You know, it’s almost hard to believe that it’s been fifteen years since SonicQuest: The Death Egg Saga was originally published. Coming out right at the tail end of the Golden Age of the Archie series, it promised to give the readers everything they were asking for, a fun little detour as the main series began to amp itself up for “Endgame,” the four part storyline that also is seeing its fifteenth anniversary this year. Causing far more controversy than the writers were intending, Endgame was designed to be the final chapter of the comic book if it was to see cancellation in the wake of the Saturday morning series ending, and although the series instead continued to be published (and still thrives to this day), it was certainly the end of an era. SonicQuest, though it has its faults, still exists in that pre-Endgame state of mind, surely assisted by the writing style of Mike Gallagher. In fact, there is only one more game adaptation before “Endgame” would change everything…but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Picking up where we left off yesterday, we continue with SonicQuest: The Death Egg Saga, the pseudo-adaptation of Sonic 2, 3 & Knuckles, even though we already had adaptations of the latter two. So let’s find out what the heck’ll happen next.
Even though it’s easy to forget, the classic games in the Sonic the Hedgehog series did indeed have a storyline. Of the core five titles from the early 90′s, one single invention from the mind of Dr. Eggman dictated the actions Sonic, “Tails” and Knuckles would be a part of over the course of twenty five levels. I am talking, of course, of the Death Egg. Though clearly a Star Wars reference in both style and name, the giant space station (even if it was only in space for roughly ten minutes) was the centerpiece of the action that went on in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Sonic & Knuckles. So great was its importance that the station would return in numerous spin-off titles, such as Sonic the Fighters, Sonic Drift 2, and Sonic Battle. Heck, it was even meant to be in Sonic X-treme at one point, although we all know what happened there.
So it was head-scratching to think that Archie‘s previous adaptations of Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles completely neglected the use of the Death Egg. Even if the writers hadn’t been able to finish the game themselves, it was mentioned more than once in the instruction manuals for all three games it appeared in. So what did we get instead? Some random ship that wasn’t much bigger than Dr. Robotnik, and a half-baked scheme that turned the bottom of the Floating Island into a death trap. Not exactly the stuff of legends. Even the Fleetway adaptations of those games used the Death Egg, so for us American fans, all we could do was write in and complain to the Archie staff that they had completely forgotten to use one of the most awesome things in the game.
Finally, Archie succumbed to the pressure, and decided to use it, adapting portions of Sonic 2, 3 and Knuckles and introducing the Death Egg into the pages of the comic. And when they did, they did it in a big way. It wasn’t just a random issue of the main series. It wasn’t even a 48-page special that had to share print time with back-up stories about Knuckles the Echidna. It was given the royal treatment. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you SonicQuest: The Death Egg Saga.
For anyone out there who was expecting the exact same marketing scheme, feel free to pat yourself on the back. If the initial teaser trailer wasn’t enough Deja Vu for you, the blogs at Sega.com have announced Concept Art Friday, where every week we get to experience another piece of imagery from Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 with no context whatsoever. Hopefully we won’t be forced to answer generic questions to get palmtrees this time around…either way, what has Sega decided to use to kick off the next wave of Sonic hype?
If it hasn’t clicked yet from the black and white lineart just what that is supposed to look like, then the full color version might be enough to jog your memory…
There is something infinitely magical about Tumblr. It’s praises have been sung in the past before on Sonic Retro, from places that make you squeal in delight at Sonic the Comic imagery, to the ever-growing collection of .gifs featuring Sonic running in ways you won’t see in any beta. Well kids and kidettes, strap yourself in: another Tumblr of interest is coming your way.
Serving as the perfect counterpart to the Fuck Yeah Sonic the Comic comes A Moment of Archie Sonic.
On the fourth day of Christmas, Retro gave to me…
…a Christmas story done by Archie Comics.
Now, last year when I started reading the Fleetway Christmas comics, I must admit a small corner of my mind was tickled by the concept. I mean, the idea of the Christmas special isn’t something new. We’ve all seen Charlie Brown buy the saddest tree in existence. We’ve watched the Grinch steal Christmas at least 40 times. And who knows how many times we’ve been forced to watch It’s A Wonderful Life? Now, what all these share is that they are just moments in time, and are always repeated but never changed. Sonic the Comic, on the other hand, tried to make it a yearly tradition to always come up with something new to usher in the holiday season. That’s when a small part of me wondered aloud, “Why didn’t Archie ever do anything like this? They’re a comic book, too!”
So when I started my game adaptation reviews, I was floored to see that, indeed, they had done a Christmas special. One that I completely forgot about.
So the big day is finally here, and at long last after months of waiting, Sonic Generations is finally here for us all to enjoy – so long as you live in North America, that is. Us poor sods in the Old World have to wait another 3 whole days before we can open our shiny new disk boxes; listening meanwhile in tormented agony to our crowing friends across the pond, blasting their way though Sky Sanctuary and Planet Wisp in glorious HD.
Clearly, we need to find something that only we in Europe (if I’m honest, more specifically the UK, but work with me here) really had, in order to sustain us until Friday finally rolls around (pun totally intended). Ladies and gentlemen, I present the first part of Sonic the Comic‘s finest hour: the adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
The Sonic Genesis arc of Archie’s comic book series is nearing its close as Sonic and the Freedom Fighters are gunning toward a showdown with Dr. Eggman aboard his Death Egg. For fans of the comic book, this has no doubt been an exciting ride that Ian Flynn has been putting readers through. To make it even more special, those that are attending New York Comic Con can get a special convention exclusive cover for Sonic #229, as well as a Mega Man: Powered Up inspired cover for Mega Man #6.
Everyone loves Knuckles the Echidna. Even if this statement isn’t true today, it was definitely the case back in the 90′s. From the moment Knuckles appeared onscreen punching out Sonic and taking the Chaos Emeralds, everyone wanted a piece of him. They wanted to know more about who he was, what secrets the floating island he lived on held, and most of all wanted to see him and Sonic tangle it up. Sonic 3 & Knuckles delivered on all counts, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy a child of the 90′s. They wanted more, and Sega, knowing the character’s growing popularity, was prepared to give them exactly what they asked for.
This isn’t the best time to get into the short, sad life of the Sega 32X, but needless to say it didn’t do well in any regard. Even though it was on the market for a short time, the powers-that-be knew that some sort of Sonic-related title needed to be released. And what started out as a proof-of-concept having Sonic and “Tails” tethered together turned into the much-forgotten Chaotix, starring Knuckles the Echidna. In the west, the title added Knuckles’ name to the cover, just to remind people that, yes, this was a game with Sonic characters, even though just about every kid in America had no idea what the origins of Charmy, Vector, and Mighty were historically.
I’m sure you can guess by now that Archie had to adapt it.