Editor-in-Chief: Richard Goldwater; Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick; Editor/Art Director: Justin Freddy Gabrie; Assistant Editor: Mike Pellerito.
Penciled by Patrick Spaziante, inked by Nelson Ribeiro, colored by Jason Jensen.
Knuckles, Mighty, Vector, Amy Rose and a pink Chao are Team Red, and Sonic, Fiona, and Tails are Team Blue, in: Home Part 3 of 4. Only problem is, it’s not quite true… (Fiona is actually in the team with J-Su, Geoffrey, Hershey, and Antoine, after all).
I was amazed to see Jensen color one of Knux’ arms tan/peach ("skin color" if you’re Caucasian), and on the cover, no less…
And I still think Fiona’s head looks too much like Sally’s these days…
Penciled by J. Axer, inked by Michael Higgens.
I must say, judging by the level of quality of this frontispiece, compared to the normal level of quality of Axer’s art, Higgins’ inking stinks.
On another note, the writer of the text for the page apparently couldn’t resist the urge to as a pointless dramatic question. "Will they succeed?" he asks, referring to the Mobian Heroes… Hmm, I wonder… I mean, good guys so rarely defeat the bad guys…
Written by Karl Bollers, penciled by Dave Manak, inked and lettered by Michael Higgins, and colored by Jason Jensen.
Continuing from where we left off last time, Tails fires the Tornado’s guns at Eggman (through the propeller—must have one of those things they had on WW1 fighter-planes to time the bullets to go between the propeller blades).
Eggman can’t understand how Sonic and Tails got there so fast, until M, who knew nothing of Sonic in 130, reminds him about Power Rings. Sonic says she’s got it right… and nobody mentions that Tails got there just as fast using the Tornado, or that Sonic was riding the Tornado at the end. (Why couldn’t he have done it all the way?)
Tails and Rotor, working together (coolness!) hack into Eggman’s computer systems, totally unaware that for the last nine months, all of Eggman’s computers and robots have been infected with the sentient computer virus, ADAM. Too bad, ‘cause Eggman’s "son" infects their computers, and takes control of the Tornado. (Incidentally, Eggman says ADAM was created by accident… guess he should have been using birth control! ;) …Also, just gotta wonder, what happens if ADAM and EVE ever meet up?)
Meanwhile, Knux is feeling down ‘cause he ain’t got his chaos powers no more, while J-Su is still just happy to have him back. Luckily, they have a few new secret weapons. The first of them is Amy, who is meditating in a nearby room, charging up her "piko-piko" hammer… The second is Vector, who has taken his music’s destructive powers to the extreme, amplifying it with a killer (literally!) sound-system.
What Shadowbots Vector’s music doesn’t destroy, Amy’s hammer does.
Back at Castle Acorn, the Royals watch on the Technolo-Tree as Sonic and Tails loose control of the situation (and Tails looses control of the Tornado). Tails begins to regain control of the Tornado by distracting ADAM by teaching him jokes (clever!), but M gets the better of Sonic, and tosses him into the ocean.
Sally is distraught—Sonic, she reminds everyone, can’t swim. (Now, that’s true in the games, and in Sonic Underground, but he’s swum before in the comic. For example, Mini-Series issue #1, reprinted in Sonic Beginnings…) Sally prepares to head to Sonic’s rescue, but her parents won’t let her. To quote King Maxamilion, "You’re a royal princess, and simply can’t charge into battle alongside Sonic the way you used to." Party-pooper. * hmph *
Still, things are about to start looking up. Station Square’s GUN commandos arrive to help out Knuckle’s team, accompanied by a Rouge that looks more like a sexy female gargoyle than a "Furry" bat. And, in Old Megalopolis harbor, the fan favorite, Shadow confronts Eggman, while Sonic pulls himself out of the water and onto a dock, proving that weather or not he can swim, he can certainly handle himself in the water.
Just then, M shows up, her eyes start glowing, and Sonic thinks, "Uh-Oh". To Be Continued!
…
I must say, I was very disappointed by this story’s art. When Manak is at his best, his work is just as good as Art Mawhinney, putting him in the list of "rather good" Sonic Artists (though not, in my opinion, among the "Great" Sonic Artists). But when he does a sloppy job, man is it sloppy—and this is an example of his lesser works. Of course, given the treatment Higgens gave Axer’s work in the frontispiece, it may not be entirely Manak’s fault. For that matter, given the fact that Higgens did double-duty as both inker and lettered, he probably could have done better, too… Still, however it came about, it’s a disappointment.
As for the story it’s classic Bollers—tons of potential, tons of mistakes. What more can I say?
Written and inked by Ken Penders, penciled by Steven Butler, colored by Jason Jensen, lettered by Vickie Williams.
As Lara-Su’s unveiling gets underway, we meet Knuckle’s half brother, Mace, who apparently "has an eye for the ladies".
As they dance, Lara-Su tells her father she hates her dress, and he replies she should be happy if that’s her biggest problem in life.
Then Mace cuts in, and Knux and J-Su head out on the balcony to reminisce.
Elsewhere, Cobar and Rotor discuss the fact that centuries of Zone travel, plus the Zone-hopping of one True-Blue hedgehog, have brought the time-space continuum to the verge of collapse. (How odd Zonic never dealt with the matter…) Obviously, a solution has to be found. However, it’ll have to wait—Rotor has a prior commitment.
Back at the party, Vector arrives with his son, Argyle, who, shall we say, sweeps Lara-Su off her feet.
Then Harry shows up with a message from "R" (Rotor, I assume), requesting a private meeting with Knuckles.
…
Gee, Ken’s sure taking his time getting into this story. I must say, I like it that way—I just hope he has time to tell it all…
This Just In by JG, letters answered by Pellerito, designed by Joe Pep.
JG points out the change in e-mail address for the comic (as of last issue it’s [email protected]) and that the new Assistant Editor, Mike Pellerito, has taken over from Ken the letter column.
Pellerito starts with a "find-your-name-in-print" paragraph, then launches into the letters—strange letters, to which he gives even stranger answers.
Sonic, Tails, and Amy by Tyler Goldner, Shadow by Sarah Birch, Knuckles by Vanessa Plazola, and, winning my "Cool Fan Art" award for the month, Sonic, Super Sonic, and Super Sonic "level 3" (DBZ style) by Craig Strout.
A further drop in quality from last issue. I guess the quality of 130 was a fluke. Oh, well, such is the way of Archie-Sonic…