Query Returrned 459 Items
Sonic The Hedgehog #38 - June 1996
 | "The Rise of Robotropolis - The Fall of Sonic"
Writer: Kent Taylor
Penciler: Manny Galan
Inker: Phil Sheehy
Tails, Antoine and Sonic are reconning Robotropolis after the earthquake, but the city looks as menacing and run-down as ever as the gang come upon some Combots left over from "To Bot Or Not To Bot" (Sonic 34)! But as one of the ComBots is struck by lightning; the resulting explosion, however, knocks Sonic out cold!! Fearing the worst a fearful, tearful Tails flies off to get help and returns with the rest of the gang; the storm is over and Sonic is coming to... unfortunately, he's lost his speed in the explosion! -With the only cure as Multiple rings! But on the way back home the group is ambushed by cloaked Combots as everyone is captured except for Sonic, who manages to avoid yet another exploding ComBot by jumping into the Lake of Rings! However he's rescued by Penelope Platypus (Princess Sally Miniseries) as Sonic and the rest of the trainee group, along with Slueth Doggy Dogg and Fly Fly Freddy, as they head to Robotropolis to attempt a rescue...
"Bedtime Tails"
Writer: Mike Kanterovich & Ken Penders
Penciler: Ken Penders
Inker: Jon D'Agonstino
With Sonic sick in bed Tails holds him as a captive audience as he prepares to read him his newest works.
Cover by Patrick Spaziante & Harvey Mercadoocasio |
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Sonic's Friendly Nemesis: Knuckles #3 - June 1996
 | "Rites of Passage! Part 3"
Writers: Ken Penders & Mike Kanterovich
Penciler: Art Mawhinney
Inker: Harvey Mercadoocasio
The sparks are going to fly now that the Enerjak-controlled Chaotix are about to give Knuckles and Archimedes their own version of a "Knuckle sandwich!" Besides that match-up, you'll also see the main event! It's "Echidna vs. Echidna" as Knuckles and Enerjak have a battle royale that will make even the most skilled wrestler cry!
Cover by Patrick Spaziante & Harvey Mercadoocasio
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Sonic The Comic #79 - June 1996
 | "Return To The Miracle Planet”
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Richard Elson
Sonic, Amy and Johnny return to the Miracle Planet in another attempt to destroy the Alpha Device. Sonic chases what appears to be a solitary Metallix, which attacks in self defence, and when Sonic investigates closer, he finds a bird who has escaped from the Metallix`s prison, and disguised himself using spare parts stolen from a Metallix assembly line. The plot device then explains what has gone on since the gang was last there...
“The Ghost Ship - Part Six”
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Nigel Dobbyn
Knuckles is subdued by the Tantaror, only for Ekkletos to transport the whole slave ship back to the Tantaragor dimension, having successfully used Knuckles as bait. Everyone is instantly returned to from whence they came, whereupon Plunder tries to prevent Knuckles from leaving with his hard-earned chest of documents. He is overruled by Zorabel, and Knuckles departs.
“Revolution - Part One”
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Nigel Kitching
Sonic, Amy and Johnny are busily trashing badniks in the Metropolis Zone when what appears to be in-fighting breaks out among the badniks themselves! But they`re not that lucky. It appears that Commander Brutus is back, and before long, he arrives to join his badniks in a battle with the Freedom Fighters. He`s upgraded himself into a match for Sonic, and leaves the hedgehog lifeless in the rubble as his troops surround the other two...
“Grounded”
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Roberto Corona
Tails is flying along, minding his own business, when his tails are shot with a sticky, web-like substance during a sudden ambush. He plummets to the ground, and, deprived of his usual means of both attack and escape, it looks as though he might finally be captured; but he is able to scramble onto a supple tree and use it to catapult himself into the air, from whence he can get rid of the threat in safety and free himself at leisure. And he does.
And all on his own, and thinking for himself, too! This was the first in an extended series of regular Tails strips which looked set to have the comic permanently set out with one strip for each of the three heroes and a `Sonic`s World` adventure. And it looked promising. The secret to not outshining the star might be to wander off and get your own strip, but it appeared as though the events of `Fox on the Run` had been taken seriously into consideration, and we were seeing a more confident, more independent fox in action.
Cover: Carl Flint |
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Sonic Holiday Special #2 - June 1996
| "Break Out!"
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Nigel Dobbyn & Tim Bollard
Sonic and Tails raid one of the camps where Robotnik stores his "political prisoners" before integrating them into badniks, in search of the last remaining Emerald Hill Folk. As they're about to escape to the Floating Island woth the help of the handy-dandy portable star post that that Sonic and friends keep in their caravan, Robotnik attacks in one of his own, massive prototype badniks.
As Tails handles the evacuation, this one actually seems capable of giving Sonic a whuppin', too - to the point where he performs that old chestnut of turning into Super Sonic at the point when his odds look too grim. And this time there's a shock in store when, having finished off the badnik, Super Sonic blasts past Tails and smashes one of the Emerald Hill Folk into a crater in the floor!
The dialogue doesn't hold back on words like "killed" or "innocent bystander" - but when Tails tells a panicked Sonic which prisoner he attacked, Sonic reveals that just before he turned Super, Robotnik was monologuing about how he managed to find the group's location. The mess at the bottom of the crater is nothing more than a badnik - with attached homing device - in disguise.
The evacuation continues unmolested, but leaving a definite echo of Running Wild and Super's constant, genuine menace. Someone really ought to tell Sonic once and for all that trying to be big and clever and bottle your emotions up isn't healthy.
"Sonic Vs Shortfuse"
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Mike Hadley
An eggrobo ambush manages to successfully plant a control device on Shortfuse's armour - completely confusing Sonic and Amy when he obeys Robotnik's order to destroy them. Following some earlier UST between herself and Shortfuse, Tekno arrives to explain and remove the device - displaying her uncanny ability to fly without actually having any wings.
Other than the pathos of the initial UST scenes, this feels like just another excuse for a big beat down scene.
"Movie Madness"
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Mike Hadley
Given the number of overweight, overly friendly strangers who tend to offer the freedom fighters potentially fatal freebies - and especially after Sonic had the cheek to beat the gang with the "stranger danger" stick in the last special, you'd think that Sonic himself wouldn't just go blindly agreeing with and trailing after yet another one.
But since Stephen Squealbird's appealing to Sonic's main weak spot - his monolithic ego - and offering to let him be a movie star (and since this is a Stringer story), it's down to Tails to be the suspicious one this time.
This feels rather like a Bond movie in itself - you've seen it all before, leaving you just to wonder what minor variations will accomplish this particular trick.
Also included were:
Freedom fighter fact files
Another interview with Sonic
A feature on the now defunct Segaworld in London
Shortfuse's schematics
A step-by-step guide to drawing Sonic
A feature on the later canned Sonic X-treme for the Saturn
Plus pin-up
Cover: Richard Elson |
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Knuckles Knock Out Special - June 1996
| As with the Eternal Champions special, this appeared on the surface to be an attempt by Sega`s official comic to boost sales of a new product (this time the 32X), by seizing on its most popular characters.
"Traitor of the Lost Pyramid - Parts One and Two"
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Mike White
Knuckles and Chaotix come up against nefarious Nack in the Sandopolis Zone, where he`s using his shrinking technology to plunder its treasures. Nothing major really happens in the special and nothing remarkable changes the course of events, although the story fits in well with the Chaotix cameo appearance in issue 76.
Nothing great here, but there isn’t anything particularly wrong with the story either.
"Jake’s Story"
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Mike White
This is a quality filler by Nigel Kitching repeating his brilliant characterisation from Smokey and the Badnik, but using Knuckles rather than Sonic.
When Knuckles pursues a badnik which is using an Emerald Hill Zone child as an organic battery, he has no idea of the tragic turn that events are about to take... Powerful moments abound..
"Reflections"
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Mike White
What`s wrong with Knuckles? He seems to have developed a serious attitude problem, until it`s obvious that another pink-ish echidna has appeared on the Floating Island, apparently released from a cursed mirror. But how can Knuckles get rid of it...?
A basic “Rarg! I is evil Knuckles!” appearance, which - although it has an interesting concept and resolution - has been done to death before.
Accompanying the comics are:
Fact files of the Chaotix team with some cool artwork
A collection of some of the lamest jokes ever used in Fleetway in their one and only attempt at a dedicated joke page
The story behind Knuckles' conception and evolution up to Chaotix
A Knuckles pin up
A big "Sonic and Knuckles interview" which fills in new readers about everything Knuckles has done in the Fleetway universe
A competition for a Sega 32X and Chaotix
A competition for a cute Knuckles plushie and rare artwork from the regular Knuckles strip
Details of the Badniks from Chaotix
Hints and tips for Chaotix
And a crossword.
Cover: Carl Flint |
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Sonic The Comic #80 - June 1996
| "Running Wild - Part One"
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Richard Elson
Sonic's dropping in to Porker's new home on the Floating Island for a visit, but is so busy indulging in his usual hobby of picking on him that he falls into the emerald chamber.
And back on Mobius, Amy Rose is giving Tails a few lessons in sharp-shooting when Super Sonic rockets into view, with his homicidal tendencies firmly fixed on the last thing he was thinking about before his exposure to the chaos energy caused the change: her!
”Revolution - Part Two”
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Nigel Kitching
As Brutus terrorises the Metropolis Zone, a weakened Sonic is joined by Shortfuse in his mission to rescue to rescue Amy and Johnny. Robotnik finds to his horror, that Brutus has deactivated his own self-destruct programme, but cheers up when the would-be rescuers rush in, since it means that he can unveil his two latest badniks. Who look rather familiar...
“Fleabyte Returns”
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Roberto Corona
Tails is putting in an appearance in the Casino Night Zone when Fleabyte the bounty hunter - last seen in `Fox on the Run` - reappears, still bent on claiming the price on the fox`s head. But the badniks who follow the resulting commotion aren`t particularly discriminating about who they capture, forcing them to co-operate in order to escape, and giving Tails time to work out how to deal with the duplicitous feline afterwards. Fleabyte is sent on his way, humiliated in full view of the Zone`s inhabitants.
Perhaps it`s only within these solo strips that we can really appreciate the various members of Sonic`s gang for what they are: the stabilising influence; the maturity; the brains to his brawn. Certainly, the way that Tails is able to rationalise is like nothing that we`ve seen from the hedgehog as yet.
“The Fundamental Four – Part One”
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Nigel Dobbyn
Deep in the Chaotix`s Special Zone HQ, Vector has finally had enough and, as the leader, boots Charmy Bee out of their headquarters and out of the group! But no sooner has Charmy buzzed off than a huge granite fist crashes through the hideout`s wall and in crash The Fundamental Four - elementals who appear to have a score to settle. When Charmy wanders back to the hideout sometime later, he peers through the window to see the rest of Chaotix trapped in a liquidiser, but what can he do?
This is one of the first glimpses given of the Chaotix`s life away from Sonic, but whereas the other Freedom Fighters seem to provide a serious element, the Chaotix are nothing more than a group of clowns wheeled in for comic relief.
Cover: Carl Flint |
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Sonic The Hedgehog #39 - July 1996
 | "Rage Against the Machine"
Writer: Mike Gallagher
Penciler: Patrick Spaziante
Inker: Brian Thomas
Sonic has just proposed that he allow himself to be roboticized with a Neuro-Overrider (Sonic 29) to counteract the effect on his mind so he can trash Robotnik! Rotor's objections are seconded by Bunnie, who literally puts her foot down on the subject! And as Sonic walks out abominably frustrated, Antoine questions his loyalty...Something that Sally DON'T like!!! To work off his frustration, Sonic heads for a "new training facility" in the Great Forest, conveniently located next door to the "Knothole Jail". Sonic no sooner walks in the door as Nack the Weasel drops a barbell on Sonic's head as he continues on with the plot from Triple Trouble to deliver Sonic to Robotnik for prompt Roboticisation! Upon arriving at Robotnik's, Nack informes the big guy that he won't turn Sonic over until he's been paid. Robotnik's counteroffer is that Nack gets to leave Robotropolis alive, and he brings in a giant Crabmeat bot as the dealmaker!! Nack sees the fairness in this arrangement and goes off into the sunset to be seen in Sonic 40! Without further ado, Sonic is then transformed into Mecha-Sonic! His assignment: level Knothole Village! But Mecha-Sonic's initial attack is blunted when he's confronted with multiple holographic images of the Freedom Fighters to shoot at when who should arrive on the scene but a Bunnie Rabbot as her and the roboticised Sonic go one on one! Sally puts in a call for help, which Tails relays from Knothole to...The Floating Island! Robotnik meanwhile has been monitoring the fight and promptly sends a electric current through Mecha-Sonic and into Bunnie and in the end bunnie is a shriveled unconcious heap, next to Sally! Now there seems to be nothing standing between Mecha-Sonic and a soon-to-be flattened Knothole! Tails, meanwhile, has been briefing Knuckles, who's glad to take on Sonic because of previous grudges, but this goes nowhere as Knuckles is out of commision from the start! So Sally orders, with much regret, "Operation Last Resort" -- as our story is to be continued in The Mecha Madness Special!
Cover by Patrick Spaziante & Harvey Mercadoocasio |
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Sonic & Knuckles: Mecha Madness #1 - July 1996
 | "Sonic & Knuckles: Mecha Madness"
Writer: Mike Gallagher
Penciler: Patrick Spaziante
Inker: Harvo Mercadoocasio
How will the Freedom Fighters battle a roboticized version of their greatest hero without harming him? And who's going to stop him from harming the Freedom Fighters? Desparate situations demand desparate solutions! Obviously, Sally has come up with one: "Operation Last Resort!" What is "Operation Last Resort!" and how will it affect the relationship between Sonic and the Freedom Fighters? You can't wait to find out for yourself, can you? Don't forget about the "Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters" solo story by Mike Gallagher, Dave Manak and Rich Koslowski or the "Chaotix" solo by Kent Taylor with art by Harvo!
"Don't Let the Island Hit You on the Way Down!"
Writer: Kent Taylor
Penciler and Inker: Harvey Mercadoocasio
"Eel of Fortune"
Writer: Mike Gallagher
Penciler: Dave Manak
Inker: Rich Koslowski
Cover by Patrick Spaziante & Harvey Mercadoocasio |
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Sonic The Comic #81 - July 1996
| "Running Wild - Part Two"
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Richard Elson
Super Sonic has Amy and the gang on the run, with page upon page of open promises of a very grisly and sadistic end. First the caravan is destroyed, then half the landscape, then the 'plane...
The artwork in the last couple of pages really does impress, with Sonic's gradual return to normal followed by the perspective of a single page of a very small hedgehog surrounded by an awful lot of smoking ruins...
“Revolution - Part Three”
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Nigel Kitching
Sonic and Shortfuse are forced to attack Amy and Johnny in self defence. Shortfuse manages to free Johnny, whilst Robotnik sneaks down to the lab to don his experimental war armour, and deal with Brutus once and for all...
”Shock Tactics”
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Mike Hadley
Having stayed around to Protect the Casino Night Zone from badniks, Tails is surprised when the ungrateful owner, Max Gamble, claims that he`s losing business because the fox isn`t doing his job fast enough. Tails visits Marks and Sparks, the zone`s chief electricians, who equip him with a fake badnik casing that will allow him to follow the badniks back to their secret base. But his tails break from the casing at a crucial moment, revealing his true identity, and the badniks give chase; but he leads them between two electricity pylons, allowing Marks and Sparks to short circuit them en masse. Max Gamble is not amused by the resulting power failure, but pressure from his customers forces him to leave Tails alone. Tails leaves in safety, but Max Gamble harbours a strong grudge.
Suddenly, we have not just an independent hero but a recurring villain. For anyone who doesn`t know, Marks and Sparks is a pun on the nickname for Marks and Spencer - a popular chain of British department stores – but you can almost forgive the story that for its general dynamics.
“The Fundamental Four - Part Two”
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Nigel Dobbyn
Charmy makes a brief trip home to his hive to collect some worker bees before leading an assault on the Fundamental Four. They mix the earth and water elementals, which they then use to douse the air elemental, before attacking the fire elemental with high octane fuel. The Fundamental Four are reduced to nothing more than a clay pot, which is even too crazy for Vector, who throws Charmy and his relatives out without so much as any thanks.
Coming squarely in the middle of a very powerful plot arc, this hackneyed slapstick feels somewhat schizophrenic.
Cover: Nigel Kitching |
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Sonic The Comic #82 - July 1996
| "Running Wild - Part Three"
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Richard Elson
Sonic languishes in the seedier parts of the Metropolis Zone, firmly convinced of his status as a mass murderer and very, very afraid of any sort of repeat performance...
Yes, you read that correctly. Sonic shows emotion. A lot of it. More than one type, too. It's a long time before we see him this open again.
”Troubled Waters - Part One”
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Nigel Dobbyn
Knuckles is rowing homeward with his new prized chest when he is suddenly set-upon by a powerful submarine, whose Captain orders him to surrender - or else...
“Revolution - Part Four”
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Nigel Kitching
Sonic defeats Amy by re-directing her own crossbow fire, and the Freedom Fighters retreat as Robotnik and Brutus prepare to establish supremacy once and for all. Although his war armour is badly damaged, Robotnik manages to freeze and then shatter Brutus. Although suitably dramatic, this is a tragic waste of one of the most viable rival villains that Fleetway has ever seen...
“Changing Times”
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Carl Flint
What`s this? Tails just standing back and watching a zone be destroyed? Not at all! It turns out that Tails arrived shortly after the destruction, and was feeling guilty at not having prevented it, but that a freak lightning bolt has caused time to run backwards and the damage to therefore fix itself.
Cover: Carl Flint |
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