I have the graphic novel format of this; there are probably some superficial differences between it and the Super Special format; however, the stories themselves are the same.

Very good art, as always, from Spaz and Harvo, and some exceptional coloring which does not seem to be credited. My one pet peeve: Spaz, as he has a bad habit of doing, has drawn Bunnie with her legs extended; a look I find silly, and most unflattering. 

An extended version of the introduction they usually put at the top of the first page of the comic, along with a group portrait of the Freedom Fighters. Or at least, it’s set up to look like a group portrait—it’s actually a collection of pictures of the Freedom Fighters, placed next to each other and slightly overlapping… It works, so long as you don’t study it too carefully… 

A list of the various stories in the book, along with credits for each. Nice and professional; I like it.

An introduction by Paul Castiglia.

Very informative. However, I feel the introduction on the back might be more appropriate, as it actually tells you about the world you’re about to enter… Also, Paul and the others in charge had no idea at the time that changing Sally’s color in these old stories would actually create new inconsistencies—I guess Ken Penders wasn’t thinking about this issue when he wrote Knuckles 29!

Story by Michael Gallagher; pencils by Scott Shaw!; inks by Jorge Pacheco; colors by Barry Grossman; lettering by Dan Nakrosis; edited by Daryl Edelman.

The very first Sonic story—an introduction to Sonic’s world as envisioned for an American audience, and to the style of storytelling that the comic would feature for the next two years or so.

We begin with a short introductory paragraph—yes, they did that way back when, too. You’ll notice, however, what it says is a bit different… it also leads up to Sonic’s logo; incorporating it into the story somehow was another tradition started in this issue, a tradition thankfully no longer followed very often.

The first page also has mug shots of the five Freedom Fighters of the day, as well as ‘Butnik and four badnicks.

And so, the story begins… Sonic busts up Caterkiller, then heads back to Knothole, breaking the fourth wall while he’s at it. A clumsy introduction to the Freedom Fighters is followed by the discovery that Knothole (or rather, the caves used as FF headquarters early on) has a leaky roof. Investigating this, the FF discover that the forest near Knothole has been bulldozed, resulting in a stand of Weeping Willow trees… er… weeping. (Hey, don’t blame me! It’s Gallagher’s bad pun, not mine!)

The FF are then attacked by Robotnik, and to combat him, Sonic runs to the old well and retrieves the power ring they left there back in "Zoneward Bound" (Super Special 9: Sonic Kids 2; and yes, I know that hadn’t been published yet at this point). Sonic then uses that ring in a bizarre way never seen before or since, and Robotnik retreats. All in a day’s work for Sonic and the Freedom Fighters, of course.

The art in this story was adequate. Scott Shaw!’s work has a certain style to it, one that I initially didn’t appreciate. However, now… well, anyone’s better than Ron Lim! (Yes, I’m a Lim basher. Got a problem with that?)

The coloring is minimalistic, but also serves its purpose. Actually, when I first read the Sonic Firsts version, I was quite surprised; the colors actually look quite a bit better on the graphic novel’s glossy paper…

Written by Michael Gallagher; pencils by Dave Manak; inks by Jon D’Agostino; colors by Linda & Daryl America; lettering by Bill Yoshida; edited by Daryl Edelman.

Enter: Bunnie (cut to scenes of rabid fans screaming).

The Freedom Fighters learn Robotnik is invading southern Mobius, and Sonic and Rotor head down to help fight back.

Arriving in the said region, our heroes immediately spot a couple of Swat bots dragging a naked Bunnie to a roboticizer van. After a accidental and fatefull delay, Sonic leaps to the rescue of our indisposed damsel in distress. But when he gets inside the van, he is shocked to notice that she is now wearing a shirt! Well, actually, he doesn’t notice that—what he notices is that the roboticizer is in the process of roboticizing her. Fascinated, he stops to watch, until Bunnie politely requests he shut it off. He obliges her, and she immediately passes out.

Sonic and Rotor deliver the newly created Rab-bot to Knothole, where she wakes up just as fast as she had passed out, and begins cheerfully showing off the new strength her roboticized limbs have given her. (I’m not kidding! That is how the story is written!)

Bunnie also shows off her romantic side, by falling for both Sonic and Antoine within a couple of panels, as well as her telepathic side by realizing without seeing any interaction between the two, that Sonic and Sally are an item… A giant Burrowbot attacks, and working together, Bunnie and Sonic beat it (though Sonic does most of the work).

Although the story, as written, could have some very interesting implications (a Bunnie who enjoys being a cyborg, and is romantically interested in both Sonic and Antoine at the same time?) they don’t seem to be intended. Especially as said implications are inconsistent with both the show, and later issues. That being the case, this story would have been much better as a drama/tragedy than as a comedy. Still, it is nice that they bothered to give Bunnie an origin at all—in the show, we never saw how she was roboticized. Also, this was the first time a new character was added to the main cast-- a major move for a kid’s comic or show in those days.

The art is typical early Manak—no pizzazz, but no glaring flaws, either. In other words, adequate.

An odd tale, written by Gallagher, penciled by Manak, inked by Henry Scarpelli, colored by Barry Grossman, lettered Bill Yoshida, and edited by Daryl Edelman.

The first comic book appearance of Super Sonic—unfortunately, it is not the first time Sonic has made the transformation, leaving us clueless as to how he ever managed to figure it out…

The story is simple enough—Robotnik accidentally creates a giant robot/monster, Universalimander, which goes around, as giant monsters do, destroying things. Sonic goes to stop it, but isn’t strong enough, so he runs off and gathers enough power rings and chaos emeralds to transform into his super form, in which he easily beats the amphibious mega-badnik.

The art is once again early Manak. The only artistic details worth noting is that Universalimander doesn’t look very robotic (but then, neither did roboticized Mobians in those days) and Super Sonic doesn’t look very super (changing color is impressive in a 16-bit video game; not so much so in a simply colored comic book).

Written by Mike Kanterovich and Ken Penders; penciled by Dave Manak; inked by Jon D’Agostino; colored by Barry Grossman; lettered by Bill Yoshida; Edited by Scott Fulop and Victor Gorelick. Originally dedicated to Jack Kirby (but the dedication doesn’t show up in the Sonic Firsts version).

Sonic and Tails discover the Floating Island, are shot down, fight some bots, and are captured by Knuckles. Rad Red is quite the dim-bulb at this point; must come as a shock to those familiar only with his current incarnation. Still, he has enough compassion to give Sonic and Tails ten minutes to get off the island, before Knux kills them. (I’m really not kidding! Knux threatened to kill our heroes!)

Of course, Sonic and Tails ignore the threat and head over to a clearing where Knuckles normally stores the Chaos Emerald out in the open, lying on a rock. (Told ya he was a dim-bulb!) Unfortunately, someone has somehow stolen the highly protected glowing green gemstone.

How Sonic & Tails knew where to look is not explained.

Knuckles realizes ‘Butnik’s a jerk, and all three of them head over to Robotnik’s ship, dismantle some Swat bots, and retrieve the emerald.

…Obviously, this story is quite inconsistent with all future Knuckles stories. IMO, the inconsistencies between this story and current stories are far more significant than the color of Sally’s fur or whether Rotor’s real name is used. Archie should have taken this opportunity to re-write Knux introduction; in addition it would have given long term readers such as myself more reason to buy the issue.

As for the story’s art, it’s early Manak-- no more need be said.

The covers of the four issues these stories were taken from. Why they couldn’t have spared three more pages to print the covers full size (at least in the graphic novel version) is beyond me.

One will also note; they left Sally pink on the covers.

More credits, this time some of the people behind the scenes at Archie; also, a devilish Robotnik pic by Spaz.

This book/special was a very good idea—the readers need to know how the story began. Unfortunately, they failed to go far enough. One thing it seems American comic writers overlooked, when they started giving comics continuing stories, is that for a continuing story to have it’s full impact, one must read it from start to finish—impossible with comics if you came in late and can’t find all the back issues! Graphic novel collections (standard procedure with Manga) solve this problem, if all the important stories are collected. However, Archie obviously did not do that in this particular collection, and the year-collections they have done since don’t include the earliest issues…

On the other hand, given how loose the continuity is in this series (as demonstrated in this issue), perhaps that’s for the best!