#stc issue 7

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Reading the fleetway Sonic comic now and

I'm convinced that Tails is his special little guy??

I mean, he's an asshole, no doubt, but he passes up a party (mind you, he loves being celebrated as a hero so much) to go looking for Tails

He goes looking at his "favorite place" and literally dons shades and a worse attitude at learning Tails was taken

He genuinely cares about him as his buddy? Sure he complains about him or insults hin fairly often, but he clearly likes having Tails around enough to want him back??

Are we gonna talk about how Tails breaks free from Robotnik's control because he can't bear to keep hurting Sonic, because he cares?

This scene too reminds me so much of that scene from Fang the Hunter issue 1 where Tails called for Sonic and Sonic bid himself to be patient and not lash out because Tails is his friend. Like again, Fleetway!Sonic is an asshole, but he's holding back when it comes to Tails even a little bit

There's just constant proof whenever Tails is put in danger or captured that Sonic cares about his well-being. In fact he cares so much he just kind of is just indifferent about those he puts in danger by zeroing in on saving Tails (and those he saves he doesn't necessarily save with intent to). In this issue specifically, Sonic, the animal companions with him, and an unconscious Tails get washed away in a current of water, and rather than worry about his own well-being or those of his companions, he yells at them to keep ahold of Tails in the water so he can take care of the badnik.

Personally I feel like this sequence speaks for itself? Although Sonic is fairly confident, he risks his life on the chance that he can steer the Death Egg off course (and we're not even factoring in whether he can escape in time), and sends Tails away in the only escape pod. He literally gambles his life on this act of saving Emerald Hill and worries first about securing Tails', even if only Tails may end up escaping.

There's also the setting? Tails crying for Sonic and calling him the bravest hedgehog he ever met, Sonic reacting like he didn't just narrowly avoid death and that Tails is just stating the obvious, the two of them floating down in the escape pod during the sunset

I don't have the picture space to show it, but there's also another part of this issue where Sonic continuously nags Tails to stay out of danger and to let him handle everything alone, and then (after falling into a trap), starts talking to himself about how glad he is that Tails wasn't around to see him make such a rookie mistake. It's easy to read as Sonic always leaving Tails behind because he doesn't think much of him or thinks he'll be in the way, but I don't think that's completely true! I get the idea that Fleetway Sonic likes having his buddy around just as much as he wants his buddy to be safe. So he brings him around everywhere he can, but he forces him to hang back during the dangerous bits. And that's not to mention how this issue showed just how much Sonic values Tails' opinion of him.

And BOY does this scene get me

It's like

This is the first time Super Sonic ever appears in StC. Are we going to ignore that Fleetway!Super Sonic stops attacking and reverts back into regular Sonic because of Tails?

This is like Mecha Sonic in Archie's Mecha Madness special all over again, except Fleetway!Super Sonic is under no one's control. He stopped attacking because Tails bids him to remember them.

There's just so many little things about them in my reading so far that I almost can't believe it (and would hit the tumblr photo limit a number of times if I were to show it off)

If I had to label their relationship in StC, I'd say that, to Tails, Sonic is someone he admires greatly. He doesn't seem to be fond of Sonic's attitude (largely when it's aimed at those other than himself), and he expresses criticism as to how vain Sonic is and his eating choices, but ultimately he cares about Sonic enough to stick around with him and go on adventures from time to time. For Sonic, I think Tails is someone he secretly likes having around. He often criticizes him, and depending on his mood he'll do it whenever he gets an opening, but he's also just...bad at feelings. When Tails is in danger, he'll zero in on saving him, almost above all else, and then when he saves Tails he's going off about how he can't trust Tails to be alone, angry and annoyed. He's a jerk, but a jerk who cares more than he lets on about Tails. Tails isn't just some admirer, he's important to him, and at the same time, Tails' is someone whose opinion of him he values. Ahsjsjs and....he's also the kind of guy who would say something like "Hey, that's enough! Only I get to bully Tails!"

Is their relationship healthy? No😂 But also in StC it also comes off like...they're both choosing this. Despite everything they choose to be buddies

Idk I'm fascinated so far😂

The Sonic the asshole and his special little fox

[samobservessonic]

This issue is worth getting excited about for a number of reasons. Not only do we get the return of Nigel Kitching on writing, but we also get the debut of artist Richard Elson. This legendary duo would be a driving force that shapes StC into what it’s known for. They are by no means the only two (one of my own fave StC writers hasn’t appeared yet), but they are A Big Deal. In fact, Kitching and Elson even returned to Sonic this year, 30 years after they started working on StC, this time working alongside many other creators on IDW’s recent one-shot special, Sonic’s 900th Adventure

But perhaps the biggest reason to get excited about this issue is that the title is “Super Sonic” :)

Sonic & Tails have flown to the Oil Ocean Zone to help put a stop to a fire that threatens to cause a large-scale explosion. And with this, we see that Elson’s art has brought with it another staple of the comics: These tall Mobians that don’t look like Sonic characters It’s hard for me to talk about these objectively, because this comic was my introduction to Sonic and by the time I started reading, these Mobian designs were already well-established as part of the world. I don’t remember thinking anything of it as a kid, just that lots of different animal people must exist in this world. Regardless, like or dislike them, these tall folks aren’t going anywhere and will soon enough replace the small animal critters as the majority of the non-Sonic style anthros we’ll be seeing in StC

This guy explains that they’re trying their best to deal with all the problems in Oil Ocean Zone, but they can’t safely navigate around the traps. I do like seeing things that are obstacles for the players in the games being treated as real-world problems that someone on Mobius has to deal with. Naturally, Sonic confidently agrees with this guy that calling him to deal with this was the right choice to make

But before Sonic can make a move, one of those talking badniks comes along and threatens to set him up in flames. If this was any other Sonic media, it’d take me a lot to believe that your average badnik could cause this much damage, but StC has already established how ruthlessly efficient these guys are

Which means we get to put a coin in the trauma machine, since Tails gets to watch Sonic get torched alive, as the badnik sets the oil that Sonic’s standing in up in flames. But Sonic’s not out for the count just yet…

…Here he is! Fleetway Super Sonic!

I’m just gonna post this whole page, because this guy is such a big deal. With the vague teaser at the end of the last issue not even hinting what this issue would be about and the cover not focused on Sonic, seeing him turn up here was a pleasant surprise. I’m sure that he needs no introduction, but if anyone reading this isn’t familiar, let’s just say that StC’s version of Super Sonic is more than a little different from the one in the games

The problem with Super Sonic is that he’s out of control at all times and doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe. He makes short work of the badnik, but then is equally eager to destroy the “Is that Johnny Lightfoot or just another rabbit?” creature that pops out from inside

While Super Sonic would also gladly destroy Tails as well, he quickly snaps out of it and then seems to be completely fine! He gives a quick explanation about why he thinks this happened to him, before zooming away to deactivate the traps that he’s been called here to deal with, which we learn in a footnote that he managed to do off-screen. No one seems particularly rattled by what happened here, but we’ve certainly not seen the last of this version of Super Sonic, who’ll only be further developed each time that he appears

I’m sure that I don’t need to say how much I enjoyed this issue! Very suddenly, it seems that StC as I remember it is in the room. The first six issues were also great and established some important factors, but this one really feels like we’ve hit the turning point where StC becomes what it's known for ...Although still with our main character roster consisting of Sonic & Tails, plus the villains being more frequently these ruthless badniks than even Robotnik himself. With a lot of new Sonic games on the verge of being released, perhaps the team wanted to hold back on introducing too many new characters at this stage. But I’ve gotta admit that by now I’m ready to see the cast step up a bit with the proper introduction of the Freedom Fighters and a few more villains for them to deal with. Once again, the preview only states that there’ll be more Sonic stories to come with no context, so it’s a mystery what could be coming next

[borrelia]

hold on yeah the zasr prom comic was 19 pages. and im looking at it now--besides the issues i had with figuring out important story details and weak execution at key moments... i did it correctly? like i paced everything... correctly. 6 panels or less to a page. i never do that. how did i do that??

[digamma-f-wau]

Who Did What for Sonic the Hedgehog's 900th Adventure

So the 900th Adventure was basically this years Annual in spirit, but instead of multiple shorter stories, it told one big story, but with the number of writers and art teams that you would get in a multi-story annual anyways. Sure you could easily read the credits, but it's more fun this way. Obviously spoilers ahead so everything past part 1 is is gonna be under a Read More

Part 1 (pages 1-6): Set-up with Tails

Writer: Ian Flynn (the original main writer on IDW Sonic and post-Metal Virus continues to be one of the main writers, including being the main writer of IDW's Classic Sonic specials. Been with the franchise since becoming a writer for the Archie comics back in '06 and served as the writer for Sonic Frontiers)

Artist: Adam Bryce Thomas (one of the main IDW Sonic artists. been around since the latter half of Archie's reboot)

Colors: Valentina Pinto (initially a secondary colorist whose biggest credit was doing the Imposter Syndrome miniseries, recently seems to have graduated to being one of the main colorists this year)

Part 2 (pages 7-12): Amy and the Orca

Writer/Artist: Evan Stanley (the other main writer of IDW Sonic post-Metal Virus as well as one of the main artists, been around since late in Archie's pre-reboot era)

Colors: Gigi Dutreix (regular cover artist and occasional inker and has even written a few stories; co-authoring Victory Garden from the 2019 Annual and its follow up Future Growth, which they also colored, and solo-writing The Catalyst from 2020's Annual)

Part 3 (pages 13-18): Knuckles and Metal Sonic

Writer: Nigel Kitching (one of the main writers of the old UK Sonic the Comic published by Fleetway Editions back in the 90s)

Artist: Mauro Fonseca (regular artist, major credits so far include Sonic Learns to Drive from the 30th Anniversary Special, co-designing Surge & Kit, doing the A-covers for the Imposter Syndrome miniseries, and doing a bunch of stuff in the concurrent and upcoming main book issues. Also relevantly used to be a regular contributor to the Sonic the Comic-Online fan continuation)

Inks: Rik Mack (recent regular inker, being the main inker on Mauro's more recent interior art for the comic as well as inking other artists, most notably on Tails' 30th Anniversary Special. Recently did some coloring on the back-half of issue 61 as well. Also another former StC-O regular)

Colors: Reggie Graham (one of the main colorists on IDW Sonic post-Metal Virus, after having been a regular on covers beforehand, as well as being another former StC-O regular)

Part 4 (pages 19-24): Eggman and his Mech

Writer: Daniel Barnes (writer of Weapons from the 2022 Annual and the Scrapnik Island miniseries)

Artist/Colors: Min Ho Kim (fairly recent addition of the IDW Sonic crew, being a regular cover artist since Scrapnik #1. Also the character artist on The Murder of Sonic)

Color Assistance: Evan Maly

Part 5 (pages 25-30): Blaze and Cream

Writer/Artist: Aaron Hammerstrom (regular artist, most prominently being the main artist for IDW's Classic Sonic stuff. Also previously wrote/drew the 2022 Annual story Rough Patch)

Inks: Matt Froese (regular inker, mainly works on Aaron's art. Most notable non-Aaron credits include the two Yardley-drawn issues of Zeti Hunt and the first and last parts of Trial by Fire)

Colors: Nathalie Fourdraine (The 1:10 Retailer Incentive variant cover artist for every issue the main book as well as semi-regularly doing covers for side books. Served as the colorist for the Classic Sonic stories Dr. Eggman's Brithday and Amy's New Hobby, as well as the colors and A covers for the Scrapnik Island miniseries)

Part 6 (pages 31-36): Babylon Rogues & Shadow/Rouge

Writer: Caleb Goellner (writer of the Team Sonic Racing one-shot, the 2019 Annual story Jet Set Tornado, and the 2020 Annual story Reflections)

Artist: Abby Bulmer (regular cover artist, as well as artist of the 2020 Annual story The Catalyst and the 2022 Annual story Hero Camp. Notably way back in the day was the artist of the very first StC-O story, and her time on 2000 AD often involved her serving as a colorist for Richard Elson, one of the main StC artists.)

Colors: Heather Breckel (IDW MLP's main colorist, who's been a recurring secondary colorist throughout IDW Sonic's run, often filling in for other colorists)

Part 7 (pages 37-40): The Warp Topaz Cave

Same team (Flynn/Thomas/Pinto) as part 1

[zippityzap]

Currently have a queue of 7 posts built up for my Sonic the Comic liveblog over on @zippy-reacts which is good, nice to not have to worry if i can’t find the time to write a post during a week or two.

I would like to make the queue even bigger though, enough to safely be able to schedule two posts a week because at the current rate it’ll take me at least a year and a half to finish StC

Speaking of finishing StC, my understanding from the website i’m reading the scans from is that the last 40ish issues are reprints rather than new stories? From a very quick peek those issues still have fan letters so instead of one issue per post i may tackle those by assembling whatever ones i find interesting over 1-2 posts

Also i’ve decided i won’t be covering StC Online in the liveblog, i’ll just read that in my own time.

[myblogdiary312]

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[borrelia]

specifically: the longest stc story in a single issue is 7 pages. most are 5 pages. theres usually 4 stories of various kinds per issue, with game news and guide pages.

also for context, stc's stories are like a third of the length of an archie or idw story since they're packed in with a bunch of other stuff i dont care about. im blasting through a bunch of issues because they're really short

[smugbugunderarug]

he relly angy stay out of his way. :0

This is a redraw from Sonic the Comic #7. Here’s the original panel:

[zippy-reacts]

Sonic the Comic Liveblog: Issue 31

Here we are with Issue 31! …It’s funny how for this panel I can’t choose a joke/reference because across all the Sonic media there are so many characters that are green hedgehogs/hedgehog related animals.

…Maybe I should’ve referenced that rip-off pickle mascot

…must…resist…urge…to reference…that SA2…cutscene

Oooh, now that’s the nastiest StC Sonic has been to Tails, and that’s really saying something

Huh, I genuinely did not see that twist coming. This is the second time where I’ve been surprised by a plot element coming back the literal next issue.

I have now lost count of how many times ‘run fast in a circle’ has been used as a solution

Well, back to Tails’ story

I haven’t actually been keeping count but if you remember the drinking game I suggested this is probably sip 6 or 7

She literally just saw you going in??

Similarly to Sonic’s running in circles trick, Tails’ foes not knowing he can fly is very often the solution to his stories.

…Also, I just noticed, why do the kids’ feet look like that. It’s like they tried to combine fox paws with human feet but ended up with something disturbingly ape-like

Ooh, Knuckles soon! I may have some trouble keeping track of when I’m supposed to read the specials if the main comic doesn’t advertise it since the website I’m reading this on list them separately, so I'll have to keep an eye out for little mentions like this

[thankskenpenders]

A thing that perplexes me about spinoff media for Sonic, but especially the comics, is making new OC characters as main cast members.

Like I understand in the past, SatAM and AoStH creating characters wholesale to expand the cast, depending on when they came out the games had between 3 and 7 actual characters, and by extension early Archie and StC but continuing to do so later, especially after the reboot and then into IDW is where I'm surprised. I'm not against it, per se, and if Sega wants to make use of those characters it might even be a bonus (many a Transformers Character has been created for the media then gotten a toy later after all) but it seems with a cast as big as Modern Sonic's is now a days they'd want to avoid diluting the exposure of characters who are actually in the games.

There are always more character niches that can't be filled with the existing cast, especially when it comes to female characters--which is why tie-in media tends to add more girls. The only female Sega characters who can be used regularly with no strings attached are Amy, Rouge, and Cream. While they're certainly great (and they've been given plenty of time to shine in the IDW comics), they're still dwarfed by the size and variety of the male cast, and they can't fill every role. It's also easy to see why the comic crew would add more villains when the vast majority of the Sega rogues' gallery beyond Eggman is off limits. (And, on the subject of Sega limitations, new characters are inherently allowed way more creative freedom than established ones who have already gone through their big arcs.)

It's also important to put things in perspective and remember that, yes, Sonic has a big cast for a platformer series. But for a long-running comic that's already had over 50 total issues with no signs of slowing down? A dozen or so regularly recurring characters is nothing. There's plenty of room to expand on that to facilitate new stories and to give the existing characters something new to bounce off of

Sonic comics readers also just like seeing new characters, plain and simple. The comic-exclusive characters have always been a major selling point to a good chunk of the audience. Getting to meet cool new characters like Tangle and Whisper and Starline and Belle is half the fun

[shiliria]

Where can I read Sonic the comic?

Since it is an old british comic and Fleeway editions closed years ago. It's quite difficult to get a physical copy, you can find some second handed issues on Ebay, if you are lucky, but you won't find anything in Amazon or any usual place that sells comics.

But the internet is here for us.

The comic never got out of the UK (except for some French translations) and it's quite old, most legal online places won't have it. So also finding a legal way to read a digital version of this comic is a challenge in itself.

But that’s why I am here for:

One of the few places we can find the comic is this website that it is an archive of very old UK comics/magazines out of the market (some of these things are over 50 years old now and you probably won't find them anywhere else).

  http://read.ukprintarchive.com/Egmont%20Fleetway/Licensed%20Comics/Sonic%20The%20Comic/Sonic%20The%20Comic/

Then we have this entire channel on You tube call “Sonic the Comic Reviews” that is  almost exclusively dedicated to the series.

You have the whole issues of the comic, expecific scenes , retrospectives, some summer special (that you won't find anywhere else) and even videos dedicated to explaining the story of some characters.

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheUltimateFrieza/videos

Some things about the comic:

The comic doesn't really find its footing until issue 7 (this issue is also when the most known character of the series is introduced), when one of the main writes Nigel Kitching and artist Richard Elson entered the scene and ended up defining most of the identity and tone of the comic. You can read the six issues that came before, but you won't miss anything major if you decide to skip them, they are self contain stories with no impact on the plot.

Another little note:

There is no need to read after issue 184, since everything after that it's  all reprints of old stories (Don't be fooled by the different covers! It's all the same old stories). This was a practise the publishing company (Aka. Fleetway) used back in the day with the intention of trying to get new readers into the comic , but mostly they were saving money by not paying any artists or writers.

Issue 184  is the last original story and the ending of the comic.

And this is just a fun fact: Issue 2 and some other early issues were written by...Mark Miller (Yes, that one).

That's all I can give, and I hope you found it useful.

A little side note about STC online (or Sonic the comic online) and where to find a quick sum up of the whole story in the comic ⬇

Eventually you'll probably come across this place call "Sonic the comic online" (Aka. STCO or STC online).

  http://www.stconline.co.uk/

This is NOT the original comic in an online format. But a FAN continuation.

This is a whole team of artist and writers that grow up with the original comic and decided to resurrect it in 2003, one year after its cancellation in 2002. It has received the blessing of some of the original creators, they even collaborated on some issues and one of their stories has even received the approval of Sega itself and it's consider 100% canon to the original story.

In a way is the "unofficial-official continuations" as most people call it and for the youngest fans in this little fandom this was most likely the first thing they probably saw related to STC It had a lot of content already and  an "ending" of some sort,even if they keep releasing  stories, even now,  but since everyone that works in this comic is a volunteer it has a very slow schedule.

You can  also find this really cool section, they added some years ago, where they sum up the whole story from the original comic for new comers:

http://www.stconline.co.uk/comics/newtostc/

So if you don't feel like reading the whole 184 issues, this will give you a general idea of the story.

[samobservessonic]

One thing they mentioned in the Speedlines last issue was that Sonic has been making cameos in the non-Sonic stories. Admittedly, I’m too lazy to go back and look for them all, but I happened to spot one while I was skipping past this issue’s Wonderboy comic, with this villain man person having seemingly eaten Sonic while reading StC. Yikes

Also, nothing too exciting from Speedlines this time, but they do mention that “the Mega Drive 2” isn’t even out yet. So, I guess that’s what they thought the Saturn was going to be called back then? Or maybe it was just an upgraded Mega Drive

[borrelia]

i guess i forgot to mention this for anyone that's considering reading fleetway: you can just skip shit. you can skim and skip as much as you want until you find something that looks interesting. there's up to 4 stories happening per issue so you can pick what you like and avoid what you don't. each story is published in up to 4 parts and each part is like 5-7 pages. and there aren't really big arcs you need to keep up on, if something requires previous knowledge, the comic will usually just tell you. like, look. I'm going to just skip to issue 50 because that's the first story i saw that looked interesting lalala i don't know what's going on lalala

ok the first story we have is in its second part and here's a quick recap of the previous part.

oh cool metal sonic's in this! better check the wiki for any issues I can backread to know his deal--

oh thanks stc!

even has a little explainer in case I've never seen super sonic before. or here, from the start of a different story, is knuckles explaining a previous story I might've missed:

like it's pretty generous with explaining what's going on, or where you can look up establishing info about characters. i think that's the norm now like with idw but also. unlike idw/archie which is very serialized, stc is mostly a variety comic. it's pretty gentle with explaining what's going on to you and really does not need you to have read much of anything before to still have fun.

so. to be clear. if you hate a story or the art is ugly or youre not having fun. you can just skip ahead to something that looks better. it's fine, i did that too. <3

[digamma-f-wau]

Sonic the Comic reading order

Ya wanna read Sonic the Comic? Luckily for you keeping track of the side books is nowhere near a mind boggling task as it was for Archie. Partially due to there being a lot less to keep track of (2 Yearbooks, 9 Poster Mags, and 6 specials) and also since a lot of the side book content tends to be standalone, with the main book’s anthology structure allowing for easy plopping things in without breaking up the flow of whatever is going on in the main book. Enough bits and bobs of relevant release info has potential to be in pages not included in online scans that I might edit this list with more info when sources of said potential info (most notably Sonic the Comic the Podcast) get there.

Full list under the read more with explanations:

1993 Yearbook (generally referred to as 1991/92 yearbook by online sources due to a misunderstanding involving the copyright dates)

Release Placement: Exact release date unknown; good chance of the interior contents being produced before StC itself, but folks actually there at the time (like the guys from Sonic the Comic the Podcast) recall it actually came out after StC began (likely in the summer like both british comic yearbooks/annuals) Actually published by Grandreams, not Fleetway, though some of the creators involved would also work on Fleetway sonic.

Optimal Placement: Either before you begin, or if you want actual proper StC to be your first impression, between issues 6 and 7.

Sonic the Poster Mag 1

Release Placement: Advertised as being “out now” in issue 14, so most likely released the same time.

Optimal Placement: Does not contain actual comic content (but is a neat curiosity worth checking out), so might as well read it when it came out.

Sonic the Poster Mag 2

Release Placement: Same day as issue 16

Optimal Placement: Again doesn't actually have any comic content, may as well read it in release placement.

Sonic the Poster Mag 3

Release Placement: Between issues 20 and 21.

Optimal Placement: No need to deviate from release placement.

Warning: contains a gross racist character design unlike anything else seen in the series

Eternal Champions Special

Release Placement: Between issues 21 and 22

Optimal Placement: Either before or after the first Eternal Champions serial (so either between issues 18 and 19 or between 24 or 25). I personally lean towards the latter. (Though I do find the flow it gives doing it in release placement interesting)

Sonic the Poster Mag 4

Release Placement: Between issues 24 and 25

Optimal Placement: No need to deviate from release placement.

1994 Yearbook (generally referred to online as the 1992/93 Yearbook)

Release Placement: Unknown, but it would've been in the summer of '94.

Optimal Placement: Anywhere between 28 and 33.

Sonic the Poster Mag 5 and Sonic the Summer Special (1994)

Release Placement: Between issues 28 and 29

Optimal Placement: The Summer Special could be moved to between issues 32 and 33 given that the knuckles strip in it leads into the Sonic 3 adaptation. That's also apparently closer to when the Poster Mag was actually written in relation to the main book. If you do both the Poster Mag and Summer Special next to each other I'd say Poster Mag first if only because the back cover advertises the Summer Special.

Sonic the Poster Mag 6

Release Placement: Advertised as being “out now” within the pages of issue 35, so either the same time or the previous week.

Optimal Placement: Story takes place Chronologically between issues 34 and 35

Sonic the Poster Mag 7

Release Placement: Between issues 37 and 38

Optimal Placement: No need to deviate from release placement.

Sonic the Poster Mag 8

Release Placement: Same day as issue 40.

Optimal Placement: No need to deviate from release placement.

Sonic the Poster Mag 9

Release Placement: Same day as issue 42

Optimal Placement: Between 42 and 43

Sonic Holiday Special (1995)

Release Placement: Issue 53 tells you to “look out for it” and is described as "Out Now" in issue 54

Optimal Placement: Between 53 and 54

NOTE: NOT A SIDE BOOK BUT:

"The Big Decision" (the main strip from issue 76) appears to have meant to be intended to be the strip immediately after "The Return of Chaotix" (the serial that ended with issue 71); so one thing you could do is read the story (and just this story, not the rest of the issue) after you finish issue 71

Knuckles Knock Out Special

Release Placement: The original slated release date was between issues 75 and 76 but it ended up getting delayed to releasing the same day as issue 79

Optimal Placement: Chronologically the story takes place after "The Big Decision" (which discussed earlier) and before "The Ghost Ship" (the Knuckles serial that began in issue 74). If you took the previous advice of moving "The Big Decision", then a good spot to read it would be after issue 73

Sonic Holiday Special (1996)

Release Placement: Between issues 81 and 82

Optimal Placement: Between issues 79 and 80

Total Sonic Special

Release Placement: Between issues 160 and 161

Optimal Placement: Issue is pure reprints and the only "scans" are of its cover, so there really isn't a place to "put" it.

[a-40k-dad-showcase]

AZORIAN FLUFF MASTERPOST

FORGE WORLD AZORIA — Aϱ-LXXXV

Affiliation : Adeptus Mechanicus Geological Radius : 2250 km Surface area : 15,910,000 km² Surface gravity : 7,85 m/s² (0,8g) Population : 9 billion (estimated)

World Classification : ϕ-ϱ-η Alternate Class : Knight World (House Sarrokkæn) Household Grade : Secundus 

Tithe Grade : Aptus Non Aggregate : 1,000: Aestimare : B800-C1 Production Grade : IV-Secundi

FOR ALL THOSE WHO APPRECIATE HOMEBREW LORE, HEREUNDER YOU WILL FIND THE ONGOING AZORIAN LORE CuRRENTLY BEING COMPILED INTO A SINGLE POST.

Summary :

Azoria is a Forge World of the Adeptus Mechanicus located in the Segmentum Tempestus, roughly in the middle of the triangle formed by Bakka, V'Run and Solstice. Rediscovered late M32, Azoria was originally a feudal / knight world rich in materials needed for ship-building. At first ruled by Terra, it has been transfered to Martian control at the end of M33 after the discovery by archeological expeditions of a host of strategically minor STCs. Profoundly altered by the transformation into a Forge World, Azoria's ecosystem has been all but destroyed despite the negotiation of unique conditions for the Adepus Mechanicus' take-over. Although officially run by the Adeptus Mechanicus, Azoria enjoys an unique joint-governance status, with the Fabricator-General overseeing the vast industrial zones, and a Planetary Government overseeing civil affairs. A production tax as a form of planetary-rent allowed the civil government to elevate Azoria as a thriving commercial hub for the sector and beyond.

Azoria's civil government rules over a competent and well-equiped law enforcement force spread within all its hive cities. The Adeptus Mechanicus protects its industrial zones with their legions of Skitarii. In remote plains away from the hives, the Knights of House Sarrokkæn, in vassalage to the Adeptus Mechanicus, keep sovereignty over their historical territories, called “The Wastes” by most hivers. These barren lands are populated by the Free Folk of Azoria, a parallel society living under the feudal rule of House Sarrokkæn.

Azoria is an important planet in the sector in terms of production, commerce and military might. Though the dispersed nature of its governance, and the long and difficult negotiations that lead to this arrangement resulted in the reluctance of both Terra and Mars (and by extension, Segmentum Command) to call upon Azoria for military contributions.

At the beginning of M42, Azoria issued a distress call to Bakka. Sabotage on a massive scale had taken place within the industrial areas and several Hive cities either declared themselves in open rebellion or went dark altogether. If the Skitarii and the Knights of House Sarrokkæn could clear up the industrial areas on their own, pacifying the hives or gaining access to the hives that shut off, proved another task entirely. Under the pressure of the Fabricator-General, who required the return of workers to the production facilities, the civil government had no choice but to make the call.

Transported by Naval Battlegroup Bakka's Fury, several regiments of the newly formed Spectris Cadiae and one detachment of Tempestus Scions were dispatched, alongside a regiment of the Death Korps of Krieg sent by mistake. By the time the Imperial Guard regiments had established their command posts on the desolated Azorian plains between the western border of Sarrokkæn Territory and the outskirts of Hive7, almost 5 months after the initial attacks, a formal enemy still hadn't been identified by the local defense forces.

Without clear guidance, and in the absence of an unified planetary organisation, not to mention, having to manage the expectations of the Death Korps men who were eager to lay waste to the unresponsive Hive Cities, the General Staff of the Spectres of Cadia were at a loss. Engagement-wise, troops on the ground suffered daily, morale-sapping losses during their attempts at pacifying the Hives.

Specialised in hostile environment operations and sent to Azoria under the false assumption that their presence was requested to secure the production facilities, the Spectres of Cadia were ill equipped for their urban pacification mission. They are currently still fighting an uphill battle, though Azoria definitely isn't the worst affectation in these regiments' history warfare.

The Azorian landscape in the Hives region.

The outskirts of an industrial area, weeks after the reclaiming operations lead by the Skitarii.

Early history and governance negotiations :

After being hastily incorporated into the IoM at its rediscovery, Azoria had managed to remain more or less untouched by change for a millenium, until the end of M33, when the Adeptus Mechanicus negotiated with Terra the rights to Azoria, projecting to turn it into a Forge World dedicated to the building of commerce fleets and the manufacturing of the various STCs discovered there.

At the time, Azoria, while still governed by the feudal reign of its Knightly Houses, had elevated its population and technological status to that of the smallest Hive Worlds.

The arrival of the Adeptus Mechanicus wasn’t well received and multiple conflicts ensued. The Knightly Houses of Azoria banded together, lead by House Sarrokkæn and managed, by threatening to destroys the STCs, to force Imperial authorities and the AdMech into fairer negotiations.

Out of which came the following decisions : Azoria wouldn’t become a Forge World as the Adeptus Mechanicus would have made it had they had free rein. Instead, the Adeptus Mechanicus’ implantation would not be allowed to extend over 30% of the total surface of buildable land. However, to circumvent this inconvenience, the AdMech built both deep and high on their alloted territories.

The Knights while accepting the Adeptus’ official leadership, would retain a comfortable amount of sovereignty over the Azorian people.

The civilian planetary government created especially for the newer urban areas - or hives - would also be allowed to evolve naturally, and not fall under the immediate rule of the Fabricator-General. A marginal part of the Forges’ production would also have to be ceded to the Planetary Government, as an exploitation’s tax, allowing Azoria to develop its commerce with nearby worlds.

Over the next centuries, House Sarrokkæn effectively absorbed all smaller houses and became the sole Knightly House left on the planet, ranking in to the higher tier of Grade Secundus with approximatively 300 war machines in its care.

At the dawn of M42, House Sarrokkæn still rules over a portion of the population willingly staying in “the wastes” or the non-urbanised areas found in the vicinity* of the Obsidian Keep, their ancestral homestead.

*(ca. 1.000.000 sq. km surrounded by a few hive cities and an Adeptus Mechanicus production megastructure. The closest hive to the Obsidian Keep is Hive 7)

While the House’s rule might not have changed, the level of comfort and quality of life of all from serfs to masters had tremendously improved, only to be set back by the pollution and the contamination of the planet.

The Wastes are under the jurisdiction of House Sarrokkæn and these lands are protected and policed by the House’s own army, the Milites Gregarii.

Law and order in the urban areas and hives is under the planetary governor’s jurisdication, protected by the Azorian PDF and policed by various local enforcement agencies.

Azorian economy relies on planetary and space mining, ship-building and the manufacturing of unique goods thanks to the retrieved STCs, the commerce of which with nearby worlds plays a tremendous part in Azoria’s economical growth and thus, in maintaining its privileges and independence.

HOUSE SARROKKÆN

Current Full House Crest with the motto “Parva Sub Ingenti”

“The small under the great” ; denoting the duty of protection of not only the people of the Free Territories, but also of their general interest, which has been paramount to House Sarrokkæn for over seven millenia.

Coat of Arms until the end of M33 — though not official anymore, this design is still widely in use.

Coat of Arms M34 onwards

INSERT 1 : “ARMIGER”

With a chilling mechanical wheeze, Ruinstride is clamped down onto the elevating platform. As soon as the giant becomes immobilised, cloaked figures begin scurrying about, as if they appeared out of thin air.

They engage in a ballet danced back and forth between Ruinstride and the various control panels placed on the platform. The Sacristans — responsible for the maintaining of House Sarrokkæn’s war machines — are but shadows moving in the murky, dying light of the Azorian twilight.

From within the piloting post of the Knight, very little of what happens beyond its metal shell can be heard. Not the strong, poisonous winds roaring through the desolate plains, not the noise made by the Milites Gregarii vehicles guarding the area, nor the clanking done by the ground crew at work. The pilot couldn’t hear anything other than the gentle, yet disquieting hum of the Armiger’s active systems, further intensifying the pilot’s feeling of being safely nested into a cocoon. A terrible cocoon of immeasurable might.

Sitting deep into the belly of the beast, Liwa stares at her control monitors. She is now linked to the platform’s security network and flicks through the various video feeds. There is no specific purpose in her actions, she merely passes time, waiting for the Sacristans to finish the preparations for the long ride down.

Suddenly, one of the monitors displays a communication channel opening, showing the spectrogram of the inbound signal. 

“Mistress?” inquires the Sacristan supervising the re-entry procedures. —”Ready when you are, operator.” Liwa replies, in haste. The sacristan produces a few vowels trying to begin his sentence. He stops for a second to better verbalize his thoughts with the appropriate deference. —”I’m terribly sorry if I mislead you, Mistress, but I only wished to inform you that departure will be delayed for a little while longer : Battlebound is in sight and will be travelling down with us.”

Liwa smiles for Battlebound is steered by her twin brother Leto. “Understood, operator. —Ruinstride, out.” she replies before tuning into her brother’s vox channel.

With an ever growing smile locked on her face, the young woman takes a moment to prepare her opening remark : “They told me that we had to wait for another passenger on the ride down, but I would have hoped it wouldn’t be a lowlife such as yourself.

Her satisfaction hits a high as she finds the vox’s clics a fitting punctuation for her comment. The answer comes back into the audio feed without delay :

“If I didn’t know you any better, I’d swear you were trying to hurt my feelings.”

Liwa chuckles as she taps into the distant surveillance feed, tracking Battlebound’s whereabouts.

—”Not in my wildest dreams, brother.” she says.

Leto’s Armiger arrives in visual range and soon walks onto the elevating platform, taking place in front of Ruinstride. The restraining mechanism bolts the war machine down and the Sacristans begin a new dance of preparing, checking and organising.

“Anyway, what have you been doing up here today?” she inquired.

—”I’ve been working on my short-range accuracy in the south-eastern ruins” he sighs. “I learned I wasn’t as good as I thought I was because the preceptor had me retake the drills over and over again. Truthfully, this was a bit of a painful day for me.” he concludes, a hint of frustration still stuck in his throat.

“But anyway, what about you?”

—”I simply went out for a long stroll. I needed a moment alone with Ruinstride, I feel like I need to focus on my synchronisation with the machine-spirit”

The voxcaster’s incoming transmission click interrupts their chit-chat :

“Mistress, Master, we are ready to depart. Today’s descent duration will approximate 30 minutes. Your respective maintenance crews have been notified and are ready for your arrival. I hope you’ll enjoy the ride. —Operator out.”

As the voxcaster clicks signal the end of the transmission, a faint rumble can be heard from within the metal carapaces that begin to vibrate.

The young pilots experience the shivering of the platform as it begins its journey downwards. Soon they disappear into darkness, swallowed by the seemingly endless vertical tunnels running deep beneath the surface of the Wastes.

Where those lead, very few surface-dweller actually know.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE I

PRINCEPS NEFO III SARROKKÆN

High-Monarchs of House Sarrokkæn are destined to pilot the infamous “Sovereign Fury” a Dominus-pattern Knight Suit of incredibly domineering nature. Sitting at the helm of Sovereign Fury is extremely demanding as the Machine Spirit has developped a hatred of weak-minded or less-than-stellar pilots.

However, with proper tutoring, it is possible for most pilots to learn how to stay in the good graces of their steed’s Machine Spirit, for a time. Although, when the first weaknesses of age make their appearance, the Machine Spirit will invariably begin to rebel and cause glitches and malfunctions. When this happens, it signifies that it requires a new pilot, one still in his or her prime.

Upon receiving confirmation of the Machine Spirit’s desires by the sacristans, the ruling Princeps will hold an abdication ceremony and his heir apparent (or pressumtive) will be crowned Princeps of House Sarrokkæn in his  or her stead.

Usually, it doesn’t end the former Princeps’ piloting career, as he or she will usually join the ranks of the precepts of House Sarrokkæn (or choose another role if they so desire).

If a High Monarch decides to ignore the signs however, Sovereign Fury’s malfunctions will become more frequent, and more serious. If the Monarch persists and refuses to abdicate and pass on the suit to their heir, the Machine Spirit will take hold of its pilot’s mind and seriously compromise their sanity, with impairments as varied as apathy, amnesia, catatonia, dementia, coma and even, death.

Therefore, the reign of a Monarch of House Sarrokkæn is expected to end somewhere between his mid 50ies and mid 60ies. To ensure that Princeps are mature enough for their duties, if the heir to the throne is less than 25 years of age on his or her coronation day, the household is placed under regency, elected by the previous Monarch and their High Court.

Nefo II Sarrokkæn, father of the current Princeps managed to hold the reins of Sovereign Fury into his early 70ies before the first signs of the Machine Spirit’s discontentment appeared. This is definitely a rarity within the household’s long recorded history of High Monarchs.

FORMER PRINCEPS : NEFO-THE-ELDER

INSERT 2 : “Reins of Fury”

Blood pounding under the temples, the Princeps’ limbs twitched as his steed murmured directly into his mind. Not in words, but rather in a slow, continuous and menacing hum, an unnerving cybernetic growl of which he somehow could make sense.

RELEASE. ME. NOW.

The lift carrying his lance to the eastern borders of Sarrokkæn territory still was a good ten minutes away from its destination.

MAKE. US. KILL. RELEASE. THE. FURY.

Nefo tried to concentrate on his breathing, to let go of the tension in his body. His head tilted forwards has he tried to relax his tense neck. As much as he tried, he couldn’t get rid of the stiffness between his shoulder blades. An unpleasant sense of unease began to grow within his guts. Those remaining minutes promised to feel excruciatingly long.

I. AM. FIRE

The Princeps spoke softly to himself within the silence of his Knight Valiant’s cockpit. “Inhale. Hold. Exhale.” He tried to distanciate his conscious mind from the overwhelming will of the Valiant’s Machine Spirit.

I. AM. FURY.

“Just two more minutes. Just two. Two short minutes” Nefo said, those words intended as a way to keep himself focused rather than meant as an answer to the machine-voices gushing into his brain.

I. AM. SOVEREIGN.

Energy discharges started flowing from the Throne Mechanicum’s electroencephalic connectors into the Princep’s brain. A chorus of unintelligible voices faded in, seemingly creeping out from the back of his mind.

YOU. WILL. BRING. ME. TO. OUR. ENEMIES.

His Knight was unrelenting but the newly appeared chorus had become gradually clearer. Amidst their whispers, Nefo heard ghostly yet familiar voices softly speaking in unisson.

“Tune Him out”

-I know, I know! Nefo replied in the apparent loneliness of his cockpit. WE. SHALL. INCINERATE.

He is angrier than usual. WE. SHALL. OBLITERATE.

Many individual voices talked over each other for a short moment but Nefo managed to make out a few sentences out of the ghostly chaos : “You call that angry?” “You haven’t seen angry, lad.” “I’d call that eager, at most?” Nefo could swear he also heard some manic laughter in the background. Probably the ghosts of the pilots turned mad by the machine spirit, or those responsible for the machine’s spirit ill temper, depending on which part of the family lore one is enclined to believe.

“Focus on me now.” said the voice of his grandfather, who had also been his preceptor when he was but a squire in waiting of his becoming ritual.

“Tune Him out.” the spectral voice repeated.

INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE.

Nefo weakly grabbed the motion-control sticks and exhaled loudly.

“We’ve done this countless of times.”

added the memory imprint belonging to his father.

-I know.

INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCINERATE. OBLITERATE.

Nefo closed his eyes and consciously slowed down his breathing. From within his own mentalscape, he pictured a door opening. The door was so small, it could hardly let an insect through. The door flung open and brought a light into the darkness of his mind. He pictured channeling everything the Throne was feeding him through that narrow passage. As he focused on this point within his mind, the overhelming input of Sovereign Fury’s Machin Spirit trying to dominate Nefo’s brain was being slowly filtered out.

INCINERATE. OBLITERATE. INCIRATE. OBLIRATE. INRTE. OBLTRTE.

He kept his eyes closed and his mind focused on the bright dot within until the knight’s voice became but a constant hum.

INSSSS. BLLLL. IUHMMMM. BHMMMMM. MMMMM.

It is done. He is within me. I feel his needs, his desires. I will heed them, feed them : we will incinerate, we will obliterate, but it is I who holds the reigns of our Sovereign Fury once more.

The Sarrokkæn Family Branches

Each branch is lead by a Baron (or Baroness) Prime who is also part of the Princep's Exalted Court. Traditionally, the role of a Baron(ess) Prime received in court stays within the same branch. Some changes may occur, but some roles are inherently linked to certain families, for instance, the role of Forgemaster has been within the Highgate branch since time immemorial, while the Princeps of House Sarrokkæn has been stemming from Deepgarden for at least 6 millenia.

Deepgarden (Baroness Prime Gesunna, Lady of Deepgarden — Mistress of Justice)

Dimwall (Baron Prime Rikken, Lord of Dimwall — Broadhailer)

Downspire (Baron Prime Nidar, Lord of Downspire — Master Tactician)

Highgate (Baron Prime Weralt, Lord of Highgate — Forgemaster)

Tornash (Baron Prime Agleizo, Lord of Tornash — Loremaster)

Outwark* (Baron Prime Hagus, Lord of Outwark — Gatekeeper)

*The Knights of Outwark are currently on deploiment off-world, fighting wars for the Imperium, bringing glory to themselves and to House Sarrokkæn.

Breakdown of Sarrokkæn Knight numbers by pattern.

There are roughly 300 full-fledged Knights within the household, making it a high-tier Secundus-grade house. In these numbers, the smaller Armiger chassis reserved for Squires and Vindices (veteran/retired milites employed as bodyguards) are not counted. They amount for roughly an additional hundred war machines.

Traces of House Sarrokkæn history can be found in its organisation. Azoria originally counted several Knightly Houses of which The Sarrokkæn were the most influential. This influence ultimately lead to their absorbing the other smaller houses.

This was done through an alliance which fought for a better treatment by the newly-arrived planetary ruler, the Adeptus Mechanicus. Arrangements and compromises were made between the houses, among which was the construction of a fortress-city and the abandonment of all previous titles in favour of a “branch-name” to honour the memory of incorporated Households.

The names of the original noble families never were passed down in records. If they were through oral tradition, these names never were uttered again. Similarily, which branch had stemmed from the first Sarrokkæns was never disclosed.

There are however hints, that can, if not point to the right branch, at least help winnow the branches to a few plausible candidates.

One of these hints lies in the repartition of Knights through the branches. Open-records state that after the Communion of the Houses, the Warmachines were more fairly distributed among the branches. But if the rearrangement was made to be fairer, it wasn’t done equitably in the strictest sense of the term.

Some postulate that the repartition might be indication of a particular House’s original strength and influence over Azoria’s pre-Adeptus Mechanicus past. If the theory seems to hold water, there is actually no way of knowing if the Sarrokkæn, first of their name, hadn’t forseen this eventuality and chosen to forsake their former strength in an effort to make the past harder to decipher for further-away generations.

Hereunder you will find a breakdown of the Knights of House Sarrokkæn by family-branch and chasis type (including additional Armiger counts for the sake of thoroughness). It is important to note that House Sarrokkæn also possess three Acastus suits (two Porphyrion and one Asterius) which are kept deep within The Obsidian Keep's vaults. These suits are not assigned to any particular branch of the Sarrokkæn House and do not have designated pilots. The Acastus suits are considered a collective heirloom and would only be fielded under the most dire of situations.

Deepgarden (branch of Princeps Nefo and Mistress of Justice Gesunna) Questoris-Pattern : 62 Dominus-Pattern : 8 Cerastus-Pattern : 5 Armiger-Pattern : 36 Total : 75 (+36)

Dimwall (Baron Prime Rikken, Lord of Dimwall — Broadhailer) Questoris-Pattern : 26 Dominus-Pattern : 4 Cerastus-Pattern : 2 Armiger-Pattern : 16 Total : 32(+16)

Downspire (Baron Prime Nidar, Lord of Downspire — Master Tactician) Questoris-Pattern : 44 Dominus-Pattern : 6 Cerastus-Pattern : 0 Armiger-Pattern : 26 Total : 50(+26)

Highgate (Baron Prime Weralt, Lord of Highgate — Forgemaster) Questoris-Pattern : 57 Dominus-Pattern : 8 Cerastus-Pattern : 6 Armiger-Pattern : 32 Total : 71 (+32)

Tornash (Baron Prime Agleizo, Lord of Tornash — Loremaster) Questoris-Pattern : 38 Dominus-Pattern : 4 Cerastus-Pattern : 0 Armiger-Pattern : 24 Total : 42 (+24)

Outwark* (Baron Prime Hagus, Lord of Outwark — Gatekeeper) Questoris-Pattern : 32 Dominus-Pattern : 3 Cerastus-Pattern : 0 Armiger-Pattern : 16 Total : 35 (+16)

This breakdown shows that the Highgate and Deepgarden branches both hold the largest pools of Knight armours while the Outwark and Dimwall branches currently hold the smallest amount of Knights.

It is however hard to come to definitive conclusions as historically, the Knights of Highgate have been affected to the protection of the Principality and the Free Territories, as the Highgate branch can be traced to the families most invested in the design and construction of the Obsidian Keep and its subterranean network of tunnels and caves know as The Burrows.

As for Deepgarden, it is the branch of the current Princeps and a fluctuation of the number of Knights into the service of the ruling branch is a known phenomenon.

Moreover, the recent records of each branch show a slower, natural fluctuation of their strength according to inter-branch betrothal, births, number of members actually being knighted, etc.

[youfilthyhumes]

I know new content is dropping tomorrow, but I thought I'd take a moment to read the VERY first ever Sonic comic:

This is The Official Sonic The Hedgehog Special, possibly better known as the Sonic 1993 Yearbook. This special predates STC and Archie, and features a few people involved with STC: Alan McKenzie (who wrote Issue 1's "Enter: Sonic"), Richard Elson (who did the cover art for this issue and would start contributing to STC around Issue 7 I believe?) and Jon Haward (artist for Shinobi. This issue also contains a Shinobi story, funnily enough). I've been trying to order a copy of this but my bank's being weird, so I'll have to settle for reading the one story I can find online: Cartoon Concerto.

Unlike issues 2-5, this will be a liveblog. For all intents and purposes, I'll be tagging this issue as "issue0." If I ever get my hands on the full comic, I might go through the other stories or at the very least write short reviews on them.