#guys its knuckles the echidna from the sonic the hedgehog franchise

[zero-is-nebulous]

KNUCKLES!!!

I love himb

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

PARAMOUNT PLUS KNUCKLES WOOOOOOOOO

Spoilers obviously!

Episode 1 thoughts: writing is kind of annoying, and I don't think I like this version of Knuckles that much - his proper arc in the movie was good but divorced from that context this is basically just idiot meathead Knuckles pushed in another direction entirely. Wade isn't funny or entertaining. Sonic's model looks worse than it did before, the forehead wrinkles are so offputting. I feel like they fucked their own lore weirdly - the second movie showed the literal founding of G.U.N. in this continuity and yet their headquarters are based in London and they're apparently already big enough to have double-agents within them working to support criminals. G.U.N. just didn't feel like such a big thing in the second movie is all, but now they are with no fanfare. Also they've acquired both warp rings and Knuckles' quills from ???? so hmmm. I'm definitely approaching this too much as an adult out to nitpick rather than remembering that this is for kids and it doesn't matter when G.U.N. became so prominent or how and when they got their hands on X macguffin, but idk I feel like the first 2 movies were paying some degree of attention to stuff like that so this just sticks out to me.

Episode 2 thoughts: actually not just Wade but I think nobody is funny or really all that entertaining to watch. I don't think the Sonic movies are great or anything but this feels aggressively like we're just going through the motions. I need a hero scene was kind of torture. I appreciate Knuckles gliding anyway since that's one of those things that's acknowledged surprisingly little despite being a core part of his gameplay in every playable appearance he's had.

Episode 3 thoughts: my favourite so far on the sheer absurdity of a lonely Jewish mother whose husband left the family and whose kids hate each other finding solace and comfort in Knuckles the Echidna and teaching him about Judaism

Episode 4 thoughts: absolutely indescribable experience. felt like a high budget fan parody. I was juggling so many feelings through my head while watching, reaching each end of the quality spectrum - this is both incredibly kino and also one of the worst things to ever grace the Sonic franchise. one must actively sever any interest in pretending this is something that should be taken seriously in order to enjoy it, although in doing so one must also acknowledge that the Knuckles show on paramount plus is now but a joke. the same Sonic movie franchise that rejuvenated public interest in the franchise has also birthed unto us a mockery of everything the series has ever stood for. Wade Whipple stole a kid's bicycle and chopped off a man's ponytail with a katana before then forcing that man to undress.

Episode 5 thoughts: this is straight up more enjoyable when consumed as a bizarre and surreal anthology but with a continual plot wherein the anthology part of it is just what is gonna be the directorial fetish of the episode. in this case it's several instances of shots being split across comic-style panelling or the same frame repeated in grid-patterns across the screen, things like that. that type of shot for bowling for 10 minutes and then a heartwarming emotional reunion with an estranged father turned heartwrenching as Jewish mother recounts the fact that he hurt us before and he's going to do it again. I almost forgot I was watching a Sonic the Hedgehog show until the bad guys showed up and reminded us that Knuckles the Echidna does actually exist in the show named after him. I'm starting to think this show is seriously worth watching entirely because it's so ludicrously detached from its source material and absurd in everything else it chooses to depict. The dialogue is so unnatural it's hilarious. Everybody has a certain voice they're doing for the camera and it's all super exaggerated. Wade actually betrays Knuckles in the end and I'm about to watch the last episode to see what happens.

Episode 6 thoughts: I think this show is incredible

Overall thoughts!

I don't even know how to succintly put into words how much fun I was having with this by the end. And I do mean by the end - you can see the progression of my enjoyment after each episode in this post itself - but it really is kind of slow and annoying to start until it eventually reaches such a level of absurdity that I turned off Sonic fan brain and turned on "I want to laugh at batshit insane media" brain. Once it got to that point though I was so fucking invested that I was feeling everything. I wanted Wade to start throwing bowling balls at the buyer so fucking bad and he did. The electric guitar kicking in when Knuckles powered back up and became the flames of disaster or whatever was the most excited I've been watching anything in a while. The juxtaposition between a serious emotional tale about broken families and standing up against those who have hurt you versus Wade Whipple in a Knuckles costume having a musical performed at him about the strength of the heart or whatever is immaculate.

I feel like this show was greenlit and allocated a budget before they actually decided anything they wanted to do with it so they just wrote some vague story outline and handed each episode off to a different director to see what they could come up with. The few who played it a little more safe, kid's action show type thing, didn't really offer much. But the ones who decided to have fun with it and just not even care about the source material, those are the ones that turned out really fun.

I will acknowledge right now obviously that none of that is exactly praise from the lens of a Sonic fan. This isn't good at being Sonic in any way, it's not even good at being part of the separate and standalone Sonic movie continuity either. Calling it disrespectful to the source material is an understatement and even the times where it decides to pull from what it's adapting you get absolutely bizarre errors like the Flames of Disaster being singularly attributed to Knuckles just for the hell of it. This should not be thought of as a serious attempt at telling a story within any Sonic the Hedgehog setting. This is a high budget parody that, through circumstances we'll never quite know, is also an officially licensed and endorsed Sonic the Hedgehog product. It's the worst Sonic adaptation ever. It's also so fucking entertaining and I would honestly recommend it to just about anyone. I'm literally already lining up a rewatch with some friends. It's so fucking fun. Like there's an element of irony and there's an element of so bad it's good and perhaps all of this is birthed by that and me being in a state of "I just finished something absurd and need to process it so I'm just yelling" but as a lifelong diehard Sonic fan who yearns for nothing more than good quality Sonic content I had more actual fun with this than almost any other Sonic adaptation period. This shit, my friends, is kino. And Wade Whipple is my new favourite Sonic character.

[sutzrainbow]

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#5

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15 notes - Posted January 15, 2022

#4

I saw Sonic 2!

I LOVED IT!! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

While I don’t think it’s quite as good as the first one, I still really enjoyed myself! I still think this movie was made by people who genuinely love Sonic, loved hiding little details and references for us fans to find, and tried to make this crackerjack franchise work while still embracing its silliness. Here are my thoughts! (Spoilers under the cut)

I LOVED HOW KNUCKLES WAS WRITTEN. Gullible and not the brightest, but still super-intimidating and powerful. 

Idris Elba as Knuckles was utterly perfect. I am so pleased at long last he has a black voice actor (for those who don’t know, Knuckles was originally meant to be Jamaican. Yes, really.) Hope the guy comes back.

“Oh. They are stairs.” “I have honorably beaten you at this base of ball!” Fucking hilarious. I <3 you, Knuckles.

I love how dirty Sonic and co. get when they’re hurt. The game characters don’t do that, but it’s a fun realistic touch.

I like Tom and Maddie and was glad to see them again. They blow characters like Chris out of the water.

“Let’s go get our kid.” Thank you, Maddie.

Jim Carrey was having the time of his life and I loved it.

They leaned HARD into the shipping with Stone and I loved that too. But Stone doesn’t do very much, which is a shame.

I also love this movie thing where they make the Chaos Animals’ eyes light up and then it spreads to the rest of them when they use their powers. I’m glad it’s something they all do, it’s a fun little characteristic.

The idea of the Chaos Emeralds being fused into the Master Emerald was a neat take on it. In the games and most continuity, the Master Emerald is separate from the Chaos Emeralds. Like, it can control them, but it’s its own unique entity as well.

They played around with the Chaos Emeralds turning thoughts into reality instead of just energy, which was neat. Bit like Green Lantern. Given how things played out in the last movie, I thought that an Emerald was going to turn out to be hidden inside Sonic, or that he was going to turn out to be a living Chaos Emerald, but that wasn’t what happened.

The idea of a human being able to manipulate Chaos power is incredibly unsettling. In a lot of continuities they either are not affected at all, or it kills them. I liked the vocal effect they used with Robotnik absorbing the Emerald’s power.

Sonic and Tails’ bond, as always, is super sweet. I love how they set up the team and basically the rest of the series by the end of the movie.

They address Sonic’s inability to swim, referenced the whole air bubbles thing - but I don’t think I heard the drowning music. Maybe an orchestral version of that would be too close to Jaws.

They worked Longclaw back into the plot (though she doesn’t actually show up, it’s a recorded message) in what I thought was a very clever way. Back before they redesigned Sonic for the first movie, he and Longclaw originally got attacked by lizards instead of echidnas like Knuckles. I imagine they just replaced the lizard people in the continuity with the echidnas, but it was still neat to see.

Sonic and co go running around in temples just like in the old games!

They somehow worked the Olive Garden guy back into the plot!? Like, it wasn’t just a blatant product placement??

When they mentioned Guardian Unit of Nations I think my head popped.

Sonic goes Super and they left it out of the trailers, and it was exactly like it plays out in Sonic X. I think I regressed down to 11 years old again, that was so good. Also, his Super form got triggered by him saying ‘I love you guys’. Chills.

Also, the Emeralds in this continuity are TINY. The Master Emerald is about the size of a basket ball, and the Chaos Emeralds about the size of a golf ball.

And yes, the mid-credits sequence. I screamed, legit screamed. “SHADOW IS COMING HELL YEAH.” Like, we see him and he looks amazing. He doesn’t say anything though, so I wonder who they’ll cast to voice him? I liked Jason Griffith’s gruff Shadow OK, but vastly preferred David Humphrey’s almost-gentle tone with a hint of menace, so I hope they go with that.

I didn’t want them to introduce Shadow right away - Tails and Knuckles are the OGs and they must come first - but I always wanted them to tackle Sonic Adventure 2′s story at some point, because it’s so cinematic. It would make a great movie; the plot almost writes itself, especially without having to justify levels or something. I hope they cast a really good, soulful kid to play Maria.

All of that said, I didn’t think it was as good as the first one. It’s only been two years since the first Sonic movie and I think it shows. This one maybe could have done with some more cuts and fine-tuning.

This movie repeats way too much that was done in the first movie - and I’m not talking flashbacks, they’re actually fine. I just mean straight plot beats. We get Sonic messing around at the house, and a sequence in a bar/tavern. This tavern is in Siberia, and there’s no Tom, but that’s all that’s different. I liked watching Sonic and Tails dancing, but it’d been done before. I just wish we’d got right to the temple.

Sonic and Tails crashing Maddie’s sister Rachel’s wedding is really funny, and I loved watching Rachel and Maddie kick butt in all their finery. BUT - then they focus too much on Rachel having some drama with her fiance Randall, who also is an undercover agent, for some reason? There was no need for that. The crashing wedding scene was fine. I was legit looking at my watch and saying, “I didn’t come here to watch wedding drama. I came here to watch Chaos Animals having adventures.” Once that was over, they never showed up again, but jeez. Most of that belonged on the cutting room floor. Randall didn’t even have to be an agent. Just set up GUN and have the girls kicking ass with Tails’ inventions and you’re golden.

I really hope this movie does well, even though it’s not as good as the first, because if it does, we’ll get a part three. And that part three will be Shadow’s movie. And I would love to see Shadow in a movie. Yes please. Yes yes please.

20 notes - Posted April 5, 2022

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[animationadventures]

After something as intense as Hollow Mind, I think we needed a little cooldown period. Edge of the World, even with its revelation and cliffhanger ending, was what we needed.

We start off with King dreaming about meeting his birth family, and then Luz shares everything she learned from Belos’ mind. Meanwhile, Hooty finally coughs up the letter for King.

Eda and Lilith acknowledge how Luz and King are just kids, and they’ve gotten too deep into adult stuff like rebellion against the Emperor and finding out truths about disasters like the Day of Unity. So they send Luz, King, and Hooty to answer the letter to keep them out of harm’s way.

We get to see Captain Salty again, who sadly has been deserted by his crew. Poor guy, but hey, he’s a friend of the Owl House now so it’s not all bad.

Luz, King, and Hooty find an entire village of demons like King, where King is welcomed with open arms and learns demon stuff. Luz and Hooty learn that the entire village isn’t what it seems. They’re actually Titan Hunters wearing carcasses of dead titans, and it turns out King IS a titan based on his appetite, screaming ability, and desire for minions.

We, the fans, had assumed King had some connection to the Boiling Isles’ titan, but I am not sure if anyone guessed that he was of the same species.

The Collector’s disc made an appearance again, being worshipped by the hunters, but after 400 years, it has a crack down the middle. Did Philip break it in half to try releasing the Collector, but only half succeeded?

It’s really too bad that King really has nobody else like him out there. He’s like Knuckles the Echidna from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise now, the last of his kind. But he has a loving family all around him, which makes the situation easier to bear.

Then there’s the cliffhanger ending of the Owl House being surrounded by coven scouts. This could be a problem.

[chaosemeraldchasers]

Sonic Music

Dear Readers,

I don't know about you, but whenever I think of a Sonic game, the first thing that comes to mind is the music! From Sonic 1, Sonic Adventure to Mania there are so many original scores that Sega has attached to these games. Sometimes when I play a game or particular level the music puts me back to that first moment I entered that zone and how it perfectly suited that region.

For your reading pleasure I have compiled a top 10 list of the best Sonic tracks - feel free to comment.

10. Green Hill Zone - the OG of the Sonic musical score. This diddy was originally composed by Masato Nakamura [band member of Dreams Come True] and has reappeared several times throughout the franchises gaming history, i.e. Sonic Generations, Sonic Mania, and Sonic Forces. In an article written by Carl Anka of the Sabotage Times (2013) the original Sonic the Hedgehog game was touted as having the greatest music of any video game as a result of Green Hill's catchy beat. Don't believe me? Then you better check out some tracks that actually sampled this beat -Ms. Rightfernow by Wiz Kahlifa is a total bop.

9. Kick the Rock! - the hip hop track from Sonic Adventure 2 rapped in the POV as Knuckles is serious vibes. It gives our boy Rad Red some serious street cred - even the subtle burns and acknowledgement of how hot Rouge is kinda makes you laugh and ads to the lore that they're vibing.

8. Knuckles Theme - From Sonic Adventure this song actually sucks, BUT it comes with this epic line that has become a joke among us Classic Fans "You can call me Knuckles, unlike Sonic I don't chuckle I'd rather flex my muscles" - well then, explain this!!??

7. Ice Cap Zone - ok kids, the fact that the Michael Jackson allegedly composed this and that it has been remixed countless times is evidence enough for it to be a certified bop. This little diddy is on my snowboarding jams soundtrack. This upbeat rave-like song will make you want to get up and move. Every time it comes on and I'm on my board I'm envisioning the moment I saw Sonic on a snowboard for the first time and it was MF epic. Only the coolest kids snowboarded in the 90's so this just further solidified Sonic as the OG of the gaming character world for being Way Past Cool.

6. Star Dust Speedway (Act 2, Mania version) - Tee Lopes was a fucking GENIUS on all tracks relating to Mania. When Taxman decided to hire a sound guy he picked THE guy. A decade prior to Mania he got his start doing remixes on Sonic tracks which is where he was sourced to do the project. Lopes states that, “Although I wanted to make something that everyone could enjoy,” he says of the soundtrack, “I must confess that I specifically aimed to make older Sonic fans feel like they're kids again.” And he did...

5. Pumpkin Hill - Another Knux track, the Echidna can spit bars what can I say? This shit gives me hardcore 90's rap vibes and I'm all for that. It's creepy its, its upbeat, it works perfect for the level.

4. Oil Ocean - Sonic 2 I see you! Waiting on that movie like... hurry up 2022! Can we talk about this track? Epic. Original, Mania, or remixed you can't beat the vibe.

3. Metallic Madness (Mania, Act 2) - does anyone know wtf the guy in the back is jibbering? Not sure what it is but I love it. This track can get you ramped up with it's highs and lows... that saxobeat too. Super fun, am I right?

2. Studiopolis (Acts 1 & 2) - Turn this on and try not to bop your head and think 'yeah i get it'.... definitely the BEST new track Sega has put out in a very loooooooooooooong time - again, Tee Lopes we do not deserve you.

and finally... the best song in Sonic history:

1. Chemical Plant Zone - This is the song all us millennial's remember. As we cautiously picked up the controller knowing damn well that those water parts were coming up and NO tails did not swim and bubble shields did not exist. Friends, while you're trying to get up those damn stairs of death without drowning this music is both the most anxiety inducing track and your biggest hype beast when you make it through the stairs of hell and then past the floating rafts of doom. This song is hands-down a mutha-fuckin' work of art - don't agree? fight me.

For your viewing pleasure - all Millennials' personal hell as small children - you're welcome.

Xo, Em 💙🦔

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[movie-robotnik-positivity]

HEEEELLO, MY FRIENDS! TODAY IS A VERY SPECIAL DAY!!!

This, clearly very smart person, has written something that could technically be called a “review” or the Sonic Movie! (reading not reccomended)

And at the end, they share their very competent

Please, lose your braincells with me as we attempt to answer them all!!!

1. Why is Sonic raised by a Large Owl named Long Claw? Did she marry a Large Hedgehog and give birth to Sonic? Is he part Owl?

The Sonic Movie novelization explains that Longclaw is NOT Sonic’s biological mother. Not that reading the novelization is required to understand that very obvious fact.

2. Who named him “Sonic?” Since his mother is named Long Claw shouldn’t Sonic have a name that somehow correlates with his appearance, like Small Nose?

Maybe Longclaw knew Sonic’s parents? Even if she had been the one to name him, I don’t know she’d give him a similar name to hers.

3. The town in the film is called Green Hill Zone. Does this imply that all the places in the Sonic movie are named after Sonic levels?

First of all, it’s called “Green Hills”, which is a much more believable name for a small town to have. As for the second, maybe? There’s this:

(not sure why this questions matters though...)

4. Why do people call Sonic a “Hedgehog?” If he’s an alien, shouldn’t he have an alien name that doesn’t have its roots in Earth-dwelling species?

Because Sonic calls himself a hedgehog, it’s unknown if he simply came to that conclusion by seeing the similarities or his species call themselves hedgehogs the same way echidnas call themselves echidnas.

5. Sonic is fast enough to play baseball against himself. This may make sense for baseball–but how does this logic work when he acts as his own therapist in the film? Does he process trauma differently because he runs so fast?

...what?

6. When Sonic runs too fast while playing baseball, he shuts down the power on almost the entire western half of America. Wouldn’t this loss of electricity cause major pandemonium all over the country and around the world?

The blackout problem could have been resolved not long after, pretty sure there are protocols and stuff. You act like they didn’t hold a meeting in the Pentagon about this.

7. Shouldn’t Sonic be deafeningly loud since he is constantly breaking the sound barrier?

I...don’t know? You might be reading a little too deeply into the powers of a super fast blue hedgehog kid.

8. Sonic learns to drive by reading the manual of James Marsden’s truck. But do car manuals even actually teach you how to operate an automobile?

That sounds plausible to me? He wasn’t even able to differenciate between the brakes and the accelerator so maybe he was messing around.

9. When Sonic and James Marsden enter the roadside bar, a patron says “We don’t like your kind here.” What kind? Blue alien hedgehogs? Have they seen those before?

This one annoys me a lot.....INMEDIATELY afterwards Sonic asks the guy “What kind is that?” to which he replies with “hipsters”

10. Sonic disguises himself in the movie as a cowboy. At the bar, patrons think he is a small child. Do children in the Sonic movie universe normally appear like feral anthropomorphized critters?

The waitress is confused about Sonic’s appearance, even asking if the child has some sort of face paint on. Tom has to invent that weird genetic condition so no one suspects.

11. Why does James Marsden’s fiancee’s sister hate him so much? He seems like a nice, caring person!

Sometimes it be that way, dude. Do you need to know? It’s just funny.

12. How did Sonic find a pair of sneakers that can withstand legs that move as fast as the speed of light?

I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, and you saw the state his old sneakers were in, as well as the amount of worn out shoes he has in his cave.

13. Where did Sonic learn to read, communicate with humans, use nunchucks, and floss?

Ten years is a very long time, and he has spent them observing human pop culture through movies and comic books.

14. If Sonic is this fast, can’t he just stop Dr. Robotnik by running into his drone machine and destroying everything before Robotnik can even react?

Didn’t you pay attention? When Robotnik pressed the button on his ship, using the quill’s energy, he became almost as fast as Sonic.

15. The mushroom planet that the film keeps referring–is that a dig on the Mario Bros’ Mushroom kingdom?

Could be, but it’s more likely a reference to Mushroom Hill Zone from Sonic & Knuckles.

16. What happened to James Marsden’s career that led him to take third billing in the Sonic movie?

Fuck you.

17. Has anyone on the Sonic movie writing team ever played a Sonic game?

Obviously. Fuck you.

18. Why didn’t Paramount just allow the visual effects artists enough time to actually make Sonic look good?

The first design wasn’t incomplete, it was just a completely different aproach, with the realism being pushed by the studio.

19. What do people like about this movie?

I like how it portrays Sonic and gives him emotional complexity like we’ve never seen before. I also thinks it’s a really good movie in general, with talented actors (including Jim Carrey himself) who put their all in their performances, really great commedy and action as well as heartfelt moments. It makes the character and the franchises justice in more ways than one.

20. How did this movie turn out to be worse than Cats?

Again, fuck you.

[fatmobiustales]

Well!  I suppose we should explain.

Name’s Sonic.  Sonic the Hedgehog.  And as you can tell from that pic up at the top, me and the gang have been putting on weight.  I used to be called the fastest thing alive.   And then the Xorda came.   Nasty buggers.  Like something out of a cosmic horror storry.  I took a shot to the back, made me unable to walk.  If it wasn’t for Dr. Eggman... Yeah.  Doctor Ivo ‘Eggman’ Robotnik.  We used to call him that to make fun of his weight.  Shows what we knew.  The guy really stepped up.  Created a robot version of me to make it seem like I was still in action while he repaired my spine as best he could.  I could never run again, but at least I’m alive, and Mobius is safe.  He helped out a lot of people, giving them cybernetics to help keep them mobile. 

And after that, he pretty much solved world hunger forever.  Which is why I and most of my friends are on the chunky side right now.  I run a chili-dog stand with my Uncle Chuck.  I’m dating Amy right now (yeah, finally decided to give her the time of day), and a lot of my friends are together as well.  And all of them are friggin’ big.

Bunnie and Antoine are happily married.  (It’s so weird seeing Bunnie’s cybernetic limbs fat, but hey, Eggman’s a genius, so...)  Sally and Nicole are together, and are planning on getting married.  Shadow and Rouge have a casual thing.  Tails actually has multiple options, including Cosmo (a friendly alien, if you can believe that), Fiona Fox, and pop star Mina Mongoose.  Even Metal Sonic is putting on weight.  (How is beyond me, but good lord, Eggman’s robotics are advanced.)  He’s engaged to media mogul Breezie the Hedgehog. Knuckles... is complicated.  He was thought to be the last of his kind, guarding Angel Island and its secrets all alone as it floated aimlessly through the ocean.  But then the Nocturnus Tribe came back, a tribe of Echidnas locked in an interdimensional cage.  Their leader, Ix, had killed most of the males save for a lunatic named Finitevus, and a powerful echidna who’d taken the name Enerjak.  (We later found out his name was Demitri.)  Metal Sonic drove off Ix, Finitevus, and Enerjack, and now the females of the tribe are living with Knuckles on the island.  Shade, Julie-Su, and Lien-Da in particular are interested in him, although Lien-Da makes me nervous.  

There’s regional governors assigned by Eggman to help the local leadership run things.  Ours is a pair of pronghorn deer sisters named Clove and Cassia.  And Rotor’s father, Tundra, is one of them as well.  

We’ve got someone from the future named Silver the Hedgehog!  He was a nervous wreck at first, but he started getting confused, like he was remembering things wrong.  His friend Gold the Tenrec had the same problem.  They’ve settled down, though, and are pigging out like the rest of us.  Silver, Gold, and Princess Blaze are good friends.

Spoiler alert - I have an evil counterpart out there named Scourge.  He’s a pain in the neck, but eh.  Another pain in the neck, although one that isn’t evil, is Sticks the Badger.  She keeps making weird claims about the ‘world not being right,’ and saying that ‘Eggman can’t be trusted.’   I mean, c’mon.  The man’s saved the world dozens of times.  He deserves a little consideration.  Plus, eating just as much as we do kind of belies your claim there, Sticks.   Don’t worry about her, she’s harmless.  So harmless, you can ask her questions! We figured this would be a good way to pass the time, so we got almost everyone we could think of involved.  Me, my pals, the regional governers, Silver, Shadow, Rouge, Dr. Eggman, everybody!  So if you feel like it, come talk to the fattest thing alive!  (At least, I’m trying for it, anyway.  Heh.) ((Author’s Note: Almost every Sonic character in the franchise is available for questions, including Archie pre-reboot and post-reboot, IDW, game, anime, and Sonic Boom characters.  Ask away.)) 

[mobius-prime]

213. Sonic the Hedgehog #145

Shadows of Hope

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Jason Jensen

I've pointed out misleading cover pages before, but it's been a while since we've seen one. This issue's cover page makes it seem like Shadow is gonna beat up Sonic or something, but in reality they never even come face to face within this issue, so I don't know what the cover artist was thinking. Shadow isn't interested in antagonizing Sonic as of yet - instead, he's been coming to Knothole for several weeks in a row, watching Hope Kintobor from the bushes near where she likes to hang out. That's not creepy at all! A mysterious robed figure, in turn, has been spying on Shadow all this time, referring to him as "it" and wondering what "its" purpose here is. Of course, we know why he's been watching Hope - because she looks very much like Maria. Shadow is surprised by a sudden flash of light behind him, and turns to find the mysterious stranger looking down at him.

…dude, what the hell? I'm sorry, but did you really think that your plan of lassoing the literal ultimate life form with a $2 roll of twine you got from Home Depot would be a good idea? Shadow is similarly baffled by the sheer audacity of this figure, and leaps forward to attack, but suddenly finds himself being teleported away by another flash of light, and Hope finds herself also being caught in the light. The three end up in a hidden facility somewhere, where the figure kicks Shadow off him and slams a glass door shut, locking him in a pod. Shadow has a few quick flashbacks, first to the nutrient pod he first awoke in when he was created by Gerald, and then the healing pod the Bem put him in after his tangle with the Biolizard. The figure removes their hood to reveal themselves to be none other than Locke, who has captured Shadow for the purpose of using him to find his missing family, the other members of the Brotherhood. He's really just kind of a piece of garbage in this issue, even more so than usual - asking if Shadow knows what it's like to lose everything, and when Shadow angrily replies that he's never had anything in the first place, replying with a callous "That's not surprising." Seriously, dude? Apparently, the reason he isn't surprised is because according to his scans, Shadow is neither "biological, mineral, nor vegetable," which makes absolutely no sense. Like… he's not a robot, dude, he's a biological creature like any other, just with some unusual origins. I chalk this up entirely to Penders just not knowing anything about Shadow's history or circumstances, because as I've mentioned before, he's almost bizarrely proud of how he's never played a single Sonic game while writing these comics.

Anyway, it's not even clearly explained why Locke seems to think that Shadow of all people can help him locate the missing members of the Brotherhood, nor why he thinks kidnapping him is an acceptable thing to do toward that end.  Hope steps forward at this point, scolding Locke for enacting this terrible, terrible plan, and when Locke turns around to pull a "you're just too young to understand my wise adult ways" on her (keep in mind she's like at least fourteen by this point), Shadow's PTSD kicks into high gear.

Shadow starts beating the everloving crap out of Locke, who at first tries to fight back with some Chaos powers of his own but is ultimately overwhelmed by Shadow's sheer strength in his frenzy. Shadow is on the verge of actually killing Locke when Hope yells for him to stop, saying she thought he was better than that and that he's scaring her. This appears to snap Shadow out of his flashback, and he recognizes once more where he is.

So this is the beginning of a series of really weird issues in the comic, led primarily by Penders. I'm not sure exactly what his angle was here, but after everything that came before, it seems he's decided to take a break from focusing on his favorite echidna in favor of a few other characters - namely, Shadow, Locke, and Evil Sonic. Evil Sonic and Locke are his own creations, so I guess I can't really fault him for whatever he decides to write about them, but I'm not really a fan of the way he writes Shadow. Shadow is easily my favorite character in the entire Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, across all canons (though his iteration in the games is my favorite), and I'm very particular about how he's portrayed. He can be a bit of an anti-hero at times, a bit brooding and sometimes violent, but in the end he's much more hero than anything else. He's not some vicious killer edgelord, he's a confused and traumatized individual just trying to figure out where he fits in the larger scheme of things. This is something that becomes abundantly clear if you play through Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Shadow the Hedgehog in order, as those three games contain the bulk of his character development. Interestingly enough, while Shadow's amnesia is a big part of the story of the latter two games and has a huge impact on how his story goes, Shadow doesn't appear to have amnesia at all in the comics. Instead, his main motivation is finding out exactly why Gerald created him in the first place. It's a bit of a bizarre turn from the games and anime, as while the motive is similar, it makes a lot more sense in the games and anime due to his amnesia, which makes him far more suggestible to those trying to manipulate him. I don't know, I can't even point to one specific thing about the way he's portrayed in the comics that bothers me - all I know is that it's different from the games in a way that just rubs me wrong, and makes me feel like Penders kind of missed the point of Shadow's character development in the first place.

As for Locke, suddenly making him out to be this callous bad guy who forcefully kidnaps others to study their biology for his own purposes is really jarring considering his deathbed redemption speech not two issues ago. Like, I know that all takes place in the future so he hasn't gotten that redemption yet, but if anything that just goes to show how weird and out of order everything in the comics lately feels. I really feel like Penders actually should have stuck to focusing on Knuckles, since at this point he's made him into such an author's pet that he seems to be horribly rusty at writing literally anyone else in the comic. On the other hand, I suppose it's valid to argue that the quality of Penders' work has been declining for quite some time now, first with the entirely-too-long Green Knuckles Saga and followed up immediately by Mobius 25 Years Later. Honestly, most of my defenses of his work have fallen flat ever since the cancellation of the KtE spinoff a while back, which if you ask me was the main point in time where his writing abilities actually got a chance to shine. In these last couple eras, he's gotten his head so far stuck up his own ass that he's lost sight of what things readers actually find interesting in these comics. I suppose it's fitting, then, that in the next fifteen issues we'll be witnessing the final death throes of Kenders' writing in the Archie preboot, in an era of flux where no one really knows what kind of story they're going for anymore.

Training Day

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Al Bigley Colors: Jason Jensen

Oh, speaking of a story that doesn't really go anywhere, we've got one here! I'm not being facetious here either - the "plot" of this story is just that Eggman has some data files on why he hates the Freedom Fighters, and does a little presentation for his army of mindless swatbots informing them of the dangers of several key players in particular. Of course, he covers Sonic first as his most hated enemy, then talks about how Tails is dangerous due to his precociousness and expertise with machinery. Knuckles is up next despite not being a member of the Freedom Fighters proper, and finally we end with Amy of all people. Not to insult Amy of course, as she's quite a bruiser in her own right, but I mean… why not cover someone like Bunnie, who has power enough to wreck an entire battleship loaded with nuclear missiles?

I only include this picture to sort of show that at least, as I've mentioned before, the comics actually do Amy proper justice as a character - she's the definition of a kickass girly-girl, a perfect demonstration of the idea that being feminine doesn't make you weak. The tarot card thing is a new one for the comics, but that's actually established backstory for her in the games, for those who don't know - the whole reason she met Sonic in the first place in Sonic CD was because she did a tarot reading for herself and the cards told her to go meet the love of her life in a specific location, which just so happened to be where Sonic was on his latest adventure. Ultimately, this story doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know apart from that, so we can safely move on, as it distinctly smacks of filler.

Harbinger

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Dawn Best Colors: Jason Jensen

Knothole is experiencing a moment of calm, and thus Tails lounges in his room engrossed in a book about the history of technology on Mobius. No one is aware that some distance from the village a huge explosion has just gone off, because why would they be aware? It happened several hundred miles away! Sonic and his friends (minus Tails) are spending their free time playing idle games, with Sonic and Ash becoming overly competitive over their game of darts while the girls in the room giggle knowingly at their bristling and strutting. Tails becomes intrigued by something-or-other that he read in his book and decides to go ask Rotor about it, only to find him already preoccupied with something else.

Tails suggests the three of them pile into the Tornado and check it out, but Rotor says they should at least take along Sonic and Bunnie for some muscle just in case. Tails gets weirdly offended by this, prompting Rotor to give us an explanation of the roles each Freedom Fighter plays in the group for whatever reason, including listing off himself and Tails as the tactical support and Sally as their leader. I mean, it's accurate at least? Tails heads out to find Sonic as Ash stomps out of the hut in a huff, with Mina trailing him and complaining that he's only upset because he and Sonic were deliberately antagonizing each other. He finds the others still hanging out in the game room, and is initially offended that they didn't invite him until Sonic mentions offhandedly that he knocked at Tails' door several times to no answer since Tails was so caught up in his reading. Tails explains the situation to everybody, and soon everyone, including Tommy, is ready to head out in the FFS and check out the disturbance, while Sally comes over to see them off.

I mean, Sonic's got a point, Sally - he's been on a million missions before with little more than a few scratches here and there, what makes this one any different? Oh, severe trauma, right. The story concludes with a final page showing a familiar pair of air shoes stepping into a ruined facility, their owner pleased at finding the location of some kind of prototype that he learned of in Gerald's old encrypted data files…

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 4: BLACK DOOM

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a new mini-series of mine, in which I’ll be going into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, we'll be helping the brave-hearted hero take on the black-hearted evil as we discuss the alien threat of Shadow the Hedgehog's spinoff, and champion Dr. Claw impressionist: Black Doom.

The Gist: Remember Shadow? Thought he died? Well he didn't apparently, as he was discovered by Rouge in one of Eggman's compounds like it was no big deal. Though he was generous enough to help out with fighting bad guys alongside Rouge and the rejected E-Series juggernaut, E-123 Omega, there was one thing that was troubling him. Namely, he couldn't remember a goddamn thing outside of his name, his abilities, and possibly his favourite colour.

“Maybe it's the dead girl I just thought of... Wow, maybe I DON'T have amnesia.”

So one day Shadow was contemplating who he was, reasoning that sitting on his ass would be more beneficial than actually asking the other characters for information on the subject. When suddenly, right on cue, a bunch of aliens fell from the sky and started asserting their bad guy dominance via fucking shit up.

“We remembered to take the parachutes with us, right?... right...?”

The Ultimate Lifeform was initially unconcerned about something that he probably would have sorted out without a second thought if he were actually in-character, but his undivided attention was soon caught by the presence of the alien leader, Black Doom. This fellow, who already knew Shadow on a suspiciously familiar basis, made the benevolent promise that if Shadow were to find the Chaos Emeralds for him, he in turn would help him discover the truth of who he is, and maybe give him the extra cash to buy a PS4 or something.

“If he says the blue hedgehog is evil... then like it or not, I have to believe him.” - Knuckles the Echidna

Things from here onwards... got complicated. Due to the nature of Shadow's game, you could go through all sorts of expertly constructed paths depending on whether you felt like being a heroic gentleman, a villainous swine, or somewhere in-between. This meant that one moment you could be up in space, figuring out how Black Doom was involved in your past, then the next minute you're back on Earth, questioning if you're an android made by Eggman. The progression of Shadow's story was - in a word - tangled.

That said, we do find out some pretty important things thanks to Doom. About 80% of that is what we already knew in Sonic Adventure 2: scientist creates Shadow, girl makes friends with Shadow, bang bang girl is dead, bang bang scientist is executed. But if you felt it wasn't enough for Shadow to be a biological creation made by a kindhearted scientist who eventually went apeshit over his granddaughter's death via the incompetent military and subsequently concocted a devilish (and loophole-filled) plan to take everyone with him posthumously... well, get ready, because it turns out he's part alien too!

How is this so? Bad writing. As it turns out, Professor Gerald Robotnik made a deal with Black Doom prior to Shadow's completion. He needed that extra spicy flavor to make the Ultimate Lifeform worthy of that title, so he figured making a deal with Literally Satan™ was morally and logically sound. And we're supposed to believe this was before he went insane.

“Maybe he'll renounce his evil ways if I wear these fuzzy blue slippers in front of him.”

Gerald wasn't completely braindead however, as he created the Eclipse Cannon to do away with the Black Arms in the event that they turned out to be moustache twirling fiends. Still makes you wonder why he made the deal in the first place though, seeing how he had many other options to choose from in a universe filled to the brim with sources of power and/or immortality.

Also, making a giant cannon in space is dangerous.

Someone could use it for malicious purposes.

Which is exactly what happened.

Twice.

It happened in this very game, even.

By the alien it was supposed to be used against.

“Thanks for the free weapon, dumbass.”

Say what you will about Eggman's mistakes, at least his goofiness gives him an excuse.

Anyway, Shadow is naturally distraught about being the son of Literally Lucifer™, but he decides to stick it to his dad and kills him in a climactic battle anyway. Sonic and chums would have helped, but they got taken out of commission via Doom's paralyzation gas, which was never brought up at all before this point and was clearly only set up so that Shadow could be the only one to save the day. You would think everyone else WOULDN'T be affected since they DON'T have Black Arm DNA inside them, but what do I know about deus ex machinas programmed by actual aliens.

“You all failed. I didn't say Black Doom Says.”

So Shadow defeats Literally Beelzebub™, and subsequently uses the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet, the aliens' home domain, before deciding to put his past behind him once and for all. We're thirteen years on, and we haven't seen a single Black Arm since then, so we can safely conclude that Shadow drove an entire species to extinction. Hurray!

What NOW, Attenborough?

The Design: Doom's design is looking a bit wise, man.

*seal laugh*

“One, two, three! THREE fingers! Three, two, one! ONE dimension for my character! Ah! Ah! Ah!”

I mean, credit where it's due, at least it's its own thing and not a recolour of another character in the same franchise, even if he did steal a page from NiGHTS. But on the whole, it's not a great design for a Sonic villain, because he doesn't even look like a Sonic villain. He looks as though he could have jumped out of any run-of-the-mill product involving demons, aliens, or demon aliens.

His Devil Doom form is not much better.

Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry™ Series

When the only impression Doom's design leaves me with is the question of how he gets his head through small doors, you know it's not looking good.

The Personality: He's evil.

And he's evil.

He's also evil.

By the way, he's evil.

Not a lot of people know this, but between you and me, he's evil.

And you know what else? He's evil.

Evil.

Yeah, there's not a lot to say here. Shockingly enough, the villain they decided to name Black Doom doesn't have much of a personality beyond his villainy. While there is a hint that he wants to expand his race, he's mainly in it for the evulz. About the closest thing to him having a trait outside of that is the curious implication that he doesn't know what lightning is.

The Execution: Black Doom is presented as a serious villain, but you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise, because everything about him is completely half-hearted. His design is generic, his lines are full of tired cliche after tired cliche, he doesn't really do an awful lot outside of commanding Shadow's actions, and his voice is less “scary and imposing” and more “I smoke twenty a day”. They tried so hard to create someone so serious, yet they ended up doing the opposite and made one of the most unintentionally brilliant comic relief characters in the entire franchise.

“Oh no. He teleported me to some ruins. This is suffering.”

And yet, because of that... I actually can't bring myself to hate him. Whereas villains like Mephiles and Eggman Nega simply annoy me with their own issues, Black Doom is so one-dimensional, so transparent, so accidentally comical in his attempts at being cool, that I can't help but have an ironic fondness for him. Granted, it probably helps that he actually is regularly mocked by everyone and never gained a massive undeserved fandom like Mephiles and Nega did, but still. You really would be forgiven for assuming that Doom is a masterful parody of one-note villains.

But I'm not blind to the reality. He's not a masterful parody. He really was intended to be cool, badass, menacing, and everything he ended up not being. Objectively, he's a failed concept, and while I personally believe that Shadow's backstory as established in canon was messy from the beginning, the inclusion of aliens nonetheless complicated it even further, and it's highly unlikely that Shadow will be living down the events of his spinoff in-universe or otherwise, all thanks to Ten Packs a Day Man.

He's a shit father, is what I'm saying.

Crusher Gives Black Doom a: Thumbs Down!

[zuzuhe]

the sonic archie comics are unreal

as an 8 year+ ‘sonic veteran’, I gotta tell you, young me has read some shit. I used to be way into sonic stuff for some reason, and one day I discovered the sonic comics. I’ve collected over 300 issues and many of its spin off stories, and I need you guys to sit down because sonic comics are one fucking wild ride that never stops.

fun fact: Sonic comics are the longest running comic based off a video game. (started like... 1990′s and continues today...nearly 20 years now)

here’s my top 16 weird ass facts about the sonic comics you guys might enjoy:

16. Knuckles' half brother Knee-cap

So Knuckles’ mother(Lara-le) divorces his father(Locke) and ends up marrying a guy named Wynmacher and has a child with him who they named “Knecapeon Mace” but called him Knee-Caps for short.

15. Knuckles becomes evil Thor at some point

So Knuckles has this arch-nemesis named Dr. Finitevus who looks pretty cool and all and Finitevus I guess curses Knuckles to become this weird evil god that wants to destroy technology or something... and Knux’s father Locke ended up sacrificing himself so Knuckles could go back to normal so Finitevus indirectly killed Knuckles’s father...

honorable mentions.... Knuckles has a great uncle that is a floating robotic head because he abandoned his body so he could live longer... also Rouge has flirted and kissed Knuckles’s dad more than once.......................................... just thought I should throw that out there...

14. Sonic is a fucking stud jfc

Sonic has dated or flirted with nearly ever girl in this fckin franchise I need to lie down... and this one girl he was dating... Fiona the fox:

So apparently there was this robot duplicate made of Fiona when she was Tails’ age and Tails was dating that robot on an island or some shit and then he realized Fiona was fake... but then the real Fiona appears one day and she’s a few years older than Tails (16 while Tails is like 12 or 13) and Tails is heart broken because she starts dating Sonic but then she starts fucking cheating on Sonic with Sonic’s anti-self Scourge from another dimension and if you haven’t pulled out your wine bottle yet, now is the time to because damn do we need a drink after all this shit ... there’s just a lot of romantic drama in Sonic’s life

13. The Mina the Mongoose situation

So Mina Mongoose is this popular pop-singer that dated Sonic at some point. They have this weird drama where Mina gets shot in the back to save Sally for Sonic… but she survives and then I guess she gets over Sonic and starts dating her gothic asshole manager named Ash?????? Mina I guess had some weird ties with Mammoth Mogul some weird psychic evil mammoth who somehow initiated control over Tails, Mighty, and Mina and threatens to kill them unless Sonic breaks him out of jail and gives him a chaos emerald… trust me this comic gets really fckin dark and confusing..

Speaking of dark, Sonic and Co. eventually lose their entire city to Eggman and Nicole, a robotic A.I. makes an artificial recreated city, but then she gets taken over by some techno bitch and Mina has reoccuring nightmare and tries to throw a rebellion against her or some shit idk

Mina’s life has always been about drama, to the point where in the future she fucking marries Tails?! and they have TWO children Melody and Skye like what the fuck is happening right now

12.Tails’ family

Tails’ father (Amadeus) was a general that lead the mobian army against the humans. His mother Rosemary had actually worked with her husband to fucking OVERTHROW THE KINGDOM OF ACORN TO TRY AND CREATE A DEMOCRACY….. …. also Tails’ uncle Merlin Prower is more or less a “jedi” wizard who is learning the way of chaos power…. so Tails’ family is all over the place they’ve been kidnapped by aliens, roboticized, thrown in jail, I mean damn this kid has been hanging out with Sonic because his family was just not around him most of their life they love him but they got shit to do… fuck shit up Prower family damn….

11. Sonic’s family

Sonic’s real name is Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog. I shit you not. Sonic was just a nickname. Can you fucking believe this I’m dead omg.... His mom is blonde by the way, her name is Bernadette. His father (jules) was turned into a robot by Eggman and they have yet to reverse this process, but his Uncle Chuck is fine...he’s still got his luscious mustache.

Sonic ends up marrying Sally in the main future timeline and they have two children named Sonia and Manic, which are names derived from the Sonic Underground series where Sonic has two siblings named Sonia and Manic and all three are royals who the queen hid within the city to protect them from the evil Robotnik or some shit…. I mean how deep does this get….look at those fucking parallels...

10. Shadow marries Sally / future situation  

Knuckles who somehow has become a cowboy with a robot eye… marries an echidna named Julie-su and they have a daughter named Laura-su. Bunnie and Antione have two children who for some reason are half metal, as mentioned Tails married Mina and their two kids Melody and Skye…. no idea what the fuck happened to Amy in this future, she’s just kinda gone…. ???? idk

Shadow went and fucked up the timeline and took over as the new king of Mobius… so he married Sally. Luckily they didn’t take it as far as to have children but damn is Shadow a mess in his intentions throughout this comic series. Sonic and Co. somehow regain control of timeline and everyone is happy again and there’s new freedom fighters... Oh fyi Shadow also reunites with Maria kind of… he sees her in a computer program along with his creator… so that’s nice

9. the antis

…..there’s a anti sonic dimension.. where everyone is a gothic-punk alter-ego….. and Anti Sonic turned green because of the master emerald for some reason and I think either Knuckles or Knuckles’ father game him that scar on his chest…. Anti Sonic names himself Scourge and was dating Fiona who was cheating on Sonic…. fucking look at Anti-Tails I cant with this I am deceased…..

his gang likes to jump dimensions and Zonic the Zonecop didn’t like that.

8. Zonic the Zone cop

Zonic the Zonecop…. works under Zobotnik….. they’re basically cops who monitor all Sonic dimensions and take in prisoners who leave their dimensions or threaten to destroy dimensions/zones… Zonic always has to hunt down Scourge and other trouble makers and lock them up…. so anyone who dreamed of Sonic in power ranger gear well congrats your dream has come true….

7. Bean is fucking related to Jet from Sonic Riders apparently?????

So remember Jet the Hawk from Sonic Riders… well somehow he might be related to Bean or something???… and Bean calls him “ jettison Q. Hawkington….”   don’t know why but I find that funny

6. Eggman fucking snaps

Eggman FUCKING SNAPS OK LIKE HOLY SHIT.. like out of no where he destroys Sonic’s entire city, beats the shit out of him, captures his family and friends, and then tries to turn Charmy bee into a robot but instead gives him brain damage…. Sonic kinda snaps too and would almost consider severely harming or killing Eggman… luckily Sally’s robotic A.I. Nicole had built them all a new city out of nanites …  but this whole plot was…. out of every possible plot I could see in a Sonic franchise, having such a grave one thrown at me out of no where was the biggest fuckign surprise 7 year old me has ever seen ok holy fuck

5. Amy’s situation and her cousin Rob’O who is a king..?????

Amy used to be like… 8 years old or some shit then she wished upon a magic ring that made her body grow older by like 4 years or something so she could be part of the freedom fighters and potentially date sonic or something… so Amy is way younger mentally than she looks…

She has a cousin named Rob’O who married some echidna lady and they had a son named Jon… apparently Amy’s uncle was a king and Rob’O is next in line to the throne so Amy is somehow technically royalty ?????????????????? slkfjdk????

4. Charmy bee is a fucking prince and has a girlfriend

oh Charmy Bee is also a fucking prince who has a girlfriend named Saffron… no idea who came up with this plot or why

3.  Sally’s weird love life

Sally has a weird love life too, she is princess of Mobius despite her brother and his wife and child being next in line for the throne…..??? She ended up dating this secret service agent Geoffrey the Skunk who had a wife named Hershey the cat who I guess maybe got killed during a mission or something… Geoffrey got into some weird corrupted scandals with villains too I don’t recall his allegiance but Sally was smart for dumping his ass.

She also has some weird ass thing going on with this embodiment of the monkey king………??????

and then she had this arranged marriage thrown together by her father to marry the royal guard Antoine who was actually anti-Antoine from the anti dimension who imprisoned the real Antoine….. Antione I guess finally escapes and then ends up marrying Bunnie instead?????? who the hell are these writers and where did they come from

Sally and Sonic end up together in the end and Sonic becomes king of Mobius and they have kids and all so happy ending for her I guess…. besides that one timeline where she had to marry Shadow…

2. SNIVELY’S...LOVE LIFE...

Um…. Snively is …. Eggman’s nephew…. and something happens to Eggman and Snively somehow ends up dating this one techno-magic chick named Regina the Iron Queen.. she tries to take over Nicole’s nanites…  I have no idea who the fuck is writing the romance in this series but I’d like them to sign all my comics

1.THE WAR

apparently the sonic mobians had this massive war against “Overlanders” basically somewhat de-evolved humans due to a mutation experiment / bombs that aliens called Xorda bombarded onto pre-Mobius aka Earth. So more or less Eggman and Snively and any other humans are basically the endangered human species trying to regain control over their planet through xenophobic / racist ideals against the evolved animal species that is the Mobians and Sonic……………………….. I’m not fucking joking

LAWSUITS AND THE WEIRD REBOOT

So apparently Sonic Archie comics went into this huge timeline-dimensional reboot because one of the former writers Ken Penders has thrown multiple lawsuits into Archie comic’s hands and this shit has been going on since 2009 until even now…

Some weird things going on in the reboots:

there’s this lady named Breezie who is … in love with Neo Metal Sonic……I think she’s based off a side character from the old show………and I really think that’s all I should tell you as you can probably see how she was first introduced…  

Honey the cheetah… a concept from an old Sonic game I guess returned????

No romance at this point…….

they gave Sally clothes for some reason…

But basically Ken Penders, a previously major archie sonic comic writer, was the creator of multiple if not all of the echidnas involved in the sonic comic storyline. So Finitevus, Julie-su, basically the entire Echidna brother hood, Knuckles’ younger brother, Charmy’s girlfriend Saffron, Mina Mongoose, Mammoth Mogul, and even Amy’s cousin Rob’O are now required to be out of the story. Ken wanted to use the sonic characters he made for his own original graphic novel but Archie wanted to maintain copyright on his characters and concepts… I mean most writers and artists are aware that the things they produce for a licensed company are usually OWNED by that company, so its weird he’d even attempt something like that. Archie claimed Penders signed a contract as evidence for it but failed to produce the contract so the lawsuit settled in 2013. Because of this, Sonic Archie comic and it’s spin off series of Sonic Universe had to completely rewrite their stories to get his characters out of the picture, or straight up just redesigned the characters… he’s also recently claimed in 2015 he’s got another law suit in mind…??? He’s actually ‘inspired’ Scott Fulop to also file lawsuits after he left archie comics too.

Here’s a chart someone made for Ken Pender’s logic in some of his lawsuit filings which you can obviously tell is quite a mess:

honorable mentions

I mean there’s a shit ton of stuff I’ve missed or haven’t even mentioned about this shit…..

thanks for stopping by and letting me explain the horrific treasure that is the sonic comic series because whAT thE FUCK

my god I love the sonic comics 

[seekmagazine2000]

Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Planned Tails Post-Credits Scene

Director Jeff Fowler discovered Tails become planned for the post-credits of Sonic the Hedgehog earlier than the redesign. It has been almost months since the release of Sonic. The film ended up being a economic surprise. It took records from Detective Pikachu, together with the high-quality home box workplace for a video game movie. At this point, absolutely everyone is aware of the story of the Sonic movie. It had one of the worst social media reactions to a movie at the onset. It's now not hard to peer why, on the grounds that Sonic's online game design could be very important, and in the beginning the film's take turned into a far cry. In an surprising turn, the film became not on time to make modifications to the design. The end result changed into quite fruitful for Paramount. Fans were thrilled the remodel regarded much greater paying homage to the games. Even voice actor Ben Schwartz stated the redesign became how he usually pictured Sonic. Past the redecorate, many enthusiasts loved other aspects of the film. Jim Carrey's portrayal of Dr. Robotnik received enormous praise. Of course, one of the maximum talked-approximately moments turned into the Sonic the Hedgehog post-credit scene featuring the advent of Tails. Some fans in all likelihood assumed this scene changed into brought after the CGI adjustments. But that changed into now not the case. In an interview with Yahoo!, Fowler talked about Sonic the Hedgehog. Unsurprisingly, the challenge of the post-credits scene changed into added up. According to Fowler, Tails' look become "deliberate very early on," and became used to tell lovers a number of their preferred characters will appear inside the destiny ought to more films be made. He stated: There are such a lot of characters within the Sonic universe and fans have been asking about a number of them at some point of the whole manner of the film. It changed into deliberate very early on that we genuinely desired to allude to and tease a number of those other characters that lovers love, simply to say: “Hey guys, we adore those characters and we understand you love them. We’re gonna get to them. We desired to just well known how popular they are and supply fans some hope that they’re coming. If we get the opportunity to inform greater stories, we certainly have an area within the film international for a number of those characters that fans understand and love. When asked if a sequel was on its way, Fowler said there's "not anything official," however he's hoping so. Fans are hoping so too. With how a hit Sonic became, and the quantity of advantageous social media buzz it acquired after the remodel, it seems probably Paramount will greenlight a sequel. With the movie enterprise in a flux due to the COVID-19 pandemic, great announcements were scarce. Once matters go back to a experience of normalcy, possibly Paramount will announce a sequel. Fans will need to wait and see. The look of Tails paints an exciting future. The Sonic film scratches the surface of what the franchise has to offer. The starting act of the movie functions echidnas, a ability nod to Knuckles. With Dr. Robotnik now greater reminiscent of his online game persona, and Tails appearing, the stage is set for a larger sequel. For those who want to relive the adventure, Sonic the Hedgehog is available for virtual purchase. Check out other article on sonic the hedgehog here Read the full article

[mobius-prime]

139. Sonic the Hedgehog #78

Though it's not really relevant to the plot, this just so happens to be the first issue released in the 21st century! You'll notice the little jokey announcement of this fact on the cover above. It's also worth noting that at this point, it's been just over a year since the first 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure, was released in Japan, and several months since its international release… I wonder if this will have any effect on the comic?

Changes

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: FRY Colors: Frank Gagliardo

We open with Sonic kneeling in front of the king, who is giving a speech in front of the entirety of Knothole about Sonic's bravery and heroic actions. He touches a sword to Sonic's shoulders, and knights him as Sir Sonic the Hedgehog! Sally gives him a medal and a kiss on the cheek, and amidst the celebration of Sonic's new title the king makes another announcement.

It's about time he officially recognized them! While this is going on, Robotnik seethes in his headquarters in Robotropolis. While he's finally managed to rid himself and his computer systems of the virus Nicole and Sally planted, he had to dump a lot of old corrupted files, including the hidden location of Knothole and start from scratch. This is kind of convenient for the larger plot, seeing as since this is a different Robotnik from the original, it might be too easy for him to concoct a winning strategy if he was able to simply access all the old Robotnik's info from the get go. He vows revenge on Sonic, as he still has millions of roboticized slaves, including Sonic's uncle. Speaking of, Sonic isn't as caught up in the celebratory mood as everyone else. He's quite depressed, actually, as he finds himself having to move all Uncle Chuck's old belongings out from his house for Nate to move in instead. His parents, entering the house, move to comfort him about the situation.

It's been so long since Sonic has had parents to look after him that this is a very sweet sight. Aside from Sonic Underground and an old obscure manga only ever released in Japan, I know of no other Sonic media that actually addresses the topic of Sonic's parents. When the series was rebooted in the future, one of Sega's weird new rules for the comic was that they couldn't include any references to family members that weren't already defined within the games, but I always found that to be restrictive and detrimental - considering Sonic's very independent, cocky, cool-guy persona, it's fascinating to me to see how he ends up interacting with parents who care about him. There's this clash between his rebellious teenager attitude, and the side of him that wants to be taken care of by the parents he was separated from for so long, and I find his attempts to strike that balance very interesting.

Speaking of family and parents, Sally and Elias have joined their father in the building which has been hastily retrofitted to serve as Queen Alicia's new "storeroom" of sorts, the temperature brought down to freezing levels to maintain her cryotube. Apparently Dr. Quack is still trying to work out why, if her past injuries have healed, she's still in her coma, and they all resolve to continue to hold onto hope as a family. They turn away to help Nate carry a Super Emerald (still no real word on what these are or how he came by them, but eh), which conveniently means they miss the queen's hand twitch within her tube…

And here, we have our second space interlude!

Hmmm… who could be in these strange spaceships? Clearly they know where Mobius is…

Back in Knothole, Mina is wandering around, depressed from losing her family during Robotnik's takeover. She actually considers letting herself be captured to be with her family again, but before her thoughts carry too far she finds herself approached by Rosie, who has a special request for her.

As Mina heads over to watch over the children, Bunnie and Antoine pass by, chatting together. Bunnie asks Antoine why he's seemed so distracted lately, and he responds that the knowledge of his father being the roboticized sub-boss of Robotnik in Mercia has been weighing heavily on his mind. As that moment Sonic, Sally and Tails show up, and when Bunnie and Antoine congratulate Sonic on his new title he suggests cheekily that they call him Sir Sonic from now on.

Now this is something I am very pleased to see. This is the moment where Geoffrey starts to become less of an asshole, and become a whole lot more likable. I really prefer his rivalry with Sonic to be more about their respective attitudes toward life, with Geoffrey being all about duty and serious discipline, while Sonic is more of a free spirit who leaps into things without thinking to be a hero. It's much more interesting than the whole love triangle thing Penders tried to push for so long in eras past. They begin to discuss how the king apparently wishes the Freedom Fighters and Secret Service to begin working together more closely, but they're unaware of Elias watching from afar, thinking quietly to himself. Turns out all of this - the reinstatement of the Freedom Fighters and their working together with the Secret Service - was all at the suggestion of Elias to the king, as he sees Sonic as a hero who deserves to be on the front lines after observing him during the mission to rescue Nate. He walks obliviously past a group of heart-eyed girls ogling him (and really, can we blame them? He is very attractive), wishing that he could be more involved in the adventures and dangerous missions the others go on, that he didn't have to be a prince in line for the throne. However, he finds himself shaken from his thoughts when he hears his father and Dr. Quack speaking through the window of the queen's storage building…

Well, that's not good… Perhaps even more concerning, Robotnik back in his HQ has once again turned his arm into a terrifying mass of robot tentacles and plugged it into his now-cleansed computer system, and discovered a tidbit of information that he believes could cement his ability to rule over the planet! What is this information you ask? Well, all we know so of it so far is what's displayed on his screen as he orders his troops to march out - the outline of a continent that looks very much like South America, and the word "Chaos" emblazoned across it…

So you remember how I pointed out how the Sonic Adventure game had just recently come out at the time of this issue? Yeah, I didn't bring that up for no reason - much like Sonic X did several years later, the comics did their own adaption of the game! Unlike Sonic X, however, which was able to follow the script of the game fairly closely with only minor modifications to be made for the setting and characters, the comic adaption differs significantly from the plot of the game due to this world's vast differences from the games' canon - for example, humans and Mobians aren't exactly friendly with one another, the Master Emerald didn't even exist until recently, and perhaps most notably, the history of the echidnas has already been explored in a very different context from how it's portrayed in the game. This was perhaps the thing I was most interested in to see how the writers decided to resolve the discrepancy when I first read the preboot. After all, it wasn't until the 3D games that the Sonic franchise began to expand its worldbuilding and create storylines and characters that had a rich backstory. Up until then, the characters and story were barely given any backstory beyond quick blurbs within game manuals, backstories which were so fluid and indeterminate that they differed greatly between localizations of the games in other countries. Sonic Adventure was the first real attempt to add some depth to the world of Sonic the Hedgehog, and suddenly the Archie comics found themselves having to contend with this new reality being explored in the games, a reality which is extremely different to the one they themselves already created with the limited base they had to go off from the Genesis era. Now, not only do they have to find new roles for all the characters which simply don't exist in the games such as Sally and Bunnie, but they have to find ways to fit even very simple concepts such as Station Square and Chaos into this universe. As we'll see, there were quite a few workarounds implemented in the plot to explain these things away… but it will be several more issues yet until we reach that point, as we have the final arc of Knuckles the Echidna to tackle first!

Tales of the Great War (Part 6): What Really Happened

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Chris Allan Colors: Frank Gagliardo

We're getting close to the end of this arc. We head back to the campfire around which Jules and Bernie are telling their story of the Great War. Jules was on life support due to the extent of his injuries, and Bernie and Uncle Chuck decided to hide this from the infant Sonic for the time being to avoid upsetting him with information he was too young to process. Chuck, with Bernie's blessing, took Jules to his prototype device within the palace lab, unaware that Julian had been making some, let's say, unauthorized modifications.

Chuck, unwilling to wait the time it would take to run preliminary tests on his device for fear of losing his brother, stuck Jules in and hit the button, and was promptly horrified when a mindless, fully-robotic Jules emerged, unresponsive to anything he said to him. He blamed himself and became severely depressed, not realizing that it wasn't his fault at all. Around this same time, the Great War was coming to a close. Julian had suggested something he figured would give him a potential leg up in conquering the world - that King Max should duel the Overlanders' overlord in a winner-takes-all fight to the death, his hope being that whoever won, he could easily take the place of to conquer the war-weary world for himself.

Despite his disappointment in the outcome, Julian was somewhat gratified that shortly thereafter, Chuck left all his equipment to him and resigned from being the kingdom's foremost scientist. Bernie attempted to convince him that it wasn't his fault, and that despite Jules' state she was grateful to him for trying, that Jules would be dead if he hadn't roboticized him. Chuck merely retorted that he might as well be dead with how the experiment went, and despite Bernie still trying to reason with him, he left, leaving her wondering how to explain everything to the young Sonic…