Guest Post -James M's Review and Retrospective of Archie Sonic Part 2

Welcome back, folks. James M here and today we will be continuing and concluding our review and retrospective of the well-known Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic series...

Timeline/Plot:

A long time ago, before the Mobius/world of Sonic we knew came to be, it was once Planet Earth. This version of Earth's history was most likely the same, the creation, beginning of civilization, birth of America, World War I, rise of Hitler, World War II, the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union. Things eventually changed in the 21st century when an alien race known as the Xorda came to offer an alliance with the population of Earth, unfortunately, everything went south when the Xorda ambassador was captured and dissected. The result? The Xorda declared war and began bombing the earth with the Gene Bombs, destroying the planet and nearly wiping out all life.

While many people did not survive, a handful of humans survived and built hidden cities, including the one that would become known as Station Square.

As for Earth itself, the gene bombs changed everything forever, paving the way for Mobius to begin, as it resulted in the creation of the Chaos Emeralds and the rapid and altering evolution of all life on the planet that had been Earth as the animals of the animal kingdom eventually evolved into anthropomorphic animals known as Mobians. As for the humans who were not lucky and affected by the Gene bomb, they eventually became four-fingered beings known as Overlanders. As the centuries passed, Earth definitively became Mobius. But well before the Mobians and Overlanders fully became the dominant species on the planet, the Mobosaurs, actually Dinosaurs, ruled it all. That all changed when, like the dinosaurs before them, the Mobosaurs became extinct.

  The remaining Mobosaurs who survived? Thats a different story but I will say they became entities known as... The Ancient Walkers, who would play a role in Mobius' history in later years.

Around the time of the Mobosaurs destruction, a caveman by the name of Mammoth Mogul discovered a Chaos Emerald which became infused with him, granting Mogul immense power and immortality. As time went on, Mogul would attempt to conquer the world while using this power and forming the Order of Ixis but he was thwarted by the Echidna race, whom had become far more advanced than the other races on Mobius, starting civilization. After his defeat, Mogul went into hiding. Sometime afterwards, Alexander Acorn (Sally Acorn's ancestor) founded Mobotroplis and began the Kingdom of Acorn. As for the Overlanders? We'll be back to them in a while.

But what about the Echidnas, the ones who were more advanced than other races on Mobius? They all branched off into different sects, the technologically advanced group and the warrior cast. There were several other groups, but that is a different story. However, long story short, the Knuckles Clan (Knuckles warrior ancestors) settled in Soumerica (formerly South America) and found themselves at war with the cat people for a time and eventually got wiped out when they provoked their god Chaos. As for the Echidnas who settled in Downunda (which was once Australia), things changed when a huge comet approached on a collision course with Mobius, forcing the entire population of Echidnaopolis to uproot the land mass with their city, making it airborne using the Chaos Emeralds. As for the new floating island, it would become the Floating Island aka Angel Island as time passed.

A few years later, the echidna race faced its greatest challenge when Dimitri, a scientist, became the Chaos-powered god Enerjak, who planned on conquering the world. Enerjak was thankfully defeated when his own stronghold collapsed on him, he survived and would return years later to fight his great-nephew Knuckes before losing his powers to Mammoth Mogul. In the aftermath of Enerjak's defeat at Mount Fate, the next big threat would come in the form of the Dark Legion, founded by Dimitri's son who sought to finish what his old man started. They would be beaten and sent to the Twilight Zone where they would stay for centuries until they got out.

A long time passed before anything major in Mobius' history happened again, save for some conflicts and events here and there, until eventually, war broke out between the Mobians and the Overlanders after years and years of tension between the two sides. This conflict became known as the Great War, nothing like the other Great War we all know as World War I but was still long, costly and brutal with both sides suffering major casualties. But towards the end of the war, Julian Kintobor of the House of Ivo defected to the Mobian side and the tide shifted, the war ended with the Overlanders defeat. But the peace would not last for long...

In 3225, Julian, now known as Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and his nephew Snively, launched a coup against the Kingdom of Acorn and exiled King Max Acorn to the Zone of Silence. With the kingdom all his, Robotnik began his campaign to conquer the world. Within years, all of Mobius had just about fallen to him.To cement and enforce his rule, Robotnik used hordes of Swatbots and Badniks as well as Robians, Mobians who fell victim to the roboticizer which was the creation of Sir Charles Hedgehog until Robotnik sabotaged it.

 But, like with all villains and dictators in fiction and real life, Robotnik's reign did not go unopposed...

In the years following Robotnik's rise to power, the resistance emerged. First came the original Freedom Fighters, consisting of Great War veterans and old guards, then the Freedom Fighters we all know and love. Lead by Princess Sally Acorn and backed up by Sonic the Hedgehog, the Freedom Fighters struck out at Robotnik's empire, thwarting his plans and destroying robots here and there. The mad doctor, infuriated by the resistance, hatched many schemes to destroy them, ranging from using the Krudzu to roboticizing Sonic. The war came to a head in 3235 with Operation Endgame where Robotnik tried to wipe out his enemies for good, he and Sonic had one last battle for the fate of Mobius and by the end of it, Robotnik was destroyed by his own weapon the Ultimate Annihilator, thanks to the treachery of Snively. Just like that, the war was over..

But it was not the end of the comic! As time passed, peace was restored to Mobius but that did not mean there would not be any challenges for Sonic and company. In the aftermath of Endgame, the firing of Robotnik's Ultimate Annihilator created/opened many zones and pocket dimensions, causing many changes to Mobius and Knuckles the Echidna's life.
Meanwhile, one of Sonic's biggest tasks was to stop Ixis Naugus, a crazy wizard, from taking over the world. After a lengthy chase across the world, Sonic defeated Naugus and saved Mobius. But even before dealing with Naugus and during the world tour, Sonic and friends dealt with Mammoth Mogul, who took another shot at world domination, and the Iron Queen along with her nutcase husband the Iron King. Eventually, things took a twisted turn when...

Dun-dun-dun! Robotnik returned. Only, it wasn't the original Robotnik who was wiped out by the Ultimate Annihilator, Sonic and friends' "new" challenger was Robo Robotnik, an alternate universe Robotnik who roboticized himself to defeat his version of Sonic. Robo Robotnik learned of the original Robotnik's demise and decided to come on over to Mobius Prime so he could fill in the void left in both his and Sonic Prime's life. 

  Robotnik II had a near identical history to the original Robotnik and still had his hatred for Sonic. During the first encounter with this guy, Sonic and friends blew up the space station he was on, also destroying Robo Robotnik's body. Being A.I and not easy to actually destroy, the roboticized dictator transfered his mind into a new body, one that looked like an egg with glasses, allowing the character of Doctor Robotnik to become... DOCTOR EGGMAN! 

As for Mobotroplis/Robotroplis? It became Eggman's city and capital for his empire. Again. It would later be destroyed by a nuclear strike while Eggman himself would eventually become flesh and blood. However, Doctor Eggman's arrival/return set up the events of the Sonic Adventure adaption where Sonic and friends would visit Station Square and save the day when Chaos, the water monster, attacked. Afterwards, the Freedom Fighters would have a lot of crazy adventures, some good and some bad. Eggman was still in the picture though and fighting him was no easy task.

Some time later, all of Mobius would be threatened when the Xorda returned to check on Earth only to find it full of life. Feeling that this planet had not changed a bit, the Xorda attacked and the whole planet had to team up, friends and foes alike, to fight this threat. During the fight, Sonic seemingly sacrificed himself to stop the Quantum Dial and save the world. While the planet mourned and Eggman began his total conquest, for the most part, it turned out Sonic was not gone for good and had actually been thrown into space. It took a while but he eventually returned to Mobius in the year 3237, just almost a year after his demise and the Xorda attack. After thwarting Eggman's latest scheme, involving atomics, Sonic had a break up with Sally, its a long story but it involved Sally slapping him.

Sometime afterwards, the heroes would face many more challenges besides Eggman, ranging from the villain known as Anonymous, to alternate reality evil counterparts, a nanite city and much more. Eventually, Eggman, who'd had enough, finally launched his most devestating attack yet which saw the destruction of Knothole village. Sonic, who tried to defeat Eggman as usual, got his butt whopped. Don't worry, he bounced back and everything crashed down on Eggman when he saved his friends, who'd been captured by the mad doctor. Remember the nanite city we mentioned earlier? Guess what, Nicole, Sally's computer, converted it into the former Knothole residents new home and named it New Mobotroplis.

After that one, Sonic and friends would experience a few changes and faced many more challenges. The most notable one was when Knuckles became ANOTHER Enerjak, thanks to the machinations of a mad scientist named Doctor Finitevus, who was way worse than Eggman. The next challenge involved Mammoth Mogul again, not long after, Sonic ended up dealing with his evil alternate universe self Scourge aka Anti-Sonic, who'd conquered Moebius. Following the conflict with the Supression Squard and neutralizing Scourge, Sonic and friends attacked the Egg Dome in what remained of Eggman's city of New Megaoplis. During the conflict, Sonic fought Eggman and defeated him again, Eggman's latest defeat caused the mad doctor to lose his sanity.

Following Eggman's descent into madness, Sonic and the Freedom Fighter's next challenge came when an old enemy took over the Eggman Empire; The Iron Queen. After a long struggle, which saw the loss of New Mobotroplis for a time, the Iron Dominion was defeated. During the chaos of the battle between Sonic and the Iron Queen, Eggman seemingly figured out why he couldn't beat Sonic and retreated into the shadows. Sometime afterwards, as they took a breather from recent events (including the betrayal of Geoffery St. John to Ixis Naugus), Sonic and Sally finally rekindled their relationship and were once again a couple, everything was happy and the future seemed to be bright until...

BOOM! Naugus returned and, just like before, he was out to claim the Acorn throne for himself. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters teamed up to try and take him down. But during the chaos of the battle, things went south double time when Eggman returned and with his newest invention to date... THE DEATH EGG MARK II! That's right, the Egg Dome was actually ANOTHER Death Egg. Sonic and Sally boarded the flying battle station to try and stop Eggman, as usual, only to be met with a great challenge as Sonic fought a Silver Sonic. As for Sally? She ended up getting gunned down as Eggman pressed a button and the whole world was enveloped in a white flash of light now known as THE GENESIS WAVE, which altered the whole world.

Sonic and friends, on the other side of it in a whole new world, still thwarted Eggman's plans. But eventually, memories of the old reality resurfaced and Sonic, who confronted Eggman on board the Death Egg, tapped into the power of Chaos Control as Super Sonic and successfully restored reality to normal, he even managed to save Sally before she got gunned down. The two of them faced Eggman and destroyed his new world roboticizer but not before Sally got turned into a robot. In the end, the day was saved, but it came at a terrible price.

Not only did Sally get turned into a robot, but Naugus, who helped save New Mobotroplis, was crowned king in the process. Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine's wife, lost her cybernetics and was flesh and blood again. Some time later, during another Eggman battle, things mega went south when Antoine got knocked into a coma by an exploding Metal Sonic while trying to save Elias Acorn, Sally's brother and Max's son, from the mad doctor. Bunnie, feeling guilty for everything, left the team. With the Freedom Fighters practically done for and the Kingdom of Acorn controlled by a mad wizard, it seemed all hope was lost and that Eggman was about to finally conquer the world unopposed.

But even in the dark, there is a shinning light...

Sonic and his friends, Tails and Amy, formed Team Fighters and took the fight to Eggman as the doctor terrorized the world, showing that nothing can beat Sonic and the power of heroics and team work. Meanwhile, Rotor, who stayed behind in New Mobotroplis, formed Team Freedom to defend the city from anything. Sonic and Team Fighters' main goal? Save Sally! Their goose chase after Eggman lead them to Furvill, Soumerica, to a village, one where Elias stayed for a time, to an encounter with the Krudzu Hybrid Hydra and then, finally, Albion, the homeland of the Echidnas.

In Albion, things went south as Sonic and friends tried to help the populace fight off Eggman's forces when Thrash, a Tasmanian Tiger, attacked and banished all of the echidnas (except Knuckles) to an unknown location. This greatly infuriated Knuckles who attacked and beat the ever-living crap out of Thrash all the way back to Floating Island where the battle ended with Thrash vanishing.

*Side note: This was due to behind the scenes issues at the time.

Leaving Albion, Team Sonic finally caught up with Eggman in the arctic where the doctor was refueling his Death Egg. Teaming up with the local freedom fighter group, the gang attacked the station, with help from Silver the Hedgehog, and defeated Sally Acorn. Before they could rejoice and get out of there, that was when the Genesis Wave went off again, setting up the Worlds Collide crossover between Sonic and Mega Man...

Worlds Collide & The Reboot:

Following Operation Clean Sweep, a blue Chaos Emerald, one Eggman was using at the time, went missing. Eggman sent his forces to look high and low for the emerald, but however, it turned out that the emerald had actually ended up in another world, Mega Man's world, in the hands of Mega Man's arch nemesis Doctor Wily. Eggman and Wily contacted each other and the two teamed up to take over their worlds, leading them to activating the Genesis Wave which rewrote the whole universe.

Sonic and Mega Man, who fought briefly, teamed up with each other and their friends to stop the mad doctors in the Skull Egg Zone. After a lengthy battle, Eggman and Wily were defeated. But while Mega Man was successful in restoring his world, Sonic's attempts to restore HIS went south when Eggman interfered and fired a lazer that wrecked the universe...

In the aftermath of the crossover, Sonic woke up in a whole new world, one that was similar to that of the game world, but was similar to the old world. Figuring out what was going on, Sonic and Tails reunited the Freedom Fighters all before the planet shattered, setting up the Shattered World Crisis and the Sonic Unleashed adaption. It took a while for the heroes (which included a de-roboticized Sally, a still half-robot Bunnie and a no-longer comatose Antoine) to figure out how to repair everything and so they set off to find the Gaia Keys as well as the Chaos Emeralds, not to mention actually finding the Gaia Temples themselves.

After a long scavenger quest and another crossover with Mega Man, where they had to deal with the threat of Sigma, Sonic and friends got all the emeralds and all of the keys, setting up the finale of the Shattered World Crisis. As they got ready to fix the world, Eggman attacked and caught the Freedom Fighters off guard, actually getting his hands on the Gaia Keys and the Emeralds. The Freedom Fighters recovered from their defeat and went after Eggman, taking the fight to him. During the battle, Dark Gaia appeared at full power and was ready to destroy the world. Sonic defeated him and the day was saved, with the world restored to normal. Unless you count the Genesis of a Hero arc, this is where the comic comes to an end...

Legacy/Final Thoughts:

As I said before, Archie Sonic has a lasting legacy that will never be forgotten as an awesome piece of Sonic history. It has over decades worth of incredible and weird stories that is unforgettable. Fans have come together to honor this legacy through fan art and many of them have gone on to actually write fan comics like Archie Sonic Online and Sonic Retold that continue the story of the pre-reboot timeline and resolve those unfinished plot threads. Even Archie Sonic Restoration, a fan comic which serves as a continuation of the post-reboot story-line, is in the works.

Archie Sonic will be long remembered in years to come, the impact it has left behind can be felt and seen in IDW and various cartoons. As for the popular fan favorite characters in pre-reboot and the characters post-reboot? Their legacies will live on in spiritual successors and fan-fiction. I am honored to have been on board this comic, given the fact I started reading this in 2011, just 6 years before the comic ended and just a few years before the reboot happened. I vow to collect every last issue of this comic I never had and I will read the series over and over again.

I give this series a 9/10 for awesomeness and, just like that, I close out.

Bye ya'll!

-James M