Omega with emotions besides seething anger? Ridiculous.

Predictions: Shadow fails to save Gamma but gets through to Omega. They both go back to GUN to cause mass government approved destruction and live happily ever after. Just like in Sonic Chronicles. At best I hope Shadow sees that Gamma is happier after being destroyed and coming out a Flickey Bird and has one of those Iron Giant moments, but then I remembered this is a Sonic Comic so it'll probably end in a heap of smoldering ashes with a poor Flickey Bird trapped inside.

Only real critique so far ... I'm not a fan of the coloring. Gradient just doesn't make everything better. Omega looks great because he's one of the things that's supposed to look super-shiny, but Shadow looks washed out.

Was it confirmed in book that Gamma had a Flicky inside of him? I don't remember.

Regardless, my prediction is that the three will fight, and one way or another Gamma will die. Probably by sacrificing himself for Shadow and/or Omega. Gamma and Shadow (more likely Gamma) will help to show Omega the error in his ways, and along with his existing animosity at Eggman, will decide to rebel and join GUN. Whatever happens, I don't think that Gamma will survive this issue.

As for the coloring, I think Jensen did an okay job. Not terrible, but admittedly I much prefer Herms' colors.

Was it confirmed in book that Gamma had a Flicky inside of him? I don't remember.

All that I could find about the matter was that Gamma referred to the mobians has its " people " in a backstory.

Sonic Adventure pretty much just hinted at it, but the Sonic X adaption cleared it up.

FFF, I knew he had one inside him in the games, and in Sonic X, but I was wondering if he had one in the comic. This issue proved that he does.

This was definitely the best issue yet. It's also my favorite issue so far. Absolutely no questions about that. It had the perfect balance of fighting and character ad story development. It was also well paced.

Omega had a nice fun first appearance, and the battle was fun to read. To be honest, Gamma stole the spotlight. Gamma and Omega were both featured more that him, and the issue was more about both of them. The fighting was mainly between them, and it set up the stage and development for Omega in the future. He has started to obtain his own soul and personality. I really liked him threatening Shadow, so that he wouldn't tell anyone about his making a grave for Gamma. Omega has started shaping up nicely.

My hat's off to Ian. Gamma got killed off, but in a way he lives through Omega now, since Omega now has the same goal as Gamma. That was a nice way to give Omega sentience. A bit sad to see Gamma go, but he went out in a nice way, it made sense, and it was needed for Omega I think. I would have liked to have seen him stick around longer, but he served his purpose, and like I said, he will kind of live on with Omega. His Flicky is now off living somewhere I guess.

Nice development with Shadow too. Nice to see him wanting to help other living weapons such as himself, so that they can try ad find their way too.

Also, the off panel was a joke. I'm not saying you guys necessarily thought it was serious, but I thought I'd make that clearer. I liked Butler's art in the off panel too. I like how he drew Omega. No offense to Tracy, but I prefer how Butler draws Hope. I think it looks a little more pleasing.

I look forward to the next issue, where Team Dark will really come together for the first time, in the hopes of getting another Chaos Emerald.

That's all I can think of for now. Maybe I'll say more later.

The day I received SU #3 (I've never received 1 or 2; probably got my order in too late) I read it and my reaction was: "To hell with the robots, how did Hope end up at GUN?"

If Ian hasn't provided a back story yet on that score, I came up with one that evening -- insomnia tends to strike when my brain goes into overdrive before bedtime and I banged out the rough plot line. Let me know if Ian has written anything either way in the first two SU issues, but I'll probably work it up into a fanfic of my own in any event.

And is it me, or does Cmdr. Tower have one brown eye and one blue eye?

He does, and it's not a coloring error. He had eyes that are different colors in Shadow the Hedgehog.

Let me know if Ian has written anything either way in the first two SU issues

No. Not yet. It'll probably be addressed soon, though. There's still one more issue in this arch.

And is it me, or does Cmdr. Tower have one brown eye and one blue eye?

I presume that Tower is the name Archie gave The GUN Commander who appeared in Shadow and Sonic Chronicles and he does have one brown eye and one blue eye. And grey hair as a child. Its a Japan thing...

The day I received SU #3 (I've never received 1 or 2; probably got my order in too late) I read it and my reaction was: "To hell with the robots, how did Hope end up at GUN?"

#177: "So I'm going back to the human and overlander cities! I'm going to become the best engineer ever! And then I'm going to help kick both Eggman and your butts! Then maybe our family name will be worth something!"

Where else would she go to help with technology in fighting Eggman?
The reason Shadow ended up on Moebius in "Hedgehog Havoc" was because the zone-breaching device Hope built was still buggy but the Commander sent Shadow on a mission anyway. She worried that he might've ended up at the bottom of the ocean or something.

And is it me, or does Cmdr. Tower have one brown eye and one blue eye?

He does, and it's called Heterochromia. It has not been explained in the games or the comic if this means anything special.

And Lea pointed out Hope's reason for ending up with the UF. Whether or not this will be expanded upon in more detail, we'll see.

#177: "So I'm going back to the human and overlander cities! I'm going to become the best engineer ever! And then I'm going to help kick both Eggman and your butts! Then maybe our family name will be worth something!"

I want to be, the very best
Like no one ever wa~as.

To build them is my real test.
To fix them is my cause...

That was... that was awful. D:

It's an acquired taste.

That's the spirit. Forget the critics any day, keep 'em at bay, and keep doing what you like no matter what they say.

Crazy Cham Lea asks: "Where else would she go to help with technology in fighting Eggman?"

True. But in my story line it never occurred to her that no engineering school would take her in without a grade school diploma, never mind a high school diploma, or that the (unstated) reason she got abandoned in Knothole in "A Girl Named Hope" is that none of the other humans she was with wanted anything to do with any member of the Kintobor family and would just as soon let GUN throw her in jail than offer to help her. So the kid goes through a good amount of hell before ... I'll save it until my review of SU3.

GUN has no qualms hiring a teenage girl who's a renown thief to spy for them. They've thus shown that ability to get things done means more than having some pieces of paper and proper procedure.

Why would they then turn down another teenage girl who not only shows technological aptitude but has firsthand knowledge of their enemy? Having a stigma against her because of her name would only make her more determined to prove herself, and GUN is probably one of the few organizations that would be willing to overlook it so long as she gets results.

Besides what Lea said ... Hope is a prodigy. It wouldn't take her long to get her High School diploma if it was a requirement.

Furthermore, does anyone on the planet really want to see or remotely care about another "Sonic characters in school?" story?

I for one, certainly do not and balk at the mere thought of even hinting at it. 😛

One, Hope is NOT a teenager; she's still a tween. And you know how seriously the adult world takes tweens. That's why...

Two, she'd never be given a chance to prove herself, no matter how brilliant and l33t her skills might me. They'd take one look at her and say "Come back in 10 years, kid!"

Three, if someone at any school where she tried to register was part of the crew that returned to Mobius with her, they might still be carrying the old grudge against Robotnik/Kintobor and wouldn't give her a fair shake simply because of her family history.

Four, how would the Powers That Be react if Hope left the PARENT/GUARDIAN section of her school registration form blank? They'd treat her like any other indigent. It would be a choice between G.U.N. or some other institution, and those would be her best options in the eyes of society. The only other option would be scratching out an existence on the street.

Five, Rouge does have skills that most other spies lack: flight, hearing, a proven track record at thievery that the military could exploit, and a great set of ... let's call them "fan service accessories." While her age is discreetly unstated, wth a bod like hers I'd hesitate to call her a "teenage girl."

Six, WB doesn't have to worry: Hope is carrying her own weight by working in the G.U.N. motor pool or whatever they call it. As I imagine Rouge telling the Commander, "She probably knows more than half the recruits working [in the motor pool] now who are still learning which end of a wrench to use." The military, bless 'em, is one of the few institutions that doesn't look too closely at someone's book learning.

It's kind of a win-win situation, really. Hope gets a place to live, a lot of structure, three squares a day, and a chance to use her skills set. G.U.N. can simply state that they have Hope Kintobor in custody and will make no further comment on the matter, thus satisfying those who'd just as soon see her thrown in jail to be forgotten.

My question was how she got from Point A to Point B; that's the question all writers grapple with. My result was a fanfic idea.

Doesn't a lot of that just...pertain to real life? Teens/Tweens have done quite a bit in Moebius history...

Maybe the Station Square squares don't look at it that way. That's just my take on it, anyway; your mileage may vary.

Actually according to Ian the fact that she is Robotnik's niece was one of the reasons she was able to get her foot in the door of G.U.N. to begin with. Ian answered sme questions on his own forum through the voices of the characters he was writing, here is his response from G.U.N. Commander

So with G.U.N. at least being Robotnik kin was actually helpful to her employment it seems Commander Tower just wants the best of the best who are willing to work for him. Sort of reminds me of other comic book military leaders who will employ villains or anti-heroes if they can. Also Dan just so you have an esimate of how useful she is to G.U.N. this is a list Ian also gave on his forum of intelligence for the characters.

I'm not well-versed in what exactly the intelligence quotient means or how it's derived. Suffice to say that compared with Robotnik's genius:
Tails - potentially par
Chuck - slightly below
Hope - potentially par
Rotor - slightly below, possibly with a chance to beat-out Chuck

From the very beginning. I had two scenarios: Snively was a heartless monster and he blew her to bits or she escaped and joined G.U.N. (details of which are pending). I hadn't settled on a scenario at the time since I didn't know when, or if, I'd get to investigate G.U.N. like I wanted to, nor was I sure precisely where I wanted to take Snively at the time. The ending was a cliffhanger and I had time to weigh my choices. When Sonic Universe opened up so did my chances to tell more Team Dark stories, so we went with the happier scenario.

Funny thing about Hope - initially she wasn't intended to be a supporting character. She was meant to be a plot device to sow discontent among the Overlanders in Robotropolis. It was reader demand that got her to stay in Knothole and actually have a role beyond "little girl." Except nothing much had come of it since then. So I wanted to give her a role - something to do - instead of just being and oddity among the mobians.

The fact that she looks like Maria and was already loosely connected to Shadow begged to be addressed. It'd be almost criminal to ignore it. But at the same time, "Shadow pines over little blonde girl" is just about as predictable as you can get. So I wanted to take the obvious and put a spin on it. Hope is not Maria. She's sweet, she's kind-hearted, but she's also a grease-monkey. Maria was frail and idealistic. Hope is hearty and haunted by her family ties; she works for a better world with an entirely different mindset.

So you'll have Shadow with a few expectations, and you'll have Hope who's putting on a brave face in a pretty heavy situation, and we'll see how they play off each other. I think we'll see many more interesting stories with her as the kind of moral core to Team Dark than we would've gotten if she stuck around with the already well-rounded Sonic supporting cast.

Thanks for the inside dope.

So GUN is accepting interships now?