Sonic the Comic Issue 70


 * Editor: Deborah Tate
 * Assistant Editor: Audrey Wong
 * Designer: Gary Knight
 * Editorial Assistance: William Potter
 * Managing Editor: Richard Burton
 * Publisher: Rob McMenemy

Sonic the Hedgehog - "The Return of Chaotix, Part 4"

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

Synopsis
The Brotherhood of Metallix have travelled back in time and changed history. Now they rule planet Mobius and the few survivors are forced to hide beneath the planet's surface, led by Doctor Ovi Kintobor... except Ovi Kintobor should have been changed into the brutal dictator Ivo Robotnik, before the Metallixes changed history. Kintobor hasn't heard of any Robotnik - he'd remember a name as stupid as that!

Sonic, Porker and Chaotix were unaffected by the changing timeline because they were on the Miracle Planet, and now they have to travel back in time themselves and undo whatever the Metallixes did. Fortunately, the Omni-Viewer has the ability to track anybody who travels in time, since it leaves a "chronotron trail" in the timelines.

Before they go, Kintobor gives them a prototype anti-Metallix device. They step into Omni's energy field and then hurtle back into the past. However, they are suddenly and unexpectedly ejected from the energy field - there are Metallixes waiting, guarding the timelines! Battle is joined, but Sonic can't wait for Vector's strategising. He slaps Kintobor's anti-Metallix device on one of the robots' heads. It suddenly begins to malfunction, identifying the other Metallixes as new enemies and destroying them all with its chest cannon.

They prepare to leave again, but Sonic notices something in the hand of one of the destroyed Metallixes. It's a rotten egg, and Sonic gets the feeling it should mean something to him. Just in case, he takes it with him (much to Omni's disgust), and they continue travelling back in time.

At the end of the time trail, they find themselves in an underground complex. There are voices down the corridor, one of which belongs to a younger Doctor Kintobor. Charmy doesn't recognise the other weirdo, though, a brown and spiky hedgehog. Sonic does: "That 'weirdo', Charmy, is me!"

Appearances

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Chaotix:
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Mighty the Armadillo
 * Espio the Chameleon
 * Charmy Bee
 * Omni-Viewer
 * Porker Lewis
 * Doctor Ovi Kintobor
 * Rob
 * Metallix

Continuity

 * Sonic the Comic #71, "The Return of Chaotix, Part 5", reveals that the rotton egg that Sonic finds is the same egg that caused the ROCC accident that transformed Kintobor into Robotnik.
 * The brown-and-spiky hedgehog depicted in the final panel of this issue is Sonic, from before the Kinetic Gyratoscope accident that made him blue and streamlined. He was seen in this form in Sonic the Comic #8, "The Origin of Sonic", which also depicted his transformation into his more familiar form.

Trivia

 * One of the Metallixes says the line "Resistance is futile." This is a catchphrase of the Borg in the Star Trek franchise.

Decap Attack - "Nanny Knows Best"
Head is still recovering from his drink problem, so the Prof has called in his old Nanny to take care of him. Never mind that she's been in prison for 20 years for poisoning half of the mid-Glamorgan Light Operatic Society with her broth. After all, Prof was raised on her broth, and it obviously never did him any harm. Head is going crazy, so Igor sneaks Chuck back into the castle (he was thrown out last issue) to help get rid of her.
 * Script: Nigel Kitching & Richard Rayner
 * Art: Nigel Kitching
 * Lettering: Tom Frame

There is a terrible scream! Nanny is trying to read a bedtime story! Igor and Chuck burst into the bedroom, demanding that she hand over the book, but it's no good: she has the entire Mr Cuddle Bunny set and isn't afraid to use them! The three of them run away, and Nanny decides she can't stay where she'd not wanted. As she leaves the castle, Chuck, Igor and Head plan an ambush. Head wants revenge for listening to Mr Cuddly Bunny Goes Into Town with all the actions, so Chuck hurls him at Nanny. Nanny obliviously raises an umbrella (it looks like rain), and Head rebounds onto his co-conspirators, knocking them all down. As they tend their wounds, Prof looks on and smiles. "That's my Nanny!"

Knuckles - "The Graveyard, Part 2"

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

Synopsis
Knuckles has travelled to the Kohenyu Graveyard, hoping to find a replacement for the destroyed Master Emerald. However, he is faced by the vengeful Spirit of the Herd, a ghostly Kohenyu head, who causes the bones of the dead Kohenyu to rise up and attack Knuckles. Knuckles wonders if this is an hallucination caused by the Poison Dryalid that sprayed him, but is quickly convinced it is real by a charging Kohenyu skeleton. Knuckles fights back, smashing the skeletons with his punches, but it is no good: the Kohenyu are all long dead. He's fighting ghosts! As this sinks in, Knuckles falls unconscious, the Dryalid poison finally taking effect.

When he wakes up, he finds himself in the sacred Emerald Mine, trapped in the ribcage of a Kohenyu skeleton. He wants to take a Raw Emerald and leave, but the Spirit of the Herd tells him he will never leave. The Spirit explains that, centuries ago, the Kohenyu were all hunted to extinction by the Echidnas of the Floating Island, Knuckles' people. Knuckles has heard the tale from Echidna history: the Echidnas hunted the Kohenyu for food, but specifically avoided over-hunting them. However, neither Knuckles nor the ancient Echidnas realised that the Kohenyu, while numerous, had only twenty males. The males, being the largest and slowest, were all killed. The rest of the species soon followed.

Knuckles suddenly realises his people caused the extinction of an entire species. The Spirit of the Herd says that now it is time to pay the price!

Appearances

 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Spirit of the Herd

Continuity

 * The Master Emerald was destroyed in Sonic the Comic #66, "The Homecoming, Part 2".
 * Knuckles was sprayed with Dryalid poison in Sonic the Comic #69, "The Graveyard, Part 1".

Sonic's World - "Brute Force, Part 2"

 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * Art: Carl Flint
 * Colouring: Dondie Cox
 * Lettering: Steve Potter

Synopsis
Commander Brutus has used a mind scanner to copy Grimer's brainwaves, allowing the Trooper to build his own badniks! When the unconscious Grimer wakes up, Brutus claims that he simply fainted from the stress of the job.

In a Troop Ship, Brutus and a cohort of Troopers fly to his secret base in the Misery Zone, where he has captured many animals to turn into his own army of badniks, separate from Robotnik.

Meanwhile, back in Grimer's lab, Doctor Robotnik discovers that Brutus has ordered two portable mind scanners without his knowledge, and he is furious.

When Brutus learns that Johnny Lightfoot is on a solo mission in the Cotton Factory Zone, he sends his new secret badnik army to attack him, so that he can learn the Freedom Fighters' secrets.

In the Cotton Factory Zone, Johnny is hoping for a chance to have an adventure of his own, without Sonic, Amy or Tails. He gets more than he bargained for, however, when a vast legion of badniks appear in the sky, demanding his surrender!

Appearances

 * Commander Brutus
 * Grimer
 * Troopers
 * Doctor Ivo Robotnik
 * Captive animals:
 * A bear
 * Two dogs
 * A tiger
 * A frog
 * Many others
 * Brutus' badniks (all new models)
 * Johnny Lightfoot
 * Cotton Factory Zone sheep worker

Other features

 * Control Zone
 * Review Zone
 * STC Pin-Up! - Ballhog Badnik! Art by Ferran Rodriguez
 * Q Zone
 * Speedlines