Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[QuantumEdge]

I actually found Pirate Plunder Panic (or Triple P as I like to call it) to be a real treat to read.  Probably one of my favourite arcs in Sonic Universe.  It had tonnes of funny moments, as well as a strong villain and some great good ol' fashioned action.  I just wish Blaze wasn't captured so much.  Hopefully we'll see Yardley do more writing in the future.

[Your Vest Friend]

I thought Pirate Plunder Panic simply wasn't interesting, I couldn't get into Blaze's plight and it was full of false dangers, non events and exposition that clashed with the tone of the script. It got better in the latter half by a bit, but by then I think I was just so cut off. So the things that happened in the last issue and were supposed to be the money moments (Burning Blaze, Amy and Cream (and Bean and Bark) getting back home) just kind of happened and didn't have the emotional effect of awe and intrigue respectively.

 

But Shadow Fall already looks and sound interesting. I can dig it. 

 

 

Edit: Off the thought track, Weaponised Sally and Iron Rotor concept art!

 

 

 

 

Weaponized Mecha Sally

 

This one took a lot more time and a lot more doodling. When I started the design I didn't know what "weaponizing" her actually meant, all I knew was she transformed into a stronger robot. I suppose I thought there was some very specific plans for what she would do and how it would relate to the story, and those details would eventually influence the design decisions. While I waited to find that out I had a vibe in my mind I wanted to explore, which is what all the top sketches are. 

 

The dark red trim/band around the bottom of her hair with the low pointed bangs gave me an idea to imply the shape as a sort of hat, giving her a potential evil military officer vibe.   

 

Looking through the sketches there I guess I started toying around with a big arm cannon, which looks cool, and it didn't take long to start messing around with a powerful laser cannon inside her head/hair (which I'm happy to say become one of her actual weapons used in the comic).

 

As you can see in the color sketches, Sally has very few pieces of metal with her fur tone. Knowing that this design would influence her deroboticized design down the road, gave me the opportunity to start familiarizing the reader with a Sally baring less fur. 

 

I sent these ideas off and was given the direction to try a sleeker body design. Editor Paul Kaminski also stated an interest in designing signature weapons for her, and I'm pretty sure he specified the idea of arm blades, which were super tough to figure out! 

 

I wanted something simple, something that could conceivably be used by an actual enemy in the games.  Although it can vary throughout the last twenty years, Sonic badguys usually fall into a fun and cartoony design approach, they attack with lightbulbs or launch spikes at you. More lethal threats tend to be laser beams, missiles, and bombs. 

Getting away from Eggman's robots, the character's powers and attacks tend to also be simple and unique. Curling up into balls, or a big hammer, or maybe throwing a giant shuriken. I wanted to bend these arm blades over into that kind of thinking as much as I could. Just because I could do anything I wanted to didn't mean I wanted to go for the easy solutions, I wanted it to fit in and be right.

What would it look like if Metal Sonic had arm blades? 

 

Unfortunately I don't think Metal Sonic's blades would look anything like what I came up with. These are too straightforward, too generic. The energy blades are kind of fun I suppose, but they're still not "there".

I did these drawings two and half years ago, and I can see what I might do differently now to come up with a better idea but I don't want to beat myself up too much about it. I was designing three forms of Sally all at the same time after all, my mind was thinking about a lot of stuff. 

 

So from there I did the turnaround and right at the end Paul had the idea to use power rings as her power source and add a compartment to her back. Her chest is very small and I wasn't sure how big power rings were supposed to be, but you can see my suggested solution if there was a size discrepancy. 

 

To be totally honest, when I was working on the Sonic comics I read every issue to stay up to date but around the time Sally was weaponized I started doing work on Mega Man and then eventually for other comic companies and put the story on hold. I've got all the issues stacked up for any future reference, but I really haven't read anything after issue 232. Was the power ring backpack ever shown in an issue? 

 

Oh yeah, and if you didn't notice her backpack is a slightly modified Dreamcast.

 

So because I jumped over to Mega Man I never got the chance to draw a Weaponized Mecha Sally story! It was something I really felt I missed out on. Luckily, during the Worlds Collide arc I got to spend at least one little moment with her.  

 

The last few images are some of my favorite stuff, her attacks and powers! It was a pleasant surprise to learn that I could design her weapons. Aside from Pauls suggestion about the arm blades, I thought it would be cool if she used lightning and tried to think what attacks she would have in a game. 

 

The first image is her using a Lightening Shield to block attacks. I don't know if the Lightening Shield has even been used in the comics before, but if not, more game elements added, haha! I thought she could also capture other characters in the shield.

 

 

 

 

Looking through all this old Sonic stuff I discovered these. The Iron Rotor suit was the first concept work I did for Archie.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Really, the more I look at this awesome concept art, the more pissed off I'm reminded of how its story was never finished.

[Fletch]

Sneak peek time! Have some purdy Jamal Peppers art:

Woah... Jamal Pepper! Your art is killing me! ...In a good way! Looking really darn good imo. 

And I really wasn't all that interested in this arc at first (I don't have a subscription to Sonic Universe yet, only Sonic The Hedgehog, so....), but now this arc has really caught my attention. I might need to quickly get an Universe subscription so I won't miss all the other future awesome arcs, and probably need to hit the comic book store for this Shadow issue whenever it becomes available at comic book stores. 

[DarkLight]

I was won over by Jamal's pencils.

 

Interest in this arc has gone up a bit for me.

[Toby]

Jamal, Ben, Tracy, these guys make it such a joy to pick up a new issue!

[Big Panda]

Other Black Arms colonies...of course there are, the whole species are like insects, how'd I not think of that?

[Eitarou]

"I am the shadow that blocks out

the last light of hope."

 

Ow, that stings.

 

As someone who enjoyed Shadow the Hedgehog, this looks amazing.

 

Love Jamal Peppers' art here.

[Sparky]

I'm now wondering if Eclipse was named after the Eclipse Cannon.

[Dejimon11]

So what did you guys think of Pirate Plunder Panic? It actually reminds me a lot of Treasure Team Tango in the sense that it had a tons of funny dialogue and character interactions. The plot was pretty nice, I never played Rush Adventure but i enjoyed the pirate world regardless, that final moment where everyone says goodbye really was a heartwarming scene. Overall id say it's a good arc.

 

Also..

 

Is Bean and Bark apart of Amy's group now? Because they were looking pretty damn serious when they got back, lol

I really didn't like I don't know it just felt really bland to me I'm going to have to re read it to fully explain why

[Big Panda]

So I noticed in the spoiler that

they once again use the term "Earth". Are they using it as the name of the planet or in a general context?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

No need to spoiler tag it. I'm sure they said they can't use Mobius anymore, so the planet is now Earth.

[Your Vest Friend]

They said they can't use Mobius, yes.

 

There are still a lot on Bumbleking who refuse to call it Earth even though it's a valid game term. 

[InfinityAlex]

Well, going off Worlds Collide, it's a parallel planet to Mega Man's Earth, so Earth works fine for me.

[DarkLight]

Well since that whole 'Xorda dropped a gene bomb that de-evolved humans and evolved animals overtime' bullshit has been axed from this continuity, I say it's fine change.

[Big Panda]

From what Ian's implied, he can't use Mobius anymore, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's no longer it's name.

As far as I'm concerned: it's still called Mobius until stated otherwise. Until a character can actually be seen saying "we are on planet Earth" it's still Mobius in my head.

[Arcade Racer CC14]

Tower doesn't actually call it the Earth. He only says "The planet" or "Our world."

[Komodin]

Tower doesn't actually call it the Earth. He only says "The planet" or "Our world."

 

Well, gosh, this just raises further questions, really. Why are they being so vague about the exact name of their home planet?

[Dejimon11]

Do the games even call the planet by name? If I can recall unleashed kept calling it "the planet" and "the world"

And if i recall correctly sonic colors made it worse when eggman kept referring it as "sonic's world"

[Big Panda]

"Shadow, what do you think it's like on Earth?"

-Maria, Sonic Adventure 2

 

"Do you really think...that the professor created him, Shadow, to carry out his revenge on all those who lived here on Earth?"

-Rouge, Sonic Adventure 2

 

Note how neither of these instances just say "The Earth".

[Mauro Fonseca]

Also note how in normal human speech, we rarely even use the name of the planet, just calling it "planet" or "planet Earth". That said, I do think it's most often called "the Earth" than just "Earth" in speech.

EDIT: I mean, "They're going to consume the Earth" clearly stipulates the planet vs "They're going to consume Earth" which can also mean dirt

[goku262002]

Anything before Sonic Unleashed is now void, by Sonic Team's standards the planet has no name anymore. its just "Sonic's World".

And in that sense we lost the Mobius name too, All apart of this "trying to get the comics more like the games" agenda SEGA has been pushing for the past few years now.

[Splash the Otter]

Anything before Sonic Unleashed is now void, by Sonic Team's standards

Can you prove that?

 

the planet has no name anymore. its just "Sonic's World".

Which is a ridiculous name for a planet if you ask me. What's wrong with just calling it Earth?

[Kuzu]

Does it really matter, its a name.

[ElectricAngel]

Can you prove that?

Well I can see how goku262002 thinks this way. In an early interview with Sonic Team during the development of Sonic Unleashed, they said they were doing a "soft reboot" with the series. And in every game past Unleashed we've seen some sort of continuity. In Colors, Dr. Eggman still has Orbot and Cubot and later in Generations, Colors' story is tied in. And even in Lost World we see connection to Colors with Sonic calling Eggman Baldy McNosehair.

Edited December 16, 2013 by SwiftWinds