Once upon a time, I didn't like Sonic the Hedgehog. However, looking for something to do saturday mornings, I would occasionally catch episodes of the the saturday morning Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon. (SatAM to online fans.) Slowly, I was converted - though my interest in the series didn't hold a candle to my love of TMNT...
One day, prior to having seen Doomsday, my friend NeoCoolGuy told me about this issue of Sonic he had read, where Robotnik died! This shocked me - in those days, american action shows for kids didn't kill-off their villains, and I had no reason to suspect it would be different in comics.
Intrigued by this, I checked the issue out, and was astounded by the quality of the issue.
Editor-in-Cheif: Richard Goldwater; Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick; Editor: Scott Fulop
By Patrick Spaziante & Jon D'Agostino
Sonic faces off against a Buzzbomber, a giant snake, and a purple-and-gray Swat-bot-like robot. (Inside, we learn these are all phases of EVE, though they are colored differently.)
Awesome art, as is only to be expected from Spaz.
Script: Ken Penders; Pencils: Patrick Spaziante; Lettering: Mindy Eisman; Coloring: Barry Grossman
The title is based "The Three Faces of Eve", which is a movie or something, I beleive.
Sonic easily trashes a bunch of Swat-bots, but secretly Robotnik is watching and gathering data. He uses that data to complete his latest killer robot, EVE, a shapeshifting robot designed to adapt to new situations. EVE attacks Sonic twice, but Sonic defeats her. Sonic and Tails then head to Robotropolis to find out what the deal with this new robot.
Sonic beats EVE's snake form in Robotropolis with a classic "make the snake tie iteslf up" trick, and EVE transforms into a fourth form (hey, the title was wrong!), with 3-D eyes, a crystal brain, and many tentacles. (Reminds me of the Xorda, actually.) EVE has evolved mentally as well as physically this time, and decides she doesn't want to serve Robotnik any longer. She blasts Robotnik, and he vaporizes. She then prepares to kill Sonic, but Sonic talks her out of it.
EVE flies off into space, not to be heard from again for well over a hundred issues. Sonic and Tails head back to inform the Freedom Fighters, while Snively mourns the death of his uncle. (Huh? Not only in the show, but later in the comic, Snively wants his uncle dead - it's weird to have him upset over it.)
The art in this issue is simply incredible - even after all the great (and not-so-great) artists this comic has seen, the art in this issue stands the test of time.
Story-wise, this story is pretty good, too. While mixing in bits of humor, we still get an action story that takes itself seriously. A few bits are cliche, but somehow they still feel fresh here. The highlight of the story, though, is the death of Robotnik - which is unfortunately lessened by the events of the next issue.
(On the other hand, if this had been Robotniks' true demise, it would have seemed a little anticlimactic. At least in issue 50 he went out fighting Sonic...)
Scott claims that the Sally mini-series was delayed because the creative team (including Archie and Sega) came up with some ideas as to how to make the trilogy "even better". Delaying a comic to make improvements? That doesn't sound like the sort of things most comic book publishers would do...
Letters from Louis Polcari, Nora Smith, Eric Juhala, and Lauren Deklerk. Scott mentions the Triple Trouble game, otherwise nothing much of note here.
I came for Robotnik's demise; I stayed for the art and storytelling. This issue was what got me giving the Sonic comic a second look; if it weren't for this issue I might have never expanded my appreciation of Sonic beyond SatAM.
Also, this issue set a new milestone for the comic: it was the first full-length story to continue into another issue.