Sonic the Hedgehog: Tails' 30th Anniversary Special[1] is a one-shot comic book special published by IDW Publishing in celebration of Tails' 30th anniversary in 2022.
Official solicitation[]
- Join Ian Flynn, Aaron Hammerstrom, and Reggie Graham in celebrating Classic Tails' 30th anniversary! A comic all about the cutest, bravest fox around?! Heck yeah! Best buds Sonic and Tails are off to Flicky Island for a much needed vacation! but the relaxing beaches and beautiful mountains have been replaced by railroad tracks and giant crystals--scaring the Flickies! Tails will have to put on a brave face to defeat the magical villain: Witchcart![1]
Featured stories[]
Flying Off the Rails[]
- Story: Ian Flynn
- Art: Aaron Hammerstrom
- Inks: Rik Mack
- Colors: Reggie Graham
- Letters: Shawn Lee
- Editors: Riley Farmer & David Mariotte
- Special thanks to: Mai Kiyotaki, Michael Cisneros, Sandra Jo, Sonic Team, and everyone at Sega for their invaluable assistance
Synopsis[]
Sonic is standing on the top wing of the Tornado with Tails in the cockpit flying it. He points out to Tails that Flicky Island is straight ahead. Tails lands the plane on the coast of the island. Sonic says he is glad to be back to explore the island for their vacation. Sonic hops off the plane and Tails takes his pilot goggles off and flies out. They arrive at Green Grove, where there aren't any Flickies. Sonic looks disappointed that the species he saved isn't giving him a welcome. Tails speculates that something is wrong. Sonic tells him they will make it right and they should look for clues. Before Tails can lay out a plan, Sonic runs off in a puff of smoke. As Sonic runs around Green Grove, Tails investigates the unnatural crystal formations and the rails that have been laid down. Suddenly, he realizes what happened and calls out to Sonic. Sonic stops in front of him and Tails says the island has been attacked by Witchcart. Sonic looks concern and asks who that is.
As a flashback is shown, Tails explains when Sonic was on his own adventure, he went to explore a remote island. There, Witchcart and her minions attacked the island and tried to conquer it. He says he overcame his fears and chased every minion and Witchcart off the island. Tails points out the crystals and rail lines are the same things Witchcart used before. He concludes she is responsible for the Flickies' disappearance. Sonic understands there are bad guys that need stopping and runs off again before Tails can explain how to find them. While running near the rails, Sonic wonders if he could balance on them on day. Meanwhile, Bearanger, Carrottia and Hocke-Wulf are gathering Flickies into a hollow crystal. Bearanger complains about Carrottia not helping, but she lazily says she is holding the hole to the crystal closed. As Hocke-Wulf shoves more Flickies in, Sonic attacks him as Carrottia looks on uninterested. Bearanger yells the others to attack Sonic and runs at the hedgehog. Sonic jumps into his chin and tells him he shouldn't have picked a fight with him. Suddenly, Sonic is then entrapped in a crystal.
It is revealed Witchcart used her wand to trap Sonic in a crystal. She gloats how Sonic was distracted. The Witchcarters welcome and thanks her for helping them, with Bearanger calling the other two Witchcarters worthless. Witchcart says her patience is wearing thin and demands them to get more Flickies. The Witchcarters rush to their vehicles and fly off as Witchcart attaches Sonic to her cart to take him to her lair. Sonic show his annoyance to her rhyming and he is dragged away. Tails looks on behind a bush, holding back his anger. He then sits with his head down and laments how Sonic didn't listen to him and now he has made a bad situation worse. He raises his head up to see some Flickies around him. Tails wipes away a tear and lets out a big sigh. He stands up and says he beat the Witchcarters before and he can do it again, he just has to be smart about it. Tails has a flashback to the last time they were on Flickies Island, with Sonic stopping Eggman from capturing the Flickies and Tails and Knuckles finding the Chaos Emeralds. In present time, Tails flies over and pulls the plug on the crystal that was holding a big flock of Flickies. He asks the Flickies to help him navigate the island so he can stop the bad guys and save their friends.
In Spring Stadium, Hocke-Wulf is chasing and capturing Flickies on his bike with a butterfly net. As he teases a Flicky he captured, Tails picks him up from behind while flying. Hocke-Wulf remembers Tails and tries to get under his skin. Tails tunes him out, but Hocke-Wulf whistles, causing his bike to fly over and ram Tails. Hocke-Wulf's bike catches him as he falls from Tail's grasp. He then pulls out a mine and flies to Tails with it. In a bit of a panic, Tails calls for the Flickies to start "plan B". Each one sings a different call, until a blue Flicky matches what Hocke-Wulf sang. This causes his bike to veer out of control with more Flickies imitating his call. Eventually, Hocke-Wulf is spun off his bike. Tails thanks the Flickies for their help, but an angered Hocke-Wulf runs at him with his arms flailing in the air. Tails steps aside, and Hocke-Wulf falls into a pit of springs where he bounces around. Tails tells the Flickies he needs something from Hocke-Wulf for his master plan. He takes out the bike's repulsor and asks one Flicky to hold onto for him.
In Gene Gadget, Bearanger orders some Flickies to go into a giant bag. Tails then hits Bearanger on the head, but it hurts Tails more than Bearanger. Bearanger complains about Tails giving him fair fight and landing a cheap shot on him. He then gets into his bike with a look of rage in his eye. Tails tries to plead with him to calm down, but Bearanger flies directly at Tails and throws grenades at him. Tails falls and nearly hits some moving spikes, but he flies back up at the last moment. He calls for the Flickies to start "plan C", with Bearanger hot on his tails. The Flickies get out of the bag and start swarming Bearanger. He yells at them to get off of him and puts his bike into full power, leaving the Flickies in the dust. Tails thanks Bearanger for being so predictable as the Whitchcarter flies directly into some machine piping, landing him in a vat of orange liquid with his bike landing out another tube onto a pile of Badnik scrap parts. Bearanger yells out at Tails as he takes something out his bike, but the glass is soundproof. Tails gives two parts to the Flickies and looks happy about their progress.
In Rusty Ruins, Carrottia sings a song ordering the Flickies to get in cages. One blue Flicky tries to fly away, only for Carrottia to launch a missile from her bike and hit the bird. She warns the birds not to disobey her as Tails sneaks under the bike. He opens one of the missile launchers from the bike and takes out a component. Tails gives it to a Flicky to regroup with the others, who struggles to carry it. Just as the Flicky flies away, Carrottia turns the bike over sees Tails, to the fear of the fox. Carrottia says she will not go easy on Tails this time and launches a horde of missiles at him. Tails spins away and disappears in the fog. Carrottia begrudgingly switches to manual aim, but she is out of ammo. Annoyed, she searches the area for Tails; a difficult task with shadows of Flickies and the thick fog. She asks Tails to make this easy and come out, but Tails sneaks behind Carrottia and pulls some wires on her bike. The bike clangs on the ground, right on the edge of a pit. Carrottia keeps her normal expression as she and her bike falls into the pit. She yawns and says she is defeated as Tails looks down.
Tails regroups with the Flickies and makes use of the parts he has gathered. He attaches the Repulsor to his left hand, makes a claw device with the claw and attaches a thruster to it, and puts the missile launcher on his back. Tails confidently says he is ready to save the rest of their friends. In Panic Puppet Fortress, Witchcart is teasing Sonic and overlooking her captured Flickies. She says once she discovers the Flickies' secrets, nothing will be able to stop her. On cue, Tails reveals himself by calling out Witchcart's terrible rhyming. She shoots her wand at Tails and says all her rhymes are art. Tails uses the claw device to ride the rails and says her art is as bad as her aim. Witchcart pursues Tails and demands him to get off her rails as she shoots at him. Tails keeps riding and uses the Repulsor to reflect Witchcart's spells. After some fighting, Tails launches the rockets at Witchcart, which she ducks under from. She taunts Tails for missing her, but Tails smugly says he wasn't aiming for her. The missiles then hit the crystal entrapping Sonic, breaking it and setting him free. Sonic groans about his arm falling asleep and says this is starting to look like a working vacation. Witchcart shoots more spells at Sonic, but he dodges them and says he is ready for her this time. Witchcart then makes a retreat.
Tails makes sure Sonic is OK and says they need to get Witchcart before she gets away. Sonic tells him "'we' don't need to do anything. The hero has already arrived." Tails looks at Sonic, then lets out a big smile realizing what he was saying. He hooks back onto the rails and asks him to back him up. Sonic gives him a thumbs up and says he's got this. Tails catches up to Witchcart and she tells him to give up. Her plan is already foiled and her minions are defeated, and she pleads Tails to let her retreat as she shoots at him. Tails tells her she has to finish what she started and it's game over for her. Tails then reflects one of her spells with the Repulsor and it reflects directly back to Witchcart. Tails then returns to Sonic with the now crystal-trapped Witchcart. Sonic says he freed the rest of the Flickies while Tails was fighting Witchcart, figuring he had it handled. Tails takes off his equipment and thanks Sonic for saving the day. Sonic gives Tails a noogie and says Tails was the one who beat up the baddies and got him out of the crystal, and this adventure was all his. Sonic runs off with Tails and the Flickies and remembers that they came here for a vacation, and they should party.
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Badnik Horde
- Dr. Eggman (flashback)
- Gon (first appearance) (remains)
- Haneruton (first appearance) (remains)
- Knuckles the Echidna (flashback)
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Tashiya (first appearance) (remains)
- Tobikoshi Crow (first appearance) (remains)
- Witchcart (first appearance)
- Witchcarters (first appearance)
- Bearanger (first appearance)
- Carrottia (first appearance)
- Hocke-Wulf (first appearance)
Races and species:
Locations:
- Sonic's world
- Dark Castle (flashback)
- Flicky Island (first appearance)
- Gene Gadget (first appearance)
- Green Grove Zone (first appearance)
- Panic Puppet Fortress (first appearance)
- Rusty Ruin Zone (first appearance)
- Spring Stadium Zone (first appearance)
Items:
- Egg Mobile (flashback)
- Green Grove Zone boss (first appearance) (flashback)
- Minecar (first appearance)
Trivia[]
- Tails mentioning that he brought mint candy is a reference to mint candy being his favorite food, which was first shown in Tails' Skypatrol.
- On page two, Sonic stands on one arm, sticking both his legs out to the sides, and holding his other hand above his eyes while he looks forward, making the same pose he makes in the intro of Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
- Sonic wondering if he could balance on Witchcart's rail lines, and saying he might need special shoes is a reference to grinding and the Grind Shoes.
- Bearanger saying "You wanna get nuts?! Let's get nuts!" is possibly a reference to Batman's line "You wanna gets nuts? Let's get nuts." from the 1989 film Batman.
- The pixelated graphic from the carrot missile seen on Carrottia's screen is taken directly from Tails' Skypatrol.
- The plotline of Sonic being encased in crystal by Witchcart and Tails having to take down her and the Witchcarters in order to rescue him is similar to the adaption of Tails' Skypatrol presented in issues #83-#84 of the Sonic Universe comic series published by Archie Comics. Notably, said issues were also written by Ian Flynn.
- Also, just like in the Archie series, Witchcart's minions are called the Witchcarters.
- The events of Sonic 3D Blast and Tails' Skypatrol are shown in flashbacks.
- The claw of an unused crab Badnik from Sonic 3D Blast can be found on the top of the scrap pile in Rusty Ruin Zone.
Other features[]
- Cover artwork: The raw artwork for each cover of the issue with credit to who drew it.
- The making of "Sonic the Hedgehog: Tails' 30th Anniversary": A behind the scenes look to how the comic was made, including early sketches, concept artwork, and scripts. The section details the steps the comic went through in development and what inspired the story and the art.
- Sonic the Hedgehog Reading Guide: A two-page spread showing all the trade paperback collections of the series and what order they should be read in.
Quotes[]
- Sonic: (looking at the rails) I wonder if I could balance on those? Might need to practice with some special shoes first. Eh, I'll give it a shot one day.
- Bearanger: Garsarnit, Carrottia! Help me catch these rass-frassin' Flickies!
- Carrottia: I am helping. (yawn) I'm guarding the.. y'know... whatever.
- Witchcart: You I've captured fair and square! I'll haul you back into my lair!
- Sonic: (muted, sighs) You're going to do that rhyming thing the whole way, aren't you?
- Tails: I've bounced off softer Badniks.
- Tails: Why didn't he just wait and listen?! We could've handled them one at a time, but not all at once! Now Witchcart has a hostage, the Witchcarters will be on guard, and the Flickies...
- (Tails notices the sad looking Flickies in front of him, wipes his face, and lets out a sigh)
- Tails: They need help. And sonic does, too. I beat the Witchcarters before. I can do it again! I just have to be smart about it!
- Bearanger: Seriously? Couldn't even give me the dignity of a straight fight. You gotta start trouble with a cheap shot? Well, fine then! You wanna get nuts?! (gets into his bike) Let's get nuts!
- Carrottia: I Don't wanna work this hard. You'll pay for this.
- Witchcart: Once all the Flickies' secrets are revealed, nothing will stop all of my e-vil!
- Tails: That was terrible! That was a slant rhyme at best!
- Witchcart: Miserable little upstart! All my rhymes are art! (casts a spell at Tails)
- Tails: Well, your art's as lousy as your aim!
- Tails: We need to hurry! Witchcart is getting away!
- Sonic: "We" don't need to do anything. The hero has already arrived.
- Tails: (looks at Sonic, then has a big smile on his face)
Trivia[]
- This issue marks the the first time any Sonic comic has used the classic-styled logo for the front cover since Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog #77 in 1999.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sonic the Hedgehog: Tails' 30th Anniversary Special Variant A (Hammerstrom). Penguin Random House (19 August 2022). Retrieved on 19 August 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lovett, Jamie (19 July 2022). Sonic the Hedgehog: IDW Announces Tails 30th Anniversary Special, Return of Mecha Knuckles in Scrapnik Island (Exclusive). comicbook.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog: Tails' 30th Anniversary Special Variant B (Rothlisberger). Penguin Random House (19 August 2022). Retrieved on 19 August 2022.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog: Tails' 30th Anniversary Special Variant RI (10) (Yardley). Penguin Random House (19 August 2022). Retrieved on 19 August 2022.
- ↑ Nathalie F on Twitter. Twitter (22 October 2022). Retrieved on 22 October 2022. "Nathalie Fourdraine: amazing lines by @thomas_rsvd and amazing colors by @ryankingdom_!!!"
