Editor in Chief: Richard Goldwater; Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick; Editor & Dingo Spy: Mike Pellerito.
What have we here? Yet another issue of Sonic to review…
By Patrick Spaziante
Sonic & Knuckles, with Warrior Locke behind the Master Emerald, flanked by some Dingoes. …Passable.
Kage and Harry, by Axer & Jensen.
Written by Karl Bollers, penciled by Jon Gray, inked by Michael Higgins & Andrew Pepoy, lettered by Michael Higgins & John Workman, colored by Jason Jensen; special thanks to Robert Leffler & Dyna Lopez at SEGA Licensing.
Summary: Knux gets used to having a baby brother, then pouts for a while in the current Chaos Chamber. Later, the ChaotixPlus and DL attack Dingo City, taking down Kage and freeing Locke. But then, Robotnik’s latest henchman arrives: Hunter!
Story Analysis: Reasonably well done, but not nearly as much happens as in the previous chapters. I give it a 6.8 out of 10.
Art: The baby’s use of "emoticons" was funny at first… but got old fast. Also, WB’s use of the "insanely evil" look with no obvious reason is a bit annoying. Other than that, I can’t complain. 7.3 out of ten.
Comments:
Finitevus and Kommisar like to hang out… wonder if he’s Rutan’s father? In any case, her reaction to Knux and the Master Emerald in this and the last issue makes me wonder if she might know something about the Emerald’s draining effect…
Is that Archimedes watching Knux in the chaos chamber?! ‘Cuz it looks like him—except for the evil grin…
Back in Megaopolis, ADAM and M (fully repaired, I’m afraid) are both quite eager to take on Sonic… But Eggman’d rather use Hunter. Odd. But if you ignore this idle chit-chat, one will notice something far more disturbing in the background: "Lab Gamma". In this, we see some furries trapped in balls, in the "Roboticization Replacement Facility"… and, close by is what appears to be Snively, in some fierce bondage, in the "Snively Processing Lab". I’m not sure I even want to know what the deal with that is!
When Lara-Le is worried about Knuckles, Wyn tells her "Don’t doubt the Avatar!" That’s gotta be annoying, even for her!
Kage is holding Locke in "Death Chamber Omega"—odd that wasn’t censored this time…
Oh, and Harry’s the spy. * Yawn *
Written by Ken Penders, penciled by Steven Butler, inked by Jim Amash, lettered by John E. Workman, colored by Jason Jensen.
Summary: Sonic & Knuckles go for a walk, and reminisce about the final battle with Eggman.
Story: Nothing happened. Again. And even the dialog comes off as awkward, at times… 5 out of 10.
Art: Aside from the not-so-freakish weather, I can’t complain. 8 out of 10.
Comments:
Knux went Chaos Emerald again?! Ken, come on, here!
And, when Knuckles "remake[s] Mobius as [he] thought it should be"… Julie-Su’s arms go flesh and blood. Huh? (It also looks like a city is becoming a forest, but that is barely even noticeable, not to mention, unexplained.)
With every issue, my expectations for M25YL decrease…
Off-Panel: Written by Mike Gallagher, drawn by Dave Manak, colored by "Pablo Peacockso".
Mike P. gets more than he bargained for when he demands some pages be inked.
Letters by Joss Lynes, Steve Hannley, & Eric Treadway. Also, Find your name in Print.
Sonic Fan Art
M25YL Knux by Shad Martin; Sonic & Sally by Christopher Melkonian; (Chronos Fan Art 3rd place winner) Sonic, Tails, and Knux by Andrew Davis; (Chronos Fan Art 2nd place winner) Sonic by Zac Streich; and Fan Art of the month, a Chaotix & Friends group portrait by Luis Perez.
I’ve gotta remember not to go into new Sonic issues with high expectations… This wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, either…