Shiny covers really don’t scan well.
Sonic The Hedgehog #25
Archie Comics (August, 1995)
“Go Ahead…Mecha My Day!”
WRITER: Mike Gallagher
PENCILER: Pat Spaziante
INKER: Harvey Mercadoocasio
COLORIST: Barry Grossman
COVER COLORING: Heroic Age
LETTERER: Mindy Eisman
EDITOR: Scott Fulop
To draw Sonic into his new zone trap (and to try to fit the story of Sonic CD into Archie’s combined DIC show continuity), Robotnix kidnaps little Amy Rose, Sonic’s biggest fan, and then Tails when he tries to survey the “Collision Chaos Zone”. Sonic ends up in a race with Mecha Sonic but Eggman is setting a further trap for Sonic, ruined by Rotor and Sally.
Yeah, I know, you’d think the story for the 25th issue would have a longer summary, but outside of the camera being put on Sonic’s shoe so the Freedom Fighters can track him and the gags, that’s pretty much it.
What they got right: Not having played Sonic CD I can’t attest to the quality of the adaptation, but trying to fit the “SatAM” characters into the video game story requires a bit of modification. On that end the story does well enough. We see one element of the Amy Rose we know today in that she has a crush on Sonic but somehow this cute little kid crush is less annoying that what the character would become in the franchise. She might have been a good friend for Tails in this incarnation but sadly that won’t be the direction they’re going to go. We’ll get to that eventually. For what I believe is her comic debut I like her better here than what she becomes later to better match the games.
What they got wrong: Though it doesn’t do a lot. So much of the story is filled with Gallagher’s usual fourth-wall breaking humor that I’m just not a fan of in other works of his I’ve reviewed and it slows the story itself down. Already you don’t have much to work with but rather than working with the story the gags divert from it. Also, seeing an Amy about Tails’ age isn’t in keeping with the game, especially in more recent games, though Ken Penders’ solution down the line will be legendarily a bad idea.
What I think overall: The plot is okay but my problem with it is in the execution. It’s not bad, especially if Gallagher’s humor is more your style than mine, but there isn’t much to this tale and for a milestone issue that’s a bigger mistake than it would be in any other comic.
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