Finally! Lien-da gets more than just a one panel cameo after 2 years!! All in all, this doesn't sound as terrible as I thought it would. Having played games like Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, the recent Prince of Persia trilogy, and watched the Back to the Future movies, I'm pretty fair with the whole disruption of the time stream, altering the very fabric of reality scenario. One thing though... what happened to Steven Butler?! I though he was supposed to be doing pencils for this 2-parter! Or did I read the preview incorrectly?

You read the previews incorrectly. Tracy was always down for doing the artwork.

I'm guessing it was just this, no other story in the issue, Miss Puar?

I am so confused. Why is Tails talking to Knux when he knows he is working for Shadow? How come Lara-Sue and Sonic remember Manik and Sonia when Miss Puar says they never existed in this timeline? Didn't Lara Sue dissapeared at the end of last chapter of M25YL? Why is Rotor being torture? Why is Shadow in charge and evil? Well on the positive side at least SOMETHING exciting is happening this time around unlike Penders version which was boring. I hope the next issue anwser some of my questions.

Shadonic- Lara doesn't know why she remembers Sonia and Manik, but Tails guesses it's because she was so close to the area when Sonic time traveled.
True Red- there IS a backstory. Unfortunatly I have no flippin' clue how it ends, there was something wrong with my copy. A printing error I s'pose, the final 4 pages were so pale I could not for the life a me read the text. What I did see appeared to be the Chaotix as drawn by Axer (including for some reason, Rouge wearing her fugly Heroes outfit). Hence the delay in scans- I'll be heading to the newstand to buy a copy, then post pics of both stories. Hopefully no other subscriber has this prob, I'm sending my issue back with a note asking for a better quality one. :/

Man,I went looking for this issue yesterday and they're still behind.Hopefuly i'll find it today or if not, i'll go to the comic book store this weekend and get it.It sounds a heck of alot beter than the last installment for the M:25 series. : Wonder if amy rose will make an apperance and rouge the bat,what have they been up too....hrm.

Thanks, Miss Puar ^_^

Oh, and Rouge is probably wearing her Heroes outfit because that's what she was wearing in Sonic #150-51 and Axer probably drew the story around that time. It's not like he drew it recently--hence why we've been told that there's an Axer story coming for a very long time.

Clover, you went early. The issue isn't in the stores until Thursday at the earliest. We just had a holiday in the US so issues that usually arrive on Wednesday won't arrive until Thursday this week. Some subscribers get the issue before it hits the stands.

The backstory isn't much to talk about. J.Axer's art in it consists almost entirely of head close ups. Which doesn't really make for a good actions story. Axer's a good pin-up artist, but he needs to work on his ability to tell a story with his art.

The backstory is that basically Renfield (from early Knux issues)is out again, and has now opened a casino for the humans with Mobians as workers. Since Knux and the Chaotix know what he's capable of, they investigate with Rouge in tow, which gives us more Rouge/Julie-Su "evil-eye" moments. The solution in the story happens way too fast. Everything is wrapped up in about 2 seconds.

I never cared for Renfield. His character design does not fit in with the rest of the comic characters. IOW, he doesn't have that "Sonic" look. (Neither do the dingos come to think of it. but I digress.)

Whats up with that cover? Everyones body is pointing to the left or right with thier heads turned toward to camera. They all have the exact same pose. It's wierd.

Okay, thanks, guys. ^^ It means I'll definitely add this issue to my pile of comics to order. The back-up wins it. ;p

i honestly wish that ian won't follow through on the Julie/knux/rouge triangle. maybe it's only me, but i was hoping it'd never be touched in the first place.

there are so many more important things than a love triangle to do now. (besides, knux hasn't come even close to reciporacating those "affections" from rouge. so maybe i have nothing to worry about.)

As promised, here is a summary of the backstory. Scans are also up.

Sonic the Hedgehog #166
The Chaotix Connection
Story: Romy "Turtle!" Chacon w/ Ian Potto
Art: Axer/Higgins/Jensen

Begins with a splashpage of Knux in knots, threatened by an off-screen character. Wuxtry! Read all about it! Yesterday at "Station Square City" Rouge came across some Dickensian youth hawking papers. "Let me see, Shorty." So a'course, he just hands her the paper for free. That ain't good business sense kiddo! But he's not the only one- turns out the Prez actually let Renfield T. Rodent be in charge of Casinopolis. Fans of the now defunct Knuckles series will remember Renfield from the Just Say No! storyline where his chili dog recipe gave new meaning to "secret sauce". Thankfully, Rouge tells him to get the Knothole folks to run a background check. Surprise, surprise! Sally agrees that Renfield is a serious threat and asks the Chaotix to handle the case. Sonic wants to go too but is the Pincess pulls rank on him, and he has to sit this one out.
Cut to the workers at Casinopolis. A member of the Dingo Security Team says he misses the good ol' days with Von Stryker, and the foreman (a horse) also registers his complaint. Both are ignored by the lazy deliveryman, but unbeknowst to them someone is keeping watch. DUN DA DUN! Enter Renfield, who promises to "put on a good show." Same freak, different circus.
Cut to the Chaotix (oddly minus Charmy dispite his connection to the rodent). In his place, Rouge has tagged along. Not liking the new line-up, Julie-Su demands to know why Rouge is there. Rouge says she's a team player, but the only partner she seems interested in is a red echidna. And here's where Axer's art shines- they don't have to be "going at it like crazed pumas" for you to feel the romantic tension. (Whether you want that tension is a matter of taste- but it's still nicely conveyed) Knux doesn't seem to mind much, telling the girls to "save it for later".
The Chaotix then ask to be let in. A guard tells them nobody sees the rodent, not no way, not no how. Knux states that "We have business with Renfield Rodent. So unless you want to explain to him..." and the guard changes his mind. Which makes the next panel very awkward, as Knux suggests passing them off as laborers while looking for clues. Mighty suggests checking out the food, in case Renfield tricks the same trick twice. Knuckles also has a brilliant suggestion- let's split up gang!
Cut to Knuckles who has found "the secure room". He manages to pry open some sort of metal door blocking... an open hallway? Makes as much sense as the earlier script, I guess. Knuckles continue slinking about, hiding behind some boxes to spy on the employees. But the concept of stealth goes out the window when he hears the foreman mention Dr. Eggman. "Eggman?! Hold it!" he hollers as he launches an attack. Not much of a battle cry but meh. The fight itself sounds more comicy (two panels chock-a-block with Golden Age sound effects, BAP!)
Cut to Espio who asks Rouge if they found anything. Between Mighty's detective skills (I'll eat the food to see if it's poisoned!) and Vec's pre-occupation with the slot machines, they ain't getting too far. JulieSu wants to quit messing around and go straight to the punching and kicking.
Which is exactly what Knux is up to right now. But as his fists connect with the horse he notices something's up. CLANG? Horses don't clang! "That means you must be one of Eggman's Auto-Automations" Yeesh, try saying that three times fast. The metal dude packs a punch, and soon Knux is down for the count. One down, five to go.
Back to the others. Mighty hasn't started hallucinating yet, so they conclude the food's safe. Rouge wonders if they came say the same for the machines, and she and Espio go to check on Vec. The croc is staring at the screen with a vacant expression. Man, I thought he said he could quit anytime he wants... oh, it's not his fault. Too late, Rouge & Espio realize that the screen must be hypnotizing him. They try to look away but can't.
Which brings up back to the beginning- Knuckles tied up, at the mercy of Renfield. The rodent claims that he's the real victim in all this, but Knux ain't buying it. Renfield shows a video of Vec, Espio, and Rouge. He says the computers scan for "data" on players. The data is sent to the factory where robo-versions of Station Square citizens are being manufactured for Eggman's army. In exchange, Renfield himself is free to do what he wants.
And right now, he wants to check his math- weren't there two other Chaotix members. Enter JulieSu and Mighty who destroy the equipment, halting the data transfer. His factory in shambles, a police officer with excellent timing waltzes in for the arrest. And he would've got away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling Chaotix!
JulieSu tells Knux she knew he was in trouble when he didn't contact her so she and Mighty "busted our way through to you." Mighty says he listened in on Renfield's convo (either his "shell" conceals a two-way radio or he's got amazing sense of hearing) until he gathered enough info to hold up in court. Rouge is annoyed with JUlieSu for leaving her behind, and the girls are about to argue some more when the Prez enters. He shakes Knuckles' hand for a job well done, and the story ends with the Chaotix in a group pose. Now, that's good for business!

Hmm... Shadow sounds like Sega Dark Shadow from his game O_O. What's he gonna say next? When he finds out that Sonic is about to rewrite history so that he's not in charge, is he going to try to "Blow up this *bleep* planet"? And why cant I say the "D" word if they say it in kid's movies? And why cant they even have semi-relalistic ray guns if I see them in the kid's toy stores? And who writes rules like this? And why am I off on a tangent?

DAG, I didnt think Axer still worked for Archie, I was wondering where dude was.

sow why is rouge in this story at all? from what i understand she has no significant importance in the least.

So...why does Sonic keep talking about Maria like she was saint? Sonic never knew Maria personally nor did he ever care about her enough to be talking that way about her.

You didn't notice people flocking around the Maria statue, did you? Shadow's obviously been perpetuating a certain image of her to keep her memory alive and give her the recognition he feels she deserves.

Also, no current Christians knew Jesus in person, so what's the problem there?

Right. It's just a figure of speech. People in our world say "Oh my God," even if they aren't people of faith.

The problem to me is that Sonic wouldn't really have developed that mannerism because he's from the other timeline.

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You didn't notice people flocking around the Maria statue, did you? Shadow's obviously been perpetuating a certain image of her to keep her memory alive and give her the recognition he feels she deserves.

Also, no current Christians knew Jesus in person, so what's the problem there?

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Execept you forget that Shadow is a bad guy in this version so Sonic shouldn't be aggreing with him on anything. It seem out character for him to be saying something like that.

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Execept you forget that Shadow is a bad guy in this version so Sonic shouldn't be aggreing with him on anything. It seem out character for him to be saying something like that.

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It's a good thing I just addressed that point in my post, isn't it?

As I said above, people who aren't religious say things like "Oh, God." So, it makes sense that a person who doesn't agree with Maria-worship to still use the slang of the time and place.

Poor Dirk, he's being ignored. ;__;
I agree, it'sa figure of speech. Sonic has been in this world for awhile- you don't get that kinda hobo sheen overnight. Plenty of time fer him to pick up the local slang/mannerisms.

I wasn't ignoring Dirk it just that he posted before I finish writing my post.

*gives to Dirk as an apology*

Ok I buy the whole beign a figure of speech thing since it the only explanation that make sense.

you're all ignoring (massive typo) me though..... *sniff*

oh well.

To me, Ian did a great job with this installment of M25YL, I mean he obvliously saw how everyone reacted to the first installment done by Ken, and decided to fix it and at the same time make it more insterting.

The story overall was done in way a that that was traditional and reveling.

Traditional, because Ian uses the famous timeline secniero of what happens if you try to go back in time and try to fix things, and the changes don't go the way you thought.
He also keeps the idea of having one of the heros from the orginal timeline realizing that the world isn't the true world that he once knew and that he has to find a way to help and restore things the way they once were.

Reveling, causes it shows Sonic realizing that even though he didn't cherish being King at times, that he nows sees by losing everything and everyone he loved (wife, kids,etc..)just because he tried to fix things, how important being King is, and how much had gain from it which as we speak he has now lost. (hmm, is this forshadowing for the things to come for the present-day Sonic, I wonder?)

Overall, it was a done very well, I can't wait to see next month's issiue.

100 STARS

I'm going to miss Manic and Sonia.. I hope they get brought back somehow..

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just because he tried to fix things

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that's were it changes though, he HAD to fix the timeline, it was either that or Bye Bye universe.

Curious. The 25YL story made me think about... well... a Ian Potto fanfic. Is it coincident.

Just got #166 the other day. The whole issue just seemed way too short and rushed, jam-packed together and thrust out onto the shelves.

But the little Shadow the Hedgehog symbols on the Echidna stuff when they were arresting Sonic and co., that put a smile on my face. =)

I glad to see the sight back up, I couldn't get on at all last week. I did get to see this issue in the bookstore last week, in a way I still wish Archie decided to leave the story alone once Ken left, because I didn't like the direction it was going. One thing I am glad about is that Sonic was shown as being miserable without Sally and the kids. Bw1979, does being up a good point, it might be important for Sonic to be king; he just may be the best creature for the job though he does not realize it. Hopfully, someday, Sonic will come to see it.

Yeah, it was kinda cool to see Sonic being shown in despair and at a loss as what to do with his life, because his family was gone. It showed a side of Sonic I never thought had existed, because we're always seeing him all happy, excited, and with attitude.

But this time, he barely even smiled.

I liked it. =D

I really liked the M:25YL story. I was reading it and I really got into it -- I said to msyelf, "Wow, this is one of the best stories I've read all year!" Then the story stopped a page later. *sigh*. I really rather would have had this story be of full issue-length and that Second-story would have left out.

I like the atmosphere of the M25YL World and so it was fun to return to that. Tails looks so elegant as an adult -- kind of reminds me of Legalos or however you spell it, the elf from the Lord of the Rings. The reunion scene between Tails and Ex-King Sonic was really heartfelt; it felt like the reunion of two long friends after a long time. Shadow made for a fun corrupt ruler and it was amusing to see Lien-De (Not quite certain, I'm not a big Echidna fan) delight in the tortue of others. I'm also fond of Lara-Su as a character -- she isn't just Knuckles' daughter. She's got some fire.

The biggest problem I found was that it ended way too early. I guess that's how it goes, though. I understand they paid for the back-up story at some point and had to use it someday. It was okay...The scheme was somewhat interesting, but the ending was rushed, and seriously, who cares?

But, to end on a positive note, The main story has my vote for Main Story of the year.

I'm kinda curious what the original dialogue of the backstory was, since it's kinda obvious it was thrown in out of sequence. They even left the little reference note at the bottom of the second page, even though it isn't referencing anything. XD