Locke, eh? Well there goes a major candidate for Enerjak. It's only really Knuckles and Fini left now, huh?

Love the idea of a Sonic/Julie-Su teamup, especially as I can't remember them actually having a scene together before.

The backup sounds intriguing, my bet is this is when we find out what happened to the Brotherhood.

Also, as much as I admire Tracy's work, I've got to be brutally honest - this is one of the worst covers I've ever seen. It's dull and uninspired, and to be honest considering how epic this arc is gonna be, it just doesn't make me excited for the issue like #182's cover did.

Of course Sonic can win against Ultimate Power - otherwise there's no #184!

you know, I can understand the cover and why it's not very detailed. This artist is drawing covers, the issue itself, other sonic comics like Sonic X. People gotta remember he's doing ALOT of work. I'm an artist myself, and I do ALL the work on my books.. so a cover like this is understandable.

Now on the issue itself... Never expected a Sonic and Julie team up.. that DOES give away who's behind the mask tho... it's gotta be poor Knux, also with Shadow and Eggie out the way... it's the biggest clue to another Sonic vs Knuckles match up. One I seriously can't wait to see. So when does Sonic go super.... That would be awesome.

To do that, he'd need the Chaos Emeralds, six of which are with Giant Panda Man in the Special Zone.

Workload doesn't really offer an excuse for bad covers. I love Tracy's work, and he's obviously proven he can handle a lot of stuff at once - consider he's pencilling both Sonic and SX, writing for SX, and doing the covers for Sonic, and still manages to churn out awesome covers like #182 and #176. We know Tracy can do great stuff, which is why it's disappointing to see bland covers like #180 and this one.

Also, Sonic could go super from just absorbing Enerjak's power like last time (#56), but I hope he doesn't - it'll start to get lame if he goes super every time there's a major villain.

That being said, he's never taken on Robotnik as Super Sonic. Kind of want.

(Also can someone jog my memory - have we seen Super Sonic in any other issues besides #4, Sonic vs. Knux special, #56, #84, #126, and #169?)

But thats only 3 or so covers that he's really went all out. Again the workload is crazy,and seeing as each book has deadlines it's the perfect excuse to me. Besides.. it sounds like this issue's the cooling off of the last few, so the cover doesn't need to be over crazy. But thats just me. I could care less about the over detailed covers, as long as the art work is good inside thats all that matters .

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(Also can someone jog my memory - have we seen Super Sonic in any other issues besides #4, Sonic vs. Knux special, #56, #84, #126, and #169?)

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Nope, those are the only six times Super Sonic has ever been in the comic.

Well how would it look if it looked something like this?

[img][url= [/IMG[/url]]

Would something like that work?

I think you guys are being way too hard on Tracey for this one. Take a look at Robotnik -- that's one of the best drawings of Eggman ever; even counting Sonic Team artwork. I also associate straight white with the afterlife so I think that's an appropriate color for a battle with 'the ultimate power'. But, again, whatever. It's a matter of taste here.

i like the cover, it's just the plain white background i find slightly jarring to the eye. ^^;

poor old shadow, he really don't get a chance at having a nice life..

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Sonic and Julie-Su have been abducted by Knuckles' father, Locke, who wants them to find the one weapon that will destroy Enerjak. But why don't our heroes want to use it?

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Knuckles is Enerjak?

Knuckles is oddly absent in these previews.

Sonic #181 and #182 hint that Knux is Enerjak.

Does editorial want to bring out random echidna #167 from Ken Penders or use an echidna readers recognize? Would Enerjak be much of a surprise if it was anyone other than Knuckles or Locke?

Enerjak's knuckles are obscured in each cover.

Knuckles has relationships with Sonic and Julie-Su.

Well I mean, we don't know if that's the final cover. They can throw a splash on it to make it not so sharp.

I personally like how Enerjak is TALLER than Sonic, so that makes Knuckles not Enerjak, cause Knux is shorter than Sonic I believe, by like a half inch.

>>And Locke is prolly gonna have them get some obscure Echidna artifact that's going to need Super Sonic to utilize correctly, adn tehn Tails will have to fix it--which will let Enerjak and his armies smash Robotnik, and big destruction ensues, for the next 16 issues, leading to a final showdown in 200.

Cause you don't get rid of Enerjak in 3 issues, hellz no.

And now I have votes that Spectre is Enerjak. Why? well he just got PISSED at being exiled or where ever he was, and said "Screw it, I'm taking these snitches with me!!"

Note: Above argument=TOTALLY made up.

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Cause you don't get rid of Enerjak in 3 issues, hellz no.

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The Knuckles miniseries was 3 issues, and so was the Dark Vengeance saga in issues 7-9.

I saw this cover in a sketchbook I got at HeroesCon.

I seriously hope that this isn't going to be the end of things: another three issue long appearance by Enerjak would be just plain cliche. Besides, they made such a big deal about him coming back, but they only have him in three issues? That's borderline criminal.

Sonic and Julie-Su should make an interesting teamup, especially since we haven't really seen them interacting on a one-on-one basis. Given Julie's similarity to Knuckles, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they bickered the whole way. No idea what Locke could need them to get to defeat Enerjak; I just hope it isn't the Chaos Syphon again. I don't think the Chaos Syphon was used to make the new Enerjak, so why should they need it to defeat the old Enerjak? Can't they come up with something new? I just hope they do. If it is the Chaos Syphon, which I suppose makes sense, then I can understand why Julie wouldn't want to use it against Enerjak if he is Knuckles-the last time he went through that thing, he ended up dead. Sonic and Knuckles may get on each other's nerves every once and a while, but I doubt True Blue wants him to die again either.

Pity about Shadow; I hope he at least got in some cool battle scenes with Enerjak before he got taken down. Eggman's defeat-if he is defeated by some point in this issue-isn't that much of a surprise; it was pretty obvious that he didn't stand much of a chance against Enerjak, although you'd think that with all he knows about Chaos energy he could have done a little better job. Still, I find it quite fitting to see how Sonic's nemesis would fare against Knuckles'-no offense to all you major Sonic fans out there, but I believe that Knuckles is a superior combatant, and so it only makes sense that his enemy would be stronger.

You know, this would actually be a pretty good opportunity for Archie to bring back ol' Ultra Sonic-he's only showed up twice in the series, as far as I'm currently aware, and he'd be able to take Enerjak from what I've heard. Still, I guess that not doing that remains true to the spirit of Enerjak: he's so powerful that nobody's ever outmuscled him, only outsmarted him.

Finally, we get to hear all the juicy details about the Echidnas! Now, I'm still looking forward more to issues #181-182, because of Enerjak actually coming back and the big origin story of Dr. Finitevus, but this sure looks like a great third place!

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No idea what Locke could need them to get to defeat Enerjak; I just hope it isn't the Chaos Syphon again.

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Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of the Sword of Acorns. (It's up for grabs now that the ninja spiders guarding it have been egg-graped, if I remember correctly.) Mammoth Mogul used it in KTE#9 (I think) to drain the original Enerjak of his power, so I see no reason why it couldn't be used similarly in this scenario. Of course, it does beg the question of who/what will be absorbing the energy that's drained from the new Enerjak, but I guess we'll just see.

Also, I'm fairly certain the Sword of Acorns is an instance of loose continuity Ian has yet to address, and we all know how much he loves tidying up loose ends. Given this, I wouldn't be surprised to see it make an appearance in 183.

Uh, pretty sure the Sword, along with the Crown, were utterly destroyed during Darkest Storm because they'd been corrupted...

Oops, sorry. I missed that arc. *shrug*

Man I do hope this lasts a bit longer...this has the makings of...having a major effect on the series...kind of like how some people hope WWHulk will turn out. So since Locke is out as a candidate for being Enerjak...even if Knux is shorter, would it be outside the realm of possibilities that he can increase his size? And dark secrets of the Guardians? Uh-oh...

Awesome.

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kind of like how some people hope WWHulk will turn out.

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So we're going to have Robotnik nuke Station Square just to stop Enerjak?

Nuke an area nowhere NEAR Enerjak to defeat him? BRILLIANT.

lolwhut.

That just totally defeats my purpose of referencing Station Square as New York.

Maybe this artifact Locke is looking for is the black emerald from the echidna ruins in the mysterious cat country. If it had the power to contain a being like chaos, then perhaps it would have edge over Enerjak too.

Well, the summary seems to indicate that the weapon will DESTROY Enerjak, not contain him; it seems to me that Locke is determined to make sure that Enerjak has no chance of coming back this time. What with Dimitri coming back after 1000 or so years, it's really a good strategy. Besides, I'm pretty sure the Black Emerald got shattered, and for all we know the fragments were pulled in during the gathering.

The Sword of Acorns has been destroyed, which makes the Chaos Syphon look even more likely. Again, I hope that's not what it is; when something like that has already been used three times, it gets old.

Actually, the Chaos Syphon's been used four times in the series: once on Dimitri (reverse effect, but still think counts), once on Mogul (weakened slightly), and twice on Knuckles (died on second time from using too much energy).

Oh, I forgot about the Albion deal. Yeah, I know that Dimitri used it once-he was the guy who came up with it, after all-Tails used it on Master Mogul the first time they fought, and Knux got another dose from Mogul himself.

Of course, that's all the more reason for them not to use it again. Besides, where could a Chaos Syphon be now where Locke couldn't just get it himself?

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What with Dimitri coming back after 1000 or so years,

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that seems pretty long, but when i start thinking about knuckle's gigantic family then i'm not too surprised really.

overall i think the issue will be great. i'm interested in what role finitevus is going to play if it turns out that he isn't enerjak.

It's about 400 years, actually.

Man...that cover looks so bland for what's supposed to set up to be something "monumental". I haven't warmed up to Tracey yet, and the odds are I never will.

As for the story, there's no doubt in my mind that the new Enerjak is Knuckles. What makes me so certain? It's the sentence in the preview:

But why don't our heroes want to use it? referring to the weapon.

Sonic and company are likely aware that the echidna behind the mask is Knuckles, so they hesitate to go to such measures to defeat him.

It's that, and the fact that Sonic and Julie-Su are teaming up. Strange bedfellows...what better way to get to Knuckles than the two individuals that could be considered closest to him?

And I'm betting Ian's looking for a way to revive the Sonic/Knuckles adversarial rivalry from the olden days ('cause that rivalry's boasted some of the best stories in the whole series), and transforming Knux into an established villain may be the way he's doing it.

I am wondering though, when is the Enerjak saga going to end? Also, I do agree that the new Enerjak is most likely Knux, and I also wonder how Knux's fans are going to react. I remember some of Knux's fans not being happy when Knux went green and went over to the dark side.

>> I don't really remember any person except for like..3 that liked Chaos Knuckles :O. We all saw his badness and fell in love with the greeness.

But eh, if it IS Knux, it may not be the Chaos Syphon at all. It might be that thing Locke's been secretly working on. You know, the random DEM they have somewhere in the Brotherhood just for times like this?

Only Remmy has it, since Locke is in cahoots with the Frost Legion-since we all know that it would take a Legion to take out the Legion, and so Locke played the odds in his favor.

And ...from the looks of it, we'll prolly kill off Kommissar now, leave Remmy as the now Legion leader, and Knux will now run rampant as Chaos Enerjak !

...I'd stop buying the comic if that happened.

The Knuckles miniseries was 3 issues, and so was the Dark Vengeance saga in issues 7-9.

true his appearance lasted three issues but technically he wasn't defeated until issue 9 so he was a presence for nine issues not to mention he lived 400 years before that. I too don't think he should be defeated in three issues. maybe beaten back but not taken out completely.

UNLESS it turns out to be knux behind that mask in which case i say get him back to normal pronto. I don't think I'd like Knuckles being Enerjak. feels like a slap in the face after all he went through in his own series. oh well, guess we'll wait and see

I think this could last a few more issues...we haven't even seen Super Sonic on a cover yet and it's not over until the yellow guy shows up!

Glad it seems to be lasting a bit...I mean...if they defeated Enerjak in the span of 3 issues, that be far unreasonable.

Considering the set-up I think its going to be Knux behind the mask. I mean he can't get near the Emerald without becoming posessed by it not to mention the set up between now and the M:25YL issues did show that at some point Knux does become possessed by ME and Sonic, Sal and Julie-Su are all present when Sonic blows Knux up and causes him to lose his eye. I'm sure its Knuckles, but we'll just have to see

M25YL also showed that Eggman was the one to reduce Dmitri to a floating-head, whereas Fini was responsible for it the current timeline. I'm not saying it can't be Knuckles but "it happened in M25YL so it's gonna happen here" isn't the most sound argument, as we've already been shown elements of those stories can be cancelled out.

M25YL represents a possibility of events that will unfold, not necessarily what WILL happen

Its not Knux.

I just realized this.

Knuckles gloves dun have fingers >> Continuity error or not, they USUALLY make a GOOD point in showing Knux's glove looks VERY different from everyone elses'. I doubt he would sprout fingers just to be Energak, as well.

Yes folks, I now decree its not Knux under the garb of Enerjak, but Wynmacher. Yes..a man broken between supporting his wife and his people. He decided to usurp the evil that once gripped his people in fear, and now will settle the score with anything and everything that opposes him

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I doubt he would sprout fingers just to be Energak, as well.

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Just because he wears mitts doesn't mean that Knuckles doesn't have fingers. He's been shown with his gloves off in Archie.

Point well taken and I stand corrected, it is very possible that its most certainly not Knuckles...

And Knuckles does have fingers see Knuckles issue #25, Locke takes his gloves off to show Knuckles that even though he has the knuckles on his glove he doesn't really have knuckles and when Knuckles takes off his glove he really does have knuckles on the back of his hands and they show that they both have normal fingers its just Echidonian tradition to wear either fingerless gloves/mitts or those that have a split between where the ring finger and middle finger would be.

Absolutely right about Knuckles and the finger thing; as for his missing namesakes, you may notice that his hands on the covers of the upcoming issues have always been cleverly obscured. I think it's safe to say that Knuckles is Enerjak by this point: we don't know for sure yet, but all the evidence points to it.

I seriously doubt that Locke is in cahoots with the Frost Legion: if he were, then he would have put Angel Island in jeopardy just in an attempt to get Knuckles back home by not convincing Remington (or whoever's in charge-I say it's Remmy) to wait until the Dingoes were taken care of before going up against Lien-Da and the Flame Legion. Besides, I don't think the guy will have had that much time to work on any "secret weapon"-he's been too busy protecting Angel Island and trying to find the Brotherhood to worry about constructing some superweapon. Sadly, it looks like the weapon is going to be the Chaos Syphon or something similar, which to me seems totally cliche.

Personally, if Knuckles is the new Enerjak, I'd like to see him return to normal but have Enerjak stick around by some means. I don't know how: maybe Enerjak becomes his own separate being, maybe the ancient evil that Dimitri got the name from shows up and looks just like the Echidna one-I don't know, but I'd like to see something like that happen. I find it an indignity to Enerjak's character that a villain of his magnitude would be brought back only to be removed yet again after only three issues, and none of those were even a full issue length story. If it took three full issue length stories to demote Mogul and Naugus as villains and take out the Arachne, then I don't see why Enerjak shouldn't get at least a two-parter of the same deal.

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I personally like how Enerjak is TALLER than Sonic, so that makes Knuckles not Enerjak, cause Knux is shorter than Sonic I believe, by like a half inch.

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Dimitri wasn't taller than Edmund. When Dimitri became Enerjak, he towered over Edmund. Any differences in appearance can easily be explained by the usage of chaos energy.

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What with Dimitri coming back after 1000 or so years, it's really a good strategy.

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Based on Dimitri's data file, he hasn't been alive for 400 years. Also, the creation of the Floating Island (Angel Island) is only dated around 600 years ago.

Well, I've been reading through the early comics, and unless I read something wrong it said that the whole fiasco that brought Enerjak into being happened 1000 years ago. Of course, I suppose that number was probably refined as time went on, like many other elements of the series.

no Edmund and Dimitri's time were 400 years ago. 1000 years ago is when Albion was founded I believe, and maybe also when Angel Island first become the Floating Island and the chaos emeralds were first placed in the chaos chamber. Then 400 years ago Edmund and Dimitri proposed the use of the chaos syphon to drain the energies from the emeralds and return to island to the ground, but the high councilor denied them. That's when Dimitri went ahead with the plan on his own but the syphon transferred the power into him instead, thus Enerjak was born

As True Red said, it was about six hundred years ago that Angel Island rose from Downunda, and roughly 400 when Dimitri used the Chaos Syphon. I say "roughly" because it was like 360 years or something.

o.o I knew Knux had fingers. But yeah, maybe the Enerjak costume has only gloves, not mittens. Still, wouldn't we see Knux's knuckles? Since this is the preview cover for 183- we'd already know who Enerjak is...and so they wouldn't hafta hide it anymore?

I dunno. I'ma stick in the non-Knux camp-unless Knuckles revival from 1...13..whenever he died-somehow backlapsed again, and his own natural ability caused him to snap. THAT..would rule. Than I'd allow it.

They could also be releasing slightly obscured versions of the cover in order to not reveal too much. They've done it in the past. Take out the knuckles for now and add them back in for the final drafts

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Absolutely right about Knuckles and the finger thing; as for his missing namesakes, you may notice that his hands on the covers of the upcoming issues have always been cleverly obscured.

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I agree with this as well, his hands are obscured so they make it difficult to tell even though the hand thats glowing is pretty visible on the side it still doesn't rule out the possibility that it IS Knuckles since his hand is covered by the Chaos energy, still though, until the comic is released no one except its writers and artists can say for sure :3!

Who's to say what's going on with Knuckles if he is Enerjak? It could be that his transformation had a negative-perhaps insanity inducing-effect on his psyche, and that he's covering up his namesakes on purpose to hide his true identity. Of course, just like the idea that Knuckles is Enerjak, we won't know for sure until the comics come out.

If Knuckles is Enerjak (and I'm still calling that as a pretty big "if"), then that'd be the only way I'd accept him. Unwillingly made into Enerjak, and then his pyche so warped that he's essentially a different character. None of this "I'm doing it for the better good" stuff.