Lurker > sonten1

Sonic The Hedgehog Issue #22
May 1995



Two stories for this issue, starting with "The Return." Sally and Sonic are chillin' with their kids when suddenly a huge surge of energy blasts through the area and out comes Robotnik! Let me address the whole kids thing first: I'm guessing this is a glimpse into a possible future for Mobius where Sonic and Sally are married with children (Sonic is referred to as King Sonic here). Anyway, just as quickly as he appeared, Robotnik disappears again, so it was just some weird vision caused by the energy surge. Turns out there's a spacecraft orbiting Mobius that harnessed the energy. Robotnik reappears in the spacecraft (so I guess he is the real thing), wondering how he got there. Then, a figure speaks to him revealing that he is the one controlling the space station, and then we see that it's Robo-Robotnik! We learn that this is, in fact, an alternate universe from the Mobius we all know (so EVE didn't actually kill him), but I don't think it's the same Robo-Robotnik. He says that this is a possible future for Robotnik, where he roboticized himself in order to defeat Sonic, but when he failed he uploaded his core memory to this space station (his creation). However, since the station was not completed, he is only able to operate the station until his systems shut down for good.

Robotnik obviously doesn't want this to happen. Fortunately for him, Robo-Robotnik is able to transport him back to his own universe, where he sends a message to the FF declaring (in a prerecorded message) that an army of swatbots is going to flat out destroy Mobius. Operation Wasteland begins with a full on assault, and even the FF realize that there are way too many swatbots to take on. Not even Robotropolis and Snively are safe, as the swatbots try to eliminate him as well. Robotnik shows up just in time to save him, blasting the swatbot away (since it was also targeting him) and turns out that if someone says "Sonic has finally won it all" (which Snively did say) then the operation automatically commences. Robotnik shuts down the operation and then speaks to Sonic, gloating at the irony that his life was saved by his greatest enemy. He lets the FF go for now, but the war will continue. End story.

"Tails' Knighttime Story" is next. I'm not going to detail this one, it's just Sally telling Tails a medieval-based fable to teach Tails that he can't be like his hero Sonic until he becomes strong enough to handle things on his own.

Some kid in the mail asks if Knuckles is Jamaican or Australian, and we get an official ruling on Tails' age (he's five).


I'll admit I was confused at the beginning of the first story, it just seemed too discombobulated until Robo-Robotnik reveals his story. It got real good after Robotnik returned to his world though so everything worked out. Then we got a pointless side-story just to fill up some pages. One more thing: the artwork in this was all over the place (I think Pat Spaziante did this one). Like, Sally looked good, but good god Rotor looked terrible, worse than anything Manak has done so far. Anyway, that wraps up this issue.

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back to the main series!

Sonic The Hedgehog Issue #21
April 1995



"3 Phases Of E.V.E." is our story. Robotnik unleashes his latest weapon E.V.E. (Exceptionally Versatile Evolvanoids) to take out Sonic. This bot can learn and adapt to any type of situation and act accordingly. It uses data Robotnik conjured up on Sonic's attack methods to determine the best method of eliminating him. It can definitely pass for a Robot Master (or perhaps more accurately a Maverick). Sonic quickly takes out the machine by moving out of the way just as it fires at him, hitting a tree and falling on top of it. Turns out that was just the next step in Robotnik's plan. The second phase now forms, integrating Robotnik's intelligence with Sonic's body cells to become a much more formidable foe. E.V.E. 2 takes the form of a bee, and is much faster than Phase 1. Sonic wins out again by running up a cliff, with the bot slamming right into it. Sonic rushes to Robotnik's location for an encounter. However, E.V.E. regenerates into Phase 3, taking on the form of a giant cobra (think Jafar at the end of Aladdin). It wraps up Sonic in a coil, but Sonic escapes from that via Sonic Spinning all over the place, which causes E.V.E. to wrap itself up in its own coil.

However, we get swerved as E.V.E. now goes into a FOURTH phase, which is a really creepy looking thing that can now talk. Unfortunately for Robotnik, the tables now turn on him, as E.V.E. can now think for itself, and it realizes that Robotnik has evil intentions, so it decides to no longer be his servant. It fires some lasers at Robotnik, which DISINTEGRATES HIM. WTF!!! Afterwards it tries to fulfill his programming to destroy Sonic, but Sonic sweet-talks him in saying that he's only limited by his programming and that by destroying him it can never achieve independence. E.V.E. determines that his theory is a good one, spares his life, and takes off into space to live free. Snively loses his **** and demands Sonic just leave, and he actually decides to leave him alone to grieve. On the way home Sonic and Tails get the feeling that Robotnik isn't really gone, but we'll get to that next issue.

Reader Mail: Someone wants to know when Sonic 5 is coming out. ***** we just got Sonic 4! Also, this is the issue with the guy praising Dave Manak for his artwork. I highly disagree, but to each his own.


Pretty solid issue. I knew of E.V.E.'s existence so I had an idea that it wasn't going to get destroyed here. We'll see if it (he? she?) pops up again in the future. Also we have a KNOTHOLE REVEALED track here. During the entire fight with E.V.E., Robotnik was tracking Sonic on a monitor, so one would think Robotnik could have just waited to see where the hideout is, especially because at the end of Phase 1 Sonic and Tails said they were heading back to Knothole. Too bad Robotnik was so wrapped up in his new creation.

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someone needs to loan me more issues!

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And I absolutely agree on Ken Penders, based on the point I'm at now as well as the issues I'm already acquainted with. After the exchange with Julayla, Sally became a totally different person, someone who could actually be capable of leading the Freedom Fighters instead of just relying on Plan lolsonicwinseverything.

I've always liked the Sonic x Sally dynamic because Sally HAD to be levelheaded in order to prevent or bail out Sonic when he did something stupid. His hotheadedness, along with his "leap before you look" mindset, didn't factor a whole lot in all these issues so far, but as the comic gets more serious that mentality has to bite him in the ass at some point. As I said before, I like when Sonic doesn't save the day by soloing everyone; he has to have some weakness, and Sally is a great character to keep him from succumbing to it.


(To digress I just love that I wanted to correct "there" to "their" in the previous post but LameFAQS won't give me the option to edit.)

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That's a shame really considering that this mini-series produced one of the best characters in the comic, someone who never appeared in any game of TV show.

I'm sure when I get there I'll have more to say, but going off what you said I believe that Archie has probably forgotten that established characters don't necessarily mean automatic buys. I'm just one person, but this mini-series would have totally convinced me to not skip any Sally-centric issue because she was handled extremely well here. Sure, those trainees were fodder, but guess what...the one character they bothered to give some development for (Hamlin) turned out to be the only one I liked. Coincidence? I think not.

All I want is an identity, and I think that can apply to the general audience. Archie shouldn't be afraid to use non-Sega characters if they have a decent story arc for them, something that will make us either love or hate them (and I mean hate in a good way, like you'll buy an issue hoping they get there comeuppance).

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My sis is leaving for a long while on Monday. I'll try to get Part 3 in tomorrow but no guarantee. I can promise that things will speed up immensely in the next few days

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I would have never believed that GEOFFREY ST. JOHN died if you told me that. He's a ****in' BOSS

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Princess Sally Mini-Series Issue #3
June 1995



Time to close out "Deadliest Of The Species" folks! Fake Sally and crew are in the middle of their assault on Robotropolis. Fake Sally saves Hamlin from getting shot to death for some reason. Anyway they barge into a room where Robotnik and GEOFFREY ST. JOHN are waiting. Hamlin (who turned out to be correct in his suspicions) jumps him but Fake Sally forces him off. Robotnik then reveals that she is a fake, using the substation ploy to give him time to complete and test the model out. Proven successful, we see other Freedom Fighter duplicates in construction (this would be a cool issue if it happens). Robotnik starts the roboticization process on the real Sally, but it short-circuits. Turns out that Fake Sally was actually Real Sally the WHOLE TIME, so the machine shorted out because the Sally in the pod was the fake. Also this meant that GEOFFREY ST. JOHN has reached Revolver Ocelot level of double-crossing as he was on Sally's side.

Robotnik pulls out Plan B, which consists of Stealthbots emerging to take out the crew. However GEOFFREY ST. JOHN signals for his fellow rebels, who appeared from underground to launch an assault (Arlo and Penelope are part of this group, telling us they are okay. Damn it). Sally kicks Robotnik in the nuts. One last trump card for Robotnik: he sets the fortress to self-destruct in 30 seconds and escapes in some tube. Luckily, and conveniently, the entire gang find some air cars that allow them to escape just before the fortress blows up. This means all the robot duplicates of the FF went down as well. Sally promotes the trainees to full-fledged Freedom Fighters as I punch myself a few times. Then we're told about Sally and GEOFFREY ST. JOHN's plan: turns out that the substation missions from the first two issues were actually led by Fake Sally, so the switcheroo at the end of the last issue reawakened the real Sally, who pretended to be the duplicate in order to fool Robotnik.

Sally wants GEOFFREY ST. JOHN to join the FF at Knothole, but he turns it down saying the rebel underground needs him. Before he takes off though, he grabs Sally and MAKES OUT WITH HER HARDCORE!!! What a stud. Seriously if you want to learn how to be an alpha, be like GEOFFREY ST. JOHN.

The issue ends with a brilliant line from Sally as she is walking back to Knothole, "And what of my heart? Where once there was one...now there are two." OH **** things are about to heat up!

A 14 year old kid asks Sally to be his girlfriend. He loves her pretty eyes and beautiful red hair. I wish I was making this up. Would you have any idea what the term "furry" meant if you were asked in 1995?


That wraps up the mini-series. I was surprised to find how good it was, I definitely like Sally a lot more than I ever had (I always thought she was alright but nothing too special until this point). Also I just want to say this one more time since I might be able to for awhile: GEOFFREY ST. JOHN! Totally made the series. I really really hope there's a fight scene between him and Sonic somewhere down the line.

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You should, it's really good!

Like I said she's been alright but I never cared for Sally unless Sonic was involved. This mini-series made me give a **** about her as an independent character, but then again that could be clouded by the fact that GEOFFREY ST. JOHN rules.

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doesn't surprise me.

not promising any updates until monday. My sister is leaving for a long while so I want to make the next few days count. Sorry that all this busy stuff has been happening all at once but I'll bring some consistency soon

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annnnd we're back

Princess Sally Mini-Series Issue #2
May 1995



Nice cover

"Deadliest Of The Species (Pt. 2)" gets things rolling once again. Hamlin and GEOFFREY ST. JOHN are jousting, with Hamlin getting his ass handed to him. Sally gets pissed and kicks GEOFFREY ST. JOHN in the face, because she wants everyone working together rather than against each other. They're off to destroy the third substation, which is heavily enforced. Sally's plan is to infiltrate the fortress by air via Rotor's new invention: hang gliders. Doesn't work though...they're spotted by a cannon, with one of its shots taking out Arlo. The rest of the group land unharmed and soon find Arlo, who suffered broken legs in the crash. Penelope offers to stay with him while the rest of the group takes off. Good, we got two of the lamers out of the way.

Sally and co enter the fortress and set the bombs, but before they can head out Sally is captured by an Otcopod (the thing on the cover). It also snatches up Hamlin and Dylan, but GEOFFREY ST. JOHN avoids its grasp and plants an explosive under it. Sally escapes the Octopod by spraying paint in its eyes, because of course Sally would just conveniently have spray paint on hand. They all escape before the Octopod (and the fortress) burst into flames. No saves the day bit yet...Arlo and Penelope have gone missing, with no traces of a struggle or footprints to be seen. Sally suggests they get the hell out of there, which pisses off Hamlin as he doesn't want to leave his friends behind. Sally wins out, and they head back to camp where they begin to search to no avail. Fast forward to night, and GEOFFREY ST. JOHN once again opens up a portal to his secret location, only this time he has Sally (still asleep) with him. He places her in a glass pod next to the other Sally from the end of Part 1. WTF TWO OF THEM!?

GEOFFREY ST. JOHN makes contact with a mysterious figure declaring Operation: Infiltration a success, and it's revealed that he is a double agent. We get a partial glimpse at the mystery person, who looks like Robotnik, only he has a cat on his lap (which has not appeared at all in the comics), so it makes me believe that it's not him, or at least not the Robotnik we know. The doppelganger Sally wakes up from the pod, so it looks like they're planting her in the camp to deceive the others. Fake Sally plans to lead the others into a raid of Robotropolis in broad daylight, with the idea that the destroyed substations completely took away its ground defense. Meanwhile, GEOFFREY ST. JOHN delivers the real Sally to his boss, who turns out to be Robotnik. I still think something is fishy about this, but we'll have to wait until next month to find out what it is.


Great issue highlighted by GEOFFREY ST. JOHN being a sly bastard and two of the loser FF trainees going off the map, hopefully roboticized. Things are about to get real crazy, I'm expecting an excellent issue to close out the series.

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alright update WILL come today promise

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well that wraps up gymnastics, so we should be good to go tomorrow!

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hey now I already said why I took a break here!

I do some intense Olympic coverage

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the revival is soon upon us

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up

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up

(aka where the **** is my trampolining coverage)

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im thinking ill be good to go again after swimming and gymnastics finish up (i dont care about track and field)

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lied again

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GAHHHH

The Olympics is completely draining me. I promise a blitz in the near future, and hopefully I can get an issue in tomorrow

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resuming tomorrow

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update later

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Figures no one saw that update thanks to POLLMANIA~

Princess Sally Mini-Series Issue #1
March 1995



Continuing on from Issue 20 is "Deadliest Of The Species (Part 1)" featuring GEOFFREY ST. JOHN!!

Sweet two-page panel of Sally and GEOFFREY ST. JOHN dodging fire from swatbots to start things off. They escape and meet up with some Freedom Fighter trainees under Sally's guidance. All these characters blow right from the start, but Hamlin (the pig) has potential since he's extremely suspicious of GEOFFREY ST. JOHN. Anyway Sally fills us in on the premise of the story: they're out to destroy three substations (the 1st one taken care of in the prologue) in order to shut down Robotropolis' defense against ground attacks. They set out to the second substation and are immediately bombarded with fireballs. Sally tosses a grenade into the substation to take care of that problem, and they enter.

Sally puts a virus in the computer running things here which is set to blow up the building, but shortly after they're attacked by Orb-Bots. Out of grenades, Sally pulls out some cords to use as a lasso and wraps up the feet of the bots, causing them to tumble over. One of them is about to tumble on Hamlin, but GEOFFREY ST. JOHN pulls him out of the way just in time. See how great of a guy he is?

They rush out of the building, but one Orb-Bot gets out as well before the explosion. After some chasing, the gang lures the bot off a cliff, and we get a brilliant line from GEOFFREY ST. JOHN, "Looks like fall came a bit early this year!" The guy is a quote machine I tell ya! Hamlin still doesn't trust him which pisses off Sally. However, later that night, GEOFFREY ST. JOHN sneaks out of the camp, activates a portal, and enters some building. He approaches a glass pod and says "Soon M'luv...soon!" It's then revealed that...wait, is that Princess Sally in the pod!? What the hell is going on here?? Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until next issue to find out!


Another quality issue here, other than the FF-Trainees being completely useless outside of Hamlin. As for GEOFFREY ST. JOHN, I don't know what the Sonic fanbase thinks of him, but as you can probably tell I think he's an awesome character, and I am praying that they don't ruin him later on (he was still great when I stopped before #100). Definitely makes Sally storylines a lot more interesting...I can guarantee that this issue sucks without him in it. Anyway, great cliffhanger to entice people to get the next issue.

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Sorry about the long wait, work's been a grind this week.

Sonic The Hedgehog Issue #20
March 1995



The cover art is absolutely awful even by Manak's standards.

"That's The Spirit" kicks it off. Sonic and Sally are on a mission to destroy Robotnik's Anti-Matter Device. When they find the machine, Sonic gets cocky and waltzes over to destroy it when the door slams behind him, locking him in the room alone. Robotnik reveals that he started a rumor about the device to lure Sonic into the trap. Luckily, Sonic has a bomb (via Rotor invention) that he tosses before Sonic Spinning through the wall. OH **** HE TRIPPED BEFORE THAT HAPPENS AND THE BOMB GOES OFF. Cut to the Great Forest a few hours later where the FF find an injured Sally (from the explosion). Sally tells the crew that there is absolutely no chance in hell that Sonic survived the explosion.

Cut to Sonic, who of course survi--OH **** HE'S A GHOST. He finds the FF erecting a statue in his honor, but none of his words reach their ears. The statue looks like **** by the way (it's different from the one on the cover, which also looks like ****). Sonic sulks off by himself, depressed that he's a ghost. He kicks a rock in frustration, and it actually makes contact, startling a frog in the process. Sonic quickly deduces that rather than being dead he just suffered temporary effects of the Anti-Matter Device (invisibility, silencing, and loss of solidity, with the latter two returning to him). The effects being only temporary does make sense, as when Robotnik was talking about his trap earlier he told Sonic that he couldn't get the device to work properly. Although still invisible, Sonic rushes back to his friends to tell them he's still alive.

However, all he finds is a note from Tails telling them they went to Robotropolis for an assault (funny P.S. from Tails, who was the only one who thought Sonic was still alive: If you are dead, then pay no attention to this letter). Now for a clever "saves the day" segment...Robotnik is about to attack the FF in a giant Buzzard Bot, but Sonic sneaks on the ship and takes over the controls, all while telling Robotnik he actually is a ghost seeking revenge. Robotnik eventually gets spooked enough to surrender, and Sonic tells him to run off, exercise, and get a hairpiece. Robotnik and Snively bail just before Sonic finally regains solid form. Sonic reunites with the crew, explains everything, and that's it. Funny ending where Snively notices Sonic being alive but elects not to tell Robotnik, rather enjoying watching a hairpiece-wearing Robotnik running a treadmill.


All that and we still get another story, "Deadliest Of The Species - Prologue." A prelude to the upcoming Sally Mini-Series, it just shows Sally successfully completing a mission of blowing some **** up in Robotropolis. The main thing here: the first appearance of Geoffrey St. John! I did not know he appeared so early in the comic (I figured mid-30s is when he started coming around). It's only revealed that he leads the Rebel Underground (similar to the FF), so we'll have to find out more in the Mini-Series, which I will be covering next.

Hilarious reader mail where a kid asks Sonic and Sally to have a daughter so she can be his girlfriend. What is wrong with these people


Great story that is sadly marred by the worst artwork I've seen yet. I think Manak has actually pulled off a few earlier issues well, but when you see someone slamming his work, this issue would be a prime example of why they feel that way. A shame because the story is very well-written. Also, GEOFFREY ST JOHN! The guy is a total boss.

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so i lied

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sry for no update last night, had a very early shift today.

new issue tonight

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yeah I noticed he had a knack for doing that kind of stuff. If I was still a kid I'd probably put that up on my bedroom wall with the I Spy corner cut out

edit: haha I just thought: what if he did this during the Endgame confrontation in #50?

I probably wouldn't be doing this readthrough!

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Sonic The Hedgehog Issue #19
February 1995



"Night Of 1000 Sonics" is up first, the cover should tell you where this is going. A portal from the Cosmic Interstate opens up near the gang, and out pop multiple Sonics that are looking for assistance to help their respective universes. Cyborg Sonic's team got wiped out by Robotnik when he turned himself into a cyborg, and now he...now Robo-Robotnik...threatens to take over all universes. There's an awesome full page panel showing a whole bunch of Sonics, the best being Wolverine Sonic. Anyway, Robo-Robotnik (RR from here on out) shows up in Mobius with an army of shadow swatbots. Of all people, the real Robotnik ends up destroying the swatbots, causing a temporary retreat by RR. He suggests an alliance with Sonic since RR threatens both of their interests, to which Sonic reluctantly accepts.

Robotnik believes RR is looking for the Giant's Hand, a powerful weapon located in the Neutral Zone (which has no color btw, so the kids could draw them in). Naturally he has a hidden agenda here: he wants the weapon for himself to take over Mobius. Meanwhile, RR summons his trump card...AntiSonic! He's sent to the Neutral Zone to steal the Hand for RR. Sonic catches up and tackles him down, but not before the Hand was in range for RR to teleport it back to him. The Hand morphs into the Giant Borg, commandeered by RR, and **** is really hitting the fan for the Sonics now. They figure that the only way to take him down is to work as a unit, and they come up with a great strategy. They send a few Sonics down to attack Giant Borg, and they are easily beaten down. GB raises a leg in the air to smash them into bits, which commences Part 2 of the plan...every single Sonic spinning the hell out of the bot while it's off balance. There is an AWESOME two-page panel showing thousands of Sonic Spins all over the bot. Giant Borg is destroyed, and RR is destroyed along with it. To prevent either from being rebuilt, each Sonic takes a piece back to their universe (prior to this Robotnik tried to snatch them all up but was quickly subdued). That wraps up the issue.


First issue that has only one story, but it was an excellent one. I love when the main hero and villain are forced into an alliance to face a greater evil, so that was a bonus for me. Then you had other sweet touches like the Neutral Zone being colorless and the aforementioned two-page panel of all the Sonics kicking ass. If I was ranking all the issues (which I may do at the end), this is easily a top 5, probably top 3.

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Sonic The Hedgehog In Your Face!
Special #1


First special of the series! So big you're gonna have to cough up two bucks for this one.

"The Quest" is the main story, as it should be. This is the the final part of the Sally's Crusade story. We find out that the mystery orb is Nicole (Sally's talking mini-computer gadget from the show). Sally heads off to the Forbidden Zone in order to attain "oneness of the soul" as Julayla put it, but of course the gang won't let her go alone. As soon as they enter they have to fight a robot Cyclops who keeps swatting them away. Luckily Nicole and Sonic figure out a solution: Nicole detects that bot only responds to motion, so Sonic stands completely still until it shuts off. Simple enough...but can they handle a FIRE-BREATHING GRIFFIN!? Tails thinks he can, but is easily taken out. He falls next to a sword in the stone (they're not even trying to be subtle), and with all his might, Tails pulls it out and slays the beast. At least I wish he did, but he never had the chance; simply removing the sword took away the beast's mobility. Finally they encounter a Polysaurus Rex (dragon with two heads), along with two doors. One head always tells the truth, the other always lies (I always loved these kind of riddles); as for the doors, one leads to what Sally's looking for, the other leads to certain doom. Given only one question to ask one head, Sally asks what door the other head would tell her to take. If you ever seen this riddle before, you would know to take the opposite of the answer provided.

They head through the door, and inside is Julayla's Hope Chest. Sally opens it to find a scroll in it. They have no idea what it means, but then we get a glimpse of the future. Robotnik is defeated, Sally's father is saved, Sally and Sonic become king and queen and raise a family. Also there's a trans-time portal which allowed a future Sally to give Nicole to the present Sally to help her achieve this future. That ends the story, with an editor's note asking if this is the true future or just a possible one.

"The Mirror Zone" is next. Sonic and Tails chase a swatbot into said zone, and you have to hold the comic up to a mirror to read the dialogue. I'm not going to bother, if someone would like to be my guest. It's only two pages long anyway so it's nothing important.

A reader mail seriously asked Sonic what this "?" symbol was. Another reader professes her love for Robotnik and even left a picture (apparently she's still stuck in the 80s).

"Tails' Tallest Tale" is the last story, with Scott Shaw returning to pencil this one. Already I can tell the difference in quality. Tails is asked to speak at a Sonic-Con convention (yes, really). He lies about defeating a Toadzilla singlehandedly, which bites him in the ass because Robotnik shows up and everyone is convinced Tails can handle him. Clearly he can't, at least not with brawn. Using his brains instead, Tails grabs some tentacles from the bot Robotnik is riding, and spins his body so fast that Robotnik gets dizzy and crashes his machine. Tails saves the day, and gets a smooch from one of the sonic-con animals.


Very important issue here. We get introduced to Nicole who will become a critical ally in the battles to come, and Sally begins to assert herself as the leader of not only the FF, but Mobius itself. This also marks the spot where the comic starts moving away from pure slapstick comedy and getting more serious. The other two stories were just there for a gimmick and fanservice respectively, but still interesting. The art in Tails' story is enough to take a look, particularly during the Toadzilla story.

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Apparently there were hordes of furries even in 1994!

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was busy tonight, sorry (wednesdays tend to be that way)

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I can't just do only one issue with such a short writeup, how about another one

Sonic The Hedgehog Issue #18
January 1995


Love that cover of Tails punching Robotnik in the face!

"Wedding Bell Blues" is up first. Sonic and Sally are getting married!? A bot spies them preparing for the wedding and rushes to tell Robotnik (they weren't in Knothole so they're good there). Robotnik scrounges up a huge army to crash the wedding. Sonic jokes that since he didn't invite them, the bots must come from Sally's side of the family (heh). Anyway, Robotnik came prepared: a bunch of bots invading the barn where they are at, and a bunch more waiting outside in case they try to escape. However, Sonic still proves too much for them, and when all is said and done, it turns out they were just staging a play called "Our Wedding." Sally brings up the possibility of a real marriage, which leads to Sonic hightailing it outta there. He still wants to mingle for awhile longer!

"Sally's Crusade (Pt. 2) - In The Still Of The Night" is next. First appearance by Rosie here (she pretty much took care of the gang when they were kids hiding out from Robotnik). She tells Sally something, which prompts her to set off somewhere alone. She meets with Julayla (Sally's teacher way back in the day), who tells her that she is ready to accept her birthright to become the leader of Mobius. Julayla then passes away. This whole ordeal depresses Sally, and the story ends with Sonic consoling her.

They actually printed a reader mail criticizing the hell out of Dave Manak (who has been the penciler for the past several issues, replacing Scott Shaw). I thought that was pretty cool. Shaw was way better though.


This was another buildup to the first special (In Your Face), but the stories are much better this time around. The wedding issue was terrific,even if Sonic pretty much OHKOed an entire army. I liked how there was a subtle foreshadowing at the beginning of the story hinting that it was a play rather than the real thing. Sally's story got fleshed out a bit more, but I feel they're saving the big stuff for the special. Speaking of which, the main series will take a break as the first Sonic Special will be up next.

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Sonic The Hedgehog Issue #17
December 1994



"Gorilla Warfare/The Apes Of Wrath" starts things off. Robotnik discovers his first major creation, King Gong (a giant apebot), on Skoal Island, and sends him after Sonic and crew. If the name didn't rip things off enough, the ape falls in love with Sally, kidnaps her, and climbs on top of a building. It's officially revealed by Sally that she and Sonic are a couple here. Tails flies in to save Sally while Sonic blasts the bot with some kind of goop, causing it to fall off the building, boom destroyed, that's all folks. Half of this story was a background on how Robotnik made King Gong, but it doesn't matter a whole lot since the bot only lasts one issue (or it should anyway).

"Princess Sally's Crusade (Pt. 1): First Star I See Tonight" is next. It's short, basically recapping how Sally's father was captured by Robotnik when he took over. A meteor falls to the ground, where the gang finds a crystal ball. Sally seems to have an idea on what it is, but we won't know until next issue.


That's it. Just seemed like filler to get to #18 as well as the first special (both of which will continue the Sally story).

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

that is true!

I just have a feeling he won't ever get past 18 (if he even gets there, I stopped following while he was 16)

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HBJ Dubs
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You're right, from the chili dog dream story. They don't say his age though there.

I could tally it, along with how many issue it takes to get to his next birthday (I know when he gets to 16. Does he ever get past that?)

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

new page new issue

Sonic The Hedgehog Issue #16
November 1994



Awesome cover. As you can tell from said cover this marks the first issue that Sally is brown.

"Sonic Under Glass" is the first story. Robotnik lures the FF to Sleepy Hollow with a "Free Chili Dogs" sign, which he had covered with sleeping gas. For once he successfully captures them, but instead of roboticizing them he places them in sleep tanks augmented with virtual reality. The trick here is that the VR consists of their most valued dreams and wishes, which would make them not realize it's an illusion and thus never escape. The "under glass" part comes from a giant glass bowl where Robotnik can see what's going on in their minds. So let's check out the VR world.

Sonic and Sally are set to get married, but Antoine forces the world to change where he ends up marrying Sally instead, and the world gets all weird and **** with melting clocks and all (I can't remember the name of the artist that did this crazy art, but it's clearly a tribute to him). Anyway, Sonic eventually thinks that if something is too good to be true, it probably isn't, so he creates a terminal that shows what Robotnik is doing in the real world (remember, the VR is a product of their minds, so they can create anything). He sees that Robotnik is tearing up Mobius, but he debates whether it's better staying where he is (all his friends are happy, and Uncle Chuck/Muttski are back in their normal form). Sonic's conscience gets the better of him, and he hacks the terminal to mess up Robotnik's machines (I don't know how he can manipulate real life stuff from VR, but I'll deal with it). This forces Robotnik to release the FF from the tanks, and Sonic busts everyone out of there. The End.

"The Man From H.E.D.G.E.H.O.G." is up next. Robotnik gets pissed that all his operations fail because of the FF (he has a sign on the wall depicting names of these operations, all of which are named after James Bond movies, heh). He believes that there's a mole helping them out in Robotropolis, so he sends out Snively and Crabmeat to find out who it is. They show examples of the FF always finding the bots committing crimes and stuff. Sonic and Sally then head to Renobotnik to gamble a bit (why they willingly go there knowing they'll be cheated, I don't know). Sonic gets shocked from a ray and captured by Robotnik, but the spy turns out the lights and helps Sonic escape. Who is the spy you ask? Wait for it...

...

The tootsee roll pop owl. You may have to read that twice.

In reader mail we learn that Sonic is 15 years old (it'll be awhile before he gets to 16), someone asks what animal Sally is for about the 7th time since the comic started, and some kid punched another kid in the face because he called him a Sonic freak.


A great story to kick things off (other than the one bit I mentioned), but the payoff of the second one was garbage. It would have been perfect to reveal Uncle Chuck as the mole here (like he had been on the show at this point), but alas, we can't win them all.

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

annnnddd we're back

Sonic The Hedgehog Issue #15
October 1994



"Rockin' The Bot" starts things off. Sonic saves a frog from a mudslide, who turns out to be magical. The frog gives Sonic three stones that boost strength, elasticity, and leaping ability for a period of time. Sonic brushes this off and nonchalantly hands them over to Tails. Just when I think this will be a Tails story, I get swerved, as an ambush by Robotnik's Beetlebot forces Sonic to take the stones back for his own use. We get some funny bits here because Sonic forgets what stone does what. When Robotnik launches a boulder at the FF, Sonic grabs the red stone (thinking it's strength), but gets completely splattered since it was actually the elasticity stone. Then, when the other FF get captured, he grabs the yellow stone to take apart the machine, only to leap miles in the air and crash land to the ground. With only one stone left, Sonic finally dismantles the bot with a tree trunk attached to a giant slab of rock, using the green stone's strength to help him do so. Day is saved, and that's it.

"What's The Big Idea?" is up next. It's really an expanded ministory, as the FF debate on what Rotor has been spending a week on inventing in his lab. We get stuff like a nuclear-powered skateboard and glow-in-the-dark popcorn, but it turns out that Rotor made a thermos, which the rest of the group thinks is stupid. The End.

"Animal Magnetism" is the third story. Robotnik invents the Magnabot (giant magnet machine) to capture Bunnie, which will lure the other FF into being captured. As she hangs on to a tree to avoid capture, Sonic grabs a metal object to lure Robotnik into chasing him. Robotnik fires a magnetic blast full force, which Sonic dodges of course, but the key here was Sonic got the machine to face Robotropolis, which causes a ton of metal to completely engulf the Magnabot. After all that, to prevent another story like this from happening again, Rotor coats Bunnie's robotic parts with a solution that nullifies magnetic effects. That will do it.


Not a significant issue in the grand scheme of things outside of the Bunnie thing, but two pretty good stories came out of it so it was a satisfying read.

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

I love how he just casually flicks the stone away while he's up in the air.

I'd say it's the first real funny story that didn't need to be cheesy to make it so.

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

back, likely resuming tomorrow

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

oh lets face it im drunk the whole week we'll have to wait a few more days

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

sry no update

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

up

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

I'll deem him ready when he can take out the Wolvurkel bot

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

I wouldn't say "bumbling" to describe Tails at this point. He's not an idiot. Hell just last issue he did just fine with Sonic on Angel Island. He's definitely childish with his dreams of being THE hero and getting very cocky when any slight fortune goes his way but I like that as part of his character. That's why he makes mistakes that force Sonic to bail him out each time. It's not being dumb...he just really wants to be like Sonic even though he's not ready yet.

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

I'll find out on my own. I'll also keep track of my right and wrong answers along the way (just don't overload me with questions!)

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

oh god dont do this to me

uh...Robin Hedgehog

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~

Sonic The Hedgehog Issue #14
September 1994



"Tails' Taste Of Power" is the first story. WOO TAILS STORY! Sonic asks Tails to water the plants in Rotor's greenhouse, which pisses Rotor off. One sentence and it's time for a rant (a good one this time). One thing I always found funny (yet at the same time sad) was that the Freedom Fighters always treat Tails like he's absolutely incapable of doing anything without someone's help, even though he hardly ever gives them a reason to think that way. The kid can build ****ing airplanes for crying out loud! This is why I'm a huge fan of Tails really...never gets any credit from his friends even though he's easily at least the 3rd best FF in the group. Case in point: in this story the plants grow really huge, and Tails explains why, "I created a new plant food based on the equation X equals the degree of sunlight times the number of chromosomes divided by the process of photosynthesis." How am I supposed to figure that out?

Anyway, it turns out that Tails ate the only fruit Rotor could grow from the Tree of Wisdom, which made him super intelligent. If I had time I would write every line Tails says from here out, but I don't so I'll just say it's very pretentious yet funny cause Tails is saying it. He believes that he should be the leader of the FF now, and intends to prove it by defeating Robotnik by himself (sound familiar?). Unfortunately by the time he encounters Robotnik, the effects of the fruit wear off (only lasts 24 hours), and he is easily captured. Luckily Rotor figured this out in time for Sonic to speed over and save him from impending doom. That's pretty much it.

"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" is the next story (better be a Bunnie lead...). First panel is absolutely brilliant. Robotnik is playing with electronic puppets of Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie, and the Sally figure says "Math is hard" while the Bunnie one says "My place is in the kitchen." OHHHH YEAHHH. All the alpha males agree with Robotnik when he says that truer words have never been spoken! Honestly I would have not expected this in a children's comic in 1994, but whatever I laughed. The rest of the story is short but still pretty good: Bunnie and Sally are kidnapped by Robotnik, who's planning to ambush Sonic when he eventually rescues them. To his surprise, Bunnie and Sally end up cleaning house on all the swatbots and tie up Robotnik and escape. I don't know why they would tie him up and just leave him sitting there when they could have, you know, at the very least put him to trial.

Good issue, it fleshes out Tails desire to be a hero or at least be recognized for accomplishments and also establishes Sally as a formidable fighter (she's usually known for her brain rather than her brawn). Don't know why Robotnik would think that Bunnie isn't a good fighter given that she's half-roboticized, but I'll let it pass because he thought that Sonic alone took care of everything (and the majority of stories presented so far suggest that is the case).

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HBJ Dubs
~Project 1000~