#Jeff Powell

[paulagnewart]

Sonic the Oz-Hog Act 4/12: Knux Readux!

Knuckles the Echidna Volume 2 issue 1 AU Publication Date: 14th April 1997 Price: $2.70

Spinoffs. No self-respecting media can live with them. No self-aggrandising media can live without them. And for those of us who lived through the space year that was 1997, corporations were chomping at the bit for a slice of those sweet spinoff dollarydoos.

Best place to start and witness such influence would be, arguably, the cinema. After Baz Luhrmann's blockbuster remake Romeo + Juliet spent weeks atop the box office, the majority of March was a bitter struggle between Wes Craven's thriller Scream and Cameron Crowe's football drama Jerry Maguire. A fascinating if ultimately pointless grudge match between two distinct genres. For all their efforts, neither claimed victory when by month's end, a film 20 years their senior blasted both off the map. The Star Wars Special Editions had arrived.

The promotion (and merchandise deals) was huge. A New Hope proved an instant hit, swiftly followed on 10th April by The Empire Strikes Back. Everything old was new again, and the re-hits just kept coming. Audiences pounded the pavements, eager to revisit Jurassic Park when its sequel The Lost World saw release on 29th May (only a week after its US premiere, a then-impressive feat). Superhero buffs ignored the winter freeze to watch Batman and Robin on 26th June, a film often lauded yet pulled respectable numbers and local reviews at the time.

Speaking of space, following a successful campaign through latter 1996, the Oddbodz were back. Smith's Chips and Glow Zone launched their second series of 61 collectable glow-in-the-dark cards featuring a myriad of wacky, wicked and occasionally controversial space-themed characters. If gross-out humour wasn't your speed, ripping into packs of Thins, Ruffles, Cheetos or Doritos chips instead offered adventures in a galaxy far far away with official Star Wars 3D Magic Motion and Techno Tazos.

After the toyline's initial launch in January, Beast Wars had successfully put Transformers back on the map, though kids would have to wait at least three more months to see their favourite characters in animated action. To Channel 7's credit, they at least gave the program a decent timeslot. More than can be said for Channel 9's decision that April to broadcast the all-new Star Trek: Voyager season 2 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 4 at the ghastly time of 11pm weeknights.

In spite of the former losing 30 minutes off its timeslot, the rivalry between weekday morning children's entertainment continued between Agro's Cartoon Connection and Cheez TV. Both were banking on the spinoff craze, and viewers waking up 14th April could choose between the premiere of Power Rangers Zeo episode 'Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise', or the premiere of Earthworm Jim episode 'Darwin's Nightmare'. For the musically inclined, American rockers No Doubt had enjoyed 8 weeks atop the music charts with the third single on their third album, 'Don't Speak'. At least until April saw them bumped off by Aussie pop prodigy Savage Garden and their third single 'Truly Madly Deeply'.

But of all the spinoffs to arise and bedazzle locals, after three years of development and an exclusive preview party the night prior, SEGA World Sydney opened its doors at 4pm on Saturday 22nd March 1997. Touted in print and on TV as "Australia's Largest Indoor Theme Park!", it offered hours of unrivalled entertainment and programs for Sydneysiders and visitors alike. Anyone who could afford its hefty entry fee lost themselves in all the games and rides they could handle (except Mortal Kombat, which was pulled last-minute). An escape into pixilated fantasy guaranteed to forget their real-world troubles for several hours. Mundane adult things like Victoria and Western Australia's brief yet brutal summer bushfire seasons where 3 lives and some 59 homes were lost. Or how after one year into the top job, captain conservative John Howard faced international anger over comments at the United Nations General Assembly, and local anger over casual dismissing threats by extreme right-wing rival Pauline Hanson's One Nation party.

Be it stage shows, costumed cameos and all types of merchandise featuring their antics, fans of Sonic, Tails, Sally and Robotnik were in paradise. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for a fifth member of the cast. For someone who enjoyed strong popularity and a species originating right there, SEGA World put the bare minimum effort into giving Knuckles the Echidna his own time to shine. A remarkable oversight undoubtedly leaving young fans wondering where that embattled echidna was hiding. As luck would soon have it, they needn't look far.

Nestled comfortably among the shelves between Sonic issues 45 and 46 came Knuckles: The Dark Legion. Sales had proven strong enough (or at least stronger than Tails and Sally's comics) to warrant the development of a second miniseries. Exciting in its own right, only amplified when exclusively announced through AOL in January 1997 it would evolve to a fully-fledged ongoing spinoff. No longer was trotting off to the newsagents exclusively a Friday end-of-month treat. Knuckles' arrival meant a mandatory Monday mid-month booster for us deprived of Mobian adventures.

Over the course of its 32 issue run, Knuckles the Echidna was, much like Endgame two months later, once praised as a pinnacle of Archie Sonic. Fans adored the series, giving ol' Rad Red his own unique mythos and adventures. While Sonic naffed around aimlessly in a post-Robotnik world, we saw Knuckles as the cool, 'mature' comic. He had stakes. He had drama. Quite a turnaround after the heavy criticism its writer took in late 1996 over Sally's leaked demise. Within months he was described as "a kewl writer!", or "one of the ONLY "good" and "balanced" writers Archie has", or how they're "so much better then sonic comics now its not funny." with "all the good villains and family members." Fans swarmed en mass to his WWWBoard, creating their own stories, characters and entire websites tied to the Brotherhood and Dark Legion. Not everyone agreed on the book's mission statement "Why does everybody liek it so much? All it is really is a bunch of Penders' characters running around with slight appearacnes by Chaotix and occasionally knuckles himself.", but it made a lot of other people happy. Enough for both The Dark Legion and Lost Paradise reissued as 'back catalogue' orders to selected comic book stores in late 2004.

And just like Endgame, those nostalgic memories have since dissipated when adults reflected on his tales with matured, scrutinous eyes. We grow. We learn. We reevaluate on what was once adored as adolescents, realising perhaps those good times weren't all that good. Maybe the series and characters were fine in concept but lacked competent execution. Maybe our childish expectations meant they were never good to begin with and the critics were right all along.

The youthful, creative glory days from the late-90's to mid-2000's of Knuckles of an Echidna, Kragok Comics, Echidna Gals, Dark Legion HQ, Echidnapolis, Knux Redux, Tisha-Li's Dark Legion Camp, Kensuke Aida's Julie-Su Shrine, Echidnoyle, Shattered Moonlight, Knuckles 9000, Kiri Megami's Chaotix Hideout, Darkest Mysteries, and of course True Red's mighty Knuckles Haven have long passed.

It's from learning said past our futures are forged, but do any of these characters have a future? Do they even deserve a future?

Or maybe it's just best they're all forever banished to the Twilight Zone of cultural irrelevance.

Next Time: For years I said it wouldn't be done. Yet promises, like the hearts and cheekbones of fictitious rodents, were made to be broken. Will May's hedgie rectrospect-y truly be worthy of such hate? Or have revisionists painted a far worse picture over the past two decades?

< Previous \ Index / Next >

[sonicpanels]

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Ongoing) #110: "One For All: A Tale of Princess Sally"

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: J. Axer Inks: Andrew Pepoy or Pam Eklund Letters: Jeff Powell Colors: Josh & Aimee Ray

Editor/Art Director: Justin Gabrie Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick

[onedegreeofsoniccomics]

Sabrina the Teenage Witch (2000) #68: "Wish You Were Here"

Story Credits

Writer/Pencils: Tania del Rio

Inks: Jim Amash

Colors: Jason Jensen

Letters: Jeff Powell

Editorial Team

Editor: Victor Gorelick

Assistant Editor: Mike Pellerito

[graphicpolicy]

Preview: Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs

Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs preview. Following East African werewolves secretly living in Miami, as this minority within a minority is caught in a burgeoning war that threatens both lycanthrope and human lives #comics #comicbooks

[urbaneturtle]

No Context Comics: A Look at 3 Books I Don’t Read from the Week of October 16th

Welcome back for another edition of the regular column, No Context Comics, where I review 3 comic books from series I do not read! I like to break down these serialized stories into their individual parts and look at them in isolation and see how they work on their own. Sometimes the best way to do that is without the baggage of the whole story! This week’s reviews include Marvel’s The…

[smashpages]

Skin Police #1 arrives in comic book stores this week.

See what else is arriving at your local comic shop this week.

SDCC | Jordan Thomas + Daniel Gete enforce over-the-top thrills in ‘Skin Police’ this October

When black market clone babies go bad, the Skin Police are on the case.

[white-boy-of-the-year]

WHITE BOY ENJOYERS. IT'S ALMOST TIME.

The Second Annual White Boy of the Year Tournament is just around the corner, and this year we have a Google Form for yall to choose the top 16 (or 64) candidates for WBOTY 2024!!!

Get hyped and happy voting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(UPDATE 11/14/2024): The form will be closing on NOVEMBER 24th. This should be plenty of time, and a day or two prior to Thanksgiving, we will reveal the final bracket.

[rhapsodynew]

#rare photos

[genevieveetguy]

. No, I'm not seasick. No, I didn't eat grass as a child and yes, I've always been green.

Wicked: Part I, Jon M. Chu (2024)

[bullet-prooflove]

Good Lookin Prompt List

Please check the updated character list on my pinned post to see who I am writing for before submitting a prompt!

Also read the rules and do not forget to put the entire prompt into your ask!

There's something 'bout the way you look in my eyes

Like a starry night, you light up my sky

You lean in closer and my heart starts to pound

I heard you sigh, you know I love that sound

You break me, then I break my rules

I can hardly breathe when he's pumping deep inside

That if I can't be close to you I'll settle for the ghost of you

I still haven't heard from your family But you said your mom always loved me

Man, that boy so damn good looking

Thought you'd see it coming, but you never could

I miss your touch on nights when I'm hollow

We made love and then he kissed me, I don't want it to end

You'd be the love of my life when I was young

Every day we spend together, I fall more into him

Wanna give myself to you

Yeah, 'cause I tossed and turned the covers

Outside of the party, smokin' in the car with you

You're more than the sunshine in my eyes

I'm sorry if you blame me, if I were you I would

Yeah, we're driving down the freeway at night

You can kiss a hundred boys in bars Shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling

I miss you more than life 

That boy he takes my breath away, I can't find the words to say

I see the look in your eye and I'm biting my tongue

So I wrote this little note, kiss it, seal it, so you know

Small talk and you tell me that you're on fire

With your head in your hands, you're nothing more than his wife

Last time was the last time too

I made a mistake and I'll tell you I'm sorry

You can say that we are nothing, but you know the truth

Almost tried to call you, don't know if I should

I'm tryna find you in a crowd again You were there then you were gone

Your memory is ecstasy

You've been on my mind baby, let me remind you while I lay you down

I can't get enough, I'm stuck in your love

I'm cliché, who cares?

You got me stuck on the thought of you

When you wake up next to him in the middle of the night

It's a sexually explicit kind of love affair

Seven Nation Army, fightin' at the bar with you

You can be my king, no, this ain't just a fling

Now take 'em off and let's get down to business

When the night is over Don't call me up

With her arms out like an angel through the car sunroof

You are exactly what I want, kinda cool and kinda not

I don't wanna call it off But you don't wanna call it love

You turn around and fuck out all my brains

'Cause I couldn't leave you if I tried

Just because you're hurting doesn't mean I'm not

I get a little bit alone sometimes and I miss you again

You only wanna be the one that I call "baby"

[sonicpanels]

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Ongoing) #66: "A Friend In Deed"

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Steven Butler Inks: Pam Eklund Letters: Jeff Powell Colors: Ken Penders

Editor: Justin Gabrie Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick

[historical-hollywood]

Jane Powell as Milly lays down the law for the six youngest Pontipee brothers (clockwise, from bottom left: Tommy Rall as Frank, Mark Platt as Daniel, Jacques D'Amboise as Ephraim, Matt Mattox as Caleb, and Russ Tamblyn as Gideon, perched atop Jeff Richards as Benjamin) in these promotional stills for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).

[graphicpolicy]

Tananarive Due and Kelsey Ramsay transform the Werewolf genre in Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs

Tananarive Due and Kelsey Ramsay transform the Werewolf genre in Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs #comics #comicbooks

[tgmcastupdates]

Glen’s instagram story

[jt1674]

[rodpower78]

The Jeff Beck Group - Turku, Finland 1971