I didn't realize until last night, but Sonic Archives 5 contains a brand new stroy! ...well, sort of. Mike Gallagher wrote a script long ago, and it was found by Mike Pellerito, who had Mike and Dave Manak finish the story.
Spoilers Follow!!!
"Everything Old is Newt Again"
The story is set sometime before issue #17 by my reckoning. Robotnik is giving a motivational speech to his badniks, and demands new ideas to obliterate Sonic. From the back of the auditorium crawls the Universalamander, still reduced in size from Rotor's reduce/enlarge component. Robotnik builds him back to normal size, just in time for the U-mander(a nick-name given by Sonic in this story) to interupt the Freedom Fighter's flag-football game. He kicks Sonic into a far-off desert that Sonic's never been in, and begins to attack the FF. Bunnie tries to fight him off(she wasn't around last time) and does so-so. Sonic gets some help back from an ant who tells him to run concentric circles until he finds home. Rotor tries to shrink the U-mander again with his reduce/enlarge component, but the Universalamander just grows bigger and stomps the device. A cut-scene to Robotropolis shows Robotnik explaining that energies now have the ooposite effect on the U-mander. Rotor runs inside Knothole to create an enlarger ray, and Sally follows her to unveil what she ordered and has just been delivered. This is the most important part of this story. Sally pulls out the "a Nicole 7000." Mike's editor box says this is Nicole's first appearance continuity-0wise, but didn't she appear out of that orb in Sonic in Your Face? ...interesting...Anyways, with Nicole's help Rotor builds an enlarger ray and shrinks the U-mander down to microscopic size, but not before Bunny wonders if Tails isn't too young to fight, and even tells him so. In the end, everythings back to normal.
Interesting to see the original origin of Nicole in this story, though at least that portion of the story is not in continuity.
It's also interesting the see that the boxes in issues #17, #18, AND #20 IN THE Sally stories that originally told readers where to get the finale now just read the approximation of "The End... For Now!" which is especially strange on the story in Sonic #20, which ends with a Swatbot about to blast Sally.
All-in-all, I really enjoyed the new story a lot, and it's followed by information on King Acorn and Julayla.
------------------------------------------the-Krayon
My memory may be playing tricks again (I'm working off the top of my head on a moment's notice), but didn't IYF fit into the continuity somewhere around issue 18? That sounds fairly plausible.
Adding that story to the archives rather than the main comic seems like a bit of a cynical ploy to sell archives volumes to people who already own the issues (I find it hard to believe that the story couldn't have been put on the slush pile for use as a back-up later), but I wouldn't mind checking it out.
these graphic novels are like the best thing ever! aaah i wish my comic store sold them 
:"> O
i always placed In Your Face between issues eighteen and nineteen, but i guess you could put it after issue nineteen because Nicole doesn't appear in the main series until issue twenty.
I own all the origial issues but i bought the collection anyways jut to support the format, and was VERY pleased by this little bonus. they couldn't realy put it in the mothly anways ecause of this little continuity blip.
--------------------------------------------------the-Krayon
That is quite possibly the most awesome thing ever. I always wanted a return of Universalamander.
I really kind of wished the regular archives had decided to accomodate the spin-offs and specials as well, instead of the Sonic Selects that are (meant to be) coming out. Still, beggars can't be choosers, I guess.
Quote:
they couldn't realy put it in the mothly anways ecause of this little continuity blip.
They printed M25YL, didn't they? :-/
NO! IT NEVER HAPPENNED!!! THEY DIDNT...!!!!! *(runs away to cry)*
-----------------------------------------------the-Krayon
If you told me that one of the more current artists to the book drew this "bonus" story, I'd go get the archive. Right now, I'm still not all that interested and I don't own the issues in the archives published so far.
I loved the part were Nicole said that things in Mobius were about to get very complicated. Though that part of the story may have been added for the archives, it does address the change of tone for the comic. Of course, Sonic denies this by saying, "Things are gonna stay just the way they are". Sure, Sonic. Sure. 
