The second half deals with Sonic 'Toons and the like, along with Archie's version in Comic Book form.
The second half deals with Sonic 'Toons and the like, along with Archie's version
in Comic Book form.
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog- Summer, 1994: This cartoon was Looney Tunes merged with Red Bull right from the start. Sonic was a hyperactive Bugs Bunny who made Robotnik's life hell, and Tails seemed to be always the confused sidekick who got in trouble in every episode. Mobius seemed to be the ground for odd characters and the world Sonic was pitted in seemed to be a modernized version of Felix the Cat cartoons. Needless to day, the series were funny, and the only characters who made worth it were Robotnik and his zany bunch of robotic sidekicks.
Sonic the Hedgehog, Summer 1994: The kid-friendly version featured a grown-up world where Robotnik rules as King. Sonic and his band of Freedom Fighters try to regain back their planet and to put an end to the mad genius' rule. The cartoon had heart, music, and some pretty well painted backgrounds, it was like watching a of Disney cartoon with the premise of Captain planet's intentions, but a lot more intelligent. Plus, it introduced female heroes, included the ever lovin' country girl Bunnie Rabbot, and th ever naked Princess Sally, who has been the target of fanboys in puberty during that time. Robotnik was pure EVIL, having a booming voice rivaling Darth Vader an a lackey known as Snively at his side. The first season was sheer pleasure, whereas the Second season was lacking heart, and it seemed rushed. Sally was forced to wear a blue vest for the sake of censorship, and Robotnik seemed to go up in smoke in a funny conclusion to the series.
Sonic the Hedgehog- ADV Films: This two-part video introduced Sonic to the Anime industry, with a lesser known plot of Robotnik asking for Sonic's help to dave the planet (yes, you heard me right), and borrowed a bit fro, the game franchises in terms of robot bashing and level exploring. Tails was a nifty mechanic, and the famous biplane from Sonic 2 made an appearance later in the show. Robotnik kidnaps a catgirl princess and uses the ever popular Metal Sonic to elminate the Hedgehog. Knuckles also makes an appearance, and stays true to his videogame counterpart. A nice little video overall.
Sonic Underground- 1994-First Quarter of 1995: This monstroucity ripped everything you knew about Sonic and trashed it, stomping it to the ground like a cockroach and then lit it on fire to make sure Dic had its way with the series. First off, Sonic was not the only Hedgehog now, there were his "siblings", which no one ever heard of (hell, I bet Sega didn't either), and Robotnik seemed to undergo some horrible voice-acting. At times the animation would shake a lot worse than the Blair Witch project, and the new characters where a lot to be desired of. However, this was not what made the series bad, it was the fact that viewers where tortured with Jaleel White's voice as the series had a mandatory song in every damn episode. The horror...the horror...
Sonic X, 2000- This Japanese Animated series focused more on summarizing the events of Sonic Adventure 2 (in season two anyway), than anything else. It seemed by now Sally and others were forgotten, and Sega wanted this to be a clone from the videogame counterparts. It wouldn't be too bad if only 4Kids stopped cropping and editing every other detail of the series, and it could do with showing more of Rouge's tanned boobs.
At least it made a good effort to keep Big the Cat away, that is one section I never minded editing.
Cream the Rabbit, Shadow, and a bunch of braindead human characters make their appearances here, but the series seems to be declining big time. Maybe for Sonic hardcore fans and kids who just got acquainted with the new games might like these series better.
Archie comics took over during the time Sonic started in the little screen, and it has been doing a poor job of summarizing events and making Sonic look "way past cool!" . This comic seems at times to be aimed for a younger audience most of the time, but at times it wants to mature to the level of the Saturday Morning series. The result is a pain to see, with poor writing, poor artwork, and story arks that bounce more than a kid in a sugar rush. It also introduced a myriad of other Archie-made characters which you could either love or hate. The fact that this may well be a kid comic may not excuse the way Princess Sally is shaped at times. I bet she will need to cover her ever growing bust in future issues.
In your face!- It all goes down the drain once Archie takes advantage of Sonic's fame and the generation that loves him. Unexplained events, questionable characters, desecration of the storylines, and a whole mess up with characters from the cartoon made this one comic to stay away from. Curiously enough, some fans still believe Archie Comics was the right choice for Sonic to be featured in. Did I mention that Archie and Image Comics merged to create a Sonic vs. Image thingamathing? Wowsers!
Sonic CD- Marking the 25th Issue of Archie's blasphemy, Sonic CD appeared to be a GOOD idea to promote the comic, and it almost did if it wasn't because characters were brought from all time periods (Tail was rumored to appear after the entire Sonic CD thing), and the whole "Amy loves Sonic" dispute was posted as a clueless fangirl who sends him fanmail. Yeah, I thought you would agree that this was an incredibly stupid adaptation, that's Archie for ye! In the end, Sonic "asks" the reader to help him stop Robotnik by means of a misfigured hand pressing a red button. Oh well...at least Metal Sonic looked decent here.
VERIDICT: The Comic had some merit having most references from the game featured, but the ending was aweful. Sonic was showing of his "figure 8" run, but just like in the game, it was useless to even mention it. In the whole Comic, it was never mentioned that the race was being held at Stardust Speedway, or in The Little Planet for that manner, in fact, not even the Time Gems or time-travelling premises were featured. It was jus ta portion featuring Sonic and Metal Sonic. Archie probably figured they already messed up the game enough.
Kunckles Chaotix- As if the horrible game wasn't enough, Archie thought it was a great idea to bring an adaptation in comic book form.* In here, Sonic and the rest of the SaTam cast flies over to Floating Island to try a way-cool Carnival that mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. Robotnik gets to trap all of them (yes, even Sonic) in a mirror**, then prepares to use the Carnival for any other thing I forgot he did with. The point is, Knuckles comes in, gets his red ass kicked out, and starts looking for a way to get Robotnik off his island. He finds the likes of Victor, Espio, and Mighty by sheer coincidence and in 5 panels worth of content. If by now your brain is not sizzling, wait until you read the ending: Knuckles Super sizes to fight that huge Metal Sonic monster, wins, and rescues Sonic and the gang. Archie has done it again!
VERIDICT- Awful can't even depict my view on this comic. Everything seemed as if it were rushed, and Archie just wanted to give Knukles his 5 minutes of fame, without caring for any fan of the Echidna. The rest of the characters did nothing but to watch and applaud the fact that this comic was the worst feature they ever been introduced in. The worst part is that the whole carnival bit was not Archie's idea...it was Sega's.
Mecha Madness- Well, this one is not based on any game, but it did raised my curiosity of a Mechanized Knuckles beating the crap out of MechaSonic. It seems as if Robotnik finally got to roboticized Sonic (yeah you heard me), so he has the perfect robot to take down Sally and her gang. He kicks Bunnie's fluffy tail and keeps ravaging until Knuckles appears to save the day. The only way to fight a Mecha Sonic? How about making a Mecha Knuckles? Yeah, that ought of do it! In the end, Sonic and Knuckles are turned back to normal (Huh?) inside a compact de-roboticizer (HUH???), and Robotnik runs away crying for mommy once more.
VERIDICT: Hm...let me see...the Satam series stated that once you make a robot out of any furry critter, the process can't be reversed...yet here we are, Sonic and Knuckles were turned into robots and then back to their formal selves in an instant. Ironic that Bunnie wasn't even asked to go trough the same process. My brain hurts, I gave this comic to a friend and pretend I never bother reading it. I am thankful this was not based on any of the games...shit, maybe Sega is planning making an adaptaion of this comic! Nooo!
Sonic Super Special #11: Yeah,yeah, this was not based on any of the games, but it did featured a spot reserved for the female cast including Sally, Bunnie, Lupe, and Hershey the cat. That was good enough for me being that Lupe was all but forgotten in the cartoon series. Sadly, Archie decided that Lupe be turned into a robot, presumed dead, and then went on stating that Bunnie would have to get an "upgrade" on her body since another option would leave her limbless. Hershey was just having fun bombing Robotnik's place, and Sally thought being a Princess was too ghetto, therefore she took a shower ina golden pool and went back home resuming life as a naturist.
VERIDICT: I will just say this much: Archie hates Sonic and everything that spawned into the minds of youthful gamers like you and me.
Oh, about Lupe...yeah, Archie gnawed into its fist and went on adapting a classic Sonic The Hedgehog episode into a comic, featuring Sally and Sonic meeting Lupe for the first time. The adaptation from "Never Cry Wolf" was a nice refreshing change, something worth collecting and reminding me that Archie didn't had that bad, it just that they can't help writing good stories without the genius of the said TV series. After that Issue was done with, Archie went ont making a vague episode in its comic featuring Uncle Chuck being resentful as to what he did to Lupe, and having Lupe appearing out of NOWHERE with her family in a nice, reunion with the rest of the cast. Whoppee!
VERIDICT: Probably the only comic worth a damn in the entire Archie series. Sadly, that was the only time I bothered pickign up another issue after it.
The future? Well, I could ask a lot, but I hope Sonic makes a better comeback in both videogame and cartoon franchises.
THE END.
*Yes, I bought it too given that I never got the chance to set my brain in fire playing the game version, but that was besides the point.
**Man, don't even get me started on how every character's IQ was dropped to a -100, Sonic was either drunk or had a seizure that permitted him to go along with all this crap.