Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[DabigRG]

8 hours ago, kadybat said:

This is absoutely for the post-Shattered SU arc. Pretty excited to see what this arc is called! I'm hoping after this Chaotix arc we get a sequel to Silver Age or a follow-up to Pirate Plunder Panic, though another "Tails and the Freedom Fighters" arc a la Spark of Life wouldn't be bad either...

I'd rather have an "Amy/Cream and the Freedom Fighters" arc myself, but a Silver/Blaze follow-up would definitely be welcome.

[Your Vest Friend]

So Sonic #283 is out now officially. I gave my opinion about two weeks ago and owned it one week ago so retreading that is mostly pointless.

One little note I don't recall being mentioned before; the issue pegs the Chaotix office being in Westopolis, Northamer. Personally, game-wise, I'd have said they were in Central City, but they're near each other and have similar urban environments so it's close enough.

Also Worlds Unite Volume 1 is out. It has Zeti profiles, draft covers (mostly of Sonic Boom #8) and concept art of Sonic Man, M'Egga Man and first-form Sigma,

[Kaotic Kanine]

1 hour ago, DabigRG said:

I'd rather have an "Amy/Cream and the Freedom Fighters" arc myself, but a Silver/Blaze follow-up would definitely be welcome.

I STRONGLY SECOND THIS!!! I hate to go on another rant about this but it's seriously annoying how the comic pretty much ignores Amy and Cream's dynamic ever since Cream made her debut! I mean, their relationship is supposed to be the female counterpart to Sonic and Tails' relationship but Amy and Cream barely get to interact on a basis comparable to Sonic and Tails! The best we got in terms of Amy and Cream interaction was the beginning of TTT (before said interaction were overtaken by Blaze, Team Dark, and everything else) and the ending for PPP (once Amy and Cream were able to get away from everyone else and actually got to fight on their own)! Everything else in the comic in this regard was bits and pieces, with Shattered World being the worst offender by having Cream nigh-exclusively interact with and get dotted upon by Sally of all characters! Like, I wouldn't mind Cream interacting with Sally, that's an interaction I wanted to see when Cream finally got into the comic, but it's shown way too much and now it feels like Cream is more of a "sidekick" for Sally than Amy! Why the fixation on Cream and Sally's interaction!? And it also really stings since the comic, in the rare times shown, actually handles Amy and Cream's friendship far better than the games ever did, if not the only thing that can save their friendship after three particular games ruined their friendship, yet the comic seems unwilling to let these two actually act like a dynamic duo on the necessary basis  So yeah, an Amy/Cream Universe Arc is seriously warranted at this point.

Although I can't deny Blaze is in serious need of an Arc of her own as well... If only Amy/Cream and Blaze didn't already share two Arcs together  Then this tough choice would've easily been solved.

[Faseeh]

Hey! Just curious, what would you guys consider some of the best arcs/stories that the comics have put out? (Spin-off, main continuity, adaptation, crossover... all goes, I'm up for almost anything)

I've been seeing some great art come from the comics, so I'd be interested at looking into them  

[Sean]

Champions (268-271) is one of, if not the best arc in the comic's entire run. It's an adaptation of Sonic the Fighters.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

4 minutes ago, Sean said:

Champions (268-271) is one of, if not the best arc in the comic's entire run. It's an adaptation of Sonic the Fighters.

I would also like to add Control (#264-265) to that list. It adds a very good twist onto Unleashed's story which I found extremely better than the game's reasoning.

In the game, Sonic's immune to Dark Gaia's influence due to "will of heart". Here, it's flat out shown Sonic's influenced by Dark Gaia, seeing his friends, and the world around him as demonic, and taunting him over and over again, causing him to attack anyone and anything until he manages to break through it with the help of Moss, Sally, Mighty and the others.

[DabigRG]

29 minutes ago, Kaotic Kanine said:

I STRONGLY SECOND THIS!!! I hate to go on another rant about this but it's seriously annoying how the comic pretty much ignores Amy and Cream's dynamic ever since Cream made her debut!  Why the fixation on Cream and Sally's interaction!? And it also really stings since the comic, in the rare times shown, actually handles Amy and Cream's friendship far better than the games ever did, if not the only thing that can save their friendship after three particular games ruined their friendship, yet the comic seems unwilling to let these two actually act like a dynamic duo on the necessary basis  So yeah, an Amy/Cream Universe Arc is seriously warranted at this point.

What are the three games you're referring to?

[Your Vest Friend]

This is an interesting comment...

 

[Kaotic Kanine]

10 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

What are the three games you're referring to?

Sonic Battle, which had Amy basically forcing Cream to "boxercise" with her despite Cream's major reluctance (granted, Amy was horribly flanderized in that game but still). Sonic Rush, which had Amy (super uncharacteristically) threaten Cream with her hammer after Cream (also very uncharacteristically I should add) called Amy "short-sighted", and Cream also said "Not again" in response, hinting that this has happened before (although, again, Amy was horribly flanderized in Rush as well, save for her "speech" to Blaze about how you need friends to accomplish things). And then Free Riders, where Amy was extremely vicious with everyone, especially Vector, but she was still very unkind with Cream. 

[DabigRG]

1 minute ago, Detective Reptiles said:

This is an interesting comment...

 

Hmmm...that is interesting! ...Who we talking 'bout?

[Your Vest Friend]

The asker was talking about Chip. 

[Kaotic Kanine]

7 minutes ago, Detective Reptiles said:

This is an interesting comment...

 

"Allowed to", eh? I guess this means SEGA was the primary reason for Chip's small prominence the whole time. And I guess this means a lot of people (myself included) owe Ian an apology for blaming him for that  Right?

[Kazhnuz]

Or maybe it's to say that they won't be able to use it post-SWC, and won't be able to make new apparitions like Tikal did ?

[QuantumEdge]

I feel bad for blaming all of Chip's side lined story on Ian possibly being uninterested.  Turns out it's just another Sega mandate getting in the way.  Should've assumed that in the first place before pointing the finger at the creatives.

[DabigRG]

32 minutes ago, Kaotic Kanine said:

Sonic Battle, which had Amy basically forcing Cream to "boxercise" with her despite Cream's major reluctance (granted, Amy was horribly flanderized in that game but still). Sonic Rush, which had Amy (super uncharacteristically) threaten Cream with her hammer after Cream (also very uncharacteristically I should add) called Amy "short-sighted", and Cream also said "Not again" in response, hinting that this has happened before (although, again, Amy was horribly flanderized in Rush as well, save for her "speech" to Blaze about how you need friends to accomplish things). And then Free Riders, where Amy was extremely vicious with everyone, especially Vector, but she was still very unkind with Cream. 

Not that I don't agree to a certain extent, but I am under the impression that it is in character for Cream. Cream's whole thing is that she is a polite, yet naive and pacifistic cute girl who gets involved in the adventure and conflict with Dr. Eggman because she wants to help the people she cares about. With that said, Cream also has a habit of saying things that could be taken by the negative minded as being slightly rude or insulting without really meaning to. Heroes, which was originally her debut, has a similar instance of her absentmindedly doubting Sonamy out loud before quickly handwaving it away when Amy gets curious about what she means. 

But flanderization for Amy definitely prompted the scary responses, leading to their friendship being portrayed in a negative light. However, as this blog about controversial characters points out, Cream is sometimes blamed for what is essentially a failure on the writer's part to properly distinguish and define the characters. Cream is the polite kid sidekick who is a caring girl, so Tails and Amy became the prodigy genius and the hotheaded stalker, respectively.

Also, its been a while since I saw the Free Riders cutscenes online, but I believe I skipped on Team Rose so I'll have to get back with you on that one.

[MetalSkulkBane]

Sorry, I don't buy it. What "not allow to"? Are you saying that Flynn wanted Chip to talk with Antoine about cooking and Sega was like "Noooooooooo! Stop ruining our vision Flynn!". I have hard time believing that.

58 minutes ago, Faseeh said:

Hey! Just curious, what would you guys consider some of the best arcs/stories that the comics have put out? (Spin-off, main continuity, adaptation, crossover... all goes, I'm up for almost anything)

I've been seeing some great art come from the comics, so I'd be interested at looking into them  

Hmm, that's a good question. There are a lot of moments and characters I really like, but I have hard time picking favorite stories, pretty much every story has some problems.

Before Flynn: I guess Mecha Madness (Issue 39 + mecha madness special) and Sonic Quest miniseries

After Flynn came: Sonic Universe #1 (this is my favorite story), Treasure Team Tango (SU 21-24) and Silver Saga (SU 25-28

After Reboot: Championship, Protoman Vs Knuckles

[KoDaiko]

32 minutes ago, Detective Reptiles said:

This is an interesting comment...

 

I dunno. It sounds ridiculous that they can't use Chip as much when you know, its the only game he appears in and is an important character in the game? Also, even if the current Chip is the maximum amount they can show, as a comic writer wouldn't they been able to make him not lose the spotlight/focus as much...? As Kazhnuz said I won't be surprised if Ian/Archie wanted to "feature Chip more" by making him do things he wouldn't do both during and after the adaption, which SEGA denied.

Even if SEGA not allowing was the truth, I don't think Ian is 100% free of blame. I still think they had fault in Chip's treatment.

[DabigRG]

3 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Sorry, I don't buy it. What "not allow to"? Are you saying that Flynn wanted Chip to talk with Antoine about cooking and Sega was like "Noooooooooo! Stop ruining our vision Flynn!". I have hard time believing that.

A big fan of Chip, I take it?

[Sean]

Flynn was the one who handled Chip's arc the way he did so that's still on his shoulders. Limited screen time or not, Chip is nowhere near as effective as he comes across in the game because there's nothing left to discover about him as the SWC comes to a close. They handled his introduction and revelation that he's Light Gaia extremely poorly.

[Toby]

Chip was the absolute worst part of Sonic Unleashed in my opinion, so the fact that he was featured less in the Archie version makes it that much more enjoyable for me.

[Shadowlax]

1 hour ago, Detective Reptiles said:

This is an interesting comment...

 

hmmm....

Yeah I can see sega doing that

[SBR2]

19 hours ago, kirby1up said:

the humble bundle antics continue now it looks like the chaotix are in the spotlight.

 

Gotta give them credit they know what worked for them.

As for the Chip thing. Wow it's almost like they have to answer to Sega and that Sega's whims are the top priority or something.

[Sean]

So the humble bundle's add-on is up aaaaand... it's just a low-quality compilation of various other stories in the same bundle. Only new comic in it is Babylon Rising part 1.

Was hoping for Worlds Unite or at least some older issues that didn't contain any Penders/Bollers characters.

[MetalSkulkBane]

"Panic in the Sky" is better made out of gold, Belgian chocolate and cure for cancer.

This might be the lowest point in Flynn's writing. I might not like All Star Racing adaptation, Collide, Countdown to Chaos,Genesis arc or last few issues, but we moved forward. The amount of exposition that could've been cut... I'll just talk about everything else.

1 Where's Bow? I get he didn't appear yet, but that's weird that Sally didn't call him

2 I know those emoticons and spam joke should be funny, but they kinda ruin Phage's scary image. Feels of character.

3 Second story was a bit better (ignoring that hideous wall of text), but now I'm scare that arc will be too crowded again.

41 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

A big fan of Chip, I take it?

He's just okay. At first I though I would hate him, but I do like that he always seems to care about everyone around him. He's a greedy glutton, yet he always shares his chocolate.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

25 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

"Panic in the Sky" is better made out of gold, Belgian chocolate and cure for cancer.

This might be the lowest point in Flynn's writing. I might not like All Star Racing adaptation, Collide, Countdown to Chaos,Genesis arc or last few issues, but we moved forward. The amount of exposition that could've been cut... I'll just talk about everything else.

1 Where's Bow? I get he didn't appear yet, but that's weird that Sally didn't call him

2 I know those emoticons and spam joke should be funny, but they kinda ruin Phage's scary image. Feels of character.

3 Second story was a bit better (ignoring that hideous wall of text), but now I'm scare that arc will be too crowded again.

He's just okay. At first I though I would hate him, but I do like that he always seems to care about everyone around him. He's a greedy glutton, yet he always shares his chocolate.

So just to be clear. This is Ian's low point of writing because...

1. A character created to be an expy because Penders hit them with something they couldn't see til the last minute, where it was too late to rewrite the book hasn't appeared yet.

2. Emotes and Spam jokes

Fair enough, I haven't read the issue yet, but the lowest point? At the end of the day, it's a recap story for over 25 issues of story before the finale, and considering we had stories like Endangered Species, or some of the shitty secondary stories (Not Ian, but still) like A Nice Day to Start Again, and this is the worst?