Sonic the Comic Issue 83

Sonic the Comic #83
Publication details
Issue	83
Date	2 August 1996
Publishing company	Fleetway Editions Ltd
Cover price	£1.20
Production staff
Cover artist	Carl Flint
Issue chronology
Previous	Sonic the Comic Issue 82
Next	Sonic the Comic Issue 84

Sonic the Comic #83 is the eighty-third comic issue of the Sonic the Comic series published by Egmont Fleetway.

Staff

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

Featured stories

Sonic the Hedgehog - "Bubble Trouble"

• Script: Lew Stringer
• Art: Roberto Corona
• Colouring: John M. Burns
• Lettering: Ellie de'Ville

Synopsis

In Citadel Robotnik, Doctor Robotnik grumbles about Sonic the Hedgehog. Watching battles of Sonic's past battles, it is clear to him that Sonic cannot swim. When Grimer points out that Sonic is able to gulp in air from air bubbles to stop himself drowning, Robotnik instructs Grimer to invent something that turns the trick against him.

Days later, Sonic and Tails arrive in the Labyrinth Zone, responding to a distress call. Sonic knows it is a trap, but was bored and felt like some excitement. They are approached by new spider-shaped Badniks, which breathe fire at them. Unhurt but thrown off guard, another Badnik is able to swing on a web and knock Sonic straight into the water, where he immediately sinks to the bottom. Two Spiker Badniks crawl towards him, and he easily defeats one before heading to an air bubble to gulp in some air. But to his great surprise he finds himself trapped inside an impenetrable bubble of ultra-tough plastic! Not even the remaining Spiker's spikes can tear it and, worst of all, the bubble is shrinking as he uses up the air!

Using some of the broken spikes from the defeated Spiker Badnik, and with the bubble shrinking all the time, he climbs up the stone wall and back to the surface, where Tails has been webbed up by the spider Badniks. One of the Badniks breathes fire at him, but he jumps out of the way, and the heat blast merely melts the bubble, letting Sonic free! Sonic quickly defeats all of the spiders, and when one tries to knock him in the water again he is more than ready for it!

Robotnik and Grimer watch on a monitor back at Citadel Robotnik. Sonic and Tails may have won, but Robotnik is spurred on to make future traps even nastier!

Appearances

Characters:

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Miles "Tails" Prower
• Doctor Ivo Robotnik
• Grimer
• Two Spikers
• New spider-shaped, fire-breathing Badniks

Trivia

• Robotnik says "I hate that hedgehog!" This was the catchphrase of the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog version of Doctor Robotnik.
• This story is reprinted in Sonic the Comic #159.

Knuckles - "Troubled Waters, Part 2"

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

Synopsis

While crossing the Mobian Channel, Knuckles the Echidna's rowboat has been destroyed by Captain Claw and his eight-limbed Octonaught war-craft. Claw intends to claim the bounty that Doctor Robotnik has offered for Knuckles' capture, and hopes that Knuckles resists so that he can "put [his] Octonaught through its paces".

Indeed, Knuckles does resist, diving underneath the water and attempting to punch some holes in the hull, only to find that the Octonaught is electrified. Angry, Knuckles leaps out of the water and attempts to attack Captain Claw himself, only to be effortlessly knocked aside by one of the Octonaught's tentacles.

Realising that he had been over-confident, Knuckles climbs up a nearby circular rock formation, hoping to gain a few minutes to plan out his next move. However, Claw merely blasts the rock with the gun on his Octonaught. Knuckles leaps from one rock to another, but Claw blasts them all... until Knuckles runs around the whole circle, and the rock falls straight on top of the Octonaught! The machine is completely destroyed, although it still floats, and Claw has been defeated.

Knuckles suddenly panics - where is the chest containing the papers about the Floating Island? He relaxes when he sees that it is safe, resting on top of one of the few remaining rocks, but Captain Claw is less calm. With the Octonaught destroyed, they have no way of getting back to land and are trapped forever! Knuckles has the perfect solution: he gives Claw one of his oars and forces him to row the Octonaught across the rest of the Channel, carrying both Knuckles and the chest with him. Claw complains the whole way: he is a prisoner of war, he claims. He has rights! But Knuckles is not interested: "Oh, shut up and keep rowing!"

Appearances

Characters:

• Knuckles the Echidna
• Captain Claw

Continuity

• Knuckles is still travelling back to the Floating Island with the great chest of documents that he received from Captain Plunder in Sonic the Comic #79, "The Ghost Ship, Part 6". He will eventually reach home again in Sonic the Comic #97, "Victims, Part 1".

Trivia

• Writer Nigel Kitching said that the falling domino rocks was based on an old Disney cartoon named The Legend of Coyote Rock, which was the same cartoon that Chuck Jones used as inspiration for the Road Runner series.
• This story was reprinted in Sonic the Comic #195.

Tails - "Mystery Villain"

• Script: Lew Stringer
• Art: Mike Hadley
• Colouring: Steve White
• Lettering: Tom Frame

Synopsis

As Tails passes through the Grim Zone, its fields all built over with Robotnik's factories, he is attacked by a fast, flying Badnik. The Badnik shoots at Tails with blasts in its hands. It wants revenge for Tails and his friends making it what it is, although Tails points out that it was Robotnik that turned it into a Badnik. The Badnik insists that Robotnik only put it into the armour to make it more efficient and powerful enough to destroy outlaws like Tails, who still has no idea who the Badnik is inside the shell.

Escaping from the Badnik, Tails tricks it into shooting at a giant smokestack, which topples on top of the Badnik, revealing that within the armour is Metamorphia! She starts crying, because once again she had failed Robotnik. She used to think Robotnik was "wonderful", but after her last failure he took away her shape-shifting powers and turned her into a Badnik as punishment. Finally realising that Robotnik is cruel and mean, Metamorphia decides that she now hates him and that she will never work for him again. Suddenly, she transforms one final time, into a sweet bear. Now Robotnik can never track her down, and she is free to start a new life. She leaves with Tails' blessing.

Appearances

Characters:

• Miles "Tails" Prower
• Metamorphia

Continuity

• Metamorphia's last failure was against Shortfuse the Cybernik and Tekno the Canary, after which Robotnik had Grimer remove her powers and sent her away to be turned into a Badnik. This occurred in "Cybernik Strikes Back", from Sonic the Comic #63 to #67.
• Metamorphia's final form resembles the female bear shape she used on her first encounter with the Freedom Fighters, in Sonic the Comic #30, "Metamorphia".

Trivia

• This story was reprinted in Sonic the Comic #182.

Megadroid - "On the Move"

• Script: Lynne Gibbs
• Art: Nick Abadzis
• Lettering: Elitta Fell

Megadroid, a "multimedia multi-talented droid" who serves as the mascot/spokesman of Sonic the Comic, is tired of being forced to do all the menial jobs around the office: fetch coffee, post letters, lick shoes. He is tired of getting no respect, and when someone sends him out to get some shoes re-heeled, he decides he's had enough and storms out, with a suitcase full of oil and a polaroid photo of STC's third birthday to remind him of good times (although the lights were switched off when it was taken).

He tries getting a job for the railway company, since stations use all computerised equipment, but ends up serving tea on the buffet car. He tries getting work in the control cabin of a cruise-liner, but is put to work as a waiter in the restaurant, then kicked off the ship for clumsiness. He washes up in the town of Pomfret-on-Sea and soon gets a job repairing computers in a computer store, along with an attractive female megadroid. Although she invites him out to see the new Judge Droid film, he becomes more and more disappointed as the date progresses - she never once offers him a plastic chip to eat! When they get back to the store, she says she had a great time, but Megadroid decides to leave and head back to STC.

He wonders if the humes-who-think-they're-in-charge at STC will be able to forgive him for leaving, but when he gets back they throw a party for his return! After all, he's just in time to make the coffee!

Trivia

• A shop in the train station is called WH Schmidt, a reference to British retailer W H Smith.
• There is a "cool" 80s ZX Spectrum in the window of the computer shop.
• Judge Droid is based on the then-recent film Judge Dredd. The film was based on the Judge Dredd character from the comic strip 2000 AD, which was published by Fleetway, who also published Sonic the Comic.

Other features

• Control Zone
• Review Zone
• Olympic Zone (Graphic Zone)
• Q Zone
• Speedlines

Gallery

Preview pages

Gallery
Page one Page two Page three Page four Page five

External links

• Issue 83 at the Sonic the Comic Wiki.

References

Sonic the Comic issues