Mar 21, 2020
Throwback to some Rouge fanart for the STC Online team back in the day!
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Throwback to some Rouge fanart for the STC Online team back in the day!
Sonic the Comic #274 is online now!
Featuring four fantastic new tales that lead us directly into the mind-blowing issue #275! You don't want to miss this, boomers!
Go read it now: http://www.stconline.co.uk/comics/stc274/
I know that both Fleetway and post-reboot characters are at the bottom when it comes to priorities. But if you decided to use them, what would be your first pick for each of them?
I’m not too familiar with Fleetway, but Shortfuse seems like a pretty interesting character. Glossing over his wiki article, he seems like he’d be redundant with Omega around, but I guess that’s why we’re not introducing any Fleetway characters.
As for reboot characters, I love a lot of them, but if I were to pick one I’d like us to use the most, it’d probably be Cassia and Clove (is picking two characters who go together cheating?), but we’d have to come up with a unique way to introduce them to avoid just telling the same story in another universe.
Chris G's Top 10 Best Battles in STCO History!
The history of STC is littered with punch-ups and fights - these are a selection of the comic’s most bruising battles!
Super sonic vs shadow (The Sky is Falling - #238) Zak and I campaigned HARD to get these two squaring off in this rain soaked fight sequence, and I'm so glad our nagging paid off! For me, I feel that this turned out to be one of the online comic's most epic clashes!
Death Match! (Vichama is Coming Home special) While some might argue that Knuckles brush with the God of death was a pretty one sided fight, hopefully nobody can say that it wasn't a visually stunning battle! From Vichama's true form revealed to the armies of spirits that Knuckles and Tikal bravely fought against, I think this is one of STC's most gorgeous fights!
Power to the Mobians! (The battle for Mobius - #250) Whilst this whole storyline is really one long battle, what I particularly liked in this issue was that it wasn't just up to the freedom fighters to save the day this time around - at last, the whole planet becomes inspired to defend Mobius and take on even something as terrifying as an Ubernik - and when even Norris Wimple isn't scared, its clear the heroes of Mobius must be doing something right!
Grudge Match (War of the Rose - #254) Amy vs Sonic? 'Nuff said! Amy is a character who probably has had the biggest character arc over the whole comic (print and online) but until this story there's never been an opportunity to pit her against the cool blue one himself - Sonic has the speed advantage of course, but Amy's got skills where it counts too, so it was great to see these two explore their character relationship in a spectacular way!
Robotniks: Assemble! (Many Happy Returns - #255) what could be worse than one Robotnik? How about a whole team of them! Scattered across time and space, a mysterious force had drawn them all together, and there really was only one blue hedgehog... Well, one TEAM of blue hedgehogs capable of taking them all on...
Super Sonic Showdown (Unleashed - #267) while of course this wasn't our first visit from Super Sonic in the online era (or even his only time on this list!), this was the first time we'd really seen him let loose on such a massive scale - all of the heroes of Mobius put up a good fight, but for me, the scenes with Silver were a particularly intense punch up and a personal highlight!
Wrath of the Cybernik! (Amy Vs Tekno the Cybernik! - #268) the whole story is one amazing fight scene worthy of praise, but in particular I wanted to take a moment to highlight the fantastic efforts behind the scenes to develop the visual concept of Tekno as a Cybernik. Creating this literal fighting machine was a real team effort, with everyone on the team pitching ideas and concept art into the pot. It's a great example of the amazing work the STCO team achieved when we put our heads together and I'm proud to say I played a very tiny part along the way in developing her new look!
Uberniks Unleashed! (The War Machine pt2 - #269) I'd had the idea of visiting a badnik factory for some time before knowing what form it would exactly take - having Shortfuse and Tails squaring off against partially constructed Uberniks lent itself to a great series of visuals and allowed for some great little details from the artist - and allowed for a battle of David and Goliath proportions!
Endgame! (Final Act - #272) Sonic and Tails really get to let loose against Robotnik and his hordes, all depicted in glorious artwork by Ziggyfin… and THIS is only a warm up ahead of the main event in 275!
The Gang’s All Here (The Battle for Drak - 275) Almost every character from STCO is involved in some capacity in this epic story-line with another of the biggest battles in the comic’s run allowing most of them a brief moment to shine. It really is a fantastic culmination of all the fantastic fights that have come before!
Well that’s some of my favourites but what have been your top prize fights from Sonic the Comic Online?
Chris G's Top 10 STCOMGs
There are many moments in STC's online history with thrilling plot twists, shocks and surprises, and below are just some of my top picks! Beware the SPOILERS beyond - obviously!
Enter: Shadow (The syndicate - #229) now I'm a rather old school hume, so Shadow doesn't hold quite the same reverence for me as a character compared to some, but even I had to admit that his introduction to the comic was handled really well and felt like an organic progression of the comic's trajectory - it got me very excited for his future appearances - which is certainly not bad going for a literal Sonic clone right?
Destruction of the Special Zone! (Fate of the Special Zone - #233) it's difficult to be surprised when you're working behind the scenes, but I remember that at the time this one really felt like the first proper gusty move by the writing team - a real statement of "this is our toybox now, and we're not going to treat these things like unbreakable ornaments!" - it's a powerful statement of intent and has been a lasting source of stories in STCO ever since, not least for the Chaotix themselves!
Death (and Knuckles) (Vichama is Coming Home special) Oh my gosh, they only went and blummin' KILLED Knuckles! Vichama had been a slow burning plot thread throughout the early period of the online series, and when it finally came to a crescendo, at long last we got to learn a little bit more about Knuckles and his role as a guardian. As if that wasn’t enough, his subsequent resurrection provided yet another tantalizing clue to one of the comic's most enduring mysteries!
Grimer's revenge (Goodbye Mobius - 248) The whodunit revealed at last! When Robotnik's loyal lackey revealed himself to be masterminding Sonic's very public downfall, it really was dramatic stuff - and served as a fantastic cliffhanger going towards the big 250 milestone!
The Fury of Tekno (Twighlight - #249) When Tekno confronted false god Sett, who had been manipulating events to strand herself and Shorty in Solstice, we definitely were in for a shock! The idea of a Freedom Fighter pushed beyond their limits was something many thought unthinkable... But, stranded with none of her technology and no way home, Tekno found out the hard way that even heroes can only be pushed so far...
Johnny's legacy (In Memory - #261) My knee-Jerk reaction on hearing the pitch for this story whilst in early development was "Oh no... TOO SOON!" But I needn't have worried, because this was in fact coming from THE Nigel Kitching... and boy does he know how to deliver a sucker punch right to the FEELS...
The Return of Shortfuse (The War Machine #268) After the traumatic events of his return to Mobius, the team purposefully benched Shortfuse while we let the dust settle, and hopefully everyone had put him to the back of their minds when I wrote his comeback story, teaming up with Tails and putting another new spin on his armour design! I hope it was a surprise to work out the clues to the leader's identity and then have the reveal at the end of part one, I certainly had fun crafting this moment!
Amy Adrift! (End of the Miracle Planet #270) Not content with destroying the Special Zone, driving a death carrier though Flickies' Island and letting Super Sonic wreck half of Emerald Hill, the Miracle Planet was the next casualty of the comic - and it took Amy, the GUN soldiers and some of the evacuated kids of the Miracle planet they were protecting with it! With the chain connecting the Miracle planet to the planet broken, Amy and the others’ whereabouts would be something of a mystery for a few issues in the buildup to #275...
Guess who's Back… (The Battle of Emerald Hill #271) Where to start? The cameos in the war room at Supreme command headquarters and on the front lines? The distinctly egg shaped missing piece the heroes discover at Robotnik's base? The mad doctor's new mobile operations… or the last minute timing of a certain blue hedgehog just when Tails and Mobius needed him the most…? A whole story filled to the brim with twists and turns!
Attack of the…Cowbot? (Fallen #272) Now, be honest… you really didn't see it coming did you? I thought Michael was joking when he first suggested it for the script and I can't say I was convinced about it at first - but, the more we talked around it the more I realised that actually it was just what the story needed to break the tension of Tekno and Shorty's reunion - and the perfect way to unite them, facing against a common crazy threat together! Plus, y'know, cowbot's pretty awesome!
Well that’s some of my favourites but what have been your top twists from Sonic the Comic Online?
Here’s some behind the scenes on my recent wallpaper for STC 275 - from sketch through WIP shots, all the way through to the finished piece!
A collection of my STC Online wallpapers from over the years!
With the dust settling on the epic #275 of STC Online, I figured it was time to share some of my contributions to this huge issue!
First up is the guest panel I contributed to the story, featuring all my favs in their updated looks - the gang’s all here Shortfuse, Tekno, Niya, the Niceniks and the Cybernix, united under the blood red skies of Planet Drak!