I've yet to read through all of the Archie comics, even though they are all available... I've tried three times. I honestly just need to suck it up and power through, but knowing what is ahead always stops me.
Hazy on details, but I remember liking what they did with Amy Rose for the Adventure 1 comic plot. Y'know...actually giving her story to get her involved instead of "Hi, I'm Amy, I live in humanville. (Just roll with it.)"
Fun fact, the Knuckles story in issue 13 was added at the last minute. The space story and another story planned for that issue (probably obvious with the cover and design change). Fans were writing for the intro to Knux so badly and Ken and Mike and only played the first couple levels to tell the story (Ken admitted he was pretty bad at the game). It’s the main reason Knuckles isn’t even on the cover
I can believe that 100%. But _most_ of those early comics had covers that had absolutely nothing to do with the story (or stories). Checking through my archive, the only covers in the 1st year of Archie Sonic that referenced the content inside were issues 6 (Sonic Spinball) and 9 (Pseudo-Sonic). It was only with Issue 16 -- same one where Sally finally got her correct coloring -- that the covers began consistently lining up with the material
I still got to wonder why they didn't reverse the order of the issues as the End of the Robostorm plot line would have worked perfectly to setup the Knuckles story thereafter.
The early Archie issues have a lot of innocent charm to them. The stories were about as nonsensical as most comics were back in the day as far as I can tell, but at least they’re a fun read to this day. Unlike Penders’ later work, which is downright disturbing at times…
"Greater love hath no enchidna than this, that a mobian lay down his life for his friends." Penners 15:13 Thus begins the saga of one fictional characters of all time, Ken Pender's Knuckles.
Knuckles gives Sonic and Tails a 10- minute head start, which is about how much time it takes to read though the rest of this story. Oh well. I'm sure this popular new character would reappear within a year and a half...
Sometimes I wonder, what attracted Penders to Knuckles so much? Why did he get so fascinated with the red guy that he gave him a people, family, history, ect ect. Then again, I am part of a fandom that gave an entire universe to a character that popped up for only one episode. So maybe its a similar concept.
Penders didn’t care about Knuckles as a character. All the dumb shit he did with Knuckles he originally wanted to do with Sonic but SEGA didn’t let him. He used Knuckles because he could get away with more when using him as the vessel for his convoluted dumbass plotlines.
It was mostly that his backstory is a blank slate and Sega didn't care that much about what was done with him. It allowed Penders a lot of creative control.
You picked a good comic to start into archie! Every year around this time I like to reread Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog run. I'm around a little after the doomsday arc at the moment.
I absolutely *LOVE* this kind of meta humor Reminds me a lot of Monica's Gang comics I read as a kid. I've never read anything from Archie, Sonic or otherwise, but the vibe this humor gives off is downright nostalgic to me
I always thought the hitting the drink Saturday night was a joke about Tails not wanting a bath. In alot of cartoon medias in the 80s and early 90s Saturday night was designated as "bath night" as kids would only bathe on weekends on TV. Fortunately i hadnt met many people who implemented this in the real world, but it was a common thing on TV.
100% sure it is. Kenders and Kanterovich could never have gotten away with even a super-oblique alcohol reference since Archie were the ones who enforced the Comics Code while it still existed
@@Soufriere84 given other issues in this era has bunnie call herself a "sax cymbal" when discussing music, cannibals, and several other things that wouldn't fly by comics code, and much later issues would feature blood, drugs, and several violent war crimes all while still labeled with the comics code badge.... I THINK a drinking joke would pass just fine.
The Super Sonic & Hyper Knuckles issue was the first Archie comic I saw Knuckles in, and...it was AMAZING (to me as a little kid). The concept of "Zones" was still being fleshed out in the comic, so having a bizarre "pocket universe" located in a random hole in the ground wasn't TOO unexpected. Knuckles' story arc would get more "complex" as the Archie comics progressed, but it certainly helped to turn him into the Guardian/Hero we know today.
I've been watching since your first upload. I've missed a ton of videos recently because of how busy I am with college. I don't know if this is your usual tone, but I feel like this video was really relaxed. It didn't feel rambly, but it didn't feel tightly scripted. I really loved it! It was comforting for some reason.
I know this is nothing but a simple, but enjoyable speed reading of Knuckles' first appearance in Archie, but I remember a certain comment from one of these past videos that involved the Archie Comics, where someone wrote something like "Ken Penders was a great writer. Emphasis on 'WAS'. He soon spiraled out of that position, tho". Kinda reminds me of Chris Chandler. Both are Sonic-related. Both were once simple people who enjoyed simple things, but soon their lives and obsessions spiraled out of control and now they're looked upon with disdain and disgust.
Ken Penders WAS a good comic writer -- I adored the Knuckles series when it was going (but I headcanon it ended at Issue 29 because the last 3 issues were garbage), though I see some major flaws it in now -- no not just Kenders using his own family to name Echidna characters. I miss Julie-Su almost as much as I miss the Freedom Fighters… But yes, Ken went way off into la-la land long before the lawsuit… Anyway, no one ever respected Christian Chandler
This was the first Archie comic I bought in a Barns and Nobel that I found when I was around ten or eleven. But I did not care too much for the other story in the book so I mainly focused on the Sonic 3 re-telling.
Old Archie was so *bad* but man kid Gil was eating it up. It was so good as a kid, the humor hit right, and it was a nice thing to do that was still Sonic when the parents were demanding a game break.
Engagement Comment: The Fishing Cat has little webbed paws which give them more surface for walking on muddy terrain and help them swim. Their short fur helps keep them waterproof. Could be a cool Sonic character. Maybe one that would take advantage of his swimming weakness, if that's still a thing.
Did everyone forget that in Sonic Underground Knuckles guards a Chaos Emerald on Angle Island and has a pet dinosaur and his grandfather from the Archie comics exists in that cartoon.
I think as a condensed version of Sonic 3 this is a pretty fun adaptation. Dave’s art is cartoony and fun to look at, jokes are funny, and it adapts just enough to be a good adaptation while not spoiling everything in the game.
I feel you on the whole "where's Knuckles?" thing - I still remember why I started reading Archie Sonic in the first place: it's summer in the mid-90s, I'm around 10 years old, and I'm fresh off of being sad that there haven't been any new episodes of SatAM on TV while also being sad that Knuckles never showed up there, either. I go to a mall shop at the Jersey shore and stumble on the Archie Sonic and Knuckles special; I quickly pick it up, open it...and see the Freedom Fighters, too! It was like Christmas in July. Of course, being an adult now and knowing the history of both continuities, plus knowing now that Knuckles was likely going to show up in season 3 of SatAM had it happened, there's a lot more "what if?" thoughts swirling around my mind concerning this era.
The Master Emerald already appeared (Not under that name) in the Sonic 3 *Japanese* manual, where it was noted that the "Floating Island" (Angel Island was still just the name of a single Zone at this point, not the entire region) prompted an extremely strong Chaos Emerald reaction on Tails' Jewel Radar, and also that Eggman had detected a huge Chaos Emerald underground through a fissure the Death Egg crash had opened. *None* of this is in the English-language manual, though, and Archie would've been working entirely from the Western storyline at this point. (Back when they were separate) Another interesting point here is that in Sonic 3's JP manual, Knuckles is just the guardian of the Floating Island's *Chaos Emeralds,* and, since it specifically mentions 7, he doesn't appear to even known the Master Emerald exists. This was retconned as early as the Japanese Sonic & Knuckles manual, though, where Sonic followed Knuckles to the Super Ring where he first saw the Master Emerald, implying that Knuckles *does* know about it.
Yeah, that one. They had a really involved one for Adventure one, so it was surprising that they basically did the game's intro and said "go play the game for the rest". Just sonic getting arrested, Eggman waking Shadow, and City escape.
I was much the same. when they did the sonic 3 and knuckles adaption in sonic the comic in the uk I missed most of the issues because the store near me was really hit and miss getting them in stock. key differences were Sonic and Knuckles having a large fight the master emerald was fully utilised Sonic even uses it to turn super sonic to battle mecha sonic (which is kind of a big thing because fleetways super sonic was this wild uncontrollable second personna that attacks friend or foe alike even turning on Knuckles before transformation wears off and he becomes Sonic again). One thing I always remember about Sonic and Knuckles in fleetways is just how rarely the two characters intereacted after the whole game adaption arc in almost 200 issues they only feature in the same stories like three or four times to the point were they might as well exist in completely seperate continuities.
I'm looking forward to you covering the Sonic and Knuckles adaptation. It has one of my favorite WTF scenes in the Archie Sonic comics. I of course refer to the "mushroom scene." Those who have read the issue will know what I'm talking about.
@@dionlackey798 Spoilers. Sonic is hit on the head in Mushroom Hill Zone, which causes him to hallucinate that a bunch of mushrooms come to life and try to eat him. It comes out of nowhere, has nothing to do with the game it is adapting, does nothing to forward the plot, and is never mentioned again. I love it.
@@dionlackey798 If you want to see Ken Penders writing Sonic characters tripping out on hallucinogenic drugs, you have to read his Knuckles series. And no, I am not joking.
ugh archie knuckles I GOTTA get this spoiler off my chest... While Chaos Knuckles (his green form) looked cool, my GOSH was it boring to read! and as cool as his future design looks, theres just a little bit too much going on (little details here and there) and i hate the fact in that futures canon its him who finishes off eggman once and for all and NOT sonic.
Ngl this is what I've come to expect from archie They imo wernt the best at sonic It always felt so wildly disconnected fro the games And ik they try to connect it down the line but- still not my favorite
Nick… I'm still trying to figure out how you thought Tails was making an alcohol reference in this issue when it's obviously the "Saturday night bath" trope - y'know, kids hate baths + media for decades had baths being a thing on Saturday nights (gotta be clean for church on Sunday I guess)
Sonic issue 13... I know he's had it rough the past couple of decades but damn... is that joke too cheesy? Knuckles wasn't in Sat AM? I thought he was, maybe I'm just thinking of Sonic Underground, thought he had some episodes in both.
I don't know if you're aware, but there is a short sonic related fan made animation made by PixelRush called "Where there is light..." that i would love to hear you talk aboot. I haven't gotten goosebumps like that in a while when I watched it for the first time.
