I hope you’re going to “say more”, or this will be a short comic.
Sonic The Hedgehog #76
Archie Comic Publications (November, 1999)
COLORIST: Frank Gagliardo
LETTERER: Jeff Powell
EDITOR: J.F. Gabrie
“Business As Usual”
WRITER: Karl Bollers
PENCILER: Fry
INKER: Andrew Pepoy
Tales Of The Great War: “Another Point of View”
WRITER: Ken Penders
PENCILER: Chris Allan
INKER: Jim Amash
Back on Earth Mobius, Tales, Antoine, and Bunnie try to get Jules and Verne back to Knothole while Sonic, Sally, and Snively head for Robotnik’s lair to get rid of the location of Knothole from his downloaded memories. The trio come across refugees being taken to the Roboticizer and Sonic tries to rescue them while Sally and Snively continue the mission. One refugee, Mina, stays behind to rescue a loved one Sonic is sure is already roboticized. With the virus planted to keep Knothole’s data inaccessible, Snively parts company with the heroes.
What they got right: Remembering that Robo-Robotnik had a way to find Knothole and having to take care of it shows paying attention to the story you’re working on, even with so many writers involved. It’s an attention to detail that matters overall. We also got introduced to a new character, but we’ll discuss her when Mina does something.
What they got wrong: Were there that many extra people? If everyone came from Knothole village, since all the Robians are gone except for Sonic’s parents, shouldn’t they just move back to their old homes and maybe need to build a handful more? Where did they all come from?
In the back-up, Tails talks the others into going after Jeremiah as well, not wanting the history of the library to be lost. For some reason they have time to read another volume of Kirby’s history of Mobius. The Overlanders have the Mobian forces dead to rights until but find a forgotten sewer tunnel that takes them behind enemy lines. Though Antoine’s dad is shot (this is how he lost his eye), the other Mobians realize they’re fighting for survival and join in the battle. Conor Kintobor, the leader of the army and original Robotnik’s brother, manages to escape through the same sewer tunnels. Back in the present, our group take as many books as they can and head for Knothole.
The framing device is becoming more of a hassle now. Just have narration say “another historic tale from the writings of Kirby” and get on with it. This isn’t the first time they stopped to read a book when they really shouldn’t have time to. Also, the art is really exaggerated this story, with Tales and Antoine getting the worst of it. Otherwise it’s an interesting bit of history that will be retconned out of existence because of Penders’ legal temper tantrum.
What I think overall: Some good storytelling overall, but it’s tough for me personally to connect with it in hindsight. It’s also a bit convoluted compared to the games, as they’re still building on the SatAM and syndicated shows rather than the games. At this point I guess they had gone too far, but they will try to pivot more towards the games eventually.
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