Mmmmmkay, we'll skip the first few pages where we continue with Sonic and Eggman's battle. To keep this simple, Sonic spends the entire time tearing apart Eggman's Egg Tarantula with ease, while taunting the good ol' Doctor every step of the way. Pretty sad considering Eggman keeps sputtering nonsense and general babble. With one final cry of "I hate that hedgehog!" Sonic smashes it to bits.
He removes his shades/contacts (Was he giving himself a disadvantage to make it fair?) He tells Eggman that he's done and he'll leave the speeches to Sally but...Eggman effectively snaps. He proceeds to throw a temper tantrum of legends while Sonic is horrified to watch. Sally arrives in time, a bit horrified as well at the Doctor. She asks what Sonic did to him and Sonic implies he did what he always does. Snively appears and explains. He tells the two that while the good doctor is an absolute genius, capable of building anything he wishes but the fact that all his brilliance could not allow him to defeat Sonic had been knawing at him for over a decade...this is what we call in the industry a failure to move on. The defeat at New Mobotropolis shook him hard to the core and one more defeat was all that was needed to cause him to snap. Snively tells that they've won and he'll care for his dear uncle...yea right.
Cue dancing in the streets (Party on!) Sonic doesn't seem all that pleased though, even while telling the estatic Tails and Amy about how the battle with Eggman went (Sonic exercised the I win button). He asks Sally what does he do now...you know Sonic, there is a TV Trope for that...
Sally basically tells him that's an adventure of it's own and moving on isn't a bad step either (Tell that to Eggman!)
Meanwhile, Snively leaves Eggman in a padded room when he's told their special guest has arrived! Dimitri is still a skeptic as always but Snively tells him his loyalty will be rewarded, while he welcomes the new co ruler of the Eggman Empire, the Iron Queen! Accompanied by ninjas, samurai and warriors oh my!
Courtesy of Dub (and Toby), some pics of Eggman cracking. Obviously heavy spoilers in those pics, so don't click if you dn't want to be spoiled.
I got this issue and I liked it. Definitely a keeper. This one was epic, but not in the sense you might be expecting. The fight was fun, but was really an instrument to show this as the final straw that breaks the camel's back. It wasn't the fight that was epic, but rather the fall-out of that. Eggman's going insane was... Epic. He had to be put in a padded room for goodness sakes! Him going off the wall to that level was very unexpected. It was interesting to finally see his eyes too, they're similar to the SatAm/early Robotnik eyes. The pages where Eggy went off the wall were actually kind of scary, not for the older readers, but it compares to Rosey's first appearance. He was so insane, he pulled out part of the 'stache that he's been working so hard to maintain!
What I really like was Sonic's reactions to Robotnik's insanity. It was really nice to see that he felt kind of bad, and sorry for Eggy. He didn't want or expect it to end like that, and it kind of showed. I also kind of liked Sniv's reactions. It gave a good picture about his feelings towards his uncle. It was nice that he gave a background of his Uncle's fall to Sonic and crew.
Sonic and his crew won the day this time, and it was nice to see everybody, save Sonic who seemed a bit more concerned at that point, take a general sigh of relief. After all this time, it was deserved.
One thing I was not expecting was Snively completely relinquishing control to Regina and her crew. I thought he'd want co-ownership of the empire, I guess he's sure that there will be some perks for him with her ruling. Also, I still don't expect things to work out that well for Dimitri or the DEL. They'll be staying where they are for a while longer, like it or not. In fact, it's becoming more believable that Lien-Da will get the power she craves soon.
Some interesting tid-bits given out about IQ, I'd like to see some of them expanded upon (like the Iron Domain, Bride of Four Houses, etc.). I hope the back-up in #202 extrapolates upon some of this.
The art was fantastic. Yardley! did another great job for this issue, and Spaz created another nice looking cover.
Overall, I'd say this issue was good. I'd give it a 10/10. If it was not perfect, it was near perfect. One thing I really liked about this issue was the references to the past, they were nice touches.
The only concern I have regarding what happened in this issue will be the ultimate fate of Robuttnik. It's nice to see karma catch up to him, but I wonder where he'll go from here. I don't love the idea that he'll be a loon in a padded room, drooling and frothing at the mouth like a completely insane guy, when he gets out, for the rest of the comic. It was somewhat interesting in STC, but I hope Eggy at least becomes somewhat stable again in the future.
Just to clarify: I don't think he'll remain in the padded egg shaped room forever. What I'm more curious about is how Eggman will rise from all this, and just how much he will rise. I have no doubt that he'll escape or be released at some point. I'm just curious how much Eggy will recover from it all. I'm not expecting a 100% recovery, but I'll be interested to see how he does and what he does afterward. I'm interested in seeing Regina, her crew and Snively develop; but now I'm also really curious about and looking forward to Eggman's return. Who knows, maybe cooling off in the padded room will do him some good? 😉
Wow, he cracked... seriously... he cracked. That was unexpected. Based on the reviews it seems it was a good issue. I want mine now!!!!
GOT IT!
OMG! Ok, I feel completely like Sonic did. Even when he completely wins against Eggman-I felt cheated. I mean come on, Eggman uses a suit that was made to pwn Sonic in any way (except for extreme speed) and he switches over to an Egg Tarantula? NO!
But a broken once roboticized-turned-human Ivo is what this comic needs. I was positive once he was turned human he'd hafta snap since he didn't have absolute ability over machines in hs kingdom anymore, but now..now I'm glad he's in a padded room. It'll give him time to mend his mind and his moustache.
In other news. Iron Queen looks........lame. Im sorry, there's what.. 5 or 6 ninjas? How much you wanna bet Arachnis' kids show up to pwn them >> And that Minotaur guy that reminds me of Topspin from Thundercats? What? The next 450 issues are going to be hella confusing.
Least Khan is gonna show up soon. Yay for that.
I didn't like the issue, I think it was a let down in comparison to the most of the other "#25 issues" in the past. I know they explained his breakdown but I just thought it was too random. Also, for Sonic and Robotnik's "final battle", it was a major let down. The fights in #175 were better and more epic.
Maybe it's because I'm an older reader but, it was stupid of the FFs to just leave the mad Robotnik in Snively's care. Snively's also there enemy, plus the Dark Legion is still active, so what was really accomplished in this issue? They should have arrested Snively and the DL members, executed Robotnik, and occupied their city. Do they think there not going to be a threat in the future? Just 'cause Robotnik's gone doesn't mean every thing's all good now. They should have learned this from the events that followed issue 50. Bottom line, I was expecting a more believable conclusion to this arc and I hope the next one is better written.
Also this issue needed more Julie-Su! 
Got the issue a few days ago.
Ian, did I tell you you're on a roll here? Because you're on a roll. Had to read it a few times over to really get what Eggman was feeling as he lost once more, but that panel with the tear in his eye really cinches it. Makes me feel bad for a guy who is essentially a monster. It's not necessarily Sonic's fault for being able to beat Eggman so easily, but I feel bad for Eggman nonetheless. Losing that much, despite his smarts. Poor bad guy.
Good job at making me feel that way. And massive props to Yardley and Herms.
yeah, I'm more with Exodus on this one in that Eggman couldn't think of anything better than a Spider mech...300 IQ and he still keeps trying to stop speed with power...? Zero G, Bio-logical warfare, mega muk all other the walls, something...jeez.
And then after Sonic acts like even more of a smug son of a gun during the fight and after he wins, he decides to feel compassion for the broken doctor 
I mean, don't get me wrong, I've been loving the new direction but it just seemed like another day in the park for Sonic and Co. Oh, how I miss the days of Eggman's vast and destructive robotic empire and Shadowbots 
Well, at least Snively gets his turn in the big boy seat but I wonder if his reputation of "tratior" preceed him?
Just got my copy in the mail today, Finally! And does indeed live up to the hype.
