I mentioned once in one of my video blogs if you will that it would not surpsie me in the least that Ian does a multi-issiue story arc that leads up to the 200th issiue and that it could be a story arc that outdoes the major ones of the past.
And When I say Multi-issiue, I mean something like 6-12 issiues to complete and with a story that will grab the reader and have them begging for more.
That's just my theroy though as of now. Why? Because it's nearly 2 years to go before that issiue is released, although I'm sure Ian's working up a storyidea that will lead up to it. 
What are your thoughts though?
12 would be a bit excessive. But a 4-parter would be ideal, like Endgame.
www.bumbleking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=342&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=50
If you read the first four posts there, you can get a pretty good idea of what Ian had to say concerning story arcs.
Given previous stories, we can assume that if issue #200 is the last issue that it will be part of at least a comic duology. Because of the magnitude of such an issue-it's both an anniversary issue and the end of the comic-it would likely be a four or more part deal like Endgame. Then again, looking at #125, that was only part of a duology, so there's really no way to tell at this point.
What is there to even remotely indicate #200 being the last issue, aside from it being a nice, big number? Sonic's the label's best-selling title.
In regards to the original post, since the comic already has a continuity, why try to string along a particular story for six months - a year? That'd just be dragging things out, not to mention make it harder for newer readers to jump in.
Well, not to say that the story necessarily WILL end with issue #200, but it would be a lot better than Archie going on to #300 or so. Marvel Comics can pull off stuff like that, because they have so many different characters and storylines; Sonic the Hedgehog only has one since the Specials, Mini-Series, and Knuckles the Echidna were cancelled. True, they could go on for virtually forever, but at some point the old readers would probably lose interest and newer readers would be so far behind that it's just no worth it. By my estimation, the best issues to end with would be either #200-assuming they rush through and resolve all remaining plot holes really quickly-or #250-in which they could resolve everything at a medium pace without ruining the story by ending it too fast.
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but at some point the old readers would probably lose interest and newer readers would be so far behind that it's just no worth it.
Oh come on. The comic's been around well over a decade; you think all the people buying recent issues have been around since it started? By that logic, Marvel must never get new readers.
People jump into long-running series all the time. That's primarily why they have shorter story arcs; so people can get interested without being "far behind."
Besides, at its core, the comic is primarily a promotional tool. They're still working on Sonic games (we've got at least four on the way right now) - so why would they drop it? Never mind the whole aforementioned "best-seller" thing...
Why would Archie put an end to Sonic if the sales are doing well? IMO I can't see the comic ending any time soon.
I might not have anything to look forward to every new month...
Marvel also has more plotholes than Sonic by a long way.
Plotholes are unavoidable in a series with as many different writers as Sonic has had. It's actually impossible to deal with all of them.
The comic will end if it's not making money for Archie OR Sega decides not to allow it to continue. Those are the only things that will cause it to stop--not the issue number.
And no, there's practically no chance for a long story arc for #200 beyond the fact that this is a serial comic (unlike Sonic X series which is mostly stand alone). Most everything continues from something that happened previously so you can make a long story arc if you choose based on that.
Most people don't know what "plothole" really means, anyway.
I am not sure if there will be a hugh story arc or not for #200. In a way, I would not mind if the comic doesn't last that much longer. Like a good TV show, if it drags out too long, it can and usually does lose quality Although Ian ,because he is new, has brought some freshness back. Plus, a part of me wants resolution to things, hopefully the way I want of course(I admit I can get a little impatient on this). I don't want to be Dan Drazen's age, and Sonic fans still agueeing about the same things. However, I don't see it ending in the near future(like in the next few years or so), it already has lasted longer than I thought it would.
Added Edit: I am picky about the Sonic comics I buy. I haven't brought an issue for about two years until recently ,because I didn't like the things that were happening in the comic; it wasn't that fun for me. The reason I have kept track of what was going on was in case things got better, which they have started to.
Well said, DC. Dragging out the comics too long will result in the same lowering standards you could see by looking at Power Rangers or Pokemon. They started out good, but they went on too long and now they suck. Archie's been doing a good job keeping Sonic out of that, but they can't hold out forever. It only makes sense that they should end the series sometime in the next few years, because if they have to go on until the Sonic games end or until Archie's not making money off them any more-and that could take forever-then the storyline, characters, and basically everything will grow stale.
Sonic comics were around before both Power Rangers and Pokemon, and they've never been as popular as either - I don't think we have to worry about them enjoying the near level of fanaticism followed by dwindling popularity that PR and Pokemon both had.
Furthermore comics and TV are very different mediums - just because a show runs the end of its course, doesn't mean a comic has to - look at, say, Spider-man or X-men (or even Archie), all of which have comics in the high triple digits. Look at the new Buffy comic - the show ran for 6 and a half years, the comic is expected to run for around five. Comics have a much more drawn out style of story-telling, there's no need to end them while the product is hot. If you're not enjoying them anymore, stop reading.
Since we just came off a three-issue arc (S175-177), the idea of S200 either anchoring or culminating in a major arc isn't that big a deal. In fact, I've grown weary of the numerology that dictates that a comic book has to do something spectacular every 25 issues or so. It can become like doing good work only when the boss/teacher/whatever is watching.
That said, a major story continuity ("6-12 issues") wouldn't be a bad thing ... UNLESS IT WAS WRITTEN BADLY!!! It's not the quantity, but the quality that matters to me.
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That said, a major story continuity ("6-12 issues"
Well said Dan. That is what I've been saying when I first posted this and mentioned this.
I agree with bw1979 and Dan Drazen; a 6-12 issue deal would work out great so long as it was written decently. Quality is definitely the important thing, not quantity.
Back to regarding the end of the comics, none of us really know when they're going to end. I just hope things don't turn out so that the series ends so that the characters don't end up being portrayed as senior citizens and the irony is that they've been in circulation long enough for that to be the actual age of the characters.
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I agree with bw1979 and Dan Drazen; a 6-12 issue deal would work out great so long as it was written decently. Quality is definitely the important thing, not quantity.
Correct Spectre, If let's say the story that leads up to the 200th issiue starts in #188, then Ian has to make sure it's a well written story to the point that it grabs the reader's attention and has them talking and wondering about what's going to happen next for the reast of the year without guessing the outcome before hand, as has been the case in the past, but as I said above, will have them, the reader begging for more afterwards.
So true, so true. That's what Archie's managing to do with the comics so far; they just need to take it up a notch.
The only way they'll be portrayed as senior citizens, regardless of how long it goes, is if someone wants a "M:50YL" and it gets the green light.
I know that they're never really going to do that; I'm just making the point that it really shouldn't go on to the point where the age they appeared to be in such a story arc was the same age that the characters are if you take a measure of how many years they've been around.
Archie's been around for 50 years and he's still perpetually 16...
Come issues 215 or so (circa 2010), the characters will be the same age they are in "real life" as they are in the comics. It doesn't strike me as a huge deal.
Whatever.
If you're not willing to listen to people disagree with you, do us all a favour and stay off the internet.
What Matt said.
Spectre, if you don't even feel enough about your opinions to justify them when someone dares to disagree with you, that's nobody else's problem. Petty answers like that don't go down very well around here.
Huh...I'm sorry, guys. I don't even know why I bothered with the whole "the characters could be accurately portrayed as senior citizens based on how long they've been around" thing. It's just that I feel that the comics are starting to burn out. Most of the villains have been repeatedly imprisoned, the heroes appear no closer to defeating Robotnik than they did back before EndGame-it's like Sonic is turning into a comic book version of the Hundred Years War, only it's a lot more stale.
That's because he's an iconic character. He has to remain the same while at the same time moving on. He'll be fighting Robotnik until the very end, there's no question.
You're right about that, Toby-although I do think Robotnik could do with a little improvement. Seriously, if he's not supposed to be "Eggman" in the comics, why does he have the old Egg obsession?
Because he is "the Eggman". The comic has to reflect the games to some extent. And besides, old Robotnik had an egg obsession too. Look at his old base, or the Death Egg.
Or the fact that "Ivo" is "ovi" backwards...
Now, the only difference between Robotnik and Eggman is that "Eggman" is his nickname and Robotnik id his real one.
www.bumbleking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=342&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=50
Does Sega ever give reasons for the restrictions it places on the comic? (Like there can't be two versions of Cream.)
And personally, a mega story arch wouldn't be so bad. In particular if it was a game adaption, the fans LOVE them!
Or the fact that "Ivo" is "ovi" backwards...
..."ovi" is Latin for egg, isn't it? I can't believe I never noticed that.
Getting back on topic, I think that #200 will be a big issue; that's part of the series' tradition of every numeral of #25 comic being part of some big plotline. Whether it will be the final issue of such a storyline or the beginning of a new one, or somewhere in between, it'll most likely be part of something big-assuming Archie doesn't decided to be unpredictable and make it a totally ordinary issue.
"Ovi" is the prefix referring to "egg", yes - egg itself is "ovum".
If I'm remembering my Latin correctly - and I'm not saying I am. 🙂
I'm certain you're right Sam, now that I think about it.
It would be cool to have an epic scale plot for once. Like sonics lost in space story, I really enjoyied that. I like it when there are cliff hangars at the end of each comic, there seems to be a bit more meaning into getting the next issue.
You're absolutely right, CommisarTails. Cliffhangers of the gut wreching variety of the EndGame saga are part of what makes the comics cool. As for the Lost in Space story, I didn't think that much of it, particularly since one of the characters ripped off the name of a guy from Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Captain Beeblebrox. Plus, evil Super Sonic was a ripoff of Fleetway-not that I care about Fleetway.
Personally, I think that if there is a big multi-issue story leading up to, beginning with, or including in any way episode #200, it's going to be one of the following: the continuation of the new Enerjak arc, the arrival of the Black Arms, or some plot that they'll reveal some time in the future. It'll be a couple years before we find out anyway; might as well get comfortable.
>> ::Scrambles for back issues now:: Like I thought the 30+ issues I did not buy were all utter crap, and now they're all needed for me to know what the heck's going on >O!
Now you know how I've felt for a long time: not having the issues really makes you feel like an idiot when you're discussing something you only half know about. Fortunately, I've managed to get scans of all the issues (including the Knuckles series, Specials, Super Specials, etc.) up to #177, and a friend has promised to send me pages of subsequent issues. Once I get them all to the point where they're easily readable and accessible, I can really get all this info down.
