Sonic the Comic Issue 41


 * Managing Editor: Richard Burton
 * Editor: Deborah Tate
 * Designers: Gary Knight/Tim Read
 * Assistant Editor: Audrey Wong
 * Publisher: Rob McMenemy

Sonic the Hedgehog - "Ice Cap Attack, Part 1"

 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * Art: M. Hadley & J. Burns
 * Lettering: Steve Potter

Synopsis
The Freedom Fighters are in the Hill Top Zone when they are suddenly attacked by Penguinator badniks, which usually patrol the Ice Cap Zone on the Floating Island. Sonic wonders why they're in the Hill Top Zone, and his question is soon answered when another group fly through a portal in mid-air, leading to the Ice Cap Zone. Leaving the other Freedom Fighters to fight the Penguinators, Sonic leaps through the portal and lands in the Ice Cap Zone, where he finds Knuckles is already busy destroying the invading badniks.

They do not seem particularly pleased to see one another, although Knuckles grudgingly admits he appreciates Sonic's assistance when Sonic saves him from a sneak attack. With the badniks destroyed, Sonic explains his purpose on the Floating Island: to find and destroy the gateway technology that allows badniks to travel from the Floating Island to Mobius. Knuckles doesn't like it - the Floating Island is his domain, not Sonic's responsibility - but they agree to a temporary truce, since they'll solve the problem quicker together. It's a gesture of goodwill for Christmas, says Sonic.

Elsewhere, Doctor Robotnik watches on a monitor. He is certain that they won't even survive to see Christmas!

Appearances

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Porker Lewis
 * Johnny Lightfoot
 * Amy Rose
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Doctor Ivo Robotnik
 * Badniks:
 * Penguinators
 * Star Pointers

Trivia

 * Although the text claims that the opening of the story is set in the Hill Top Zone, the art closely resembles the Green Hill Zone.

Streets of Rage - "The Only Game in Town, Part 1"
Axel, Blaze, Skates, and Max find Skates' informant Julio chained up. Max cuts him loose, using the van as cover, but they are suddenly fired upon by armour-piercing shells! Blaze attempts to fire back with the mounted machine gun, but another shell strikes the van, spinning it and sending her flying. Max emerges from the upside-down wagon, only to find hundreds upon hundreds of gang members waiting for them. The four heroes are dragged into the open and set upon by the thugs.
 * Script: Nigel Kitching
 * Art: Peter Richardson
 * Lettering: Tom Frame

Megadroid
Megadroid, spokesman for STC, takes Boomers (readers) on a special behind-the-scenes tour of the STC offices. He shows us the Control Zone, filled with computers and screens displaying all sorts of Sega games, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage, Desert Strike, Wonder Boy, Kid Chameleon and others, as well as a televised showing of Brigadoon. However, there are no Humes-who-think-they're-in-charge (staff). He guesses the must all be hard at work, straining to get back in work-mode after the previous night's Christmas bash! (Apparently someone left behind a pungent pair of Power Sneakers, and Megadroid is quite sure it wasn't Cinderella!)
 * Script: Carl Flint
 * Art: Nigel Kitching
 * Lettering: Tom Frame

The Review Zone has a powerful review computer, which calculates the Graphics, Sound, and Playability scores of each game. The News Zone is over-flowing with paper, so high that Megadroid is in over his head! (These Zones are also absent of humes.) The Q Zone is a cafeteria (also empty), where Megadroid Qs for his food! He takes a plate of micro-chips and a can of oil.

Megadroid takes boomers to the Art Zone, where the major creative flow happens. It is covered in balloons, streamers, and party hats, but again there are no people. Nevertheless, Megadroid finds some superb artwork for a brand new strip (covered with a sticky note saying "I'll finish it tomorrow, honest... Nigel."), but it's top secret so he can't show the readers. Still, he says arty stuff isn't so hard, and demonstrates by drawing a rather clunky Sonic on a nearby Sketch-A-Graph. Touting the benefits of good organization, Megadroid opens up the Reference Cupboard... only to be nearly buried under the junk that falls out of it!

Finally, he makes his way to the Speedlines room, which is filled with bags of letters for him. He sits down to read one. "Library records show the following items overdue..." How very festive! Megadroid wishes everyone a Merry Christmas as the 'camera' pulls away, leaving him all alone in the office on Christmas.

Trivia
When Megadroid opens the References Cupboard, the following items fall out of it:
 * Amy Rose's shoes
 * Head (from Decap Attack)
 * The Golden Axe (from Golden Axe)
 * Bones Jackson's helmet (from Mutant League)
 * Trident's trident and Xavier's staff (from Eternal Champions)
 * Tails' Enchanted Battle Armour
 * A skateboard
 * Fezhead's fez (from Pirate S.T.C.)
 * A glyph (from Ecco the Dolphin)
 * Knuckles' glove
 * Joe Musashi's sword (from Shinobi)
 * Johnny Lightfoot's staff
 * An egg

Knuckles - "Carnival Night Conspiracy, Part 3"

 * Script: Nigel Kitching
 * Art: Richard Elson
 * Lettering: Elitta Fell

Synopsis
Knuckles is trying out the Hell House Ride, a combined haunted house and rollercoaster, little realising that the Marxio Brothers have arranged for the ride to develop a few fatal faults. For now he quite enjoys it, except for the safety harness, which is so tight he can hardly breathe!

As soon as his cart gets back inside the house, Chicio starts activating the traps. First, a knight attacks Knuckles with an axe, which embeds itself in the cart just a few inches behind Knuckles' head. Knuckles is really impressed at how realistic it seems, and how much effort the Marxios have put into it. When he is suddenly attacked by mud monsters, he decides that it'll be more fun to smash them than just to sit back and relax, so he does. He can't be bothered to destroy a room full of spooks and skeletons, so he just punches the ceiling and crushes them all in a rock fall.

Annoyrd that it doesn't seem to be working, Chicio pulls out all the stops. He turns Knuckles onto the new part of the track, which is unfinished. He increases the speed, sends Knuckles through a few loops, and then blocks his vision with a few sheet ghosts. Just then, Knuckles' cart flies off the end of the track, and he can't jump out because he's clamped in his seat! Luckily, he manages to catch onto the track by using the knight's axe, and swings himself back onto solid ground. Now to find those Marxio Brothers!

Grouchio quickly makes apologies. It was just teething trouble, he says! They can work it out! But Knuckles tells him to relax. He loved the ride, so he's letting the Marxios stay on the Floating Island!

Appearances

 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Marxio Brothers (Grouchio, Chicio, Harpio)

Amy - "In Good Hands"

 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * Art: Roberto Corona & John M. Burns
 * Lettering: Steve Potter

Synopsis
The Freedom Fighters are visiting the Green Hill Zone when they are suddenly alerted about trouble in the Chemical Plant Zone. Amy Rose wants to go too, but Sonic insists she stay behind. She grumbles about Sonic's big head... until a horde of Buzz Bombers arrives and attacks the Green Hill Zone! Amy realizes that the warning of danger in another zone was just a decoy so that Sonic would leave the Green Hill Zone unprotected. But it isn't unprotected! Amy's still here!

Using her crossbow, she destroys three of the badniks. Unfortunately, then she runs out of bolts. She runs to a cliff and drops down to a platform just below the lip, and the remaining Buzz Bombers fly straight into the wall opposite, destroying themselves!

When Amy climbs back up, she finds Sonic and the others waiting for her. The alert was a false alarm, and Sonic rushed back in case it had been a trick designed to get him out of the Zone. With some trepidation, Sonic asks if anything exciting has happened while he's been away. "Oh, you know," says Amy, "the usual. Nothing I couldn't handle!"

Appearances

 * Amy Rose
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Johnny Lightfoot
 * Porker Lewis
 * Buzz Bombers
 * Green Hill Zone residents:
 * Bears
 * Birds
 * Squirrels
 * A pig

Continuity

 * Amy and Sonic refer to their previous adventures together. Sonic mentions Amy being kidnapped and Sonic rescuing her (as in Sonic the Comic #21 and #22, "Girl Trouble", and in Sonic the Comic #26 to #28, "The Sonic Terminator, Parts 3 to 5". Amy instead refers to their adventure in the marble Garden Zone, when Amy helped Sonic, from Sonic the Poster Mag #6, "Marble Garden Mayhem".

Marko's Magic Football - "Part 1"
Marko is from a town named North Sterlington. It's nice enough, but a bit weird, as if there's a secret nobody really knows about. Marko has a secret too: his football is magic, and will always reappear by his foot, no matter how hard he kicks it. It all started when he was playing around Colonel Brown's Toy Tower, and he accidentally kicked the ball into a barrel of green slime. It reappeared at his foot, and he ran off, not wanting to find out what the green stuff could do to a person!
 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * Art: Gary Andrews
 * Lettering: Elitta Fell

Sometime later, while playing football, he is stopped by a police officer for playing in a no-ball-games area. They are attacked by bees, which Marko defeats with a kick of his football, and then the boy runs back home. The policeman gives chase on his bicycle, and accidentally collides with a burrel of the green slime... which transforms him into a hideous green monster!

Other features

 * Control Zone
 * All I Want for Christmas is a Sega
 * Sonic Star Pin-Up
 * Review Zone
 * Quiz: The Mobius Factor
 * Competition: Win a Mega Drive
 * Streets of Rage Battle Wagon
 * News Zone
 * Festive Pin-Up
 * Q Zone
 * Speedlines