Archie Sonic Universe Issue 4 is the fourth issue of the spin-off Sonic Universe comic series published by Archie Comics.
Official solicitation[]
- "The Ultimate Lifeform": The all-out battle-turned-alliance between Shadow and Rouge takes a new twist... and there may be no turning back! Transported from G.U.N.'s secret base to the surreal Special Zone, the reluctant allies meet the zone's mega-powerful master, Feist. What will Feist require of them? Can they successfully complete the challenge as well as their other missions and tasks for G.U.N.? What would failure mean to Shadow, who considers himself the "ultimate lifeform?" This action-packed issue co-stars Hope Kintobor and Omega, and features the first assembly of "Team Dark." It also paves the way for the next intriguing saga, which promises to bring back everyone's favorite red echidna!
Featured stories[]
The Ultimate Lifeform[]
- Writer: Ian Flynn
- Pencils: Tracy Yardley
- Inks: Jim Amash
- Colors: Jason Jensen
- Letters: Teresa Davidson
- Editor & Managing Editor: Mike Pellerito
- Editor-in-Chief: Victor Gorelick
- Special thanks to: Cindy Chau and Jerry Chu at SEGA Licensing
Synopsis[]
In G.U.N.'s headquarters, Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat are preparing to head to the Special Zone to pick up a special Chaos Emerald. Rouge asks Shadow if he's ready to head off into unknown territory, but Shadow shrugs it off by saying it is just another mission like any other day. Hope Kintobor and Abraham Tower have prepared a machine to take them into the special zone without any problems, but then Hope says she's only a little sure. Rouge comments that she is really talented but not as smart as Robotnik, and Shadow explains that they have to be thankful for that. The machine then sends them to the Special Zone.
In the zone, they suddenly meet Feist, who tells them that he is the creator of the zone and the Chaos Emeralds. While Rouge exclaims that her data scanner is going off the charts, Shadow acts cold and demands the Chaos Emeralds. Feist brings up a large pathway to find the emerald. Shadow decides to speed it up and tries to use Chaos Control, but it does not work. Feist explains that he is the ruler of the zone and limited out all Chaos Energy. He pressures the moment by informing them that they had sixty seconds to complete the challenge, and only thirty seconds remain. Rouge grabs Shadow and they head down the stairs. They travel the course, but they fail to reach the emerald in time and both are sent back to G.U.N. HQ.
Commander Tower asks what happened, and Rouge explains that they did make it to the Special Zone, but it is ruled by Feist, who made them complete a challenge in order to earn the Chaos Emerald. She then states that they had failed. Abraham and Rouge argue over the failure, but Shadow decides to take the blame. Feeling bad because he hasn't been good enough at all over the past few days, he walks off to the gym.
Shadow arrives at the gym and begins a sparring match with E-123 Omega. Omega explains that when he gets cleared for active duty, he should also go with him and confront Feist by blasting him, but Shadow punches him off angrily and storms off outside, leaving Omega to question himself if he did something.
Later, Hope finds Shadow on Guardian Mountain. Hope tries to cheer Shadow up by saying that she can see Soleanna from the height, but Shadow does not respond. Hope explains that it is okay that he did not get the Chaos Emerald, but Shadow shrugs it off because he was built to complete all tasks he was given and not supposed to fail. Hope explains that she has also failed really badly, and tells Shadow about the war in Knothole after Dr. Eggman and Snively invaded and she left to explore the world, but Shadow comforts her by telling her that Sonic and the others didn't know. Hope cheers Shadow up by saying that he can plan his next strategy on Feist because he now knows how Feist works. She hugs Shadow and tells him that she, too, is lost in the big, empty world like him. This reminds Shadow of Maria Robotnik, and he cheers up.
Later on, Hope gets the systems going and Shadow, Omega and Rouge are in the portal. Abraham questions if they are ready, and Shadow says they are ready, calling themselves "Team Dark." The portal then teleports them back to the Special Zone, leaving Hope to question as to why they called themselves Team Dark, and Abraham says it will become evident in time with a knowing look on his face.
Omega asks if he can blast Feist after arriving, but Shadow and Rouge deny it. Feist looks down and taunts the trio, and they demand the challenge. This time, the challenge is a large cuboid maze. Shadow and his team then move into the maze. Upon their finding the emerald in the center of the maze, it is immediately covered by a box of jewels. The trio then attempts to destroy as many as possible. Shadow goes to the top of the jewel pile to get the emerald from the newly-created opening but fails to get it in time. Feist once again gloats over their failure, but then Rouge tells Omega to go ahead with "Plan B." Omega then shoots missiles mercilessly at Feist while Shadow and Rouge grab the emerald. Feist, reduced to just two mad eyes and two hands, angrily shouts at the trio, but Shadow uses Chaos Control to get out of there before Feist can attack them.
At G.U.N. HQ, Team Dark celebrates their victory and Shadow gives Abraham the emerald, with the Commander saying that with two emeralds, G.U.N. will be tougher than ever.
30 Years Later...
Knuckles and Julie-Su are on top of their building. Julie-Su explains they need to go and they walk back inside their house. Knuckles and Julie-Su ask Lara-Su if she can watch over things while they head out, and Lara-Su responds by saying, "I'm a Guardian! I'm ready for anything!"
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Dr. Eggman (mentioned)
- Feist
- Gerald Robotnik (mentioned)
- Guardian Units of the Nation
- Abraham Tower
- Hope Kintobor
- Team Dark (first appearance)
- Julie-Su
- Knuckles the Echidna
- Lara-Su
- Maria Robotnik (fantasy)
- Snively Robotnik (fantasy)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (mentioned)
Races and species:
Locations:
- Multiverse
- Light Mobius
- Prime Zone
- Mobius
- Eurish
- Capital City (only appearance)
- Guardian Mountain
- Soleanna (mentioned)
- Eurish
- Northamer (mentioned)
- Great Forest (mentioned)
- Great Wastes (mentioned)
- Great Forest (mentioned)
- Mobius
- Special Zone
Items:
- Chaos Emerald
- Color Block (only appearance)
- Inhibitor Rings
- Rocket-skates
- Treasure Scope (first appearance)
- Zone-Breaching Platform
Misc.:
- Chaos Control
- Chaos energy
- Feist's challenges
- Guardian
- Hover
- Screw Kick (only appearance)
- Sonic Spin
Trivia[]
- When confronted with Feist for the first time, Rouge's Treasure Scope is going wild. This might be a reference to the popular line "It's over 9000!" in Dragonball Z.
- The "trials" that Shadow, Rouge, and Omega face are actually Special Stages from Sonic 3D Blast and the original Sonic the Hedgehog, with the Chaos Emerald as the goal.
- The emerald Team Dark obtains is mistakenly colored green. The out of universe explanation is simple, Jason Jensen accidentally colored the emerald green. The in-universe explanation provided by Ian Flynn states that: "Feist made it good green to mess with [Team Dark's] heads. Once back in the Prime Zone, it eventually turned to it's natural color - red."[2]
- However, it was recolored red for the graphic novel re-release, Sonic Universe Volume 1: The Shadow Saga, thus correcting the mistake. The off panel of this issue still shows the incorrect green color.
- Since Sonic Universe #2 takes place in-between Sonic the Hedgehog #198-#199 and Sonic Universe #3 takes place during the events of Sonic the Hedgehog #199, it is likely that this issue takes place during Sonic the Hedgehog #200 or afterward.
Off Panel[]
- Writer: Ian Flynn
- Pencils & Inks: Steven Butler
- Colors:Paul Kaminski
Synopsis[]
Off Panel.
Shadow, Rouge, Omega, and Hope are playing "Go Fish" when Shadow thinks of a joke. Tower is doing battle with Feist, who asks Tower to look up his species. Tower reads that pandas "Eat, chutes and leaves" (a pun of eats, shoots, and leaves). Shadow cracks up while the other members are unimpressed and continue with their game of Go Fish.
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Feist (fantasy)
- Guardian Units of the Nation
Races and species:
- Black Arms
- Human (fantasy)
- Mobian
- Overlander
Items:
Other features[]
- Sonic Checklist
- Fan Letters
Trivia[]
- The preview summary of this issue accidentally revealed that Hope Kintobor was alive after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog #177 instead of when she made her come-back appearance in Sonic Universe #1 as was planned, much to the surprise of writer Ian Flynn.[3]
- This issue marks the first letters page for Sonic Universe.
- This was the last issue to feature the Off Panel until Sonic Universe #7.
Gallery[]
Cover artwork[]
Preview pages[]
| Gallery |
|---|
 Page one  Page two  Page three  Page four  Page five |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 February 2009 Archives. Archie Comics. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009.
- ↑ Flynn, Ian (28 May 2009). Sonic Universe #4 Preview/Spoilers/Discussion. BumbleKing Comics. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015.
- ↑ Flynn, Ian (16 February 2009). Sonic #200 & Sonic Universe #4 Previews *some spoilers*. BumbleKing Comics. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015.
External links[]
- Archie Sonic Universe Issue 4 at Mobius Encyclopaedia, the Archie Sonic wiki.
