Official Solicitation
Welcome back, race fans! Extreme gear engines are revving as we prep for the second leg of the Clean Sweepstakes! But there’s drama on the track! As Tails and Amy go to investigate a mystery of their own, only Sonic is left to answer the question, who is the Phantom Rider?!
Featured stories[]
Story one[]
- Story: Evan Stanley
- Pencils: Aaron Hammerstrom
- Inks: Matt Froese
- Colors: Reggie Graham
- Color Assist: Jonathon Dobbs & Rik Mack
- Letters: Shawn Lee
- Associate Editor: Bixie Mathieu
- Editors: David Mariotte & Thea Cheuk
- Production: Johanna Nattalie
- Special thanks to: Mai Kiyotaki, Afia Khan, Michael Cisneros, Sandra Jo, Sonic Team, and everyone at Sega for their invaluable assistance
Synopsis[]
Phantom Rider introducing himself to the other racers.
Nite starts by announcing the second race of Clean Sweepstakes in Central City. On a nearby building, Sonic listens to the announcements. Nite continues by saying how the objective of the race is to survive, he then counts down while Sonic transforms into the Phantom Rider, once the race began Nite calls out how the Babylon Rogues already have a lead, but then Phantom Rider comes in and mocks them. The Phantom Rider grabs Omochao and addresses the audience, saying how he is the fastest and no one can beat him. Then he catches up to Jet. Jet claims he has never met him before. Storm tells Jet to wait for him and Wave. Soon the Phantom Rider blasts through other racers causing them to fall off until Tangle manages to catch them. Beside her is Lanolin, Duo and Whisper. Nite announces to the audience how much of a powerhouse the Phantom Rider is. Lanolin then asks Duo to call for back up, commenting that the Phantom Rider is going down. Meanwhile, when Clean Sweepstakes Security leaves the Shuttle, Tails and Amy fly on, crashing into some boxes but ultimately not getting caught. A security guard hears them, but another guard calms him down, telling him how Clutch has the shuttle locked up tighter than Prison Island.
The Diamond Cutters and Clean Sweepstakes security ambushing the Phantom Rider.
Tails and Amy sneak off, Amy spots something helpful that can help them get to the workshop, saying how she spent a lot of time here during the Metal Virus plague. Back at the race, Jet is neck and neck with Phantom Rider. When Jet catches up to the Phantom Rider, he causes a smoke screen, causing Jet to go blind for a while. The Phantom Rider mentions how he should make his exit before things get out of hand, but the Clean Sweepstakes Security catches up to him. Lanolin orders him to land with Nite commentating on his reign of terror being over. Lanolin uses her Golden Bell to stop him, but that caused the glass of the track to break making riders fall off the track. The Phantom Rider, along with two of the security guards fall. Tangle uses her tail to save the riders with the Phantom Rider also helping rescue the contestants. Soon after he leaves, Surge hits him with her Extreme Gear. Kit tries to tell Surge to stand down, but she continues by introducing herself to him and complimenting his moves during the race. She mentions how he looks like a guy who can appreciate a good thrashing. Surge punches him in the face, causing a portion of Sonic's face to be revealed. The Phantom Rider kicks her away and escapes. Surge is annoyed, wanting to have fought him. Kit tells her to stop, mentioning that Clutch hired them to stay in the race, not fight. Surge agrees reluctantly.
Amy and Tails find a tied up Belle.
At the end of the race, the Babylon Rouges won the top 3 places. Jet looks frustrated, but Wave reminds him that he finished first, Jet points out how it is not so bad, seeing as how the crowd is cheering for them. Wave realizes that they aren't cheering for them, but instead cheering for Surge and Kit for stopping the Phantom Rider. This infuriates Jet as he sees Surge as new competition. Later after the race Duo visits Jewel and tells her about Amy's disappearance. Duo says how they probably have moved on from the race, to Jewel backing that up saying how they are probably out saving the world elsewhere. Duo leaves, Jewel wishing him good night, and gives a pretty suspicious glare after he left. Duo goes and talks to Clutch, saying how they should make the next supply drop go missing to keep Jewel busy. Clutch asks Duo to figure out who the Phantom Rider is in the next event. Back on the shuttle in the machine shop, Tails looks through the garbage disposal, Amy looks elsewhere. A hand jumps on her face, once they get it off, the hand points towards a locker. Inside the locker is a tied up Belle the Tinkerer.
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Amy Rose
- Babylon Rogues
- Belle the Tinkerer
- Big the Cat (cameo)
- Clean Sweepstakes Security
- Clutch the Opossum
- Diamond Cutters
- Dr. Eggman (mentioned)
- Jewel the Beetle
- Kitsunami the Fennec
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Omochao
- Nite the Owl
- Shadow the Hedgehog (recording)
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Phantom Rider (first appearance)
- Surge the Tenrec
Races and species:
- Black Arms (recording)
- Chao (recording)
- Human (mentioned)
Locations:
- Sonic's universe
- Earth
- Central City
- Prison Island (mentioned)
- Earth
Items:
- Bashosen
- Container
- Concealer
- Eggstreme Gear
- Extreme Gear
- Advantage F (first appearance)
- Angel • Devil
- Auto-Slider (first appearance)
- Bingo Star
- Berserker (first appearance)
- Cannonball (first appearance)
- Cover F
- Cover P (first appearance)
- Faster (first appearance)
- Gambler (first appearance)
- GP Tank (first appearance)
- Grinder
- Hang-On
- Heavy Bike
- High Booster (first appearance)
- Hovercraft (first appearance)
- Hyperdrive (first appearance)
- Omnitempus
- Potential (first appearance)
- Road Star (first appearance)
- Shooting Star (first appearance)
- Trap Gear (first appearance)
- Type-J
- Type-S
- Type-W
- Golden Bell
- Hydro Pack
- Metal Virus (mentioned)
- Piko Piko Hammer
Vehicles:
Misc.:
Trivia[]
- This issue was originally planned to release on 19 June 2024, but was delayed to 3 July 2024.
- On page two, a civilian can be seen wearing a hat resembling the Crazy Taxi logo.
- On page four, one of the race contestants can be seen using the beta bike version of the Road Star from Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
- On page eleven, the two security guards that Amy and Tails hide from are based on Officer Bailey and his unnamed coworker from the 2010 video game Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.[1]
- Omochao calling the Phantom Rider a meanie for picking them up references dialogue from Sonic Adventure 2, where Omochao would berate the player if they were picked up.
- Tails looking in the dumpster for information references a recurring joke in the The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, where Barry the Quokka believes that clues are found in the trash.
- Ironically, it is Tails who does not believe in Barry's theory in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog.
- The Letters Squad reveals that an upcoming crossover with the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series is in the works, describing it as “A BIG threat to the Blue Blur and his friends". The crossover was later revealed to be a collaboration with DC Comics.