Cover
By Spaz.
"Shadow Returns... And Sonic doesn't stand a chance!" Right...
Sonic and Tails look up (tails in shock) as the shadow of Shadow looms over them.
The color on the grass is really pretty... but the "Shadow's shadow" thing doesn't work very well.
4/10
Frontis
By Ken Penders and Amber Greenlee.
Very nice art -- the pencils/inking are good, and the colors are great. However, whose bright idea was it to refer to Shadow as an "it"?!
d
8/10
"Shadows of Hope"
Written by Ken Penders, penciled by Ron Lim, Inked by Al Milgrom, lettered by John Workman, colored by Jason Jensen. Special thanks to Robert Leffler and Dyna Lopez at Sega Licensing.
Summary: Shadow's stalking of Hope is interrupted when he's kidnapped by Locke. Hope follows them, and stops them from fighting. "Realizing" thanks to this that she isn't Maria, Shadow leaves.
Critique: A waste of paper. Although, the art is surprisingly good for Lim. 5/10
"Training Day"
Written by Karl Bollers (according to the in-comic credits), penciled by Al Bigley, inked and lettered by Michael Higgins, colored by Jason Jensen.
Summary: Eggman gives a primer on the main heroes from the Sonic Games -- Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy.
Critique: The only people who would be in need of the info in this story is people new to the Sonic fandom in general. Pointless. As for the art, I stand by my earlier statement that Al Bigley has potential. The art in this one is far more bearable than that in "One Part Treachery", but it still leaves a lot to be desired... Maybe after a few more issues... 4/10.
"Harbringer"
Written by Ken Penders, penciled by Dawn Best, inked by jim Amash, lettered by Jeff Powell, colored by Jason Jensen
Summary: Everybody's hanging out, until Rotor detects a seismic disturbance. The Freedom Fighters head off to investigate.
Critique: It's been too long since Best drew the cast -- they're "a little" off model. Other than that, the art's pretty good, although I have to wonder how that shot of Bunnie's rear made it past the editors...
The story was a general "what the characters are up to between adventures" story. This wasn't the best of those I've seen, but it's still nice to see a bit of their ordinary lives... (Of course, there is such a thing as too much ordinary life, as M25YL proved...)
7/10
Sonic-Grams
Letters: Blah, blah, blah...
Start: Shadow returns, in "GBU", and Sonic doesn't know something in Sonic X.
Off Panel, written by Mike Gallagher, drawn by Dave Manak, colored by "Henri Ratisse": Celebrating the letterers.
Final thoughts:
They're trying, but frankly, I got more enjoyment out of (and got more "into") a Sonic fan-fic I was reading the other day...
Final Score: 5.5/10