After a 24 year run, the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic has been officially cancelled. IDW will begin publishing a new comic in 2018. RIP Archie Sonic the Hedgehog. It was spotty as hell, but it was a part of my childhood. But now we never have to deal with Archie Comics again, which I think is for the best. Here's to the future. And for one last time, fuck you Ken Penders you started all of this. Enjoy playing with your Not Knuckleses.
I was starting to wonder why we didn't have an up and running Archie topic here. The new #225 is looking amazing, and almost like Spaz and the crew are getting back to higher-quality comics again. The background / foreground is really striking in this picture, and the whole crew look pretty awesome (minus Amy, lol). Can't wait to see them bring back something as epic as the Death Egg. The Archie series has had it's up downs, and while it's had it's bests (the pre-Endgame era), it's had it's severely bad moments (the soap opera era with all the love triangles). Since those dark ages of the whole #150 epidemic, the series has kind of dwindled to being pure "meh" quality. However, the comics have obtained better writing lately, and the new artist Ben Bates is serving up some good artwork that I can say looks a bit better than the artwork Yardley's given the series for the past 4 or 5 years. If Spaz can get back into gear with doing the Sonic art again like he was doing around the #25-#50 era, and they keep on doing the writing as well as they currently are; then I'd have to say the series is gaining it's ground again. I really hope this rising trend continues.
Coincidentally, I've started reading Archie Sonic again after a 2 year hiatus on my PSP as an incentive to get myself into bed at a decent hour. Finally getting into the bulk of the golden age, just finished Sonic Quest (Death Egg arc) not long ago. Battle Royal and #50 were notably kickass. Think I might skip ahead 100 issues just as soon as Sonic's eyes turn green. That's, uh, that's all I have to contribute on this. Cover doesn't suck, though! But if they're not going to make Rotor gay, they really shouldn't have him look the part.
Wow, I've missed a lot. What's up with Rotor in that elegant regal garb? I think I stopped around issue 113 or so. Time to find me a torr- er, I mean, a retailer.
Honestly I've liked the writing ever since Penders peaced out. I think one of the problems was the new writer (what's his name?) had to finish off a lot of the crap that Penders started, thus all the Scourge crap. But in comparison to some of the atrocious comics back around the issue 100 era none of the new ones are that bad. That and I like the game throwbacks that the new writer likes to put in every now and then. It's a nice touch. That and I've been a fan on the Sonic Universe comics. None of them are as bad as the Knuckles series back in the day (Seriously, I love Knuckles, but good god those plots were cringe worthy). That and I kind of like Yardley's drawing style. It's at the very least consistent, and no where near as bad as, like I said before, issue 100 era artwork. I can't wait to see what they do with this. Kill of characters? Will they do it? Can they kill off Sonic's love interests? Please? Oh and to those curious Rotor's more elegant garb as of late has to do with him being on the Mobotropolis government council that replaced the monarchy during the issues where Tails was butthurt because Sonic went out with Fiona. He's on the council along with Uncle Chuck, Elias or whatever his name is, and many of the reject fill in Freedom fighters from the older issues that were shown probably twice in the entire series. I feel like a total nerd for knowing that D: BTW those looking for a site with the comics on it give this place a try: tails.kicks-ass.net That place is great, they have every issue up to date. How do you think I know this stuff, buying them? Ya fuck that
I've occasionally picked up some of the more recent issues at the mall, but I haven't seriously followed the comics for a few years now. But my goodness, that cover is beautiful. I may have to pick this one up! In honesty, I was never super in love with Flynn's writing, or maybe it was the mixture of the art and the writing that didn't do it for me, but for some reason it didn't jive with me for a very long time. However, I liked his ideas; he stream-lined a ton of stuff, making it much more easy to follow. The merging of the chaos emeralds into just 7 was perfect. Mammoth Mogul deciding to make his own casino... not so much. Death Egg revival? Instant Win.
<!--quoteo(post=551750:date=Jan 27 2011, 10:28 AM:name=TheKazeblade)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (TheKazeblade @ Jan 27 2011, 10:28 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551750"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->In honesty, I was never super in love with Flynn's writing, or maybe it was the mixture of the art and the writing that didn't do it for me, but for some reason it didn't jive with me for a very long time. However, I liked his ideas; he stream-lined a ton of stuff, making it much more easy to follow. The merging of the chaos emeralds into just 7 was perfect. Mammoth Mogul deciding to make his own casino... not so much.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Exactly. While Flynn may not be the best writer in the world, he has done a decent job trying to fix the mess that Penders started. 7 Chaos Emeralds, I think he just said fuck all to the rest of the Echidnas since their back stories were all horrendous, he includes old characters that even Sega abandoned like Bean, Bark, Ray, and Nack/Fang, and while Mammoth Mogul owning a casino may not be the best idea in the world, at least he employs Swatbots, Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts. Any love towards AoSTH is awesome IMO
<!--quoteo(post=551752:date=Jan 27 2011, 12:33 PM:name=Dark Sonic)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dark Sonic @ Jan 27 2011, 12:33 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551752"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Any love towards AoSTH is awesome IMO<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I don't think I can say that for my own personal tastes, but to each their own Now the big question is if Spaz will do an entire issue. That hasn't happened since issue #98, and it needs to happen again. If he goes with the style on the cover for an entire issue... I get the feeling it'll be the best issues since the double-digits.
This <a href="http://bbates.com/wordpress/page/2/" target="_blank">Ben Bates</a> guy is news to me, but he definitely knows what he's doing- seems to have a firmer grip on things than poor senile Spaz has done for nearly 15 years now. To hell with him if they're not going to allow him to draw in his original style, I say.
<!--quoteo(post=551756:date=Jan 27 2011, 12:47 PM:name=Ritz)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ritz @ Jan 27 2011, 12:47 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551756"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->This <a href="http://bbates.com/wordpress/page/2/" target="_blank">Ben Bates</a> guy is news to me, but he definitely knows what he's doing- seems to have a firmer grip on things than poor senile Spaz has done for nearly 15 years now. To hell with him if they're not going to allow him to draw in his original style, I say.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I hate to keep replying, but wow, I'm loving his style.... vastly superior to Yardley. Does anyone have a link to how those pages look in color?
<!--quoteo(post=551750:date=Jan 27 2011, 11:28 AM:name=TheKazeblade)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (TheKazeblade @ Jan 27 2011, 11:28 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551750"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The merging of the chaos emeralds into just 7 was perfect.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> No it wasn't. It was retarded. The idea of having multiple chaos emeralds had a ton of story potential. In fact, in general Ian Flynn's story ideas are always crap in my opinion. The comic universe was never supposed to follow the games, but Ian is consistently trying to make them as close as possible with almost no limits. (Making Charmy act like a 7 year old by making him a retard is the biggest one I can think of) He also kills off a large portion of characters that have been around and replacing them with bland recolors or characters from the games that weren't included for a reason. If he wanted to make a comic based on the original games, then he should've started from scratch. EDIT: Dammit even though I hate him I still can't shake the feeling of wanting this strictly because FUCKING DEATH EGG.
Over the past few issues, Eggman has been VERY determined and evil. He seemed to have SOMETHING planned, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. The return of the Death Egg was VERY surprising! Can't wait for this issue!
<!--quoteo(post=551763:date=Jan 27 2011, 06:02 PM:name=True Dude)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (True Dude @ Jan 27 2011, 06:02 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551763"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=551750:date=Jan 27 2011, 11:28 AM:name=TheKazeblade)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (TheKazeblade @ Jan 27 2011, 11:28 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551750"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The merging of the chaos emeralds into just 7 was perfect.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> No it wasn't. It was retarded. The idea of having multiple chaos emeralds had a ton of story potential. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Which hadn't been correctly used for so long, that haveing the 7 Chaos Emeralds is actually what's bringing more story potential.
<!--quoteo(post=551769:date=Jan 27 2011, 12:24 PM:name=The KKM)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The KKM @ Jan 27 2011, 12:24 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551769"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Which hadn't been correctly used for so long, that haveing the 7 Chaos Emeralds is actually what's bringing more story potential.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> <b>If</b> there is any, than I haven't seen anything done with it yet. Besides, didn't the games also have more than 7 chaos emeralds? Besides Spinball, I'm pretty sure that the Sonic 1, 2, and 3 emeralds were seperate and only related to their specific islands. Plus it makes more sense that way anyways, as how the hell are you going to find the exact same seven stones 30 times over and over again over that just happened to appear on the same island that your on? And that time in Sonic 3 where Knuckles steal your seven emeralds from Sonic 2 and you have to find the ones from Angel Island instead?
<!--quoteo(post=551772:date=Jan 27 2011, 11:31 AM:name=True Dude)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (True Dude @ Jan 27 2011, 11:31 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551772"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Besides, didn't the games also have more than 7 chaos emeralds? Besides Spinball, I'm pretty sure that the Sonic 1, 2, and 3 emeralds were seperate and only related to their specific islands. Plus it makes more sense that way anyways, as how the hell are you going to find the exact same seven stones 30 times over and over again over that just happened to appear on the same island that your on? And that time in Sonic 3 where Knuckles steal your seven emeralds from Sonic 2 and you have to find the ones from Angel Island instead?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> The Emeralds you get in Sonic 3 are the Emeralds you got in Sonic 2. I think Knuckles goes and hides the emeralds in the special stages... really quickly I might add, cause it takes like a minute for you to go off and find the first one.
I guess that makes some sense, but what about the <I>8</I> emeralds from Sonic the Fighters? I'm still wondering where the extra one came from.
Actually, I think True Dude's rationalization makes a lot more sense, and allows more freedom to the plot. The potential for there being several Chaos Emeralds spread out across the world seems to make more sense than there just being seven <strike>Dragon Balls</strike> Chaos Emeralds that shift depending on wherever Sonic happens to be fighting Eggman. Either that, or there are just portals everywhere to the Special Zone and there are still only seven.
<!--quoteo(post=551776:date=Jan 27 2011, 11:40 AM:name=True Dude)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (True Dude @ Jan 27 2011, 11:40 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551776"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I guess that makes some sense, but what about the <I>8</I> emeralds from Sonic the Fighters? I'm still wondering where the extra one came from.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Out of the developers' ass. They just wanted to give every fighter an emeralds. Granted they could have got away with only 7 seeing as how one character you fight is a clone version of yourself and therefore wouldn't have an emerald.
<!--quoteo(post=551783:date=Jan 27 2011, 12:54 PM:name=Dark Sonic)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dark Sonic @ Jan 27 2011, 12:54 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551783"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=551776:date=Jan 27 2011, 11:40 AM:name=True Dude)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (True Dude @ Jan 27 2011, 11:40 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=551776"><img src="public/style_images/retro/snapback.png"></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I guess that makes some sense, but what about the <I>8</I> emeralds from Sonic the Fighters? I'm still wondering where the extra one came from.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Out of the developers' ass. They just wanted to give every fighter an emeralds. Granted they could have got away with only 7 seeing as how one character you fight is a clone version of yourself and therefore wouldn't have an emerald. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Even if it was made up just to give each fighter their own emerald, it's still canon.