“I lost BOTH contact lenses. Nobody move!”
Sonic The Hedgehog #66
Archie Comics Publications (January, 1999)
WRITER: Karl Bollers
PENCILER: Steven Butler
EDITOR: Justin Gabrie
“A Friend In Need”
INKER: Pam Eklund
COLORIST: Ken Penders
LETTERER: Jeff Powell
“And Then There WAs One (or the until now untold origin of Ixis Naugus!)”
INKER: Andrew Pepoy
COLORIST/LETTERER: Frank G.
Sonic and Tails are surprised at all the Power Rings, but also surprised that Nate refuses to return with them, a decision Eddy is happy with. Then Naugus uses his elemental powers to pass into the mountain past the wards, trapping himself, Sonic, and Tails behind a wall as the place collapses. Each absorbing the Power Rings’ energies, “Ultra Sonic” and “Hyper-Tails” hold their own until the power fades. Ixis tries to open a portal back to the Zone Of Silence, but Nate uses the Power Ring in his cybernetic eye to blast him into the portal, sealing the Zone from Mobius for good. However, Eddy sacrifices himself to save the others from the collapsing castle.
What they got right: Interesting bit of history with how Naugus got everyone into the Zone and created his crystalized minions. We see more transformations from the Power Rings.
What they got wrong: Apparently when you absorb enough power you can only “talk” by having the narrator tell the reader what was said instead of the usual word balloon dialog. What you get is a huge exposition dump with some fighting involved.
In the back up story we learn of Ixis origins. Originally it was three people in the Ancient Order Of Ixis: Nusagu the bat, Agunus the rhino, and Suguna the lobster. Each controlled a different element and “shared” their secrets with the other, though keeping a bit for themselves. Seeking the fire of the sun to complete the quartet, each tries to betray the other with their leftover secrets, but are merged together into Ixis Naugus. Where once they sought the power of time forgotten, now he claims to swear loyalty to King Acorn’s father, the king at the time.
Nobody really asked for this story, but it’s not bad. It does explain Ixis’s various oddities, like the claw and horn with the big bat ears. That’s about all it does. At least it was a side story and not totally narration.
What I think overall: The exposition dump is a huge letdown, like Bollers really wanted to shove as much lore into the story as he could, which kills an otherwise interesting premise. The backup isn’t a total waste of time, but hardly a necessity. I’m just not getting into this reread of the Archie comics. Strangely this is not where I stopped reading.
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