“Yesterday’s” Comic> Knuckles The Echidna #28

Is Spectre unhappy because he didn’t get a date or that he’s not in this story?

Knuckles The Echidna #28

Archie Comics Publications (September, 1999)

WRITER: Ken Penders

INKER: Andrew Pepoy

COLORIST: Frank Gagliardo

LETTERER: Vickie Williams

EDITOR: J.F. Gabrie

“The First Date” part 3: “It Could Be Love (I Should Have Known Better)”

PENCILER: Chris Allan

Mighty The Armadillo: “Below The Belt”

PENCILER: Manny Galan (Pepoy on the third page)

In our main story, Knuckles and Julie-Su’s date happens to fall on her surprise 16th birthday party for Knuckles, but she manages to get Julie-Su to get him there without him knowing. She also invited Locke, who let Knuckles know they’re his parents and here for them even if they aren’t together. Vector (who gets the swan lady as his date) and Knuckles mend fences and he reluctantly accepts Julie-Su as a member of the Chaotix.

What they got right: Seeing all the fences mended among our heroes. Apparently 16th birthday surprise parties are a norm on Mobius because Sonic had one, too.

What they got wrong: Everybody is way too thin and tall in this story. They look too off-model even if the features are right.

In the back-up, get ready for a lot of exposition, about how Ray trying to get the power stone away from Fiona before it does something to her results in him being trapped in a zone, with Sonic and Mighty unable to save him. We also see that Robotnik created a robot based on Fiona as part of an infiltration plan, and that kind of went south. In the present, Nic seems to have put Ray over the crystal, neutralizing it and allowing Ray to escape the zone.

I still don’t know why it was important that robo-Fiona have an actual counterpart. Was she really that important? Ray on the other hand is from an official Sonic game, so it is nice to see him get to be part of the cast. Wonder if he’ll join the Chaotix? I don’t remember.

What I think overall: If you weren’t already attached to this series, this arc nothing for you. I still think they rushed the Knuckles/Julie-Su romance because we’ve seen them get along but this whole “soultouch” think is the only reason there’s a relationship, and that won’t last after Penders screws up the continuity to take her and the Dark Legion with him when he leaves the comic. The back-up was more interesting, as Mighty brings another of the game characters with him, but the addition of Fiona is unnecessary. Overall, this was not the storyline to start on for this series.