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- This issue takes place after Archie Sonic & Knuckles and before Archie Sonic Triple Trouble
Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 26 is the twenty-sixth issue of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by Archie Comics.
Official solicitation
Way, Way Past Cool
- Sonic, Tails, Sally, Rotor and Antoine find themselves in a snowstorm in the middle of summer! Of course it's a plot by Dr. Robotnik! After lowering the temperature on Mobius, his plans will involve using infrared heat sensors to locate the warm-blooded Freedom Fighters. Sonic and the gang take shelter in a cave, where they encounter a group of Polar Mobians that were trapped down south when Robotnik took over and have lived in hiding ever since! But after initially attacking the Weather Annihilator with a snowball-loaded catapult, the Knothole gang is then captured by Snively! Can the Polar Mobians come to their aid help destroy the Annihilator?
Fortified
- The Knothole gang are in the mountains, trying to keep one step ahead of Doc Robotnik--not easy, since Sonic has a sprained ankle.
Featured stories
Cover Corner Box
Sonic is running towards Robotnik (which is seen by the reflection in Robotnik's eye), and Robotnik is responding by saying "Uh-oh!"
Way, Way Past Cool!
- Writer: Angelo DeCesare
- Pencils: Dave Manak
- Inks: Jon D'Agostino
- Letters: Mindy Eisman
- Colors: Barry Grossman
- Editor: Scott Fulop
- Managing editor: Victor Gorelick
- Editor-in-Chief: Richard Goldwater
Part One
The Knothole Freedom Fighters are having fun on the riverside when the temperature suddenly drops. A number of snow clouds appear in the sky nearby and Sally, concerned by the unnatural weather, asks Nicole where the clouds came from. Nicole informs them that they were artificially created, and a sudden snowstorm covers the area. Just outside of Robotropolis, Dr. Robotnik and Snively are testing their new Weather Annihilator, a machine designed to freeze their entire side of Mobius.
Robotnik plans to use the cold to his advantage, finding any and all nearby lifeforms by using infra-red scanners to detect their body heat. Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters are unable to find their way back to Knothole in the storm and seek shelter. Nicole tells them that a cave is nearby. Robotnik, riding in a mechanical "sled", closes in on Sonic and his friends while they sit shivering in the cave, but a stranger offers to help them out.
Part Two
Robotnik arrives at the cave, but the Freedom Fighters are nowhere to be seen. Deep in the cave, the team is led by a Penguin named Flip to a hideout where he introduces his friends: Guntiver, Erma, Sealia, and Augustus. Guntiver tells the Freedom Fighters that he and his companions had traveled south to visit their families years ago, only to be stranded when Robotnik seized power in the region. Taking shelter in the cave, they used Robotnik's discarded machines to create an artificial Arctic Zone to keep themselves comfortable. Sonic is determined determined to fight Robotnik despite Sally warning that he would freeze to death before he could reach him. Their hosts graciously offer to use their Arctic Zone to train the Freedom Fighters to adapt in cold weather.
A week later, the cold has become so severe that Snively begs Robotnik to turn off the Weather Annihilator. He reasons that if the Freedom Fighters hadn't attacked yet, they most likely can't attack at all. Robotnik is about to head inside to celebrate his apparent victory and shut off the machine when a giant snowball lands next to him. The Freedom Fighters have set up a catapult to fight Robotnik.
Part Three
Robotnik heads inside to crank up the power on the Annihilator and Snively realizes that he needs to redeem himself in his master's eyes for almost calling off their plan. The Freedom Fighters, unable to hit the Weather Annihilator with their snowballs, decide to charge at the machine themselves. Before they can get close, Snively uses a freeze ray to trap them in a giant block of ice. He pushes them along in his sled, planning to roboticize them, when Augustus grabs hold of the vehicle to stop him. Snively tries to shoot him with his freeze ray when Guntiver jumps in, chasing Snively out of the sled. Snively calls for the SWATbots to help him, but Flip trips them up while Sealia and Erma try to free the Freedom Fighters from the ice block.
Sonic asks them to not bother freeing him completely, but to load him into the catapult and launch him at the Annihilator. They do so, and Sonic crashes into Robotnik, crushing the ice block he was encased in. Sonic easily spin dashes through the machine, destroying it. The Arctic Freedom Fighters decide to head for home in Robotnik's sled, inspired by Sonic's bravery to stand up to any danger that faces them instead of running away. Sonic suggests the Freedom Fighters have a snowball fight, only for his friends to pelt him with snowballs.
Fortified
- Writer: Angelo DeCesare
- Pencils: Art Mawhinney
- Inks: Rich Koslowski
The Freedom Fighters are carrying Sonic, who injured his ankle, up the side of a mountain they were exploring. The group is tired but continues moving forward, as Robotnik is hot on their trail in his Bot Bus. Looking for shelter, the Freedom Fighters stumble upon an old log fort built by Sally's ancestors. Unfortunately, they realize the fort most likely won't hold very long against Robotnik's forces, and they only have a busted old cannon. Bunnie closes the front gate, lamenting that if she was all-robot she could stand a chance against Robotnik's forces. Sonic gets an idea and asks Rotor to use his pocket laser to weld something using the fort's cannon.
The Bot Bus soon burst through the door, only to see Bunnie, outfitted in armor made from the broken cannon, standing in their way. Dubbing herself "Robo-Bunnie", she handily defeated the squad of SWATbots riding on the bus. However, the armor weighs her down so much that she can't escape the Bot Bus. Robotnik tries to ram her with the bus, but Bunnie simply extends her legs to lift herself above bus. The bus bursts through the fort wall and, unable to stop, barrels down the side of the mountain.
The Adventures of Scott and Paul
- Art: Bill Golliher
Off Panel
Joe Pepitone appears and demands that Scott Fulop and Freddy Mendez stop picking on Paul Castiglia. He also demands that they acknowledge that he created Sonic-Grams. Scott instead drops "canned ham" on Joe and Paul's heads.
Key Events
- The Arctic Freedom Fighters make their first appearance.
- Dr. Robotnik uses the Weather Annihilator to change the entire atmosphere of Mobius.
Trivia
- It can be possible that the logged fort built by Sally's ancestors could be Fort Acorn.
- The ray that Snively uses to freeze Sonic on the cover is similar to a weapon used by Scratch and Grounder in an episode of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog to drastically slow Sonic down.
Gallery
Preview pages
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External links
- Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 26 at Mobius Encyclopaedia, the Archie Sonic wiki.