We start off where the preview pages left us, with Sonic speeding off to find his family. He finds them and shares a touching moment with them all. Silver seems to have recovered and Sonic points out the new threat to him. Sonic tells him that he did gather up some new freedom fighters and Silver confirms that he's almost at full power. Sonic and co decide to get out of the castle, Sonia and Manik both as daring as their father once was (Or still is?). Argyle gives Sonic and update saying that evacuation efforts are slow but no injuries thanks to the New Freedom Fighters, who are trying not to die (Where's that Master Emerald when you need it?). The Dark Presence has chosen to renounce Shadow and have also helped with the evactuation efforts and have free Miles and Mina so backup is coming! (Miles looks like that...Frog guy. So help me I suck).
Back at Tikaos (Ugh), Jacques is slicing and dicing but is saved from getting crushed by Melody, prompting a little flirting between the two. Belle (UGH) saves Skye from overdoing things while Mary--I mean Lara-Su tries to reason with Tikaos and gets smacked for her efforts. Miles catches her and encourages her to keep going as they still need to soften it up.
Melody and Skye are saved again, this time by Mina herself, who IS NOT pleased that they're in the middle of this fight. Melody reminds her that King Sonic made them a part of the crew and Mina decides she'll have to talk with Sonic about this...later most likely.
Jacques and Belle are still dealing with the massive girth of Tikaos but are saved this time by Silver, who refuses to let anyone die today...touching.
Argyle lets Sonic know that while Tikaos is stalled, it's kind of tough to keep up the attack. Sonic then talks to Lara Su who tells him that they need to take the fight out of her pronto or else. Sonia and Manik tell Sonic why not smack it in the head like last time...you know when he was Super and younger. Sally is amused but Sonic recognizes that it's a plan.
While Sonic gathers up enough speed, everyone else distracts the many limbs of Tikaos so he can give it a nice good smack. This is all fine and dandy except when Tikaos decides to blast him good. How Sonic survives this is anyone's guess but a blue and pink streak speed past him and smack Tikaos in the head, knocking it down for the count...turns out that was Sonia and Manik? The hell, is super speed being handed out like candy in the future?
Lara Su moves in, chanting that silly spell, causing Tikaos to revert back to the harmless Tikal, meaning all is well. Sonic thanks Silver for catching his kids, though Silver notes it wasn't easy. He also thanks the new Freedom Fighters while Miles notes it's just like old times. Sonic agrees but doesn't remember his back hurting so much...guess all that world saving comes at a price.
Sonic asks Silver if the crisis is averted and Silver agrees. He does ask if anyone from his group goes bad but Sonic is unsure...of a lot of things. Silver shrugs it off and entrusts the present to Sonic while he Chronos Controls his way home.
Epilogue...a shadow figure who looks like a duck but also has a flat tail (Platypus) is in Downunda and welcomes Dr. Finny who refers to him as Grandmaster (!!) and says that he's dying to see Knux again. Oh and Angel Island is almost overhead that big ol' Crater...*cue dundunDUN music*
This played out well ... in a bad way.
You do bring up a good point, though. The Master Emerald could have turned anyone except Sonic Super assuming the idea that it can only do the " Super " trick once per mobian is actually cannon. They could've just used that over the Chaos Emeralds if they had access to it. Considering Lara-Su's Guardian now too ... *Rambles on and on.*
The hell, is super speed being handed out like candy in the future?
That's nothing new, though. They ran circles around Lara-Su in the first issue of this arch.
Epilogue...a shadow figure who looks like a duck but also has a flat tail (Platypus) is in Downunda and welcomes Dr. Finny who refers to him as Grandmaster (!!) and says that he's dying to see Knux again. Oh and Angel Island is almost overhead that big ol' Crater...*cue dundunDUN music*
( Click for accompanying sound. <3 )
The hell, is super speed being handed out like candy in the future?
You know how it is with super powers
Everyone can turn super except for vegeta 
Making me think maybe it was a good thing the Master emerald didn't show 
Got it today. I've never been a fan of these MxYL stories, but it was good, until the end. I got to the end of the story and found myself asking "that's it?". What about Shadow? What about Tikhaos? What about Lien-Da? I'm all for leaving the story open for future MxYL stories, but it just felt like this particular arc needed more pages to wrap up properly.
And once more, Silver feels absolutely unneeded in a story arc, except to go on about whatever his plot is. Though I do wonder if he was using a Sol Emerald or a Time Stone or something to "Chronos Control". So how does that work? Chaos Control stops/slows time while Chronos Control moves you through it?
Nice dialogue, though. But I could never stand Sonic's kids for more than five minutes.
And the last page was awesome. Bring on the Knuckles arc and my favorite villain!
Finally got my copy in the mail. My stance on the Mobius 25/30/1,000,000 years later stands the same: a dragged on concept that is more fanservice then anything else. I like Lara-Su, but she's not enough for me to be enticed. I'm sure others differ hence why we're still getting these, plus I suppose that's the whole purpose of Sonic Universe: telling extended stories. But it feels like this arc is just padding out on what was already a complete story waaaay back in the main series.
If I were to comment on the actual issue itself; it's a generally nice conclusion and look into a next generation Freedom Fighters, though such a name seems inappriporate given that they're not in oppressed by a dictator. Shadow's still alive and kickin' and he may pull an Eggman for the "good" of the world, so God only knows. But poor Silver who barely did anything within the span of the arc outside of playing Mr. Exposition on what happens in the future.
Also, not to rag on Tracy's artwork which is great as always, but I felt a cringe in my eye when Sally told Sonic he was "pushing 50". Because, ya know, I couldn't tell visually that he was close to that age. Come on, give him a few wrinkles below the eye, make his blue fur lighter - just make him look older!
howzabout the stereotypical mustache/eyebrows/glasses combo?
FFX-2 Syndrome?
*ponders* I think the glasses are just a tad overdoing it. 
FFX-2 Syndrome
I'm not gonna lie, but despite FFX-2's pointless need to exist, I actually like that game. Or at least its gameplay, because it's fast paced and fun.
Well, Sonic did have some lines around the eyes he normally lacks.
Because, ya know, I couldn't tell visually that he was close to that age. Come on, give him a few wrinkles below the eye, make his blue fur lighter - just make him look older!
Tracey did draw Sonic and Sally both with wrinkles under their eyes in at least the earlier issues.
As for the fur I liked his coloring here. His fur was noticeably darker and had some grey in it. Gives the sense that his fur lost a lot of it's original luster over the years.
How the whoo-ha did Uncle Chuck get green eyes? x_x
As for the fur I liked his coloring here. His fur was noticeably darker and had some grey in it. Gives the sense that his fur lost a lot of it's original luster over the years.
How the whoo-ha did Uncle Chuck get green eyes? x_x
Really? I thought that fur coloring was just lighting, much like the rest of the cast and their "glowy"-ness.
And now I present the most useless comment of this thread: "What the heck happened to Ash?"
That was a useless comment, DB.
Well this IS just an alternate future. It could happen in the future and it might not. So perhaps in another one, Mina will be with Ash. To be fair, I think I'm tired of the 25/30/40YL thing and would be happy if we don't revisit it for some time.
The fact that the book is never going to canonically be shown 30 years in the future has a lot to do with everything. It's like Superman, or the Simpsons. Time just doesn't pass. =p
Archie've shown Sonic have birthdays and put concrete lengths of time for things like Sonic's missing year. Sooner or later, the fact that time's seen to pass only when it suits them's going to have to come back and bite, if only because they've created the expectation themselves - eg. can we now assume that some of Sonic's birthdays happen off-panel and the cast all have portraits of themselves in their attics, or are we going to be expected to see everything between now and whenever someone next writes a birthday party as just one really, really long and busy year?
1 Mobian year=20 years in reality.
Archie've shown Sonic have birthdays and put concrete lengths of time for things like Sonic's missing year. Sooner or later, the fact that time's seen to pass only when it suits them's going to have to come back and bite, if only because they've created the expectation themselves - eg. can we now assume that some of Sonic's birthdays happen off-panel and the cast all have portraits of themselves in their attics, or are we going to be expected to see everything between now and whenever someone next writes a birthday party as just one really, really long and busy year?
Wouldn't put it past them.
"What the heck happened to Ash?"
He never met Mina so she married someone else. Ash was introduced near the end of XYL after Tails and Mina were shown with their families. It's possible that Ken didn't know about him when he wrote the original story.
Why Ian didn't just take the opportunity to fix this when the storyline was relaunched rather then made some roundabout reason for Tails and Mina to still be together is beyond me, though. The latter would've made more sense then forcing Tails, Mina, and their kids to keep wearing those bulky armbands for the rest of their lives.
can we now assume that some of Sonic's birthdays happen off-panel and the cast all have portraits of themselves in their attics, or are we going to be expected to see everything between now and whenever someone next writes a birthday party as just one really, really long and busy year?
For Sonic who has an exceptional circumstance I'd go with the second one. It seems like one year of time passes about every 100 issues or so. Sonic's first birthday I believe was in the 60s (it was his 16th birthday). Near Sonic 160 he had his second birthday and is now 17. So his next birthday would be around Sonic 260 where he turns 18. As it stands now that means his next birthday would be in about 5 years real time unless a future writer botches it and puts it earlier (or later).
For everyone else it'd be the latter. They've had three birthdays or are about to have their third given Sonic's time in space.
"What the heck happened to Ash?"
He never met Mina so she married someone else. Ash was introduced near the end of XYL after Tails and Mina were shown with their families. It's possible that Ken didn't know about him when he wrote the original story.
On that subject, I seem to recall there being some kind of controversy surrounding the Tails/Mina pairing when it was first revealed. Someone from within Archie's creative staff revealed that the original pairing was changed, at the very last minute, to what we actually got. And I seem to remember the original making a lick more sense.
Anyone remember what I'm talking about? It might have happened at Ken's board, but I can't say for sure.
Penders claimed that he had Tails paired with someone else (I forget who as well, maybe Fiona?), and that it was Butler who made Tails' wife and daughter Mina and Melody.
As for Sonic aging, I wouldn't really expect to see him age ever again if what Ian has said is accurate. They don't want the Sega characters aging anymore, so unless they change their minds or loosen their control a little bit, I wouldn't expect another Sonic birthday.
For Sonic who has an exceptional circumstance I'd go with the second one. It seems like one year of time passes about every 100 issues or so. Sonic's first birthday I believe was in the 60s (it was his 16th birthday). Near Sonic 160 he had his second birthday and is now 17. So his next birthday would be around Sonic 260 where he turns 18. As it stands now that means his next birthday would be in about 5 years real time unless a future writer botches it and puts it earlier (or later).
For everyone else it'd be the latter. They've had three birthdays or are about to have their third given Sonic's time in space.
Sonic had a birthday in #11 too 
Sonic had a birthday in #11 too
Sorry. I didn't remember him having a birthday then.
I imagine 1 - 100 went by faster then 101 - 200 even with the timeskip, then.
On that subject, I seem to recall there being some kind of controversy surrounding the Tails/Mina pairing when it was first revealed. Someone from within Archie's creative staff revealed that the original pairing was changed, at the very last minute, to what we actually got. And I seem to remember the original making a lick more sense.
Interesting. Why run with something that doesn't make sense in the first place and justify it with something that makes even less sense? The whole magical techno-gizmo armband thing is ... well ... you know what it is.
As for Ash, I assumed that either he and Mina broke up at some point or he died in this timeline. I thought Tails and Mina was an odd pairing at first, but I have warmed up to it.
Archie has plenty of time to explain or answer any questions from this story, if they decide to go though with certain things in the present.
