward and I could instantly smell the acrid scent of gunpowder.

My dad instincts kicked in immediately as I grabbed Caleb and pulled him close. His little body was tense and I could see the shock and surprise in his eyes…

From my vantage point next to some trees I watched as a military jeep rolled to a stop. Apparently, this was the target of the initial explosion. Was it an IED that had disabled the jeep?

I didn’t have time to think about it as the woods across from us erupted with gunfire. I could see muzzle flashes between the trees as gunmen rained fire down on the jeep.

Three passengers ran out of the vehicle and were quickly cut down.

That’s when a team of U.S. Army Rangers deftly maneuvered onto the field to clear the area. After confiscating weapons, gathering intel and setting a demolition charge, the rangers “popped smoke” and melted back into the woods.

Below is a picture I snapped as my 4-year-old watched the good guys wrap up their exercise.

The whole scenario was a demonstration at an Army Ranger training camp we were visiting in North Georgia.

You see, this weekend, my Grandpa celebrated his 96th birthday. And a few of my siblings took a trip to spend the day with Grandpa and check out the training camp.

As a young adult, my Grandpa fought his way through Europe during World War II. Over the past few years, he’s opened up more about his experiences during the war. On Saturday, Grandpa told me a new story about racing jeeps across mountain ranges while the Germans shelled him from their positions below.

I’m thankful for Grandpa’s service, and that my kids have a chance to hear what Grandpa went through to protect and defend our freedoms.

The Threat of Terror is All Too Real

The explosions, gunfire and military operations that I witnessed this weekend were just training exercises.

But for all too many people in the world, the threat of violence is a very real possibility.

Just yesterday, four people were stabbed in Tel Aviv in an apparent terrorist attack.

France has been hit with multiple shootings, stabbings, and vehicle rammings as terrorists carry out their brutal attacks.

In the Middle East, the threat of violence continues to escalate.

And as global powers like North Korea, Syria and Russia move closer to conflict, the threat of violence and war becomes more and more ominous.

I pray that my son Caleb will only see demonstrations of war and hear stories from his Great Grandpa. But the reality is that the threat of war is becoming a much larger possibility for the near future.

The Business of War, And Protecting Your Retirement

When it comes to the threat of war, my first instinct is to make sure that my family is as safe as possible.

But as an investor, my second instinct is to make sure that my family (and your family) is able to protect the nest egg that we’ve set aside for retirement. After all, regardless of what happens in the world, you need to be able to provide for yourself and your dependants when you retire.

One thing to keep in mind as the U.S. gears up for more conflict is that war is expensive…

Since the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, the U.S. has spent $4.79 trillion to fund Homeland Security and the Middle East Wars.[1] This data was compiled in 2016, and doesn’t include budget requests for 2017 (including nearly $32 billion for Homeland Security this year alone).

It’s hard to fathom just how big the defense budget has become, and the toll this is taking on our national budget.

Fortunately, as investors we can recoup some of that cost by owning shares of the companies that are receiving the lion’s share of this military spending. By investing in these companies, you’ll be able to defend your own wealth in this time of danger and uncertainty.

Two weeks ago, we talked about three major defense stocks that have large contracts with the U.S. government and should benefit from rising tensions. I’ll list them again with a brief explanation of each:

The Boeing Co. (BA) is the world’s largest aerospace company with a market cap of $109 billion. The company is well known for its F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet, and was just awarded a $2.2 billion contract for a new submarine hunter warplane.

Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) is known for its F-35 Lightning combat aircraft. LMT is working to bring prices for its aircraft lower, which should help the company to better compete under Trump’s cost-conscious administration.

United Technologies (UTX) has a total of 179 different military contracts worth $23.9 billion. In addition to its defense business, the company has a thriving commercial business as well.

All three of these stocks have moved higher over the last two weeks. And as the U.S. war machine continues to build, I expect these stocks to continue to increase in value.

Now is a good time to add these defensive names to your portfolio. If war escalates, these stocks should trade sharply higher. And even if we remain in a “cold war” state, these stocks should still perform well as the U.S. and its allies continue to build and modernize weaponry and defense capabilities.

Here’s to growing and protecting your wealth!

Zach Scheidt Editor, The Daily Edge EdgeFeedback@AgoraFinancial.com

1 US spending on Middle East wars, Homeland Security will reach $4.79 tillion in 2017, Costs of War, Watson Institute – Brown University

The post An EXPLOSION Near My 4yr Old Son… appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

[mobius-prime]

40. Tails Miniseries #1

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Southern Crossover! (Part 1)

Writer: Mike Gallagher Pencils: Mike Gallagher and Dave Manak Colors: Barry Grossman

So you might notice right off the bat that Mike himself is actually credited as a penciller for this issue! He actually only pencilled one page, right at the very beginning. My guess is that he's not as accomplished an artist as some of the other pencillers, so he decided to do the first page himself, for one particular reason: it's meant to have been drawn by Tails himself!

He's been drawing comics of himself as a hero due to his ongoing frustration about not being taken seriously by the rest of the Freedom Fighters due to his age, something which is only compounded when Sally shows up to check on him.

Well, Tails will be treated like a child no longer! He has oil in his tank, he has supplies stored up, and now he's planning to check out that manifesto he found on the island in StH #29. And so, he sets off on his own adventure! Quite honestly, this first issue of his miniseries really doesn't have much action compared to other miniseries' first issues. It mostly serves to act as a hell of a lot of setup for the two coming issues, setting the stage and introducing most of the important players. For now, we see that Robotnik is going to be transporting some important materials in a giant dirigible, because even though he's a master inventor and mechanic who can create weather-altering devices, turn organic beings into robots with the push of a button, and conquer the entire world with his forces of evil, apparently a big hydrogen-filled zeppelin is his best option for transporting delicate materials long distances. Haven't you ever heard of the Hindenburg, Robotnik?

Meanwhile, Tails is investigating the listed flight path and spots the blimp from underneath. When he checks it out, he finds its destination to be Downunda, which if you couldn't guess is the rather humorous name for the Australia expy on Mobius. However, he's soon spotted and shot down, where he's attacked by Octobot, who's made his return. Octobot totals his submarine and drags Tails to the depths to drown him…

Intermission time! Now we're learning a little more about the first real sub-boss of Robotnik's that we'll be seeing in the comics, Crocbot. Nothing much is really explained about Crocbot - he doesn't seem to be a roboticized croc, seeing as he maintains his own free will, but that would also seem to preclude him being a direct creation of Robotnik's as well. Really, he's just this random robot crocodile in Aus- I mean, Downunda, who is apparently working with Robotnik to take over the continent, which has remained largely untouched by war up till now. However, Crocbot is simply planning to use this shipment to secure his own rule over the area, followed by a coup to put himself in charge of the world instead of Robotnik. Drama!

Back to Tails. He wakes up on a tiny island, having been deposited there by a friendly manta ray named, well, Ray. Ray explains that he's a member of an undersea group called the Forty Fathoms Freedom Fighters, who spotted Tails being drowned by Octobot and attacked, saving him and driving Octobot away.

Tails isn't perhaps as grateful as he could be for the rescue, agitated that he's stuck on some tiny island without his submarine when he was in the middle of an important mission. In response, Ray moves out of the way and the "island" reveals itself to be…

Tails' new ride! With that, Fluke the Blue Whale begins his journey with Tails on his back to Downunda, so he can complete his mission. Tune in next month for… ehh… I think you get the picture. Next issue! Maybe in the next one we'll actually get some real action going.

[nuttyrabbit]

Question: Which preboot Freedom Fighters (besides the 40 Fathom and the Substitutes) do you want to see in my Rewrite?

Sandblasters deserve a shot