Sonic HQ

When Ken approached me way back in 1999 about his plan for Knuckles’ Chaos-infused storyline thread, I was all in favor of it. But as storyline after storyline went on without resolving the thread of his emerald complextion, I felt it had gone on way too long. Let’s be honest, Knuckles hasn’t been the Knuckles we started reading for over twenty issues or so (that’s over a year and a half in real time). I know it’s not easy being green but he needed to go back to his Rad Red self.

Therefore I asked Ken that I wanted him to wrap-up ‘Chaos Emerald Knuckles’ quickly so we can move on to another Knuckles storyline where he’s back in red. I asked Ken that during these stories, he should take the Knuckles stories “back to basics” (ala John Byrne’s run on ‘Fantastic Four’), which means going back to what makes Knuckles Knuckles in spirit… all this while he deals with the after-effects of his chaos-infused adventures. This did not mean “rewriting history” or “flushing down years of story as if they never happened” (ala Jim Lee ‘Fantastic Four’).

That would not only destroy the years of building Knuckles from a two-dimensional character to a very three-dimensional echidna with a huge supporting cast, but would also insult the intelligence of all the fans who have stuck by Knuckles’ side through spin-off and cancellation. I, too, hate cop-out endings in movies that declare “it was all a dream.” I was not about to have that done to Knuckles.

Therefore, all Knuckles fans should rest assured that you have not spent the last couple of years investing in Knuckles stories for nothing. He has a good future ahead of him that is grounded on a very rich past and present.

I apoligize on Ken’s behalf for jumping the gun before he understood what I was asking for, but it shows all of us how much you, the fans, love these characters that we breathe life into every day, month in and month out. There’s nothing more gratifying then knowing that our collective work matters to someone out there. Thank you for that. In the end, I hope this clarifies things so that we can let this issue rest once and for all.

Thanks for listening, uh, I mean reading.

So until the next issue, may aurora be with you!