Sonic the Comic Issue 25


 * Editor: Richard Burton
 * Assistant Editor: Deborah Tate
 * Design: Clare Gillmore
 * News Hound: Garry Penn
 * Managing Editor: Steve MacManus
 * Publisher: Chris Power

Sonic the Hedgehog - "The Sonic Terminator, Part 2"

 * Script: Nigel Kitching
 * Art: Richard Elson
 * Lettering: Steve Potter

Synopsis
Captain Plunder and his Mystic Cave Pirates arrive at the North Cave in the Frozen Zone on South Island, having learned in the previous issue that it is the hiding spot of the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters arrive to protect the Emeralds, but Tails is captured by Plunder and Sonic is forced to let the pirates escape with the Emeralds.

Tails is concerned: the Emeralds are charged with pure evil and become unstable unless kept cold. Tails fears that the pirates will have been transformed into hideous monsters. Sonic follows them on Tails' Tornado biplane, only to discover the truth is quite different. The pirates have turned into peace-loving hippies, and seem quite happy to let Sonic take the Emeralds back since "Like, all property is theft, right?" Sonic realises that the Chaos Emeralds absorb evil, not radiate it, and he quickly gets them back into the cold.

Meanwhile, back in the Emerald Hill Zone, disaster strikes! The Emerald Hill Folk flee from a mysterious figure that bombards their homes with lasers. As it descends, it is revealed as Metallix, the Metal Sonic. It demands to see Sonic, claiming "It is time for his extermination!"

Appearances

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Porker Lewis
 * Johnny Lightfoot
 * Amy Rose
 * Captain Plunder
 * Filch
 * Other Mystic Cave pirates
 * Metallix
 * Emerald Hill Folk:
 * Mother and child bears
 * A walrus (Joe Sushi)
 * A rabbit
 * Two canaries
 * A penguin (Tux)
 * Numerous others

Continuity

 * Captain Plunder and Filch refer to Porker Lewis telling them where to find the Emeralds, which occurred in Sonic the Comic #24, "The Sonic Terminator, Part 1".
 * The Chaos Emeralds appear for the first time since Sonic the Comic #8, "The Origin of Sonic", in which they appeared in flashback. In that appearance, they were all green, whereas they are now different colours. This transformation is explained in the Sonic's World strip of Sonic the Comic #26, "Part 1: Kintobor spelled backwards is...".
 * An editorial comment refers to Doctor Ovi Kintobor's attempts to rid Mobius of evil by absorbing it into the Emeralds, which was depicted in Sonic the Comic #8.
 * Captain Plunder steals the Chaos Emeralds, having first revealed his desire to do so in Sonic the Comic #23, "Pirates of the Mystic Cave".
 * The Metallix robot is finally revealed in full, having appeared only in silhouette in Sonic the Comic #23 and #24. It expresses its desire to exterminate Sonic, which it will attempt to do in Sonic the Comic #26, "The Sonic Terminator, Part 3".
 * Following the theft of the Chaos Emeralds in this issue, Sonic starts keeping them in a temperature controlled box in his secret underground base, as seen in Sonic the Comic #35, "Power of the Chaos Emeralds, Part 1".

Trivia

 * The original title for this story was "Secret of the North Cave".

Streets of Rage - "Skates' Story, Part 1"
Axel Stone, a former cop, takes vigilante justice out on corrupt cops and drug dealers. He is late for a meeting with Murphy, an honest cop, who has information about every corrupt cop in the department on a disk. Murphy goes home, believing Axel never showed, and his wife says that his stepson Skates is getting out of prison. Skates meets up with his old frined Roach, a punk, and they head off to get some beers.
 * Script: Mark Millar
 * Art: Peter Richardson
 * Lettering: Tom Frame

In an anonymous office block high above the city, heads of the city's organised crime meet. They intend to lure some troublesome elected officials onto a boat, calling it a charity ball, then blow it up and replace them with their own pocket representatives. They also want to destroy Murphy's disk and kill Murphy himself.

Trivia
A billboard for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 can be seen on the last page.

Sonic's World - "Prologue: Once Upon a Planet..."

 * Script: Nigel Kitching
 * Art: Mike Hadley/John M. Burns
 * Lettering: Ellie de'Ville

Synopsis
A narrator, later revealed to be the Kintobor Computer, explains about the location and history of planet Mobius, distinguishing it from Earth by claiming that Mobius is "117,63222 light years from the Earth", in a parallel dimension, in a different time zone, and in a region made up of dark matter.

Mobius was completely unspoiled before the appearance of Doctor Robotnik. It is made up of various continents, each of which is divided into areas called Zones (such as the Green Hill Zone. The Hill Zones (including the Emerald Hill Zone) are located on South Island, where many animals live and where Sonic keeps his secret underground base.

Robotnik himself, after several defeats by Sonic, set up his headquarters in the weird alternate dimension known as the Special Zone. From there he rules Mobius and coordinates his operations. However, he has set up minions to run some of the most important zones, like the Marxio Brothers in the Casino Night Zone.

Also mentioned if the Miracle Planet (known by some as the Little Planet), which appears in orbit around Mobius just once a month then fades away. Nobody knows where it goes to. This Miracle Planet is home to the Time Stones, and Robotnik has plans to find them and use them to control time itself and become unstoppable.

In summary, Robotnik rules the planet, even though he no longer has the Chaos Emeralds. Still, everyone knows that someday Sonic will take care of Robotnik for good and free the planet. "Believe it!"

Appearances

 * Kintobor Computer
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Doctor Ivo Robotnik
 * Emerald Hill Folk:
 * A pig
 * A dog
 * A canary
 * A squirrel (Sally Acorn)
 * A chicken
 * A walrus (Joe Sushi)
 * A bear
 * A penguin (Tux)
 * Others
 * Buzz Bombers
 * Marxio Brothers (Grouchio, Chicio, Harpio)

Continuity

 * Earth is established as a different planet to Mobius. It will eventually be revealed that travel between the two is possible.
 * Sonic's Secret Underground Base is revealed to be located in one of the Hill Zones.
 * Doctor Robotnik appears in flashback in his original form, from before his transformation in Sonic the Comic #22, "Girl Trouble, Part 2".
 * Robotnik's Special Zone Headquarters is pictured. He first moved into the Special Zone before Sonic the Comic #4, "Day of the Badniks", and it first appeared in Sonic the Comic #21, "Girl Trouble, Part 1".
 * The Marxio Brothers appear, running day-to-day operations in the Casino Night Zone. The Zone is in a state of disrepair, although it is not clear whether this is set before it became operational, or whether they are rebuilding after Sonic and Porker Lewis destroyed the Marxio's operations in Sonic the Comic #19, "Casino Night, Part 2".
 * The Miracle Planet and the Time Stones are mentioned for the very first time. They will achieve much greater prominence in the concluding parts of "The Sonic Terminator" in Sonic the Comic #26, #27, and #28.
 * The Chaos Emeralds appear. They are depicted as being green, even though the Sonic the Hedgehog story from this issue shows them as different colours. This difference is explained in the next Sonic's World strip in Sonic the Comic #26, "Part 1: Kintobor spelled backwards is...".

Wonder Boy - "in Ghost World, Part 4"
Shion is captured by dinosaur warriors and, with the petrified Lukout, is brought before the Dinosaur King. The King explains that the dinosaurs ruled the world for millions of years, and have now returned to claim their birthright. They called on the Wailing Sisters of Witchery World to construct the stairway of stepping stones from Ghost World up to Monster World, which are kept in place by the King's Power Jar. The King intends to turn Shion into a ghost and, naturally, first Shion needs to be dead.
 * Script: Mark Eyles
 * Art: M. DJ. Boyann
 * Lettering: Elitta Fell

Trivia

 * Sonic, or a statue of him, appears on a table in the Dinosaur King's palace.

Other features

 * Control Zone
 * Review Zone
 * News Zone
 * Graphic Zone
 * Q Zone
 * Speedlines