Changes: Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 51

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Sonic the Hedgehog #51

Original
Digital

Publication details

Issue

51

Date

July 1997 (release date)
October 1997 (publication date)

Publishing company

Archie Comics

ISSN

10705090

Production staff

Writer

Karl Bollers

Cover artist

Frontispiece

Sam Maxwell
Harvey Mercadoocasio

Colors

Karl Bollers

Editor

Justin Freddy Gabrie

Managing editor

Victor Gorelick

Editor-in-Chief

Richard Goldwater

Issue chronology
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Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 50	Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 52

Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 51 is the fifty-first issue of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by Archie Comics.

Official solicitation

Reality Bytes

You are cordially invited to the celebration of a lifetime- The Knothole Victory Party! The victory celebration begins! Let the festivities get underway! Now that Robotnik has been defeated, everyone can feel safe and secure... or can they? Sonic doesn't seem to think so when everyone he knows and loves and is near and dear to him gets roboticized by a hidden enemy. What does this mean? Who's behind this latest attack? Is Dr. Robotnik really gone or has someone else taken over?

Featured stories

Reality Bytes

Writer & Colors: Karl Bollers
Pencils: Sam Maxwell
Inks: Andrew Pepoy
Letters: Jeff Powell
Editor: Justin Freddy Gabrie
Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick
Editor-in-Chief: Richard Goldwater

Synopsis

Part 1

The night after Dr. Robotnik's defeat, Sally celebrates along with the rest of the Freedom Fighters and congratulates Sonic for defeating Dr. Robotnik. Sonic thanks her for the celebration, but asks why they are not celebrating with the rest of the village. Sally presents Sonic with a gift, which Sonic opens to be a bravery medal. Sonic thanks everyone for the victory bash.

Later that night, Sonic is asleep in his room, when Sally attempts to wake Sonic up. Thinking Sonic is still weary from the festivities, Nicole advices Sally that he might not be fit for the secret mission. Sonic wakes up asking about the mission, but Sally tells Sonic to be quiet and takes him on his secret mission. Sally takes Sonic up to the Great Forest and Sonic asks Sally why she has been so quiet. Sally's eyes change red and she reveals that his secret mission is not so secret after all. Suddenly, Sonic is surrounded by Robotnik's Combots. Sonic avoids their attacks and runs away while Sally changes into a robotic form and yells that Knothole Village will belong to Dr. Robotnik. Sonic runs to warn the others, but is still confused because Robotnik is supposed to be dead.

Part 2

Sonic heads back to Knothole and is grabbed by Tails, who flies him away from the Combots. Sonic tells Tails what has been happening, when a hologram of Uncle Chuck appears and then disappears. Sonic wonders what it was, when a Buzzbomber begins chasing them. Sonic then notices a Crabmeat on the forest floor. Tails then drops Sonic down towards Crabmeat. Sonic tries to think of a plan before he goes splat; Sonic lands on the ground with a bang. Tails in a robotic form asks where Sonic has gone. Soon, the smoke clears that Sonic has gone underground towards Knothole. Sonic spins through the ground, where the vision of Uncle Chuck appears again. Thinking that it is a trick, Sonic refuses to look at it and keeps moving forward.

Part 3

Sonic emerges near the hot spring, where Bunnie lies injured. Bunnie tells Sonic that everyone has gone screwy. Sonic helps her up as Bunnie explains that a holographic image of Uncle Chuck attacked her. Sonic then realizes that he saw the projection, and it could not have attacked Bunnie a minute ago. Sonic does not fall for Bunnie's tricks and her eyes turn red, she fixes her leg and attacks Sonic. Sonic runs out of the way of her attack and notices a Power Ring. Sonic tries to pull the Power Ring from the water, but it does not move. Bunnie appears again and transforms into a robotic form and prepares to attack again. Sonic runs away from her and heads towards Knothole.

Minutes later, Sonic runs down the Great Oak Slide towards Knothole, when the hologram of Uncle Chuck appears again. The hologram begins to talk, but in gibberish. Sonic tries to read through Uncle Chuck's chatting and thinks he is trying to warn him about something. Sonic then thinks that he's saying not to go to Knothole, but arrives too late.

Part 4

Sonic arrives in Knothole to find Dr. Robotnik with Cluck, the roboticized Freedom Fighters, and Combots. Robotnik brags that Knothole is finally his and Sonic is now his captive. He then asks Sonic how he feels to have "an egg in his face." Sonic says that his plan will not work, and his bad puns will not help either. Robotnik gives him a dose of reality that all his friends have been roboticized and all of the Power Rings are now his. Tails, Sally, Bunnie, and Robotnik then ask Sonic to join them. Sonic goes over what has happened and sees flashbacks of him with his friends and the realizes that something just is not real. Sonic sees the hologram of Uncle Chuck again, as Robotnik and his robots disappear.

Sonic wakes up in his bed with a a device around his head, and Antoine, Bunnie, Rotor, Tails, Muttski, Sally, and Uncle Chuck watching. Sally tells Uncle Chuck that Sonic has woken up. Sonic wonders what he has doing with the device on his head. Uncle Chuck explains that his bravery award was booby-trapped with an artificial virus and threw Sonic into a virtual reality nightmare. He then explains further that if he had given into Robotnik's wishes, he would have been trapped in virtual reality forever. He then states that the holographic image as him trying to warn Sonic. Sonic gets up from his bed and finds it impressive of Robotnik trying to get him from beyond the grave. Uncle Chuck then says that it looks like Robotnik had nothing to do with this. Sonic and his friends wonder who was behind it all.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Issue order
-| previous = Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 50
-| next = Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 52
-|series = Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie comic series){{!}}Sonic the Hedgehog
-|current = #51
-}}
 {{Infobox comic
-|title = ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #51
+|title          = ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #51
+|image          = <gallery>
-|width =
-|image = STH51.jpg
+STH51.jpg|Original
+Archie Sonic 51 digital.jpg|Digital
-|issue= 51
+</gallery>
-|date =
+|issue          = 51
+|date           =
 *July 1997 {{C|release date}}
 *October 1997 {{C|publication date}}
-|issn= 10705090
+|issn           = 10705090
-|publisher = [[Archie Comics]]
+|publisher      = [[Archie Comics]]
-|coverartist =
+|coverartist    =
 *[[Patrick Spaziante]]
 *[[Harvey Mercadoocasio]]
-|frontispiece =
+|frontispiece   =
 *[[Sam Maxwell]]
 *Harvey Mercadoocasio
-|writer = [[Karl Bollers]]
+|writer         = [[Karl Bollers]]
-|pencils = [[Sam Maxwell]]
+|pencils        = [[Sam Maxwell]]
-|inks = [[Andrew Pepoy]]
+|inks           = [[Andrew Pepoy]]
-|letters = [[Jeff Powell]]
+|letters        = [[Jeff Powell]]
-|colors = Karl Bollers
+|colors         = Karl Bollers
-|editor = [[Justin Freddy Gabrie]]
+|editor         = [[Justin Freddy Gabrie]]
 |managingeditor = [[Victor Gorelick]]
+|editorinchief  = [[Richard Goldwater]]
-|editorsupreme =
-|editorinchief = [[Richard Goldwater]]
-|other =
-|firstappearances =
 }}
-'''''Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 51''''' is the fifty-first issue of the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie comic series)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' comic series published by [[Archie Comics]].
+'''''Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 51''''' is the fifty-first issue of the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie comic series)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' [[comic]] series published by [[Archie Comics]].
 ==Official solicitation==
@@ Line 41: / Line 34: @@
 ==Featured stories==
 ===Reality Bytes===
-*'''Writer & Colors:''' [[Karl Bollers]]
+*'''Writer & Colors''': [[Karl Bollers]]
-*'''Pencils:''' [[Sam Maxwell]]
+*'''Pencils''': [[Sam Maxwell]]
-*'''Inks:''' [[Andrew Pepoy]]
+*'''Inks''': [[Andrew Pepoy]]
-*'''Letters:''' [[Jeff Powell]]
+*'''Letters''': [[Jeff Powell]]
-*'''Editor:''' [[Justin Freddy Gabrie]]
+*'''Editor''': [[Justin Freddy Gabrie]]
-*'''Managing editor:''' [[Victor Gorelick]]
+*'''Managing Editor''': [[Victor Gorelick]]
-*'''Editor-in-Chief:''' [[Richard Goldwater]]
+*'''Editor-in-Chief''': [[Richard Goldwater]]
-==== Part 1 ====
+====Synopsis====
+=====Part 1=====
-The Freedom Fighters celebrate their recent triumph over Robotnik and Sonic is awarded a medal. Later in the night, Sonic is awoken by Sally and Nicole for a secret mission. When the three of them head off, Sonic finds out that he was duped by Sally, who appears more mechanical, and is ambushed by Com-Bots. Mecha Sally tells Sonic to warn everyone that Dr. Robotnik will soon take over Knothole. Confused, Sonic tries to escape.
+The night after [[Doctor Ivo Robotnik (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Dr. Robotnik]]'s [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 50|defeat]], [[Sally Acorn (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Sally]] celebrates along with the rest of the [[Freedom Fighters (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Freedom Fighters]] and congratulates [[Sonic the Hedgehog (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Sonic]] for defeating Dr. Robotnik. Sonic thanks her for the celebration, but asks why they are not celebrating with the rest of the village. Sally presents Sonic with a gift, which Sonic opens to be a bravery medal. Sonic thanks everyone for the victory bash.
+Later that night, Sonic is asleep in his room, when Sally attempts to wake Sonic up. Thinking Sonic is still weary from the festivities, [[Nicole (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Nicole]] advices Sally that he might not be fit for the secret mission. Sonic wakes up asking about the mission, but Sally tells Sonic to be quiet and takes him on his secret mission. Sally takes Sonic up to the [[Great Forest]] and Sonic asks Sally why she has been so quiet. Sally's eyes change red and she reveals that his secret mission is not so secret after all. Suddenly, Sonic is surrounded by Robotnik's [[Combot]]s. Sonic avoids their attacks and runs away while Sally changes into a robotic form and yells that [[Knothole Village (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Knothole Village]] will belong to Dr. Robotnik. Sonic runs to warn the others, but is still confused because Robotnik is supposed to be dead.
-==== Part 2 ====
-Tails appears and saves Sonic from the ambush. Sonic informs Tails that someone has taken Robotnik's place and is targeting Knothole. He suddenly gets a vision of Uncle Chuck. They are attacked in the air by Mutant Dragonflies and Tails suddenly drops Sonic to fend for himself against a Crabmeat while looking as mechanical as Sally was previously. Sonic makes a giant crater when he lands on the ground and disappears. He is seen digging underground while having another vision of his uncle and tries to target the hot springs.
-==== Part 3 ====
+=====Part 2=====
+Sonic heads back to Knothole and is grabbed by [[Miles "Tails" Prower (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Tails]], who flies him away from the Combots. Sonic tells Tails what has been happening, when a hologram of [[Sir Charles Hedgehog|Uncle Chuck]] appears and then disappears. Sonic wonders what it was, when a [[Buzzbomber (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Buzzbomber]] begins chasing them. Sonic then notices a [[Crabmeat (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Crabmeat]] on the forest floor. Tails then drops Sonic down towards Crabmeat. Sonic tries to think of a plan before he goes splat; Sonic lands on the ground with a bang. Tails in a robotic form asks where Sonic has gone. Soon, the smoke clears that Sonic has gone underground towards Knothole. Sonic spins through the ground, where the vision of Uncle Chuck appears again. Thinking that it is a trick, Sonic refuses to look at it and keeps moving forward.
-Sonic makes it to the hot springs, meeting Bunnie there. She appears to be having trouble with her right leg and tells Sonic that a holographic image of Uncle Chuck appeared and shot lasers at her. Sonic realises that he saw the same image a while ago and realized that Bunnie was not on his side either. He then dodges an attack from her "damaged" leg and runs to the lake to find a power ring but is unable to pull it out. He evades Bunnie nonetheless and makes it to Knothole. While climbing down the secret exit, he sees yet another vision of Uncle Chuck but he speaks in a language that Sonic could not understand.
-==== Part 4 ====
+=====Part 3=====
+Sonic emerges near the hot spring, where [[Bunnie D'Coolette|Bunnie]] lies injured. Bunnie tells Sonic that everyone has gone screwy. Sonic helps her up as Bunnie explains that a holographic image of Uncle Chuck attacked her. Sonic then realizes that he saw the projection, and it could not have attacked Bunnie a minute ago. Sonic does not fall for Bunnie's tricks and her eyes turn red, she fixes her leg and attacks Sonic. Sonic runs out of the way of her attack and notices a [[Power Ring (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Power Ring]]. Sonic tries to pull the Power Ring from the water, but it does not move. Bunnie appears again and transforms into a robotic form and prepares to attack again. Sonic runs away from her and heads towards Knothole.
-After trying to understand Uncle Chuck's apparent warning, Sonic runs back into the open but meets Robotnik, the reverted Sally, Tails, Bunnie and a bunch of Robotnik's robots. Robotnik forces Sonic to give up and join him but remembers all the good times he had with his friends, realizing that the situation he was in was not real. Sonic woke up to find himself attached to a machine of his uncle's and is greeted by his fellow Freedom Fighters. Uncle Chuck explained that Sonic was infected by a virus which caused him to have a virtual reality nightmare and if he had given in, he would have been lost forever. However Robotnik was revealed not to be behind the act, leaving the Freedom Fighters to wonder who did.
+Minutes later, Sonic runs down the Great Oak Slide towards Knothole, when the hologram of Uncle Chuck appears again. The hologram begins to talk, but in gibberish. Sonic tries to read through Uncle Chuck's chatting and thinks he is trying to warn him about something. Sonic then thinks that he's saying not to go to Knothole, but arrives too late.
+=====Part 4=====
+Sonic arrives in Knothole to find Dr. Robotnik with [[Cluck]], the [[Roboticization (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|roboticized]] Freedom Fighters, and Combots. Robotnik brags that Knothole is finally his and Sonic is now his captive. He then asks Sonic how he feels to have "an egg in his face." Sonic says that his plan will not work, and his bad puns will not help either. Robotnik gives him a dose of reality that all his friends have been roboticized and all of the Power Rings are now his. Tails, Sally, Bunnie, and Robotnik then ask Sonic to join them. Sonic goes over what has happened and sees flashbacks of him with his friends and the realizes that something just is not real. Sonic sees the hologram of Uncle Chuck again, as Robotnik and his robots disappear.
+Sonic wakes up in his bed with a a device around his head, and [[Antoine D'Coolette|Antoine]], Bunnie, [[Rotor Walrus|Rotor]], Tails, [[Muttski (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Muttski]], Sally, and Uncle Chuck watching. Sally tells Uncle Chuck that Sonic has woken up. Sonic wonders what he has doing with the device on his head. Uncle Chuck explains that his bravery award was booby-trapped with an artificial virus and threw Sonic into a virtual reality nightmare. He then explains further that if he had given into Robotnik's wishes, he would have been trapped in virtual reality forever. He then states that the holographic image as him trying to warn Sonic. Sonic gets up from his bed and finds it impressive of Robotnik trying to get him from beyond the grave. Uncle Chuck then says that it looks like Robotnik had nothing to do with this. Sonic and his friends wonder who was behind it all.
+====Appearances====
+'''Characters''':
+*[[Badnik Horde (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Badnik Horde]] {{G|fantasy}}
+**[[Buzzbomber (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Buzzbomber]] {{G|fantasy}}
+**[[Cluck]] {{G|fantasy}}
+**[[Combot]] {{G|fantasy}}
+**[[Crabmeat (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Crabmeat]] {{G|fantasy}}
+*[[Doctor Ivo Robotnik (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Dr. Ivo Robotnik]] {{G|fantasy}}
+*[[Knothole Freedom Fighters]]
+**[[Antoine D'Coolette (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Antoine D'Coolette]]
+**[[Bunnie D'Coolette (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Bunnie Rabbot]]
+**[[Miles "Tails" Prower (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Miles "Tails" Prower]]
+**[[Nicole (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Nicole]]
+**[[Rotor Walrus]]
+**[[Sally Acorn (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Sally Acorn]]
+**[[Sir Charles Hedgehog]]
+**[[Sonic the Hedgehog (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]
+*[[Muttski (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Muttski]]
+'''Races and species''':
+*[[Mobian]]
+**[[Robian (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Robian]]
+*[[Overlander]] {{G|fantasy}}
+'''Locations''':
+*[[Prime Zone (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Prime Zone]]
+**[[Mobius (Archie)|Mobius]]
+***[[Northamer (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Northamer]]
+****[[Great Forest]]
+*****[[Knothole Village (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Knothole Village]]
+'''Items''':
+*[[Chili dog (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Chili dog]] {{Flashback}}
+*[[Power Ring (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Power Ring]] {{G|fantasy}}
+*[[Sonic's sneakers]]
+'''Misc.''':
+*[[Roboticization (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Roboticization]] {{G|fantasy}}
+*[[Sonic Spin]] {{G|fantasy}}
+====Trivia====
+*The production staff for this story was not featured due to an oversight. The credits for this story are featured in the letters section of [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 52|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #52]] instead.
+**“Reality Bytes" was initially intended to be the beginning of a overarching story arc, during which it would be revealed that the Sally Sonic revived in [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 50|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #50]] was an [[Auto Automaton]], which in turn would reveal that it was she who planted the dream device on Sonic's medal in this story, and that the true Sally had indeed died in [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 47|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #47]]. However, [[Sega]] decided that Sally would survive, leaving the arc to be abandoned.
+*This story is the first one to show that Sonic sleeps in a car-shaped bed. This bed would become a mainstay in future issues.
+*The origin of the "artificial virus" in Sonic's medal was never directly addressed later in the series, although it was stated in the letters page of [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 82|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #82]] that the virtual reality medal was provided by [[Doctor Eggman (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Robo-Robotnik]].
+==Other features==
+*Sonic Fan Art
+*The "Find Your Name In Print Page"
+*Sonic-Grams
 ==Quotes==
-*'''Sonic''': "Hey, slow down! No habla '''gibberish!'''"
+:'''Sonic''': Hey, slow down! No habla '''gibberish!'''
 ==Trivia==
 [[File:STH51 X-TREME ORDERFORM.jpg|thumb|150px|right|The order form for ''[[Sonic X-treme]]''.]]
-*The production staff for this issue was not featured due to an oversight. It is featured in [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 52|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #52]] instead.
+*[[Bean the Dynamite (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Bean]] and [[Bark the Polar Bear (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Bark]] make a cameo appearances on this issue's cover, marking their second non-canon cameo appearance before their official debut in [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 160|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #160]].
-*The origin of the "artificial virus" in Sonic's medal was never directly addressed in the series. It was stated in the letters page of [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 82|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #82]] that the virtual reality medal was provided by [[Robo-Robotnik]].
+*This is the last issue to feature a ''[[Sonic X-treme]]''-themed order form while [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 44|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #44]] (which also features a ''Sonic X-treme''-related question on its Sonic-Grams page) is the first.
-*The virtual reality attack is very convenient and could have been a test created by the Freedom Fighters but disguised as an attack from Robotnik (or another threat) to prove Sonic’s allegiance to Mobius, Knothole, and the Kingdom Acorn. The story in this issue, Reality Bytes, is similar to the story, Sonic Under Glass!, in [[Sonic the Hedgehog #16]], the story, The Dream Zone, in [[Sonic the Hedgehog #43]] and the story, Court Martial, in [[Sonic the Hedgehog #40]].
-*[[Bean the Dynamite (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Bean]] and [[Bark the Polar Bear (Pre-Super Genesis Wave)|Bark]] makes a cameo appearance on the cover. This is their second cameo appearance the first one being [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 50|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #50]] before their official debut in [[Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 160|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' #160]].
-*This is the last issue to have the ''[[Sonic X-treme]]'' themed order form.
 ==Gallery==
 ===Preview pages===
 {{Gallery start}}
-<gallery>
+<gallery widths="200">
 ArchieSonic51Page1.jpeg|Page one
 ArchieSonic51Page2.jpeg|Page two
@@ Line 83: / Line 131: @@
 </gallery>
 {{Gallery end}}
-{{Archie Comics issues}}
+==External links==
-{{Stub/TV and comics information}}
+*{{ME link|Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 51}}
+*{{Plain link|http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_051_(Archie)|Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 51}} at Sonic Retro
+{{ArchieIssues1}}
 {{Italic title}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonic the Hedgehog 051}}
 [[Category:Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) issues]]
 [[Category:1997 issues]]
+[[Category:Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) issues written by Karl Bollers]]