Sonic the Comic Issue 103


 * Editor: Deborah Tate
 * Features Editor: Audrey Wong
 * Designer: Gary Knight
 * Production: Sarah Colley
 * Consultant: Richard Burton

Sonic the Hedgehog - "DIY Danger"

 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * B & W Art: Roberto Corona
 * Colour: Nigel Dobbyn
 * Lettering: Tom Frame

Synopsis
In the Jade Hill Zone, Sonic attends the official (and boring) opening of a new bridge by the Zone Leader. The bridge was built by a local handyman named Roger Bodge, but when Bodge and the Zone Leader try to cross the bridge for the first time, it completely falls apart! The Zone Leader clings to a wooden post but Roger Bodge is plunged into the current. Fortunately, Sonic is on hand and, even though he can't swim, manages to pull Bodge to the shore by jumping on rocks and keeping hold of a tree branch.

Sonic wants to leave quickly, but Roger Bodge says Sonic saved his life and he insists on bringing Sonic to his home to meet his wife Gladys and have a cup of tea. Bodge has performed extensive DIY work on his house (which also seems like it's ready to fall apart). As he gives Sonic the tour, he introduces Sonic to his "Robot Butler", in fact one of Robotnik's old Troopers that Roger Bodge rebuilt from scrap. Bodge insists that the Trooper is perfectly safe since he reprogrammed it, but as soon as it sees Sonic it goes berserk and punches him out of the patio doors! Sonic knocks the Trooper back into the house and prepares to finish it with another Super Sonic Spin when suddenly one of Roger Bodge's homemade shelves collapses on Sonic's head. This gives the Trooper-Butler a chance to recover, to hold Sonic at its mercy and... give him a cup of tea! But being turned from a Trooper to a tea-maker has damaged the robot's programming and it self-destructs, completely destroying the Bodges' house (although Sonic and the Bodges themselves get out in time)!

Gladys is horrified that Roger now has an opportunity to do even more D.I.Y., but Sonic suggests that "Next time you feel you want to do it yourself... don't!"

Appearances

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Roger Bodge
 * Jade Hill Zone Leader
 * Gladys Bodge
 * "Robot Butler"
 * Citizens:

Continuity

 * Robotnik's Troopers were all destroyed by an electromagnetic pulse in Sonic the Comic #100, "The Final Victory".
 * A Zone Leader appears for the first time, after Sonic suggested leaders for each Zone might be preferable to a global ruler in Sonic the Comic #101, "Vote For Me".

Trivia

 * The Bodges have a framed picture on their wall of a Mobian that looks like Elvis Presley.

Captain Plunder- "The Spice Maidens, Part 1"

 * Script: Nigel Kitching
 * Art: Nigel Dobbyn
 * Lettering: Elitta Fell

Synopsis
Late one night in Scourge Bay, home to the pirates of Planet Mobius, Captain Plunder, with Filch and Simpson in tow, is attempting to gather some new crew members with the aid of a supposedly ancient treasure map. Unfortunately, the ink is still wet, and the man Plunder tries to talk into joining him recognises the pirate as the biggest foul-up on the seven seas. When Simpson is called up to 'convince' the man with a big stick, Simpson only ends up clobbering Plunder, to his immense displeasure. As Plunder is wringing Simpson's neck, he is interrupted by Queen Zorabel, who has got wind of his crew gathering attempt and wants to let her daughters go with him.

They find Zorabel's daughters in Scourge Bay's roughest tavern, The Pink Parrot, doing what they always do: causing bother in a one-sided tavern brawl!

Appearances

 * Captain Plunder
 * Filch
 * Simpson the Cat
 * Queen Zorabel
 * Tom
 * Spice Maidens (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Coriander, Pepper and Tarragon)
 * Uninterested pirate
 * The Pink Parrot patrons

Sonic's World - "Crawling from the Wreckage"

 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * Art: Richard Elson
 * Lettering: Tom Frame

Synopsis
In the Metropolis Zone, Amy, Johnny Lightfoot and Tekno the Canary scour the ruins of Citadel Robotnik for equipment that they can salvage for Tekno's laboratory. Tekno's scanner detects life signs under the Citadel, so they go to have a look (after Johnny helps to burrow through the wreckage).

In the Citadel's old basement, they find an induction ceremony for a secret organisation called D.R.A.T. - Doctor Robotnik's Appreciation Tribe. It's a whole fan club for Robotnik! The three heroes disrupt the ceremony, only to find that the D.R.A.T. members have armed themselves with ex-Trooper lasers from the Citadel's armoury. The heroes flee topside, only to be followed by a new inductee, Brother Norman, who bursts out of the ground in one of Robotnik's old vehicles - an Egg-O-Matic with fists attached by springs. He slams the ground with one fist, only to discover the machine's design flaw (and the reason Robotnik never used it) when the fist rebounds off the ground and hits Norman in the head, causing the vehicle to crash.

Norman is quickly apprehended, but in the distraction the other members of D.R.A.T. has all managed to escape.

Appearances

 * Amy Rose
 * Tekno the Canary
 * Johnny Lightfoot
 * D.R.A.T.:
 * Grand Chief Whip
 * Brother Norman
 * Bulldogs
 * Pigs
 * A rat

Continuity

 * Citadel Robotnik was destroyed by Sonic in Sonic the Comic #100, "The Final Victory".
 * Amy mentions that Shortfuse the Cybernik hasn't been seen since before Robotnik was defeated. Shortfuse quit the Freedom Fighters in Sonic the Comic #97, "Boiling Point". He will eventually be found in Sonic the Comic #106, "Out of Work Hero".
 * Tekno mentions that she misses Shortfuse, a reference to her romantic feelings towards him, hinted at in stories such as Sonic the Comic #94, "The Monster Wakes, Part 1", in which Tekno kisses Shortfuse at a New Year's party.

Tails - "Flip Side, Part 1"

 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * B & W Art: Carl Flint
 * Colour: John Burns
 * Lettering: Ellie de'Ville

Synopsis
All the crowds gush and cheer as Sonic passes by, but nobody ever thinks much of Tails. They think of him as just "the nice but boring one", and when someone calls him "Paws" by mistake Tails becomes very depressed. After seeing a poster, he decides to go to one of Doctor Sorders' self-improvement lessons. The Doctor shines some coloured lights into Tails' eyes to hypnotise him into thinking he's "one cool fox". However, the treatment works better than expected - Doctor Sorders immediately realises that something's wrong when Tails starts acting too much out of character and cartwheels out of the door, but before she can undo the process Tails has flown away.

Later, in the Greenfield Zone, the Zone Leader tells Sonic that eccentric billionaire Alf Bandstand is flying the world's first around-the-Zones hot air balloon flight, but he's about to crash because his woodpecker co-pilot punctured the balloon. Tails arrives with shades and a back-to-front cap, and Sonic thinks he's crazy even though a group of girls scream that Tails is now the coolest. But when Sonic rushes off to help the folk in the balloon, he finds that Tails refuses to fly because he might ruffle his fur! Sonic has to snap Tails back to normal or the men in the balloon will surely be killed!

Appearances

 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Doctor Sorders
 * Greenfield Zone Leader
 * Alf Bandstand
 * Woodpecker co-pilot
 * Tails' groupies
 * Greenfield Zone citizens
 * Citizens:
 * Moose
 * Hippo
 * Chimp
 * Panda
 * Giraffe
 * Kangaroo
 * Camel
 * Antelope
 * Upper-class pigeon
 * Rabbit
 * Others

Continuity

 * The Zone Leader of the Greenfield Zone appears, Sonic having suggested leaders for each Zone might be preferable to a global ruler in Sonic the Comic #101, "Vote For Me".

Other features

 * Control Zone
 * STC Pin-Up! - Buzz Bomber badniks! Art by Ferran Rodriguez
 * Zany Amy Zone (Graphic Zone)
 * Review Zone
 * Speedlines