A couple of weeks ago, I ordered & received Vol 3 of Sonic Select with Archive vol 12, 13, & 14. No sooner do I get 3 then I learn that Vol 4 is announced: and what is the theme for Sonic Select Vol 4? Sonic & his Zone Adventures, interestingly enough. Basically, Super Specials 8 (Sally Moon), 10 (Crossover Chaos), 12 (Turnabout Heroes), & 14 (Sonic Stew). The one thing I found a little odd about this was these are later publications in the series, and the archives are barely about to start the World Tour Saga. Which left me asking, "What's the reason for certain parts of the comics being left out?" I'd like to point out some of the obvious observations first:
1. Sonic Blast, as I found out only yesterday, IS going to be in Vol 4. I was surprised it wasn't in 3 since it partially involved the End Game Saga, but I suppose it counts as a Zone Adventure.
2. Super Special #3 is obvious because its dedicated to reprinting the1st appearances of some fan favorites and is the prototype for both the Archives & Select series.
3. Super Special #6, another obvious one since the very purpose was to show what should have been Super Special #1: Sonic 50. I wondered as the archive got closer to End Game whether they would go with the cut or recut version of issue 50, but came out happy they chose the Director's Cut. I look forward to rereading The End Game Saga.
4. Super Special #13: At this point, its a long way to go before we can worry about this, although a part of me thinks this will be in the archives for SA1 the same way as #6 is for End Game.
5. Super Special #15: As I'm sure you've heard from other forums, NO ONE was happy with this one when it came out: especially since it was done by this "Many Hands" person and its absence from the archive was welcomed by all. Judging from the previews of the 2011 Free Comic Book Day remake, it looks like Archie's going to set right what went terribly wrong with this special and after it comes out I hope I never get to see #15 ever again: Now if only they can do the same with issue113 because I was genuinely (tick)ed off on how badly they incorporated a SatAM episode into the comic and the only reason I kept it was because at the time, all I had of SatAM are vague memories watching it. Thank God for the DVD Boxset.
Unfortunately, its getting late, so I'll have to stop & split this into 2-parts for later. In the meantime, share your thoughts on this topic, please.
I don't think it's so much that certain parts are being left out, just that they're trying to cluster similar types of stories together. The continuity got tighter the further into the series we got, but a lot of the 'zone' stories could really take place anywhere over a good few years of the series' run.
As for the breakdown
#01 - Selects 3
#02 - Selects 3
#03 - Redundant
#04 - Selects 3
#05 - Probably Selects 5
#06 - Redundant
#07 - May not be republished (copyright issues)
#08 - Selects 4
#09 - Probably Selects 5
#10 - Selects 4
#11 - Probably Selects 5
#12 - Selects 4
#13 - Who knows?
#14 - Selects 4 (I doubt the Knuckles story will be part of this though)
#15 - 'Naugus Games' being remade in FCBD2011; the other story - who knows?
Yeah... I noticed that the "Sonic On Trial" part of the story was set aside for Sonic Select vol. 2, and that kinda pissed me off because now I had to go out and buy a book that I had absolutely no interest in, to get a conclusion to a story I was way too interested in.
