Archie Sonic Boom Issue 1

Archie Sonic Boom Issue 1 is the first issue in the Sonic Boom comic series published by Archie Comics.

Official Solicitation

 * Here comes the BOOM! Based on the new hit TV and video game comes Sonic Boom, a new ongoing Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series from Archie Comics! Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends are back and ready to do battle with the evil Dr. Eggman and his diabolical death-machines! This ground-breaking new chapter in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise puts a new ‘spin’ on all your favorite heroes and villains – plus new faces and hilarious new stories chock-full of action! Featuring a stunning first issue cover by Sonic art legend Patrick ‘SPAZ’ Spaziante, and 4-part ‘Here Comes the Boom’ collector covers from series artists Evan Stanley, Rick Bryant, and Matt Herms!

Getting a Little Boulder Part One of... er... One

 * Writer: Ian Flynn
 * Pencils: Evan Stanley
 * Inks: Rick Bryant
 * Colors: Matt Herms
 * Letters: Jack Morelli
 * Assistant Editor: Vincent Lovallo
 * Editor/Executive Director of Editorial: Paul Kaminski
 * Editor-in-chief: Victor Gorelick
 * President: Mike Pellerito
 * Publisher: John Goldwater
 * Special thanks to: Tyler Ham, Anthony Gaccione and the character business and licensing department of Sega corporation

Summary
The story begins with Sonic having a fight with Dr. Eggman in his Big Boy on the beach. As Sonic taunts Eggman, the doctor gloats that he is prepared to bury him in the sand forever, but Sonic is undeterred and lands a few blows on the mech. Tails then comes to Sonic's aid, but as he analyzes the mech, he briefly geeks out with Eggman about the robot's amazing construct. Knuckles then arrives to join the fight, but gets cocky and lets his guard down, resulting in him getting stomped into the ground by the Big Boy's foot. Amy then comes and pulls Knuckles out while chiding him despite Knuckles claims to fool it into fake security, before she starts organizing her team's efforts as she works out a plan. With everyone in their positions, they all strike the Big Boy at critical points on Amy's signal and make the robot fall. The four of them make it back to the shore where Tails reports that Eggman is retreating to his lair (by having his Big Boy swim there).

No sooner, Sticks comes running in panic and Sonic tells her to relax (Sticks is unnerved that Sonic said her name as a logo, but Sonic explains it is a first issue gimmick and that they will be back to regular letters next month). Moving on, Sticks reveals Tails' house had been robbed and Tails worries about what was stolen. Sticks insists it was everything and takes the gang to Tails' house, where they see that the whole house is gone: what Sticks meant was that Tails' whole house had been stolen. As Amy tries to correct Sticks' grammar in her explanation, Tails, baffled and shocked, asks who did this, to which Sticks says was a "cyborg rock golem" which they find hard to believe. Sticks explains that explains that Tails' house was carried off on the head of the golem which came from underground, and Sonic suspects Eggman is behind it, though he regards it as a fluked assassination attempt.

As Tails complains over his thief, Amy assures him they will get it back with the right plan. Sonic plans to find the Rock-cyborg and smash it without destroying the house and bring the house back, but Amy and Tails disagree with that plan's issues. Knuckles, however, has trouble understanding what has happened, so Amy explains it more simply: Eggman planted a device beneath Tails' house that gathered the nearby rocks into the Rock-cyborg which when ran off with the house. However, Knuckles still fails to get the point, leaving Sonic and Tails to restrain Amy's anger. Sticks then starts sniffing along the ground, and everyone suspects she has picked up the scent of the Rock-cyborg and follows her. However, it turns out that Sticks was only sniffing the grass because it smelled nice. Regardless, she still managed to lead the group to the Rock-cyborg by following its footprints.

Tails flies up to his house pierced on top of the Rock-cyborg and sees everything is okay. Meanwhile, as Amy is angered by Knuckles mistaking Tails' house as the Rock-cyborg's hat, Sonic starts making the cyborg chase him back to the open lot using the Rock-cyborg's programmed hate for him, where his friends can set up an ambush. Meanwhile, Sticks climbs up to Tails' house to check its gutters for "illegal wire taps" where Tails tries to get her to climb back down to safety but she insists she is safer up here. Back at the former site of Tails' house, Amy is planning on how to bring Tails' house back on its foundation when they can ambush the Rock-cyborg, but Knuckles remains confused about the plan. Furious, Amy tells him what the plan is and what to do and says "I know it's hard, but for Tails' sake, try to actually think for the next five minutes!". Unbeknownst to Amy however, Knuckles does not take what she said well.

No sooner, Sonic arrives with the Rock-cyborg hot on his heels. Together, Knuckles and Amy damage the robot's legs while Tails and Sticks hit it from behind, making the giant falls, and Sonic delivers the final blow by shooting himself through the Rock-cyborg's torso, utterly destroying the Rock-cyborg and making Tails' house fall back on its foundation unharmed. The heroes (excluding Knuckles) then celebrate their victory, with Sticks liking how the remains of the Rock-cyborg adorn the surroundings with a pawed walkway, a rock garden and a quarry.

The next day, at Dr. Eggman's lair, Eggman is about to have his breakfast served by Cubot when someone rings on the door. Orbot answers on Eggman's orders and is met by Knuckles who asks the doctor if he wants to team up.

Characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Sticks the Badger
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Orbot
 * Cubot
 * Rock-cyborg

Trivia

 * The characters saying their names as logos is similar to the earlier issues in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series where the characters would say Sonic's name as a logo on the first pages of each issue.
 * Tails exclamation of "Great Scott!" and Eggman's claim that his robot "goes from zero to sixty in under a minute" are well-known lines said by Doc Brown in the Back to the Future movie trilogy.

Off Panel

 * Script: Aleah Baker
 * Pencils/Inks: Ryan Jampole
 * Letters: Jack Morelli
 * Colors: Matt Herms

Summary
In a full-page edition of the Off-Panel strip, Sonic welcomes readers to the new world of Sonic Boom, filled with new friends, new adventures and new..."neckwear" says Knuckles, and he and the rest of the crew are shown each with their own scarfs. Sonic insists that they cannot just copy him, but Knuckles notes that they already did, with Tails retorting that the look suits a pilot really well and Amy that they are fashionable and functional. Sonic questions why Stick's scarf is made out of tinfoil, to which she claims it is so nobody can hear her thoughts, much to Sonic's exasperation. Sonic then turns to the reader and tells them that they will see new experiences (rather than clothes) and asks them to send in their letters and fanart, before Eggman appears and claims he makes the scarf look good. Sonic frustrated yells "NOT HELPING" in response.

Characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Sticks the Badger
 * Dr. Eggman

Trivia

 * Tails saying how a scarf suits a pilot might be a reference to how his attire for the Sonic Boom franchise was designed to reinforce that he serves as his team's pilot.
 * Knuckles' scarf has emerald prints similar to the Master Emerald.

Reception
Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated this issue of the comic a 7.2 out of 10. He commended Flynn for not having relied on trendy, modern humor or dialogue in the comic's presentation, and also appreciated the fourth-wall humor and "clean, expressive" art style. Schedeen did, however, find the plot "fairly disjointed" and possessing little coherent structure, and he criticized Sticks, whom he considered a needless exposition device.

Trivia

 * The artwork style (specifically the shading, outline, etc.) of the main cover strongly resembles that of the concept artwork of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy for Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.
 * This issue has a total of four variant covers, the largest number of any Sonic-related comics published by Archie Comics so far.
 * All four variant covers are interconnecting.
 * Dr. Eggman's pose on the main cover is the exact same he is shown with in the debut television trailer for Sonic Boom.