Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[Big Panda]

Trivial thing completely unrelated to the story content but: I wish they'd dedicate the last double pages to next issue previews more often.

[shdowhunt60]

I think that Tails was written in this arc just to have a SegaSonic character on the cover other than Big.

By the way, speaking of the purple cat, he was amazing even if he wasn't the focus of the narrative.

Pretty sure everyone figured that out in the first issue. It's annoying because Alleah Baker keeps doing it.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Truthfully after reading this arc, you know what I'd like to see Ian try. A BIG THE CAT ARC. No seriously. Come on, Ian.

No. What the comic needs is a Big/Momma Robotnik crossover!

[Kuzu]

Pretty sure everyone figured that out in the first issue. It's annoying because Alleah Baker keeps doing it.

 

Its one arc mang, I doubt this is going to be a recurring thing.

[E-122-Psi]

Okay read the final issue aaaand....same as what I said before really.

 

I find it ironic that NICOLE has this whole 'not so different' realisation concerning being reckless. Keeping in mind that Sally is CEASELESSLY chiding Sonic for taking risks and not once at any point she did the same thing did she make the same connection. At least breaking her approach could have made for at least some substance in their chemistry that way.

 

Too much of this was exposition. I get the feeling Sally's mind being too logical to manipulate the setup of the virtual world would have been a great nod to her 'killjoy' demeanour if it was acted out, and we see her try and fail to use an imagination of any kind instead of NICOLE just explaining it all ("Okay, okay...I can fly...I CAN FLYYYY-OOF!! I can dash, I can da- NO, NO, I WON'T! THAT'S JUST STUPID!"). I feel like Ian's team doesn't have the heart to make Sally look like a buffoon in any way, which seriously castrates any attempt to make her flawed. I mean that cooking gag actually seems like their tops.

 

 

[Tenko]

Poor Ian, he seems to be getting sick of people asking about Shard, Scourge and other characters that he isn't allowed to talk about if his recent posts on Facebook are anything to go by. I feel for the guy, how many times can he say that he's not allowed to talk about it before people stop pestering him

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Okay read the final issue aaaand....same as what I said before really.

 

I find it ironic that NICOLE has this whole 'not so different' realisation concerning being reckless. Keeping in mind that Sally is CEASELESSLY chiding Sonic for taking risks and not once at any point she did the same thing did she make the same connection. At least breaking her approach could have made for at least some substance in their chemistry that way.

 

Or maybe have other characters criticize her blatant mistakes. It's not like that would hurt Sally's characterization that much, and could knock her down a peg. I've seen plenty of high-badass and competent characters like her make a colossal screw up and have other characters under their command chew them out, like Major Kusanagi of Ghost in the Shell fame. They might be trying to balance something with Sally so as to play things safe...for some reason.

 

Regarding a Big arc, wouldn't that be rather difficult considering how simplistic he is? Were this the games, I'd be adamantly against it until the writing and gameplay got better, but even in the comics it seems like it would pose a serious challenge to focus on him without giving other characters as big a focus and diluting him being central to it. They did that in the Cat Country arc back in the old continuity (which is where my beliefs of Big did a complete 180), and it seemed more centered on Sonic, Sally, and the Wolf Tribe and Cat People dealing with the Co-Grandmasters Drago and Razorklaw while Big was just a support.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

other characters as big a focus 

 

That pun

 

I really think it'd be a bad idea to give Big an Universe arc because, when you get right down to it, he's really only in a small supporting role. The other arcs, you can make arguments that the characters have a whole back story and fun personality to back up the arcs. Tails & Knuckles being part of the main cast, Shadow being the anti-hero of the group and part of the main cast, Silver having the whole back story of being a time traveler working to save his future etc.

 

Big isn't big enough (Pun Intended) to hold up an arc because in the grand scheme of things, both his character and personality isn't strong enough to hold up an arc. It would be like giving Cream an arc or giving King Acorn an arc. I just don't think Big could hold up an entire four issue arc on his own.

[biznizz]

Poor Ian, he seems to be getting sick of people asking about Shard, Scourge and other characters that he isn't allowed to talk about if his recent posts on Facebook are anything to go by. I feel for the guy, how many times can he say that he's not allowed to talk about it before people stop pestering him

 

Yeah, they should really stop pestering him about legal issues he can't control.

 

...What people should be pestering him about is the current status of the re-re-rewrite of Lost Hedgehog Tales that he IS in control of.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

That pun

 

I really think it'd be a bad idea to give Big an Universe arc because, when you get right down to it, he's really only in a small supporting role. The other arcs, you can make arguments that the characters have a whole back story and fun personality to back up the arcs. Tails & Knuckles being part of the main cast, Shadow being the anti-hero of the group and part of the main cast, Silver having the whole back story of being a time traveler working to save his future etc.

 

Big isn't big enough (Pun Intended) to hold up an arc because in the grand scheme of things, both his character and personality isn't strong enough to hold up an arc. It would be like giving Cream an arc or giving King Acorn an arc. I just don't think Big could hold up an entire four issue arc on his own.

See, I don't know.

 

Cream and King Acorn have a lot to them to make an arc, or at the very least you can build one for them.

 

And because of that, I don't find it too far fetched for Big to to be strong enough to hold up an arc. The key problem is what do you create for Big? It seems really easy, but it can come off as rather difficult depending on what it is you want to give him. Because in doing so, Big won't be very simple anymore, which may or may not be a plus. (I'd consider it a plus, but even as I find Big absolutely awesome in the comics, I'm still not that much of a fan compared to other characters)

 

Still, the logic stands: if you can do it for one simple character, you can do it for others. And Cream and King Acorn aren't really that simple when you look at them, and are in fact a lot more complex that Big.

[goku262002]

I think that Tails was written in this arc just to have a SegaSonic character on the cover other than Big.

By the way, speaking of the purple cat, he was amazing even if he wasn't the focus of the narrative.

^This. I think its a mandate for Universe to have a Sonic game character in each Universe arc, they don't need to centralized or written very good but they just need to be there.

[Tenko]

Ian replied to one of my posts on Facebook regarding Mecha Sonic. He's pretty good with the lore I'll give him that, said that the Mecha Sonic version that jumped the Master Emerald returning seemed unlikely due Knuckles completely destroying him if you go by the sprites in the game. Which is true, but he was rebuilt as seen in Eggman's Mystic Ruins base in Sonic Adventure, as I pointed out afterwards, so he might have a hook to bring back a new version of Mecha Sonic, I mean Silver Sonic was destroyed too, hasn't stopped him coming back, and he was there in the pods alongside Mecha Sonic.

He did say however, even if he came up with a decent story to bring him into the comics in the new universe, Sega wouldn't allow him to go "Super", regardless of the fact that he had that potential (almost) once before. Mandates must be pretty tight around super forms it seems, surprised he got away with Nicole's semi super type form in this case.

[biznizz]

Yep. I think that SEGA's said that Hyper Knuckles & Super Tails from S3&K aren't even canon anymore, let alone Super Emeralds; hence the Super Shields in Heroes. Just more stuff to add to the mandates like: SPOILED FOR RETREAD OF OLD GROUND FOR THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY WELL AWARE

 

(despite Ian's hoping otherwise against Iizuka's statements) Team Chaotix are different from the ones in the 32X game,

no Dr. (Eggman) Nega despite nearly everything else Rush related,

(barring Captain Metal, who might not exist anymore due to the SGW eating at Sol Zone) only one Metal Sonic of that model,

(active) game characters can't have family members (so Uncle Chuck is just an unrelated blue spiky hedgehog, and Snively is just some guy who helped Eggman in the past despite Eggman having two confirmed family members in Gerald & Maria),

and more that I can't think of for now, I'm sure.

[Wittymations]

As far as Big being Simple and having his own arc, I will say Forrest Gump is one of the best movies ever and he's a simple guy.

 

I think characters like that answer complex problems with a very simple answer -- something that shouldn't work but does.

[E-122-Psi]

Big may work in terms of having a unique point of view (as mentioned watch Forrest Gump). His story in SA1 was essentially this, a simple, seemingly unimportant guy obliviously stuck in an epic scheme of things and altering them significantly without wanting to. Add in perhaps a couple of saner supporting characters like Sally or Amy for contrast in view and it could make for a very unique arc.

 

 

[Sunwalker]

So, for whoever is interested, here is a better resolution image of Overclocked Nicole:

[shdowhunt60]

Its one arc mang, I doubt this is going to be a recurring thing.

Except it is a reccurring thing. She made Tails a throwaway character in the Waves of Change subplot where Sally and Co are getting the chaos emerald from the crystal caves. And I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't the case next arc when Sonic and Chip pair up.

[therealfalconpawnch77]

Except it is a reccurring thing. She made Tails a throwaway character in the Waves of Change subplot where Sally and Co are getting the chaos emerald from the crystal caves. And I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't the case next arc when Sonic and Chip pair up.

That was three back stories, that isn't even comparable to this, a full four issue arc.

[shdowhunt60]

That was three back stories, that isn't even comparable to this, a full four issue arc.

Except that this is another story arc written by Alleah-Baker. Unless I see something breaking a trend here, I'm not going to be convinced.

[Kuzu]

So what are you even trying to say? That she hates Tails and has some agenda against him or something :V

[therealfalconpawnch77]

Except that this is another story arc written by Alleah-Baker. Unless I see something breaking a trend here, I'm not going to be convinced.

So two is a trend now? My Statistics teacher would slap me upside the head if I suggested something like that to him. There is no trend to break it's just coincidence.

[Forte-Metallix]

Yep. I think that SEGA's said that Hyper Knuckles & Super Tails from S3&K aren't even canon anymore, let alone Super Emeralds; hence the Super Shields in Heroes. Just more stuff to add to the mandates like: SPOILED FOR RETREAD OF OLD GROUND FOR THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY WELL AWARE

 

(despite Ian's hoping otherwise against Iizuka's statements) Team Chaotix are different from the ones in the 32X game,

no Dr. (Eggman) Nega despite nearly everything else Rush related,

(barring Captain Metal, who might not exist anymore due to the SGW eating at Sol Zone) only one Metal Sonic of that model,

(active) game characters can't have family members (so Uncle Chuck is just an unrelated blue spiky hedgehog, and Snively is just some guy who helped Eggman in the past despite Eggman having two confirmed family members in Gerald & Maria),

and more that I can't think of for now, I'm sure.

 

Correct. Also, 

-Sonic can't cry/get overly emotional

-No active Sega character can get into a steady relationship

Though, a certain robot hedgehog seems to be breaking that rule.

Hopefully.

-Amy can't fall in love with anyone other than Sonic

-Any material from X, Underground, Fleetway, or the OVA is forbidden

-In flashbacks, "classic" versions of characters must have their current eye color (or, something along those lines)

-Sonic can never completely lose a fight

-Eggman can never be permanently defeated

[shdowhunt60]

So what are you even trying to say? That she hates Tails and has some agenda against him or something :V

No, that she's dragging in SEGA characters to sell her story arc.

I'm sorry, am I striking a nerve here?

[Your Vest Friend]

If you want to blame anyone for bringing in SEGA characters just for the sake of trying to push a bigger name, blame Kaminski for setting the precedent. At least with Spark of Life, it was upfront about where the focus truly lay instead of promising big stuff for the SEGA character only for them to basically learn nothing they hadn't already known (traitor plot ho!).

 

I don't even think Light in the Dark could be cited as an example because, you know, the selling point was the Werehog, not Tails.

Edit PS Stuff;

Ian replied to one of my posts on Facebook regarding Mecha Sonic. He's pretty good with the lore I'll give him that, said that the Mecha Sonic version that jumped the Master Emerald returning seemed unlikely due Knuckles completely destroying him if you go by the sprites in the game. Which is true, but he was rebuilt as seen in Eggman's Mystic Ruins base in Sonic Adventure, as I pointed out afterwards, so he might have a hook to bring back a new version of Mecha Sonic, I mean Silver Sonic was destroyed too, hasn't stopped him coming back, and he was there in the pods alongside Mecha Sonic.

He did say however, even if he came up with a decent story to bring him into the comics in the new universe, Sega wouldn't allow him to go "Super", regardless of the fact that he had that potential (almost) once before. Mandates must be pretty tight around super forms it seems, surprised he got away with Nicole's semi super type form in this case.

Can you screengrab or something for proof? If you need to edit it to black bar names, that's dandy.

[E-122-Psi]

So what are you even trying to say? That she hates Tails and has some agenda against him or something :V

 

It's likely Tails is just one of those characters she can't 'grip onto'. We all have character archetypes we better understand and grow attached to, and writers, even the most versatile kind, are no exception, hence why so many tend to change a little when under another writer's pen.

 

I think the problem is that usually with a team of writers they tend to balance each other out and make the story versatile, but Ian and most of the others tend to have a very similar style from what I've seen. They all tend to focus more easily on the same character types and thus the same flubs are never fixed.