i'm back at it now that i've got free time again, i didn't think there would be anything to say about issue 3 of the main line when i opened it, but the second story in this one is the one where they introduce Bunnie Rabbot, its got the same energy as all of these early issues, but i'm glad to see her get an honest intro instead of just being dumped into a scene like she was always there

this issue is where you can see the roots starting to fall into place, its still goofy cartoon humor, but they begin to build on the references from previous issues more and acknowledge their own continuity

mainly in the way that Sonic uses a part from the roboticiszer they stole from the Bunnie story to defeat the latest threat

any time now i'm just going to open up the next issue and realize that they are committing to a full on story-line

i read issue 5 earlier and it had nothing worth reporting on, then had a nap and now i'm back to report on issue six, which is again just more silly bullshit, but it referances sonic spinball in the first story

the second story though... is a sonic version of a christmas carol

but! its also got two firsts in it: its the first time they officially call Rotor by his new name (instead of Boomer), and it seems like its the first appearance of Snivley in the comic

whelp, Bunnie just made a joke about how she's a "sax symbol"

also this is the first issue where all of the freedom fighters are just incidentally together without any of them NEEDing to be there, and they actually pull their weight in the narrative instead of just letting sonic fix everything

i feel like every issue of this book in the early days actually shows a lot of development on the meta-level

these issues both introduce throwaway characters, Betty Butterfly, and "the Nerbs"

i always like finding details like this when reading through the backlog of something, I can't help crossing my fingers and hoping that some writer way down the line rereads these old books and tries to incorporate them back into the story

also issue 10 was the first time that they didn't have to include any single-page comics for filler, though that could be because they needed more ad space

getting around the first story's goofy time travel bullshit, the second and third stories in this issue introduces Cyril the Eagle, and Larry Lynx (the super jinx), two characters that i'm positive come back in future episodes

at the end, the way that sonic proves that larry is no longer unlucky is by having him win 50 games of chess in a row, a game that is famously not based on luck even a little bit... 🤷

ooooh, this is awesome, Knuckles is finally on the scene, and you can really tell how much sonic 3 influenced the stuff in this issue

also this might be the first time that i've read the word roboticize in the comics, i can't recall reading it before now

i think i've read this issue a hundred times, its probably one of the first issues i ever had; i still have a battered, ripped up copy of it sitting on my bookshelf

some very classic shit in here, i've looked at these panels so many times they are burned into my brain

also the filler pages in this issue are a three-page comic that they wanted people to write in the dialogue and sound effects themselves and then send them in for a contest, imagining doing that gives me anxiety

this is maybe the first issue that has really bucked me (in a good way) the first story is about the freedom fighters getting stuck in a virtual world made by robotnik, and then sonic literally hacking his way out; it tricks you into thinking that they have beaten robotnik and that sonic and sally are getting married, my jaw dropped until they revealed the truth

the second story is (finally!) starting to show off nameless background extra freedom fighters

oh fuck i hope Harvey Who comes back in a later issue

holy shit, i didn't even notice that they finally shifted sally's design to the one that i know! no more bubble-gum pink and black hair, back to classic brown and brown

looks like the change happened in ish 16

oooh, story two is an allusion to the princess sally mini-series, that's coming up pretty damn quick on my schedule

uhm, fucking excuse you? sonic and sally are actually getting married????