#sth290

[robotnikholmescomicblog]

Speaking of reminiscing on older issues, this splash page is pretty marvellous!

An underwhelming exit for Metal Sonic, but still a very appealing two-page spread. My inner child is very happy.

[robotnikholmescomicblog]

Sonic and Amy Rose’s first meeting is very adorable atop the cliff, in contrast to her hanging out at the end of Palmtree Panic as his number one fangirl. I like that they lean more into her using her fortune-teller cards to locate him, and this was before this aspect was shown in Sonic Origins and the IDW comics!

Sonic’s still the fast boi that has no time to stop and humour Amy but she is still persistent with chasing him. I mean, the girl literally climbed a mountain to meet him! xD

[robotnikholmescomicblog]

Yoo, this is super neat! They show little snippets of every Round and time period. I don’t even mind if the issue’s just speedrunning through the game, I enjoy the illustrations enough already, especially with the white-out effect as Sonic goes past the Time Warp signs. A shame we couldn’t see Sonic whooshing through a magical, green void though.

Plus, this whole sequence of pages reminds me of the one from the Sonic: Triple Trouble, though with less visual overstimulation than poignant dialogue.

The more things change, the most they stay the same. xD

[robotnikholmescomicblog]

One criticism I do have is the underwhelming way Metal Sonic is portrayed. The doppelganger was indeed a simple Sonic copy back in the day, but he ain’t all that impressive in the issue covering the character’s introduction. It doesn’t help that Sonic Mega Drive: The Next Level came out before this, and there he was given much more love and personality than this cardboard cut-out of a villain.

Here, I guess his purpose is just to kidnap Amy, race Sonic and get mocked right to his face. xD

[robotnikholmescomicblog]

This issue ends with Sonic rescuing Amy Rose, them putting their heads together as they figure out the best way to stop Eggman’s Time Stone plots, with the interactions having a cute reincorporation of their dialgoue of their first encounter. Not sure how he’s gonna get em whilst holding Amy but she seems pretty keen for the adventure.

And that’s that. The end of the line for the mainline Archie Sonic comics. They were gonna do a Sonic 3 flashback issue with Hidden Palace and Sky Sanctuary Zone being the key focus, but...yeah, you guys know already. It’s rather bittersweet, all in all.

[robotnikholmescomicblog]

You bet your ass they’d recreate part of Sonic CD’s animated opening cutscene! It’s used as the set-up for the rest of the issue, though thankfully Classic Sonic does still talk instead of being the silent protagonist.

One thing to note that I think goes underappreciated is the colouring of this issue. For damn near three years, colourist Gabriel Cassata’s contributions have been either mildly decent or extremely flat and washed out. And yet, seemingly getting a stroke of inspiration for this issue and this issue alone, he includes these really cool brush strokes and details to imitate the hand-drawn cutscene’s vibrancy?? Where was this talent beforehand! xD

[robotnikholmescomicblog]

Alright, we’re finally here. The last official release of the mainline Archie Sonic issues. Not the first time Archie Comics had adapted Sonic CD, but this one’s set in the reboot timeline as is substantially closer to the events of the original game. For all intents and purposes, this cover bloody slaps, dude! God-tier Sonic artist Patrick Spaziante once again shows he can draw the blue blur in literally any art style. The use of symmetry is super appealing with the chain in the middle, separating the roads Sonic and Metal are running on and even Little Planet in the background!

Pretty sad that they got to this point and couldn’t finish all four classic throwback issues for the 25th Anniversary before this book got cancelled. And sooo close to the 300th issue, too! Auuugh!

[robotnikholmescomicblog]

Now that there’s dialogue in this Sonic CD adaptation, I suppose they can explain away some of the time travel elements more? I still get confused over Eggman being shocked and hypothesising that Sonic must have done something one way or another, seemingly to explain away why his mechs in the game take like three hits to beat? Plus, Classic Eggman’s anime-esque design from the ending cutscene is...something. Tracy Yardley certainly made an attempt though I probably would have preferred the one from previous throwback issues.

And of course time puns... you can never have enough time puns. xP