in this thread i'm going to livetoot as i read every issue of archie comic's sonic the hedgehog (probably, anyway... until i lose interest)
sonic comics #1
okay, so the hanging sonic was just a pinata
the first story in this comic was kinda dumb, but also kinda weirdly relevant, because the problem that robotnick made was solved by a thunder storm?????? feel kind of weird about that considering the same thing happened to me just last night
the second story takes place in the casino night zone...
sonic comics #1
the second story was also silly cartoony nonsense, robotnik actually managed to capture sonic but instead of robotisizing him, he put him into a giant pinball machine...
there was one good joke, when sonic said "who write's your dialogue? Al Literation?"
also sonic blew casino night zone up with explosives...
the last three pages are single page comics, one of which has an actual chili dog recipe, this might be the first time that sonic is seen with a chili dog, huh
sonic mini-series #0
well half way through issue 2 of the main series i looked up a reading order list and found out that I totally forgot that there was a mini-series that ran before issue 1 came out
so issue 0 might be where they mention chili dogs for the first time! there's a whole story about how robotnik took over mobius by ordering 200 chili dogs, also sonic's uncle owns a dog, that's kinda fucked up
think about it
sonic mini-series #2
i've just been having fun reading these actually, i don't really have much to say, mini-series issue one flew past
in issue 2 though i've realized that the mobian's who have been turned into robots just kinda look like normal mobians, they must not have finalized the designs of them this early
also they introduced the "freedom emeralds" in this issue as basically the crown jewels of mobius, i wonder if those will ever come back 🤔
sonic comics #3
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
sonic comics #4
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
sonic comics #6
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
sonic comics #8
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
sonic comics #9 & 10
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
sonic comics #12
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... 🤷
sonic comics #14
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
sonic comics #16
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
sonic special: Sonic In Your Face!
okay, so story 2 was only three pages long and it was some silly bullshit where i had to read half of the text backwards
and the last story is a cute one about tails saving a sonic fan convention from robotnik
this was a pretty good special edition in my opinion
just two more main-line issues and then i'm on the sally mini-series
sonic comics #19
so issue 19 is the infamous "Night of 1000 Sonics" in which sonic summons versions of himself from parallel universes in order to fight an out of control Robotnik from one of those other universes
and after reading it I find myself salivating to know more about Mummy Sonic... alas, we are told nothing about him or where he comes from, but here's a quick and dirty collage of every appearance he made
sonic comics #19
also, a personal story about this issue:
my parents took me on a camping trip when i was 8 years old, i remember we went to this little drygoods store that was on the campground land and they had a comic book rack (that's the last time I ever saw a comic rack casually tucked in a little store like this) and there were two issues of sonic, and this was one of them, i must have read them ten times each on that trip
also i got hives from running through tall grass, haha
princess sally #1, 2, 3
okay, so something weird happened around the time of the In Your Face special... there's like this moment where reading this comic goes from being a chore to being FUN
and this mini-series, and all of the sally substories, seem to be where that concept really cements itself earnestly
this whole mini-series was such a blast to read that I didn't think to stop to post about it between issues
princess sally #1, 2, 3
like just to put a pin in this... the first 20 or so comic books in this series were not fun to read, its taken me more than three days just to get 28 issues in because reading one issue full of shitty jokes that couldn't make a child laugh would make me feel s o t i r e d that i would have to stop after only reading a couple
and now i'm like i'm over that hump, and i'm starting to feel like i can enjoy this, its great
these comics were great to read
sonic comics #21
wow, this was a fucking weird one...
firstly it contains the attached panel, which is horrifying
secondly... they just killed robotnik... i mean there's absolutely no way he's going to stay dead, but i'm impressed that they killed him this early, because they make a HUGE deal out of killing him after the death egg saga
sonic comics #25
i let a few slip by without posting about them, they were mostly filler issues
issue 25 is the sonic boon tie-in, Amy Rose and mecha sonic make their first appearance
i kind of wish they hadn't added Amy in this early, because they do some... weird stuff with her in the ensuing issues, but that's all to come...
also 25 starts doing the weird avant garde paneling thing, where there's no clear delineation between two panels, we'll see that a lot more
sonic special: sonic & knuckles
this is another one that i have a battered copy of on my shelf, a fun little comic
you can see how they are pushing towards more knuckles spin offs here too
also this one comes after the sonic boom tie in but its got a lot of sonic 3 & knuckles in it (sonic boom was '96, sonic 3 was '94)
sonic special: Sonic Triple Trouble
so the sonic specials usually act as tie-ins for games, but I had no idea that triple trouble was a game until i looked it up a bit ago...
its an 8-bit sonic game that was on the game gear, and honestly it looks like garbage... 8-bit is not enough bits for sonic
this comic tie in is also pretty lackluster
the first story features knack the weasal and basically reconciles the story of the game in the comic world
(cont.)
sonic comics #27, 28
27 is the first issue where they start naming freedom fighters as jokes, "sleuth-dawggy-dog" and "sir-kicks-alot" are two rebels who go undercover as swatbots on the first page
also, robotnik managed to capture sonic honestly AGAIN and decided not to roboticize him AGAIN... how the fuck does he suck at this so much?
Tails #2, 3
he goes to Downundah, and helps the Freedom Fighters there fight Crocbot
the Downundah Freedom Fighters are a wallaby, koala, wombat, platapus, and a emu that is also a flower-child hippie (the only one with a theme other than "australia")
but also Tails meets Knuckles' great-grandfather and through him we're able to learn more about "the ancient walkers" and Echidnopolis (which is all stuff that's going to come to light in the knuckles series)
this was a fun read [:
Interlude: Sonic Mania
I remember when I saw that this game was getting released I thought "what a triumph! a game made by a fan can actually make it in this world!"
but hoo boy this sucks, gang
i mean, it looks great, it looks very cool and fun, but I feel like I have to hire a professional if i want to get past chemical plant zone
sonic comics #29
this issue introduces Dulcy, the fucking dragon... apparently Robotnik... destroyed them all, except for her? I hope they just got roboticized, anyway...
in that story they also steal a deroboticizer and hatch a plan to robotisize sally so she can wreck havok as a robot and then fix it later, but it falls through and nothing really happens
the second story sets up the tails mini-series, is kind of silly, but it at least illustrates why tails has a mini-series i guess