INFO BURST

Format: Comic strip
Initial Release Date: 24 November 1992
Feature character: Sonic the Hedgehog
Villain: Doctor Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik
Other Characters: Miles “Tails” Prower, Rotor Walrus, Sally Acorn, Antoine D’Coolette, Badniks (BuzzBomber, Cluck, Crabmeat, Caterkiller)
Locations: The Great Forest, Knothole Village, Robotropolis
Items: Mega Muck, Ring
Continuity: Archie Comics
Synopsis: Sonic finds himself pursued by Doctor Robotnik, who has attached a Mega Muck cannon to his Egg Mobile. Though Sonic finds himself caught between Robotnik and Caterkiller, some quick thinking sees the hedgehog dodge Robotnik’s attack, leading to Caterkiller being blasted instead. Sonic makes his way back to the Great Forest and into the secret underground hideout of the Freedom Fighters, Knothole Village. After some small talk, the assembled Freedom Fighters- Sonic, Tails, Rotor and Sally- are given the news by Antoine that there is a water leak trickling down into the hideout. Robotnik’s spy satellites pick up the Freedom Fighters heading to the edge of the Great Forest and he moves to intercept them. The Freedom Fighters find the source of the leak- some weeping willow trees which quite literally weep for their friends Robotnik cruelly bulldozed trying to find Knothole Village. Sonic has a plan but Robotnik and Buzz Bomber happen upon the group, with Robotnik wielding his Checker-Wrecker Ball attachment on the Egg Mobile. Robotnik chases Sonic to a wishing well where Sonic previously hid a Power Ring. Sonic retrieves the Ring and leaps through it, using the magical abilities of the ring to flick the Checker-Wrecker Ball up and over, smashing the Egg Mobile and forcing Robotnik and Buzz Bomber to retreat. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters decide to plans some saplings near the weeping willows, which does the trick and cheers up the trees, bringing an end to their weeping and the underground leak.
Notes: The first appearance of Sally Acorn, Rotor Walrus (here named Boomer, as he will be for the next few issues) and Antoine D’Coolette.

CREDITS

Writer: Michael Gallagher
Artists: Scott Shaw, Jorge Pacheco, Barry Grossman
Letterer: Dan Nakrosis

Review

From humble beginnings, the largest and one of the best Sonic the Hedgehog adaptations begins. It’s astonishing to think, looking back, that the long-running and beloved Sonic the Hedgehog series by Archie Comics began with such a tale as this. Don’t get us wrong, this is by no means a bad story! But there’s definitely something quaint about it. Of course, with over three decades between this comic strip’s production and the time of writing, it’s perfectly easy to be critical of the finer details being somewhat muddled. But for a first entry in a series which was still finding its feet, not to mention being the earliest ongoing western continuity in the series, it’s perfectly easy to forgive the fact some details don’t quite line up with what we know now.

The most notable thing about this story is its use of comedy. Every page has multiple great jokes or examples of wordplay, which helps immediately let the reader know this is a Sonic world where the characters have fun and so too will they. There are some great sign gags, a staple of any good humour comic, as well as lots of puns of the sort that would soon become a regular fixture in this early era of Archie’s take on Sonic’s world, more of a gag strip than an adventure comic. We do have to grant you, of course, the “weeping willow” pun being taken literally and providing the basis for the heroes’ dilemma is perhaps stretching a joke a little thin but if nothing else if lets you know not to take things too seriously.

But it’s really the character moments that shine. When this comic first released, readers had no idea what to expect from Sally, Rotor or Antoine and while Rotor’s role as an inventor isn’t showcased here, it feels like the other two arrive almost fully-formed, if slightly caricatured. Antoine is an officious windbag (though lacking the French accent!) and Sally is the more straight-laced leader with a one-liner or two in her back pocket. Tails is presented as well-intentioned but a bit of a dim bulb, which is a characterisation dropped before too long in favour of making him the “kid” of the team (a change perhaps not for the better, mind you), which would be the first time Tails was given any particular personality at all in any western adaptation.

The whole thing does feel like it’s trying to find its feet, but it’s doing so earnestly. There’s an obvious respect for the source material here. Sonic is quick-witted, fun and- of course- cool, in a way that’s never overbearing, annoying or fake. And he’s rendered in such a likeable style by Scott Shaw’s linework that a reader just has to smile at his cheeky antics. As a matter of fact, the art is every bit as fun as the script and it’s very much to the credit of the artists that the visuals complement the words so well.

The world itself doesn’t feel entirely fully formed, given it’s borrowing ideas from the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series which was still in pre-production at the time of this comic being scripted, hence why certain designs, names and roles aren’t finalised. One feels Robotnik isn’t the global dictator he would be in that cartoon, just that he owns a rather horrible factory not too far from the Great Forest. In a way, that’s actually quite a fun set-up, as the idea obviously lends itself well to storytelling. Certainly, if the Eggman of the games set up the Scrap Brain Zone on the border of the Green Hill Zone, it would obviously be a perfect way to drive the plot.

While this is a far cry from what the comic would become, it’s a lovely introduction to what would very soon become one of the most enjoyable Sonic adaptations.