Sonic the Comic Issue 86


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

Sonic the Hedgehog - "Heroes & Villains, Part 3"

 * Script: Nigel Kitching
 * Art: Richard Elson
 * Lettering: Ellie de'Ville

Synopsis
In the parallel dimension known as the Special Zone, Sonic and Super Sonic finally meet. Super Sonic says that he intends to kill Sonic to prevent the two of them from being remerged. Before he can do this, however, Chaotix arrive in the Omni-Viewer. (Sonic never thought he'd be glad to see those clowns.) Lord Sidewinder immediately orders his gang to attack the Chaotix Crew. Lightmare subjects Charmy to his worst nightmare (a can of insect spray); Bio-Hazard vomits toxic waste over Espio; and Mister Fry drinks some more of his potion to become just as powerful as Mighty. During the commotion, Sonic tells Omni he has an idea...

The battle rages on. Sonic uses his super speed to avoid Super Sonic's devastating eye beams, ignoring Super's taunting, then he and Omni put their plan into action! Omni manoeuvres behind Super, then Sonic hits him with a Spin Attack so strong that both Sonic and Super Sonic are knocked into Omni's energy field. Sonic quickly pulls himself out and tells Omni to teleport Super Sonic to a far-off dimension... but Omni refuses. "Wherever Super Sonic is, he'll destroy those around him... he's our problem, we must deal with him ourselves!"

Omni falls silent. Within his energy field, Super Sonic stops moving, as if he is frozen in time.

Lord Sidewinder's gang manages to escape, and Chaotix return with the immobile Omni-Viewer back to their secret headquarters. Vector explains that Omni can control time as well as space. Omni managed to trap Super Sonic inside himself by stopping time, effectively turning himself into the perfect prison... but a prison that traps Omni just as much as it does Super Sonic. They all owe Omni a great deal for this sacrifice! (Charmy doesn't understand any of this...)

Epilogue: A week later, the ditzy Charmy is still trying to understand what's happened to the Omni-Viewer when he notices that Super Sonic's hands have changed position. He wonders whether he should tell Vector, but decides not to. After all "he'll only shout at me again. It probably doesn't matter anyway! Oh well diddly-doop!"

Appearances

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Super Sonic
 * Chaotix:
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Mighty the Armadillo
 * Charmy Bee
 * Omni-Viewer
 * Lord Sidewinder
 * Lightmare
 * Proctor Speckle and Mr. Fry
 * Bio-Hazard

Continuity

 * Super Sonic claims he must kill Sonic in order to prevent the possibility of the two of them ever reintegrating into a single body. This will eventually happen in Sonic the Comic #184, "Point of No Return!", the final story in the series.
 * Chaotix mention that they found Sonic by monitoring police reports that said he left the police station with Lord Sidewinder. This happened in Sonic the Comic #85, "Heroes & Villains, Part 2", after Sonic was arrested in Sonic the Comic #84, "Heroes & Villains, Part 1".
 * The Omni-Viewer imprisons Super Sonic inside himself by stopping time in this issue. The epilogue, in which Charmy notices Super Sonic's hands have changed position, foreshadows the revelation in Sonic the Comic #88, "The Ultimate Nightmare", that Omni could not stop time and merely slowed it to a crawl. Super Sonic eventually escapes from Omni in Sonic the Comic #97, "Doomsday, Part 1".

Knuckles - "Village of the Damned, Part 3"

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

Synopsis
Knuckles has been captured by a strange cult in a quiet village, and is about to be burned alive inside a giant egg-shaped wicker cage. The villagers, led by the goat Mesmer, intend to sacrifice him to the moon goddess to ensure a bountiful harvest. Knuckles turns to one of the villagers lighting the fire under his feet, a young sheep girl in a white dress. He saved her from being sacrificed but then she turned him in - he wants an explanation! She hesitates, until Mesmer raises his staff and tells her to speak. She claims that legends foretold that the "Red One" shall die by the villagers' hands, and if Knuckles does not die, then she will be sacrificed instead. Knuckles notices that Mesmer raises his staff whenever he speaks to the villagers, and gets an idea...

Knuckles pushes against the bars of the cage. Mesmer claims he has no hope of escaping, but Knuckles isn't trying to break the bars... He rolls the cage off of the fire and down a hill, where it lands in a river and smashes on the rocks, releasing Knuckles. The villagers hurry after him, and he knows he can't beat them all... hopefully, though, he won't have to. Jumping over the heads of the first wave, he glides straight for Mesmer and snatches the staff out of his hand. Using the staff, he reveals that the villagers have all been in a hypnotic trance caused by the staff, and commands them all to wake up and be their true selves!

All the villagers head back to their homes, the spell broken, and Knuckles demands to know what Mesmer was up to in the little village. However, before the goat can answer, the landlord of the local tavern steps out from behind a tree. The landlord pulls off his mask, and reveals he is really Doctor Robotnik!

Robotnik explains that Mesmer, a very talented hypnotist, convinced the entire village that they were followers of the ancient Sun Goddess. But this was just a test, to see if Mesmer's power could be used over the whole of Mobius. The entire planet would be under Robotnik's complete control! Knuckles insists it will never happen: "It's just you and me now... your guards aren't here to protect you!" Robotnik seems unconcerned. He points out that, since he is ruler of the planet, he can hardly be sent to prison. He's perfectly safe unless Knuckles plans to kill him.

Knuckles, knowing he cannot kill even someone as evil as Robotnik, has no choice but to walk away, with Robotnik's mocking laughter ringing in his ears...

Appearances

 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Doctor Ivo Robotnik
 * Mesmer
 * Sacrificial sheep
 * Villagers:
 * Seth
 * Maurice
 * Sheep
 * Horse
 * Pigs
 * Duck
 * Dog

Continuity

 * Knuckles is still travelling back to the Floating Island with the great chest of documents that he received from Captain Plunder in Sonic the Comic #79, "The Ghost Ship, Part 6". He will eventually reach home again in Sonic the Comic #97, "Victims, Part 1".

Trivia

 * According to Nigel Kitching, "Village of the Damned" is based on the horror movie The Wicker Man. This is particularly evident in part 2, in which the villagers attempt to burn Knuckles alive in a giant wicker cage. (In fact, the whole arc of stories in which Knuckles is returning to the Floating Island with the chest happened because artist Nigel Dobbyn mentioned he would like to do genre stories.)
 * The story's title is based on the 1960 film of the same name, or its 1995 remake.

Tails - "Trooper Trouble, Part 2"

 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * Art: Carl Flint
 * Colouring: Gina Hart
 * Lettering: Tom Frame

Synopsis
Tails and Clive the Donkey, a resident of the Wood Village Zone, have been captured by Robotnik's Troopers and loaded into a shuttle craft. where they are shackled to the wall with electrified manacles. Luckily, Clive always has a screwdriver with him (he's into science and technology). He tries to pry open a panel on the wall and cut the power to the manacles...

...and he succeeds, but he accidentally cuts the power to the whole shuttle craft at the same time! Tails and Clive leap out of a hatch before the shuttle crashes and explodes, and Tails tries to fly them down to the ground. However, one Trooper bailed out as well, floating down with a parachute, and it starts firing at them! Tails uses some fancy flying, and the dim-witted Trooper blasts its own parachute! Tails and Clive land to find the Trooper smashed to pieces on the ground.

Clive regrets using a Trooper disguise to get back at the villagers who picked on him, but Tails says they'll stop picking on him if he returns the money he conned out of them. Clive readily agrees. In fact, when Tails relates the whole story to the villagers (including George and Mildred), they're all really impressed that Clive was able to help Tails with his mechanical ingenuity. They welcome Clive back with open arms, and Tails flies off into the sunset.

Appearances

 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Clive the Donkey
 * George and Mildred
 * Troopers
 * Wood Village Zone residents:
 * Cat mother and two children
 * Panda
 * Frog
 * Golden Lion Tamarin
 * Penguin
 * Others

Sonic's World - "Scream Theme Park"

 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * Art: Roberto Corona
 * Colouring: Andy Pritchett
 * Lettering: Tom Frame

Synopsis
A typical day on Planet Mobius, and the Freedom Fighters destroy a group of Buzz Bombers. It's no problem for the heroes, and once the others are destroyed two of the Buzz Bombers attempt to flee. Sonic easily catches and smashes them... only to land in a swamp, where he immediately begins to sink. Before Tails can try to lift him out, a blue blur zooms across the swamp, plucking up Sonic and depositing him on the bank.

Sonic's rescuer is an elderly blue hedgehog with white whiskers on his chin and half-moon spectacles, who leans against a tree while he catches his breath. He claims to be Sonic... from fifty years in the future! Sonic is immediately suspicious, claiming that he is working for Doctor Robotnik, but the others aren't so sure. He looks like Sonic, sounds like Sonic and, as Amy points out, he's just as sure of himself! Besides, points out Old Sonic, if he was working for Robotnik he wouldn't have pulled Sonic out of the swamp.

Old Sonic says he's travelled back in time to warn Sonic: unless the Freedom Fighters change their methods, something they do in the future will doom the citizens of the planet, leading to an even more nightmarish dystopia in which floating egg fortresses bombard the planet from the skies! Sonic doesn't believe a word of the story... which is just what Old Sonic would have said when he was Sonic's age. But they know time travel is possible from a previous adventure with the Time Stone, and Tails has had time travel experience as well. But that's still no guarantee that the dude is telling the truth. Luckily, Sonic knows who can sort this out. He dashes off, wondering if the "phony" can keep up with him. "I may be older, pal," says Old Sonic as he easily keeps pace, "but I'm still Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic takes them to a doctor in the Chemical Plant Zone. Sonic once saved the doctor's life and now he feels he owes Sonic, so Sonic is willing to trust him. The doctor takes cell samples from both Sonic and Old Sonic and when the test results come through... they're identical! Without a doubt, they are both the same hedgehog! This is Sonic from the future!

Appearances

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Old Sonic
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Johnny Lightfoot
 * Buzz Bombers
 * Chemical Plant Zone doctor

Continuity

 * Old Sonic refers to Sonic's adventure with the Time Stone, which occurred in "The Sonic Terminator" from Sonic the Comic #24 to #28.
 * Tails refers to his recent time travel adventure, from Sonic the Comic #82, "Changing Times". It was, as he says, weird.

Other features

 * Control Zone
 * Kickin' Zone (Graphics Zone)
 * Q Zone
 * Review Zone
 * Speedlines