Sonic the Comic Issue 87


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

Sonic the Hedgehog - "Mister Shifter"

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

Synopsis
On Planet Meridian in the Special Zone, Sonic the Hedgehog sits on a rooftop above New Tek City. Sonic is troubled, as he now finds himself trapped in the Special Zone without any way of getting back to planet Mobius. With the Omni-Viewer out of commission and no Star Posts to use, he doesn't know any other way to travel between dimensions. He can only hope that Tails and the gang are doing okay without him, and that Robotnik won't notice he's gone.

Suddenly, Sonic hears someone screaming and runs down the side of the building. (A young boy that sees him promptly tells his mother that a super fast blue hedgehog has run down the side of the building, but she just thinks he's making up stories.)

Sonic finds the source of the scream - a red-haired girl has been cornered by a man in a trenchcoat, who has a gun aimed at her. He fires! To the girl's great surprise, she is unhurt - Sonic snatched the bullet out of thin air! The robber, angered by Sonic's interference, throws off his trenchcoat to reveal himself as "Mister Shifter, the deadly shape-changer from the Black Zone!" (Although Sonic says he looks like "a big, ugly, purple guy, who's made of plasticine!")

Despite Sonic's taunts, however, Mister Shifter (who is made of radioactive meta-clay) proves to be quite powerful. He can harden his body to the consistency of concrete to smash Sonic, or make himself soft like water so that Sonic's attacks do no damage. Even when Sonic lands a punch on Shifter's face, he is completely unfazed by it. Shifter traps Sonic's feet in his meta-clay, then begins to pummel Sonic. Sonic can barely take any more, and with his final effort he grabs Shifter's wrist and vibrates his body at sonic speed, causing him to let go of Sonic's feet.

The vibrations stretched out Shifter's body long and thin. Sonic is reminded of the old days when he used to play with plasticine, seeing how far it could stretch before it would break! Shifter is horrified as Sonic ties his body to a lamppost, grabs his head and stretches him all across the street. Even Sonic is impressed at how far he stretched. With the villain defeated, Sonic realises that the girl he saved has disappeared: she couldn't even be bothered to thank him.

At that instant in Citadel Robotnik, Metropolis Zone, the red-haird girl that Sonic rescued arrives by teleporter. Robotnik himself greets her as his spy, Agent X19! She says that the Special Zone forces are too powerful for an invasion, at least until Robotnik has consolidated his power base on Mobius. She continues "But I do have something of interest to report. You'll never guess who I bumped into while I was in New Tek City..."

Appearances

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Mister Shifter
 * Agent X19
 * Doctor Ivo Robotnik
 * Mother and son

Continuity

 * Sonic laments being trapped in the Special Zone, after his only way home (the Omni-Viewer) was put out of action in "Heroes & Villains, Part 3" in the previous issue. (He previously expressed his intense dislike for the Special Zone in Sonic the Comic #60, "The Brotherhood of Metallix, Part 2". He will remain trapped in the Special Zone until Sonic the Comic #100, "The Final Victory, Part 1".
 * In this issue, Robotnik also learns that Sonic is trapped in the Special Zone.
 * In this issue it is revealed that Robotnik is considering an invasion of the Special Zone. He previously had a base in the Special Zone, and in Sonic the Comic #8, "The Origin of Sonic" he claimed that "all in the Special Zone" had to obey him. This was apparently hyperbole, and Robotnik abandoned his Egg Fortress base in favour of Citadel Robotnik some time before Sonic the Comic #55, "The Great Escape! Part 1".

Knuckles - "The Good, the Bad and the Echidna, Part 1"

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

Synopsis
Only the great Mobian Prairie stands between Knuckles and the Metropolis Zone, where Knuckles hopes to find transport to the Floating Island, but the prairie is large, especially since Knuckles is dragging a chest full of Floating Island documents.

Knuckles feels the ground shaking and wonders if there is an earthquake. Suddenly, he is nearly trampled to death when a herd of enormous, flightless birds charge over the hill and straight past him!

Flying overhead on a pair of Pterodactyls, a black-furred rabbit named Chito and his coyote companion look for someone that has been caught in the Apterix stampede. Chito says he doubts anyone could live through a stampede of Apterix, but he is proved wrong when Rooster, their fellow rancher, steps out from behind a stone. He managed to find cover just in time. Just as Rooster wonders what could have caused the stampede, Knuckles emerges from his own hiding place.

Chito immediately accuses Knuckles of causing the stampede, and says he was hired by Boss Krouch to sabotage their herd. Despite Knuckles' claims that he doesn't know what Chito is talking about, and Rooster's objections that they have no proof, Chito has the coyote use an electrified prod to stun Knuckles into unconsciousness.

Despite his uneasiness, Rooster is forced to agree with Chito that he'll be ruined if he doesn't get his Apterix herd to Metropolis City, and that he can't afford to have Knuckles around. Rooster and Chito decide to take Knuckles to the nearby Backwater City while the other ranchers continue driving the herd towards Metropolis. In Backwater City, the Sheriff can decide what's best to do with Knuckles.

As Knuckles hangs, suspended from a rope beneath Chito's pterodactyl mount, he is left to wonder: "Why do these things always happen to me?"

Appearances

 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Rooster
 * Chito
 * Coyote cattle driver

Continuity

 * Chito accuses Knuckles of causing the Apterix stampede on the orders of Boss Krouch. However, Sonic the Comic #88, "The Good, the Bad and the Echidna, Part 2", reveals that it was Chito himself who started the stampede.
 * Rooster wonders what made the Apterix stampede. In Sonic the Comic #90, it is revealed that the stampede was caused by a chemical compound that, to an Apterix, smells like their most feared predator, but a hundred times more potent.

Trivia

 * Chito's name is presumably derived from the Spanish names Chico and Tito, as well as the corn snack Cheetos. Rooster incorrectly refers to Chito as "Chico" in this issue, although other characters correctly refer to him as Chito and Rooster also calls him Chito in subsequent issues.
 * "The Good, the Bad and the Echidna" is a homage to Western films. (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.) There are several specific references to specific Westerns, for example:
 * The title of the story is based on the film The Good, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach in the title roles.
 * Rooster is modelled on and named after the character Rooster Cogburn from the films True Grit and Rooster Cogburn. In the films, Cogburn was played by John Wayne, who won his only Oscar for the portrayal.
 * Chito wears a sombrero and a poncho, and speaks in a heavy Mexican accent, for example saying "heem" instead of "him" and referring to other people as "hombre" or "amigo".

Tails - "Easy Target"

 * Script: Lew Stringer
 * Art: Carl Flint
 * Colouring: Pre-Press
 * Lettering: Tom Frame

Synopsis
Flying through the skies of Mobius, Tails spots an oddly-dressed unicorn being attacked by four badnikss, and swoops in to help. He defeats three, but the fourth catches him in tight grip, and is about to squash him until the strange unicorn fires an energy blast from his hands, destroying the badniks. The unicorn thanks Tails and introduces himself as Forelock, a visitory to these parts. He possesses certain "special abilities", including the power to grant Tails a wish for helping him. After a moment's thought, Tails wishes for Mobius to be free of Doctor Robotnik.

Suddenly, Tails finds himself standing in a book depository in the Metropolis Zone, holding a rifle. Forelock points to the window, where Robotnik is passing by in an open-top motorcade. Forelock that by pulling the trigger, Tails can rid Mobius of Robotnik forever. However, Tails knows that it is wrong and throws the rifle to the floor.

Once again, Tails is suddenly transported, back to the clearing where he and Forelock first met. Forelock explains that the last few moments were merely an illusion created to test Tails, and Tails made the right choice. If he'd pulled the trigger, he would have been just as evil and ruthless as Robotnik. Forelock floats up into the air, promising that if Tails continues to follow his good instincts then one day his wish will come true. Tails asks what Forelock is, and which Zone on Mobius he comes from... but Forelock just points out that he never said he was from Mobius, and vanishes into thin air.

Appearances

 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Forelock
 * Doctor Ivo Robotnik
 * Grimer
 * Trooper chauffeur
 * Badniks
 * Depressed citizens

Continuity

 * Forelock promises Tails that Mobius will one day be rid of Robotnik. This eventually transpires in Sonic the Comic #100, "The Final Victory".

Trivia

 * Forelock's illusion is a reference to the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy, who was shot by a rifleman in the local book depository while he passed through Dallas in a motorcade.

Sonic's World - "Future Shock, Part 2"

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

Synopsis
An elderly hedgehog is claiming to be Sonic from the distant future! Even when a trusted doctor in the Chemical Plant Zone finds that their DNA patterns are identical, Sonic doesn't believe it. He's certain it's a trick. However, Sonic's friends want to hear what Old Sonic has to say, and Sonic is eventually persuaded to listen ("At least it should be good for a laugh!").

Old Sonic explains that, when he was much younger, a drill weapon burrowed up through the streets of the Candlewick Green Zone. He led the Freedom Fighters to attack it, little realising that the machine was armed - Tails, Amy, Johnny and Shortfuse were all incinerated in a single blast. Sonic was so shocked by what he'd led his friends into that he offered no resistance when the Troopers arrived to take him away. He became a prisoner for many years, while Robotnik turned Mobius into an even worse place. All of Sonic's escape attempts failed, except the last one.

An angry Sonic interrupts Old Sonic's story - he would never put his friends on the line like that. Old Sonic admits he made a mistake, and that now he's here to change history. When Amy wonders how he travelled back in time, he says that when he escaped he ran faster than ever before. "I guess my speed broke the time barrier!" Sonic thinks the entire thing is rubbish, but his friends are convinced. They all agree to join Old Sonic in an attempt to destroy the deadly drill weapon before it is completed, but Sonic refuses to go along with it, as he's certain the old guy's a fake.

However, in the caves beneath the Candlewick Green Zone, Amy starts to suspect that Sonic may have been right. Something about the mission feels wrong, although Tails and Johnny say to give Old Sonic a chance. They reach a dead end, but Old Sonic breaks through with a Super-Spin Attack... and leads the team straight into an ambush! On the other side of the wall, Robotnik is waiting for them with a horde of Troopers! Old Sonic now works for Robotnik!

Appearances

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Old Sonic
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Johnny Lightfoot
 * Chemical Plant Zone doctor
 * Doctor Ivo Robotnik
 * Grimer
 * Shortfuse the Cybernik
 * Troopers
 * Enslaved citizens
 * Cat badniks

Continuity

 * This story takes place before Sonic the Comic #84, "Heroes & Villains, Part 1", as Sonic is not yet stranded in the Special Zone.
 * Sonic says that Old Sonic must be Metamorphia the shape-shifter, but Tails points out that Metamorphia lost her powers. An editorial comment refers to Metamorphia's last appearance ("Mystery Villain" in STC 83), although she actually lost her powers in Sonic the Comic #66, "Cybernik Strikes Back, Part 4".
 * Tails mentions that Old Sonic has not called him "pixel-brain", as Sonic often does. This is in fact incorrect, as Old Sonic called Tails pixel-brain in the previous issue, "Future Shock, Part 1".

Other features

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 * NiGHTS News! by Christopher Jones
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