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.
"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).
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.
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.
"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.
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?
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.
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.
"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.
