The early bird catches the worm…or comic.
This weekend is the return of Free Comic Book Day, and Archie has a sample of their own to offer. Available via the FCBD website, Previews World has a preview for the Sonic Sampler that you’ll be able to pick up without paying a single penny!
The comic features parts of two already-released stories, “Keys to Victory” from Sonic the Hedgehog #280 and “Eggman’s Dozen”; part 1 from Sonic Universe #83. More extensive previews of them can be found on in previous previews on this site if you’re curious and don’t own the full issues already. What’s possibly more interesting for regular readers is the featurette, a sneak peak at events to come in the “Fast Forward Feature” segment! Could we be seeing a look at the end of the Shattered World Crisis? We’ll all find out on the day.
Publisher: ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS
(W/A) Various (CA) Jamal Peppers, Gary Martin
Get the best of both worlds with the Sonic Sampler! Hot on the heels of the all-new epic Sonic comics event, “Panic in the Sky,” comes a supersonic sampling of stories for Free Comic Book Day! Join Sonic and friends as they band together to save the world from the evil ambitions of Dr. Eggman in these select stories from Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe! Plus, get a sneak peek of what’s to come with a special “Fast Forward Feature” that you’ll have to see to believe!
Rating: All Ages
The Sonic Sampler will be one of many comics available at all participating comic book stores. The day it’s happening is Saturday May 7th. Stores often become busy on Free Comic Book Day, so I recommend heading out early to beat the crowds and ensure you get a copy. Who know, maybe you’ll pick up other samples and find a new series to get into!
Sources: Previews World, Free Comic Book Day website
Comics? Hmm.
Well, they’re free. I might as well check them out, see if they’re as bad as I hear they are.
They’re not that bad at all actually. Opinions will vary, but they’re probably the most interesting and entertaining things in the Sonic franchise, plot wise anyway. I mean, things might be somewhat rocky these days since the previous lawsuits have left Flynn with a lot less characters and story arc possibilities to work with, but it’s still going pretty strong with what they can work with now. I’d say give it a shot, they’re pretty good. If you don’t like what you see but still want to check out some older issues that may have gotten it better without having to put any money on it, well there’s plenty of scan sites out there. If it’s just not for you altogether then, oh well.
Plus, since the comics recently rebooted, you don’t have to go back too far to get the whole storyline they’re currently using. Start from Sonic the Hedgehog #253 and Sonic Universe #55. Plus, most of the mediocre/bad characters/groups of characters got rebooted out of existence (as far as we know), including all 5 of these bad gender counterparts: https://www.sonicstadium.org/2016/04/five-worst-gender-counterparts-that-the-archie-sonic-comics-created/.
Of course, I really enjoyed the older comics too, especially after the aftermath of the Quantum Dial in StH #125 (I’d be spoiling it if I said any more) all the way up to the reboot in StH #252 (besides the swarms of Echidnas). It’s a shame the comic got rebooted when it did; things were really starting to pick up; but things were also starting to get really complicated, so even without the Ken Penders situation the reboot was timed pretty well.
Welllllll….like I said, opinions vary, I was personally fine with those other characters, I don’t feel like they really did any harm to the franchise (as opposed to characters that were literally created to destroy aspects of the comic, like Thrash for example), and Fiona and Julie happen to be some of my favorite characters from the story, but again that’s just my opinion and they aren’t what the comic is entirely about anyway. If you ever wanted to see what a more expanded upon idea of what Sonic, his friends, and world could be like if they had more of an overarching story structure and actual history and foundation to bounce stories off of, then this series would be your go-to.
Like Ryan said, it’s possible to start off where the reboot has left things off, since it just kind of covers what you really need to know about the previous universe…in that there was a previous universe to begin with. After that it just kind of fades away from collective memory (as Flynn said it would…for now anyway), and the focus becomes what’s happening with the plot right there and now. However, if you wanted to see what got so many people into the series in the first place, I would highly recommend starting from the very beginning or whatever early arc most fans would recommend starting from (I will warn you, the first 13-25 issues or so are pretty goofy in nature, this was back when they were trying to emulate both of the 90’s cartoons at the time, but it started getting more exciting once it reached the 25th issue and definitely before the 50th).
Again, it’s your call. Sonic SCANF tends to be a good online resource, though I’m not sure if you have to have an account to access them or not.
Who told you they were bad?
Does it come with a free soda?
Remember when these FCD Sonic issues actually had some unique stories, before the Pendering happened.
In fact, I always dreamed of an issue featuring an epic battle between the Archie Freedom Fighters and the Fleetway Freedom Fighters.
Wait, why would you want to relegate such a historic meeting to a free comic book?
More importantly, what has Nigel and Kitching or whoever owns the rights of the Fleetway gang has been doing with those characters? At least unlike Penders, those guys actually have more then enough talent to turn their characters into an original property that can make them profit. Otherwise, why not sell those characters to SEGA and make a good bundle?