Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 177

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Sonic the Hedgehog #177

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Sonic the Hedgehog #177
Publication details
Issue	177
Date	July 2007
Publishing company	Archie Comics
Cover price	$2.25 (US) $2.65 (CAN)
Production staff
Writer	Ian Flynn
Cover artist	Tracy Yardley Jim Amash
Cover coloring	Jason Jensen
Pencils	Tracy Yardley
Inks	Jim Amash
Letters	John Workman
Colors	Jason Jensen
Editor	Mike Pellerito
Managing editor	Victor Gorelick
Editor-in-Chief	Richard Goldwater
Chairman	Michael Silberkleit
Publisher	Michael Silberkleit Richard Goldwater
President	Richard Goldwater
Special thanks	to Robert Leffler and Dyna Lopez at SEGA Licensing
Issue chronology
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Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 177 is the one hundred seventy-seventh issue of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by Archie Comics.

Official solicitation

"Home, New Home": Sonic the Hedgehog has saved the day yet again! Or has he? With Doctor Eggman's Egg Fleet bombarding the city from the outside, the jury's still out! To make matters worse, a group of escaped convicts is on the loose on the inside! What's a hedgehog gotta do to get a happy ending around here? Perhaps the brilliant Nicole has the answer!

Featured stories

Home, New Home

• Writer: Ian Flynn
• Pencils: Tracy Yardley
• Inks: Jim Amash
• Letters: John Workman
• Colors: Jason Jensen
• Editor: Mike Pellerito
• Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick
• Editor-in-Chief: Richard Goldwater
• Special Thanks To: Robert Leffler and Dyna Lopez at SEGA Licensing

Nicole recalls her actions that have lead to this moment. Nicole took control of A.D.A.M.'s nanites and created the city of New Mobotropolis with them. She also gave herself a physical form. This was going to be a surprise for her friends, but she had to reveal it early since Dr. Eggman destroyed Knothole and its residents needed a new safe haven. Eggman has responded quickly and his Egg Fleet is en route to the city. To make matters worse, a group of convicts were among those rescued (Ixis Naugus, Nack the Weasel, Bark the Polar Bear, Bean the Dynamite and, Mammoth Mogul).

Mogul proclaims his intentions to destroy the city to Sonic, Nicole, and Sally Acorn. Nicole tells Mogul he built the city with him in mind. Bean notices a shinny circle under him, which teleports all the goons to the New Mobotropolis Detention Center. Nack throws a tantrum for being imprisoned again. Sonic and Sally congratulates Nicole on her quick-thinking, but she suddenly looks pained and her form temporarily dissolves as lasers shot at the shield of the city. Sally grabs Nicole, but the AI reassures Sally she's fine; she merely needed to divert the city's power to its energy shields, and thus could not spare the energy to maintain her physical form. As Sally laments the unfairness of the situation, Nicole insists it will be temporary and she will always be near.

Composing herself, Sally says she trusts Nicole to keep them all safe from the Egg Fleet. Elias Acorn tell everyone to find their rebuilt homes and keep their loved ones close, adding they should all be thankful to be reunited. He and Sally then order Sonic to get medical attention, despite his protests. Sonic runs into Rotor Walrus on his way to Dr. Quack. Rotor injured his back saving Tails from the collapsing roof of Freedom HQ and is laying on a stretcher. Sonic apologizes for not being fast enough to help, but Rotor dismisses it, saying for once he got to be an action hero and adding he is more concerned about Charmy Bee's condition. Nearby, Dr. Quack is testing him with a few questions and received disoriented, childish responses. Upset, Saffron Bee asks if Charmy remembers who he is and who she is. To her immense relief, Charmy says he of course knows who she is and hugs her. Sonic wonders if this is a good sign, to which the doctor replies while he was still unsure of the extent of the damage, Charmy is better off than he had hoped. Dr. Quack then examined Sonic, noting that all the residual magic ring energy he's amassed over the years was not only keeping his injuries to a minimum, but seemingly improving the rate of his healing as well. The doctor dismissed him, wanting to spend time with his reunited family.

Meanwhile, on Angel Island, Dr. Finitevus is performing a ritual on the Master Emerald. His chanting is interrupted by Scourge the Hedgehog, who announced that Dimitri had left them, adding the possibility of him leaking their plans to Knuckles the Echidna. To the hedgehog's surprise, Finitevus is pleased with this information, saying he hoped Dimitri would take this path and everything was all going according to plan. Shrugging off his confusion, Scourge leaves while Finitevus mutters the return of Enerjak can not be stopped.

Back in New Mobotropolis, the Egg Fleet continues its ineffective assault. Sally and Bunnie D'Coolette sit in a tree while the former admired the city, saying it looks almost exactly like the Mobotropolis of her childhood and its what they have been fighting for for so long. Antoine D'Coolette, somewhat nervous of heights, joins them in the tree, adding they would be able to admire the city better if Eggman wasn't constantly blasting the shield. Sitting together, the three reflect on their pasts as Freedom Fighters and how far they'd come from fighting from the Great Forest and thinking they were orphans. Antoine recalls being extremely cowardly back then, but Bunnie assures him if he really was a coward, she wouldn't have married him, nor let Sally send him on so many missions. Sally recalls the times she lead the Freedom Fighters and all the formalities and trials she went through. Noticing her change in tone, Bunnie asks if the cannon fire is getting to Sal. The princess suddenly stands up, asking Bunnie if she remembers what she wanted the most when she first joined the Freedom Fighters. Amused, Bunnie recalls she wanted nothing more than to be her royal hairdresser. Grinning, Sally replies she hoped she hadn't completely written off the idea, as she has a favor to ask...

Meanwhile, aboard Snively's flagship, Eggman is screaming at Snively through radio transmission, demanding he destroy the shield while he re-armed his battle suit. Annoyed, Snively replies he's working on it when he notices shots outside. A nearby Egg Pawn announced they'd suffered no damage and that it had a lock on the attacker; a single small aircraft. Shocked, Snively commands it to hold fire as he contacts the pilot; his step-sister, Hope Kintobor. Over the radio, she yells at him while continuing to fire upon the flagship, saying during the few weeks they'd been together in Knothole, they were like family. She went on to explain that she left Knothole on Snively's suggestion, only to return and find it completely destroyed, and as she'd trusted him over the Mobians, she was too ashamed to show her face to them. Finally, she declares she is going back to the overlander cities and will become the greatest engineer ever so they can fight the Eggman Empire. Hope says that will make their family name be worth something. As she tearfully flies off, the Egg Pawn asks for Snively's command to fire. Snively, tears in his eyes, does not respond.

In New Mobotropolis, the Prower family watches the bombardment of the shield, and Amadeus notes it may be a blessing in disguise, saying the Mobians of the kingdom needed a "shake-up" in order to accept his future proposals. Merlin warns him that the monarchy may be too tightly wound to react well to any suggestion of reform, but Rosemary insists she has confidence in Amadeus. Tails says hes behind his father no matter what, which Merlin considers another cause for concern. Just then, Eggman begins his personal assault on the city shield, demanding a fight. He releases attack after attack upon the city's shield, claiming that the city, composed of nanites, belongs to him, and that after conquering Mobotropolis and destroying Knothole, he would not allow them to rob him of his victory.

Sonic, appearing outside the wall, calls Eggman, casually asking him if he was enjoying throwing a tantrum while ineffectively attacking the shield. Eggman, pleased at the acceptance of his challenge, nevertheless calls Sonic a fool to face him alone, as the battle suit was specifically designed to counter the hedgehog. Sonic smirks, admitting as much before adding it meant the suit was not designed to combat anyone else. Sally, her hair cut short, then orders the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix (sans Charmy and Saffron) to attack.

Knuckles, Vector and Mighty start tearing the suit arms off while Bunnie takes aim with her arm cannon, telling Eggman she has been saving this for a special occasion. She fires a massive beam, tearing apart the upper body of the battle suit while Mighty rips off its last arm. Bunnie tells Sal the "heavy hitters" are done, and Sally tells the "second line" to move in. Antoine slashes at the suit's legs with his sword while Julie-Su and Espio attack with projectiles. Tails and Ray fly above Eggman and distract him while Amy Rose destroyed the remains of the legs with her Piko Piko Hammer. During it all, Sonic, with confidence, explains Eggman had made a mistake in thinking any of them would give up easily, adding that even if he could not fight, his friends always would. He then delivered the final blow, launching a Spin Dash into the remaining pod and destroying it, leaving Eggman on the ground. Finally, Sonic tells the doctor if he considered their conflict nothing more than a game, they had simply chosen to continue playing.

Sally coldly informs the doctor he is trespassing on royal ground and ordered his retreat. Infuriated, Eggman instead orders the Egg Fleet to fire. The city's outer wall quickly reforms itself, extending and shielding everyone from the blast. Nicole's form projected from the wall, telling Eggman that her friends were showing more mercy than he deserved and suggests he retreats. Indignant, Eggman escapes upon a Egg Flapper, swearing he would fight even more seriously than before and promises to annihilate them all. As they watch the Egg Fleet's departure, Sonic commented on Sally's hair, and she replied it was symbolic to show her mind and heart were "back on the right track." The group then celebrate Eggman's defeat, with Sonic saying "It's good to be home, Sal."

Trivia

• This is Dulcy's final appearance in the comic in her Pre-Super Genesis Wave form.
• When all of the citizens are gathered in the new city listening to Elias Acorn, Bernadette Hedgehog is mistakenly colored as Amy Rose.
• Bunnie D'Coolette's dream to be Sally's hair dresser (first mentioned in Sonic the Hedgehog #3) is referenced, and Bunnie actually gives Sally a hair cut, restoring her short-hair look which was changed to be long in Sonic the Hedgehog #130.
• The fate of Hope Kintobor was left ambiguous for some time. Writer Ian Flynn did not reveal her true fate on his forum, as he was unsure whether or not to have killed off the character at the time. However, Hope reappeared for the first time in Sonic Universe #1, confirming her survival.
• The reason for Eggman's victory being short-lived was forced on writer Ian Flynn; SEGA only permitted Eggman to be victorious in the previous issue as long as he was defeated in the next two.

Gallery

Cover artwork

Initial main cover.

Main cover, raw.

Preview pages

Gallery
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