Official Solicitation
"Running Wild – Part Two"
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Richard Elson
Super Sonic has Amy and the gang on the run, with page upon page of open promises of a very grisly and sadistic end. First the caravan is destroyed, then half the landscape, then the 'plane…
The artwork in the last couple of pages really does impress, with Sonic's gradual return to normal followed by the perspective of a single page of a very small hedgehog surrounded by an awful lot of smoking ruins…
“Revolution – Part Threeâ€
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Nigel Kitching
Sonic and Shortfuse are forced to attack Amy and Johnny in self defence. Shortfuse manages to free Johnny, whilst Robotnik sneaks down to the lab to don his experimental war armour, and deal with Brutus once and for all…
â€Shock Tacticsâ€
Writer: Lew Stringer
Artist: Mike Hadley
Having stayed around to Protect the Casino Night Zone from badniks, Tails is surprised when the ungrateful owner, Max Gamble, claims that he`s losing business because the fox isn`t doing his job fast enough. Tails visits Marks and Sparks, the zone`s chief electricians, who equip him with a fake badnik casing that will allow him to follow the badniks back to their secret base. But his tails break from the casing at a crucial moment, revealing his true identity, and the badniks give chase; but he leads them between two electricity pylons, allowing Marks and Sparks to short circuit them en masse. Max Gamble is not amused by the resulting power failure, but pressure from his customers forces him to leave Tails alone. Tails leaves in safety, but Max Gamble harbours a strong grudge.
Suddenly, we have not just an independent hero but a recurring villain. For anyone who doesn`t know, Marks and Sparks is a pun on the nickname for Marks and Spencer – a popular chain of British department stores – but you can almost forgive the story that for its general dynamics.
“The Fundamental Four – Part Twoâ€
Writer: Nigel Kitching
Artist: Nigel Dobbyn
Charmy makes a brief trip home to his hive to collect some worker bees before leading an assault on the Fundamental Four. They mix the earth and water elementals, which they then use to douse the air elemental, before attacking the fire elemental with high octane fuel. The Fundamental Four are reduced to nothing more than a clay pot, which is even too crazy for Vector, who throws Charmy and his relatives out without so much as any thanks.
Coming squarely in the middle of a very powerful plot arc, this hackneyed slapstick feels somewhat schizophrenic.
Cover: Nigel Kitching