Sonic the Comic Preview Special - June 1993
 | This miniature preview issue was added as a freebie leaflet to a number of gaming and teenage magazines, and included the first page of each strip from issue one, and a competition to win a Mega CD.
Cover: David Brown Graphics Ltd. |
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Eternal Champions Special - March 1994
| Rather than a Sonic-based project, the first StC special was released to publicise Sega Eternal Champions beat-'em-up, and StC's accompanying strip within the main comic.
"Death Isn't Forever"
Writer: Michael Cook
Artist: Jon Howard
"Death Isn't Forever"
Writer: Michael Cook
Artist: Jon Howard
"Reality Check"
Writer: Michael Cook
Artist: Brian Williamson, Stephen Baskerville & Dondie Cox
"Brains and Brawls"
Writer: Michael Cook
Artist: Brian Williamson, Bambos Georgiou and Una Fricka
And alongside the strips:
Character stats and profiles
Genesis of the Champions: a featured interview with Sega's project leader on the game, including past, present and future plans for the characters.
Cover: Jon Howard & Cliff Robinson |
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Sonic the Summer Special - June 1994
| "Doctor Sun"
Writer: Uncredited
Artist: Uncredited
The father of a young badger asks Sonic and Tails to retrieve his son from the clutches of a mysterious cult. Getting to the compound is hard enough in itself, and once there, the fat leader with the booming voice seems familiar...
"Attack of the Badniks"
Writer: Uncredited
Artist: Uncredited
In which Tails works his Tails off to slip away from pursuers, only for Sonic to waltz in and claim the glory for himself in the final panels.
"Test Drive"
Writer: Uncredited
Artist: Uncredited
An underwhelming slapstick strip in which it takes an entire six pages to show Robotnik hitting Grimer on the head with what is basically a mobile mallet, before being hit by it himself.
"Guardian of the Chaos Emeralds"
Writer: Uncredited
Artist: Uncredited
The first appearance of Knuckles being in a characteristically overpriced special issue may've made one or two people miss out, but they didn`t miss too much. This explains how, when the Death Egg crashed onto the Floating Island (at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 3), Robotnik tricked Knuckles into believing that Sonic was the enemy.
Aside from its strips, this issue also contained:
A brief history of the Sonic phenomenon
Profiles of the main characters from the upcoming Sonic and Knuckles game
A complete list of Sonic game cheats
And an interview with Doctor Robotnik.
Cover: Richard Elson |
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Sonic Holiday Special #1 - June 1995
| In a taste of things to come, this special reprinted the comic strips already published within the Sonic the Poster Mag series (The Kid Cruel Caper from #3, Ocean of Horror from #5, Marble Garden Menace from #6, Trapped in the Vortex from #9) and added one original strip:
"Holiday Hot Spot"
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Mike Hadley
As a reward for beating the badniks back from yet another zone, a rhino with a holodeck (well, it's not named in the strip, but that's what it is) offers the freedom fighters a virtual tropical beach break. Sonic doesn't believe in time off whilst there's still Robotnik to fight, but the others take up the offer.
None of them seem to have the wit to notice that the rhino addresses Sonic as "spikeball", and Sonic himself is out of the way by the time he realises - after the speech he's just given about not stopping thinking about Robotnik, this level of gullibility from the entire group seems like a bit of a suspension of disbelief too far.
The rhino is, of course, Robotnik in disguise - who lets onto the holodeck a swarm of eggrobos, who've almost beaten the gang down when Sonic charges in to save the day. Given his total unwariness and the fact that he was so worried about the group that he heroically left them completely alone, the attempt in Sonic's dialogue to bolt a "Don't trust strangers" moral onto the end seems rather hollow.
Additional features were:
A joint interview with Sonic and Knuckles
A feature on that year's Sega roadshow
Four mini posters
Cover: Mike Hadley |
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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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Total Sonic Special - June 1999
| Following the main title's taste for reprints, this special contained:
Face To Face (from #118)
Taking The Plunge (from issues #126 and #127)
New Image (from #84)
Scream Theme Park (from #85)
Smokey And The Badnik (from #75)
The Detour (from #113)
Game On! (from #131)
Cover: Mick McMahon |
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