Archie Sonic Boom Issue 5

Archie Sonic Boom Issue 5 is the fifth issue in the Sonic Boom comic series published by Archie Comics.

Official solicitation

 * Sonic Boom is your antidote to comics that lack amaze-ma-tude! Eggtoberfest! Dr. Eggman's sick and tired of no one trusting him! How on earth can he take advantage of people if they don't trust him to begin with? The answer? Eggtoberfest! Just one small problem: the mechanical master forgot to hire ride operators for his carnivorous carnival creation! So it's Sonic to the rescue! If a good guy helps a bad guy, is that 'helping' at all? Ponder this and other philosophical queries in the latest action-packed issue of Sonic Boom, written by Sonic Boom TV Series writer Bill Freiberger! Featuring cover art from Patrick 'SPAZ' Spaziante and an X-RAY variant from the newest superstar Diana Skelly!

Eggtoberfest!

 * Writer: Bill Freiberger
 * Pencils: Steven Butler
 * Inks: Rick Bryant
 * Colors: Matt Herms
 * Letters: Jack Morelli
 * Assistant Editor: Vincent Lovallo
 * Editor: Paul Kaminski
 * Editor-in-chief: Victor Gorelick
 * President: Mike Pellerito
 * Publisher: John Goldwater
 * Special thanks to: Tyler Ham and Anthony Gaccione and the character business and licensing department of Sega

Synopsis
In the Village Center, Sonic is keeping an eye on Dr. Eggman who is trying to sell a bridge, but only gets the cold shoulder from villagers like Lady Walrus, Admiral Beaverton and the Fastidious Beaver. Orbot and Cubot ask Eggman why he is trying to sell a bridge, to which he explains that he woke up with an urge to destroy a bridge, but since it would be silly to destroy his own bridge, he is going to sell it and then destroy so he will not lose money. Sonic tells Eggman that no one is going to trust him and his deal, but Eggman is certain he is beloved and tries to make an offer with Comedy Chimp but is rejected too.

Back at his lair, Eggman has surmised that it has become difficult for him to enact his evil schemes since the villagers do not trust him, so he must win back their trust so he can take advantage of them. Orbot therefore finds the book "How to Win Back the Will of the People" to help Eggman. While pleased, Eggman is mad at Orbot for not bringing it up earlier. Back in the Village with Orbot and Cubot, Eggman tries following the book's guidelines and show goodwill to the villagers, only to get beaten up when they think he is assaulting them, all while Sonic is watching. As Sonic mocks the bruised doctor, Eggman has enough and calls forth his Moto Bugs, Buzz Bombers and Crabmeats to attack him. While Sonic has no trouble dealing with them, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks arrive on the scene to assist him, and together the team wipe out the minions, only to discover that Eggman and his lackeys have fled back the lair in the meantime. There, Eggman's mopes over his failure until Orbot finds a last advice in the book: "If your personality isn't right for winning people over bribe them with a party or a carnival." This gives Eggman the idea of holding the first annual Eggtoberfest at his lair for the villagers. Later, at the Village Center, Eggman, Orbot and Cubot try handing out flyers, but Mayor Fink has Eggman deal with permits, fees and zoning restrictions before he is able to hold the Eggtoberfest.

Once done, Eggman is able to start the Eggtoberfest, featuring various boots and rides, and at first it appears that villagers like Mike and Admiral Beaverton are appreciating his efforts and are starting to turn their opinion of him around. However, when the rides will not start working, Eggman realizes that he forgot to hire operators, and the villagers quickly turn an angry mob who threatens Eggman with pitchforks and torches from a nearby warehouse. When Eggman fails to calm the mob down, he seeks out Team Sonic to have them operate the rides. Though distrusting after hearing Eggman's explanation, Sonic agrees on behalf of his team to help since it is for the good of the community, though he is sure Eggman is up to something and believes serving as operators will let them keep an eye on things. At the Eggtoberfest, Sonic takes care of the roller coaster for costumers like Dave the Intern, Knuckles runs an fast-food boot, Tails looks after an aeroplane carousel, Amy watches a high striker, and Sticks looks after a haunted house attraction though she ends up scaring the customers away.

Inside Eggman's lair, the doctor is sure he has regained the trust of the villagers and uses his surveillance equipment in the rides to listen in on what he believes to be praise. However, he only hears villages like Wolfie, Wild Cat, Fastidious, Admiral Beaverton and even Comedy Chimp in a commercial saying that they are not falling Eggman's attempt to buy them over (and that the festival literally stinks). Had enough with the villagers, Eggman calls forth his robot army which begins to attacking everything and everyone in sight. In that moment, Team Sonic springs into action and starts saving the villagers and busting robot minions. Knuckles himself knocks Burnbot into the water where Sitcks runs it over with a boat and Sonic uses a treadmill to knock over Obliteratorbot. Having saved them, the villagers hails Team Sonic and wander off with them, leaving Eggman to mope in jealously at Team Sonic over his failure in the smoking ruins of the Eggtoberfest with Orbot and Cubot. No sooner, Comedy Chimp arrives to buy Eggman's bridge after much consideration. Eggman tells him the bridge is no longer for sale, so Comedy Chimp decides to invest his money in a go-kart, which gives Eggman another idea.

Characters

 * Team Sonic
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Amy Rose
 * Sticks the Badger
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Orbot
 * Cubot
 * Comedy Chimp
 * Fastidious Beaver
 * Lady Walrus
 * Admiral Beaverton
 * Moto Bug (multiple)
 * Buzz Bomber (multiple)
 * Crabmeat (multiple)
 * Mayor Fink
 * Mike the Ox
 * Dave the Intern
 * Wolfie
 * Wild Cat
 * Obliteratorbot
 * Burnbot

Trivia

 * The title of this story is a pun of the name for the Oktoberfest, an annual funfair held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

Off Panel

 * Script: Bill Freiberger
 * Pencils: Lamar Wells
 * Inks: Rick Bryant
 * Letters: Jack Morelli
 * Colors: Matt Herms

Synopsis
In a three-panel Off Panel strip, the story features a scene from Sonic's favorite movie "Tropical Punch", starring Comedy Chimp. Playing the role of a boxer in the ring, Comedy Chimp worries that he cannot beat his opponent. However, his coach rallies him up, telling him that he is brave, intrepid and does not know the meaning of the word "fear", to which Comedy Chimp remarks humorously that he does not even know the meaning of the word "intrepid", earning him a joke sting from Sticks.

Characters

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Comedy Chimp
 * Sticks the Badger

Trivia

 * This is the first Off Panel in the Sonic Boom comic series to only be a tree-panel strip rather than a full-page comic.

Trivia

 * The main cover of this issue is based on the cover of Sonic Boom #1.
 * This is the first issue of the Sonic Boom comic series not to be written by Ian Flynn.
 * A needle and a mouse can be seen next to each other on the X-Ray screen of this issue's variant cover. This is a reference to Sonic's early production name, "Mr. Needlemouse."
 * Because of the lead up to the "Worlds Unite" crossover, the covers of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Boom and Sonic Universe, starting with this issue, Sonic the Hedgehog #270 and Sonic Universe #73 each have a countdown timer listing how many issues are left of each respective series before the start of the crossover (three issues from this issue).
 * The same counter was used for the issues leading up to "Worlds Collide".