Suddenly Team Dark, suddenly Echidna, suddenly Chip…oh wait, he was there all along.
After being left without any solicitations last month due to delays for the monthly issues, we’re back and kicking with all sorts of surprises with Comics Alliance revealing the new covers for June! First up, Eggman has launched his attack on the Freedom Fighters, and they’re out of the game. But they’re under pressure to get back in it now Eggman has seized control of the Chaos Emeralds and Chip, and unleashed their power! Find out if the heroes can pull the odds in their favour in “Panic in the Sky”: part 2.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #285
Script: Ian Flynn
Art: Diana Skelly, Terry Austin, John Workman and Gabriel Cassata
Sonic the Hedgehog #285 CVR A Reg: Dan Schoening and Luis Delgado
Sonic the Hedgehog #285 CVR B Variant: Evan Stanley
The suspense builds for Sonic in “Panic in the Sky” Part Two: Sonic and the Freedom Fighters have faced a crushing defeat at the hands of Dr. Eggman and his entire evil Eggman Empire! Now it becomes a race against time to get back in the fight and save the day! But when Dr. Eggman uses Chip and the power of the Chaos Emeralds, are our heroes already too late? Featuring the second of four connecting covers by comics pro Dan Schoening plus a “Gaia Colossus” variant by the excellent Evan Stanley!
Ship Date: 6/29
On Sale Date: 7/13
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
Next, Knuckles and Amy are still on the hunt for the Master Emerald shards, and the situation keeps on growing! Omega is down for the count and Amy and Rouge are busy trying to keep themselves alive! Knuckles, meanwhile, is guided to the heart of the Hidden Palace by a person who claims to be an Echidna called Nixus, but not everything may be as it seems in “Shattered”: part 2.
SONIC UNIVERSE #88
Script: Ian Flynn
Art: Adam Bryce Thomas, Jim Amash, Jack Morelli and Matt Herms
Sonic Universe #88 CVR A Reg: Tracy Yardley and Matt Herms
Sonic Universe #88 CVR B Variant: Diana Skelly, Rick Bryant and Elaina Unger
Tougher than leather, it’s Knuckles in “Shattered” Part Two: The mysteries deepen and the suspense builds! Amy and Rouge fight for their lives! Omega is out of commission! And Knuckles is lead deep into the heart of the Hidden Palace Zone by the new Echidna, Nixus! But is this strange newcomer everything he seems to be? Featuring cover art by Sonic comics legend Tracy Yardley and an “& Knuckles” variant by the delightful Diana Skelly!
Ship Date: 6/8
On Sale Date: 6/22
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
Want to relive the time Sonic and Mega Man were turned against their allies? Soon you’ll be able to as Worlds Unite starts being collected in graphic novel format! Sigma, the evil virus from the Mega Man X games, manages to elude the Mavericks and escape into Sonic’s World, where he manages to team up with the Deadly Six and force Eggman and Wily into working for him. This vile combination leads to Sonic and Mega Man being roboticised, and it’s up to our heroes to reverse it! This is Worlds Unite Volume 1: Deadly Fusion.
SONIC/MEGA MAN: WORLDS UNITE VOL. 1: DEADLY FUSION 1 (TR)
Script: Ian Flynn, various
Art: Dan Schoening, Tracy Yardley, Ben Bates, Jamal Peppers, Terry Austin, Phyllis Novin
Jack Morelli, Rachel Deering, Matt Herms, Luis Antonio Delgado & Ben Hunzeker
Cover: Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante
The sequel to the record-shattering Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man crossover is here! You saw what happened when “Worlds Collide,” now brace yourself for when WORLDS UNITE! Dark forces have come together in the far future! The vicious conqueror, Sigma, has cheated death again and escaped the justice of X and the Maverick Hunters. He’s crossed space and time to join forces with Zavok and the malicious Deadly Six of Lost Hex! Sonic and Mega Man could save us-but they’ve gone missing! Now the Freedom Fighters of Sonic’s world and the Robot Masters of Mega Man’s world must take up the fight to save their heroes and stop the coming tide of darkness! WORLDS UNITE features guest appearances by the cast of SONIC BOOM, MEGA MAN X and some of CAPCOM and SEGA’s biggest stars! This volume collects WORLDS UNITE parts 1-4 from Sonic Universe #76, Sonic Boom #8, Sonic the Hedgehog #273, Mega Man #50 and selections from Mega Man: Worlds Unite Battles #1 and Sonic: Worlds Unite Battles #1.
978-1-62738-998-3
$14.99/$16.99 CAN
6 5/8 x 10 3/16″
TR
136 pp, Full Color
Direct Market On-Sale Date: 6/29
And finally, we get an issue we covered not long ago. In lieu of not getting any updates on the monthly series, Archie revealed their one-off special for the 25th anniversary of Sonic, an original story set in the retro era with Sonic and his friends saving the world from Dr Eggman’s latest contraption of doom, the MEGADRIVE. For those that missed it, this is Sonic: Mega Drive #1.
SONIC: MEGA DRIVE #1
Script: Ian Flynn
Art: Tyson Hesse, Jack Morelli and Matt Herms
Sonic: Mega Drive #1 CVR A Reg: Tyson Hesse
Sonic spins into a brand new, Classic-styled, SUPER SPECIAL one-shot “Mega Drive”! Join Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy Rose on a brand new adventure—set after the fall of the Death Egg! The nefarious Dr. Eggman is trying to build a new engine of destruction: the MEGADRIVE, and it’s up to Sonic and his whole crew to stop the mad doctor and save the day! Join Sonic and his friends in this special commemorative issue celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Blue Blur!
Ship Date: 6/22
On Sale Date: 7/6
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
We’ll have more on all of these issues closer to the time of their release. And with Archie promising a set routine for the next few issues, these ones should come out when scheduled at least!
Source: Comics Alliance
Well, this is an interesting turn of events! I certainly didn’t expect Team Dark to show up again so soon, but it really doesn’t matter. The more the merrier I suppose!
As for this new “Nixus” character, I have a few theories about him:
-He could actually be Walter “Naugus” in disguise. He IS a wizard after all. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has the ability to do something like that…
-He could be a “Dark Arms” warrior which explains why Team Dark is involved…
-He’s actually Thrash who still has his vendetta against Echidnas and changed his identity, going by the name of “Nixus” to trick Knuckles for an unknown motive…
…or he’s just a brand new echidna altogether.
It turns out that my first theory was correct. Here’s why:
1) The solicit mentions Knuckles and Co. being on Angel Island (specifically, around the Hidden Palace Zone) in this part, and Relic previously noted in “Total Eclipse” that Angel Island had some ancient Troll technology. Naugus is now officially a troll, so…
2) We know that “Shattered” seems primarily focused on Knux and Amy restoring the Master Emerald while Sonic saves the world. And in Naugus’ most recent appearances before this arc (“Back in Business” & “Eggman’s Dozen”) he appears to be using a Master Emerald Shard to restore his magic. Now how would Knuckles be able to get that last piece otherwise?
3) “Nixus” seems to be a purple “echidna” with red eyes, just like Naugus’ clothing and eye colours, respectively. Plus, the name “Nixus” itself sounds like Ian picked it for a reason. I mean, “N”(augus) + “ixus” (similar to Ixis) just screams “it’s totally Naugus!” to me, real-life word or not.
Does anyone besides me think Nixus seems to resemble Boom Knuckles in frame only?
I was thinking that! I would like to see them duke it out.
Plot twist, something happens in an alternate Boom universe (…like maybe the Smart Knuckles universe) that turns him evil. Then with his intelligence and evil intentions, he is able to cross dimensions and now has some kind of score to settle with the Archie/mainstream Knuckles. Or something messed up like that. X)””
SEGA won’t allow any Boom characters in the main comic series.
Dude it’s a joke. Plus Sticks was allowed in the crossover, and don’t give me the “because it was a crossover” excuse, they could have left Boom out if they wanted to. It’s all Sonic as far as Sega is concerned, I wouldn’t put anything past them. Besides it’s not like they strictly said that they don’t want Boom in the comic series, and they still have plans of continuing Boom’s comic adventures in some form, even without an exclusive title to call their own.
They could’ve made it last for 4 months, instead of 3, only then, we would’ve had four months of Sticks-less stories in Sonic Boom, like a coincidence where Eggman creates Spy Brooms to sell to the idiot villagers, and Tails learns of the Micro cameras, and Amy feels embarrassed, knowing that Eggman was watching Amy change her clothes!
Or Thrash. He has that vibe to him. But that would mean acknowledging the old continuity and Penders’ bullshit deed.
But Thrash was a Tazmanian devil. He was a lot taller and furrier too and I’m almost sure that he had different patterns on his fur. Unless he’s got some kind of disguise spell from Dr. Finitivous….oh god I miss Finitivous, he was one of the coolest villains from the post-Penders era. I hope he’s not caught in this legal rights thing, since the random nameless echidna that he once was was technically Penders’ creation. But then what about Scourge? He was originally Evil Sonic who first debuted in a Penders written script, but then again it was an Evil SONIC, would he even get rights to that of all things? I mean it’s still Sonic. I just want Sonic and Knuckles to have their awesome villains back. T3T””
It’s not Thrash because he became Penders’ agent after the lawsuit hit, and removed all of the comic-created echidnas at the time for him. He’s part of the in-universe reason of why they’re all gone. Eggman being the other but at least there was a memory wipe for Knuckles. Case in point, whenever people see Thrash…they see Penders.
Less likely, since Thrash was introduced by Ian Flynn, so I guess the Super Genesis Wave must have changed his name and species
Well, you guessed wrong. “Nixus” is Walter Naugus in disguise, not Thrash. You’re not using concrete evidence for that claim of yours. Look at the cover again and notice ALL the details on “Nixus”. Just TRY to prove me wrong. My explanations for “Nixus” being Walter Naugus is more concrete and logical than your statement.
@GreenBlade64: Dude, I have not been keeping up with these as much as I should be, at this point I’ll take yours or anyone else’s word for it.
Though in case that is the case, SPOILERS!!! T3T””””
Dude, there’s a list of reasons why Thrash is a possibility as well, so we don’t know for certain who or what Nixus is. Stop being so snappy.
I’m actually half on the Thrash bandwagon and half thinking just some random new dude who’s evil like Finitevus was at one point. Like, why does it HAVE to be someone who already exists? “Is he everything he seems to be?” doesn’t necessarily mean he’s someone else, just that he might not be as nice or good as he appears and he winds up luring the guys into a trap.
(repeated up here in case you guys don’t scroll all the way down to my comment thread)
It’s clearly Walter Naugus in disguise. Just think about it. He IS a wizard, after all. This shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone. Even the name alone was a dead giveaway. Not to mention his eye color and glove pattern…look carefully at that cover. The solicit also made it very obvious: “But is this strange newcomer everything he seems to be?”
You know the fact that they’ve been building up the troll civilization so far, makes me believe that the Echidnas had a past rivalry with the trolls in the Post-Reboot universe. Thus Naugus will become a more personal antagonist for Knuckles, because of ancestral hatred.
Walter’s not called Ixis though, now is he? Unless he’s, like, Ixis Walter Naugus or Walter Ixis Naugus.
Your comment had literally nothing to do with what I posted. Where did you suddenly come up with that kind of statement? Let me break it down for you, Walter Naugus has been and always will be a wizard. Don’t go dismissing my logical and concrete statement just because of an old nickname.
Ian said that he could bring back that term in a more “subtle” way.
HOT DAMN I’M SO BEHIND!!!!! OoO”””
And there seems to be more events happening directly after the Death Egg than the defeat of Kid Buu.
Suddenly Pineapples.
Is it just me or does the werehogs mouth look really odd in the default cover?
Also… Boom Knuckles? O_o
No, it’s someone else. Does the name “Nixus” remind of you of a certain SATAM villain? If it does, you should already know the real answer by now.
Ixis isn’t purple though. I saw someone else mention Walter but his name isn’t Ixis, thus trumping that because Nixus.
I was joking when I said Boom Knuckles though, just to clarify. I’m actually half on the Thrash bandwagon and half thinking just some random new dude who’s evil like Finitevus was at one point. Like, why does it HAVE to be someone who already exists? “Is he everything he seems to be?” doesn’t necessarily mean he’s someone else, just that he might not be as nice or good as he appears and he winds up luring the guys into a trap.
That’s what I meant. Naugus is disguising himself as “Nixus” to fool Knuckles. Like I said, he IS a wizard. You shouldn’t be so surprised if he had the ability to transform into other people.
Well, I’m officially excited because Shadow the hedgehog.