Sonic the Comic Issue 111


 * Editor: Deborah Tate
 * Designer: Gary Knight
 * Production: Sarah Colley
 * Advertising: Stephen Goldsmith
 * Marketing manager: Douglas Pocock

Sonic the Hedgehog - "The Evil Empire, Part 4"

 * Script: Nigel Kitching
 * Art: Richard Elson
 * Lettering: Tom Frame

Synopsis
On the Drakon Empire homeworld, Tails (disguised in robes) sneaks inside the Arena of Judgement, where Sonic the Hedgehog is engaged in a trial by combat with the Knuckles Metallix. Tails spots a Sentinel guarding the main entrance, and pulls out a weapon concealed under his robes.

Meanwhile, inside the arena, Sonic is being pummelled by the Metallix. Outwardly, he is confident, but inwardly he realises that he has tried everything and doesn't seem to have damaged Metallix at all. Just then, Tails opens the arena door. Sonic runs through, trying to claim that he is still fine and could still take on the Metallix, but Tails has a better idea: as the Metallix follows, Tails slams the door shut, crushing the Metallix beneath it. Sonic realises that Tails has defeated the Sentinel guard single handedly.

With Metallix defeated, Sonic says that he would eventually have found a way to defeat it without Tails' help. Tails just agrees that Sonic is the hero, and everybody knows it. When a Prosecutor appears, Sonic sees the chance to prove it and attacks, destroying the Prosecutor's armour, revealing that the Prosecutor is actually a small fish. It had been sitting within the armour's head. The Prosecutor claims that his race comes from the sea, and that with their superior intelligence they constructed robot bodies to help them function on dry land.

Doctor Robotnik arrives with more Prosecutors. Robotnik orders them to destroy Sonic, but they are stopped by the Emperor, who says that Sonic won the trial by combat and is thus innocent of all charges. Robotnik is outraged, pointing out that Sonic was helped and demanding a re-trail, but the Emperor is unmoved. With Robotnik covering his face in frustration, the Emperor orders a Prosecutor to take Sonic back home to Mobius.

As the Prosecutor summons a Mobius Ring, Sonic tells the Emperor: "as long as you support Robotnik you're my enemy! In other words you haven't seen the last of this hedgehog!"

Appearances

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Doctor Ivo Robotnik
 * Emperor Ko-Dorr
 * Knuckles Metallix
 * Drakon Prosecutor
 * Sentinels
 * Grimer
 * Drakon Scholar
 * Flickies (green and pink)
 * Citizens of the Drakon Empire

Continuity

 * The symbol over the arena entrance resembles the Sentinel from Sonic the Comic #29, "The Sentinel", rather than the Sentinels that were introduced in Sonic the Comic #109, "The Evil Empire, Part 2" (and which also appear in this issue). That same symbol previously appeared on Drakon items in Sonic the Comic #106, "Flickies' Island, Part 3".
 * A Drakon assisting the Emperor wear armour resembling that of Master Scholar from the House of Knowledge, although it is revealed in Sonic the Comic #116, "Best of Enemies, Part 1", that no scholars from the House of Knowledge were present during Sonic's trial.
 * Tails uses the arena door to crush the Knuckles Metallix. He previously destroyed another robot, Nutzan Bolt, by closing a door on him in Sonic the Comc #38, "Zonerunner & The Flock, Part 4", although on that occasion Tails did so by accident.

Tails - "Hero of the Beach"

 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * B & W art: Andy Pritchett
 * Colour: John M Burns
 * Lettering: Elitta Fell

Synopsis
Robotnik's old Chemical Plant Zone has been closed down and a clean up operation is under way to rid the coastline of pollution. A new holiday resort called Skegpool has been set up, attracting visitors to its beach (although swimmers are required to wear thick "protecto-cossies" to shield them from traces of toxic gunk). Tails patrolls the skies over the resort, watching for any badnik attacks from the nearby Flickies' Island. All the visitors to the beach think Tails is a real hero... all except for muscleman Daz Dynamo. Daz thinks Tails is a wimp, and tries proving it by doing forty push-ups on his little finger. However, this just causes him to hurt his finger, leading Tails to bandage it up (Tails knows first aid). When Tails asks how he hurt it, Daz says he was wrestling a shark.

Meanwhile, across the ocean on Flickies' Island, Robotnik and Grimer develop a plan. Rather than attacking Skegpool from the skies, they will send Caterkillers burrowing a tunnel under the sea and attack from below. Soon, the Caterkillers burst up through the sands at Skegpool beach, right underneath Daz Dynamo (who is so scared he screams for his mummy). Tails destroys one of them, only for another to catch his leg, and a third to corner Daz Dynamo. Tails destroys these two by crashing them into each other, freeing the Flickies trapped inside.

Grimer informs Robotnik that all three badniks have been destroyed, but before they can send more, the tunnel suddenly spurts out green slime all over Robotnik, and he orders it to be closed quickly. At Skegpool, Tails and Daz Dynamo have decided to get rid of the toxic waste by pumping it through Robotnik's tunnel. Daz finally admits that Tails is an okay dude.

Appearances

 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Daz Dynamo
 * Doctor Ivo Robotnik
 * Grimer
 * Caterkillers
 * Flickies
 * Many beach visitors

Continuity

 * The Chemical Plant Zone was revealed to have been closed down (but not cleaned up) in "Invasion of the Veg Heads" from Sonic the Comic #101 and #102. It will be re-opened some time before Sonic the Comic #114, "Crisis in the Chemical Plant Zone, Part 1".

Trivia

 * Skegpool is named after two British holiday resorts: Skegness and Blackpool.

Decap Attack - "The Maltese Budgies"

 * Script: Nigel Kitching & Richard Raynor
 * Art: Mick McMahon
 * Lettering: Ellie de'Ville

Just before dinner time, three dodgy characters (Rocky, Meek and Moose) approach Castle Frank N Stein with four covered bird cages. They are being chased by the cops and need to hide out. Meek thinks the castle is scary, and is probably full of mad professors, two-headed monsters and crazy green dwarves. Rocky says that's just silly.

Inside, Chuck, Head and Igor listed outside the kitchen as the Prof "tries to cook". Suddenly, the door bursts open and gigantic fruit and vegetables roll out. The Prof has created them to end world hunger, although Chuck is quick to point out that the vegetables taste horrible and anyone eating them will probably be poisioned.

Just then, Rocky, Meek and Moose appear and force the castle residents up against a wall at gunpoint. Their bird cages are revealed to contain the four Maltese Budgies (Aristotle, Socrates, Archimedes, Pythagoras), which were recently kidnapped and held to ransom for a million pounds. (They also all talk gibberish.)

With a rumbling from the kitchen, the Prof suddenly remembers that he left his turnips simmering, and sure enough gigantic turnips soon fly out of the kitchen door. Using the distraction, Igor, Chuck, Head and the Prof grab the four budgies and dive into the kitchen, then bolt the door. Inside, the Prof decides to use his vegetable growth formula on the budgies, mutating them into super-strong anthropomorphic birds who beat up the gangsters with kitchen utensils (and a plunger).

Igor goes on to explain the these Teenage Maltese Budgies went on to become famous crime fighters, with their own TV series and action figures, and that nobody ever understood a word they said.

Trivia

 * The title of this movie is a play on the famous film noir movie The Maltese Falcon.
 * The three gangsters in this story, Rocky, Meek and Moose, are based on a group of gangster characters that appeared in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Some of these characters were themselves based on real life movie stars.
 * Rocky is based on Rocky from the original cartoons, himself based on movie gangster Edward G. Robinson. (The Rocky in this story also shares features with real life gangster Al Capone.
 * Meek is based on Hugo from the cartoon Racketeer Rabbit, himself based on actor Peter Lorre.
 * Moose is based on Mugsy (aka Nick) from the original cartoons. Mugsy was a hulking simpleton, and not based on any actor.
 * The ending of this story, with the four mutated Teenage Maltese Budgies, is a reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, particularly the popular animated series. In particular, the turtles are all named after Rennaissance artists, while the budgies in this story are all named after Greek philosophers and mathematicians.

Sonic's World: Amy & Tekno - "Spaced Out, Part 1"

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

Synopsis
In the Emerald Hill Zone, Amy and Tekno bump into Johnny Lightfoot. He's been visiting his many relatives since they all returned to the Emerald Hill. Meeting Johnny reminds Amy of another old friend, Shortfuse the Cybernik. Amy hopes nothing bad has happened to him, and Tekno decides to find out by using a new device she invented. She leads them down into her workshop, where Johnny marvels at a massive machine with a giant screen. However, Tekno says that is just her wide screen TV, and that the actual machine she invented is a much smaller pad.

Tekno tunes the device to the frequencies of the circuits in Shortfuse's armour, and a holographic image of him appears on the pad. However, Amy notices a strange thing stuck on his chest, and suddenly Tekno's machine starts going haywire! Before Johnny can cut the power, Amy and Tekno and transported away to another dimension. Johnny sighs: "Those girls get all the best adventures just lately!"

Elsewhere, Amy and Tekno rematerialise on a great spaceship floating through space. They are attacked by the ship's crew, soldiers of the Insectra Empire, who chase them down a corridor. The soldiers eventually stop the chase, saying that "the Destroyer" will take care of them. At the end of the corridor, Amy and Tekno encounter Shortfuse, who has a strange green creature attached to his chest. Amy and Tekno are initially glad to see him, but this all changes when Shortfuse attacks them and reveals that he is the Destroyer. Shortfuse is a bad guy now... and he likes it!

Appearances

 * Amy Rose
 * Tekno the Canary
 * Johnny Lightfoot
 * Shortfuse the Cybernik
 * Insectra Empire soldiers

Continuity

 * Johnny Lightfoot was last seen in Sonic the Comic #106, "Out of Work Hero".
 * Johnny claims he has been visiting his many relatives since they returned to the Emerald Hill Zone. The Emerald Hill Folk all returned home in Sonic the Comic #104, "Flickies' Island, Part 1".
 * The Freedom Fighters last saw Shortfuse the Cybernik in Sonic the Comic #106, "Out of Work Hero". In the same story, Shortfuse travelled to another dimension to help an alien race (revealed here to be the Insectra Empire) defend its planet.

Other features

 * Control Zone
 * STC Pin-up! - Slicer badniks! Art by Ferran Rodriguez
 * Speedlines
 * Outer Space Zone (Graphic Zone)