SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #200
Written by Ian Flynn, art by Tracy Yardley and Jim Amash, cover by Patrick Spaziante.
"Turnabout is Fair Play": The epic anniversary issue you've been waiting for is finally here! Back in Sonic #50, Sonic managed to win against his arch-rival, Dr. Robotnik. In Sonic #175, the doctor got his revenge! Now they duel for the fate of the world! Will freedom come to Mobius? Or will the Eggman Empire rule forever more?
32 pages, $2.50, in Comic Stores on May 13.
SONIC UNIVERSE #4
Written by Ian Flynn, art by Tracy Yardley.
"The Ultimate Lifeform": The all-out battle-turned-alliance between Shadow and Rouge takes a new twist... and there may be no turning back! Transported from G.U.N.'s secret base to the surreal Special Zone, the reluctant allies meet the zone's mega-powerful master, Feist. What will Feist require of them? Can they successfully complete the challenge as well as their other missions and tasks for G.U.N.? What would failure mean to Shadow, who considers himself the "ultimate lifeform?" This action-packed issue co-stars Hope Kintobor and Omega, and features the first assembly of "Team Dark." It also paves the way for the next intriguing saga, which promises to bring back everyone's favorite red echidna!
32 pages, $2.50, in stores on May 27.
Well, looks like Hope is safe, and Shadow is close to the emerald he wants. These two issues seem promising.
Woo, Hope's alive! It looks like she is gonna be Omega's maintence person that he mentioned in the Ask Ian thread, woot!!
Meh. Still don't like the #200 cover.
SU is sounding better and better with each issue though.
i'm definitely more excited for the SU story than the StH one... i notice that as of late i can't get into stories that involve this new robotnik. "eggman" if you will. feel like he's been dumbed down considering his origins, being more sinister than the original robotnik
So, you haven't been able to get into any story sense #50 featuring Robotnik?
Actually, Robotnik's become just as sinister as his alternate self in recent issues. There's the Egg Fleet completely decimating Knothole and the humiliation he gave Sonic (just before Sonic went nuts on him), and just a few issues ago he admitted to Dimitri having the DEL fitted with bombs. Of course, the counter-point would be the whole Metal Sonic silliness. That sounds a lot more like classic Eggman.
I think it's important to state that he can be both malicious and off-kilter... a dangerous combination.
That's a long time to not get into the comics...
I agree with Psx, it is a dangerous and unstable combo. I think that Eggman is more sinister and malicious than the previous Robotnik personally, but that's just me. I enjoyed them both for various reasons, but I find myself enjoying Eggman more than Robotnik.
Woo, Hope's alive!
Have to admit ... Snively's answers earlier this month in Ask Ian had me worried.
Has Shadow ever said what he wanted the Emerald for? Starting to think he's just obsessed over having the Green one. 
ok robotnik hasn't been the center of the story all the way since issue #50 so no what i said is not equivalent to saying i haven't been into the comic since #50. robotnik wasn't even IN the comics from 50-75 so that doesn't even make sense. i said i don't get AS into the comic with robotnik LATELY. there is PLENTY of the comic that does not revolve around robotnik that is perfectly fine. i don't fully dislike the new robotnik. the last few months he got dumbed down with the metal sonic business. not seeing as much of his cunning since his defeat in 176. that WAS almost two years ago after all...
There's a few reasons why we haven't seen much of him since 176. The most obvious was that Scourge, the Suppression Squad, and Enerjaknuckles were running wild much closer to home for the last twenty issues or so leading to the Freedom Fighter's attention being divided, but even while that was happening the Chaotix were wearing down Robotnik's defenses both on and off panel. He probably used Metal Sonic (an incarnation of Metal Sonic closer to the game universe's current Metal Sonic thanks to events in Sonic Heroes / Sonic Rivals) because that was all he had left besides ... what was that ... Croctobot or whatever that bits and pieces thing he sent after Sonic in the 160s. Things are bad for ol' Eggman. He actually said that he doesn't have an army outside of the Dark Egg Legion and since he can use them indefinitely thanks to clever blackmail he isn't in a hurry to build another robotic army.
Robotnik was planning what he did in 175 for a long time. If Snively had not made that critical mistake in the first phase he very well could have succeeded. It might take a while for him to pull off an attack of that magnitude again thanks to having to consider significantly improved city defenses on NICOLE's part. We probably won't be seeing much from him in that way until he figures out a way to deal with NICOLE.
Maybe he can get Mammoth Mogul to snap her away again. 
I doubt many share this opinion, but I would be fine if Robotnik went down for good in 200. I mean, I know the guy is Sonic's classic, number one nemesis, but he's just annoying nowadays. Despite the somewhat impressive look of the Egg Phoenix, Snively hit the nail right on the head with his little joke. Really, I just think the guy needs to move over and Dr. Finitevus or someone else respectable take over. Finitevus would be an especially good choice: of all the Sonic villains, he's the only one who hasn't been utterly humiliated on repeated occasions.
As for Sonic Universe #4, I'm glad Archie is finally doing something with Feist. I mean, they brought the guy back after over 100 issues and made him absolute ruler of the Special Zone, and he does nothing besides give Sonic an Emerald? Shouldn't he at least be trying to take vengeance for the humiliation brought on him by Ixis Naugus or something? Sheesh.
Last issue (197) concreted the idea that Robotnik's staying around in one incarnation or another. I personally wouldn't mind this Robotnik (Eggman) getting ousted for a year or two while other villains, mainly Snively and Regina, cause chaos. It's not that I don't like Eggman. I do really enjoy how " stereotypically evil " he usually is with those occasional spikes of true villainy like we've seen in 175. He can really be delightful when he wants to be.
Had a few thoughts about the direction things could take after his downfall. I'm thinking that since Sonic is " supposed " to fight Robotnik he will begin searching Mobius for his nemesis either with or without the Council's permission. In the meantime the Freedom Fighters / Chaotix gear up for a counterattack again the new threat coming out of Robotropolis and begin yet another war. Another scenario would be along the lines of Snively and Regina waiting a while to build up their forces leading to a period of awkward peace in Mobotropolis. Sonic begins to feel antsy and decides to leave the kingdom for a while in hopes of clearing his head (that dreaded " soul searching "). When the biggest threat out of Mobotropolis leaves the two villains launch their attack leading the Freedom Fighters to go on the defensive. Either way Sonic comes back later only to find the Kingdom and Freedom Fighters seem to be getting along fine without him leading him feel like an inadequate heel.
The idea came from the prologue of Sonic Chronicles. After the " final " defeat of Eggman Sonic decided to go away for a while. He comes back after an extended period away (I'd say it's been a year or so) to find that everyone's " grown up " and away from him. A similar thing happened during " Home " even though the team inevitably came back together because they needed Sonic. This time they may not need to; they'd become quite capable of handling the current threat themselves.
Why Chronicles? Shade's supposed to be making another appearance in the comics sometime in the near future. It could or could not be a coincidence that Eggman is being set up to be ousted around the same time a character from the game he was indeed ousted in showed up.
Why would Sonic be the only one to go? Why wouldn't anyone else go with him like Tails did during the " World Tour "? Well ... Sonic seems to be having the hardest time adjusting to routine domestics out of any of the Freedom Fighters. Sally seems to be tolerating the authority of the Council and enjoying spending her time with her friends and family (not to mention that other thing that will happen sooner or later). Tails is really into his parents, especially his mother, who he seems to be speaking a lot to about certain things on a personal level. Bunnie and Antoine got hitched. Good for them. Rotor's a rather lonely guy guy on the family / social front but he's a respectable Council member. Amy has always stuck me as the type who would do well in civilized society. Given her dialogue with Rob during the Moebius arch it seems she's still lovingly close with her family.
Sonic ... not so much so. He said it was still awkward to come home to his parents and he doesn't talk with either of them much. There could be some potentially good dialogue there as seen when Jules went back and forth with the other Sonic. He still has a little " growing " to do as a character before he reaches the point where he can even tolerate being cooped up in Mobotropolis for a while. Since Sonic is the main character and he's almost always needed to stop whatever immediate threat there was there hasn't been much time for just ... Sonic oriented stories. The last time he really spent any time by himself was during " Tossed in Space " but even there he had to save -insert random planet here- from one crisis or another.
So yeah. Eggman going away for a while isn't just for his benefit. It's more about what would happen to Sonic then to him.
If/when the comic book does end, Robotnic/Eggman should be defeated for good. I wouldn't mind if Sonic goes away for awhile if the goal was that in the end, when he comes home, he will have stronger friendships/relationships with his friends and family. Sonic really needs to soul search, get a proper prespective on why he fights, and come to really appreicate his family and friends(one of them especially), as well as grow up.
The cover drawing of Sally is wrong, Wrong, WRONG!! And Tails doesn't look much better.
That would be an ideal happy ending DC though the possibility of that actually happening seems to have diminished significantly. I remember even in the original Mobius 25 Years Later he wasn't exactly content with his life. Something about a mid-life crisis. I'd have to find my comics and skim through them to refresh my memory.
(one of them especially)
He'll stop making fun of Shadow one day.
The cover drawing of Sally is wrong, Wrong, WRONG!! And Tails doesn't look much better.
If that's the case, how would you make the cover drawing of Sally right, Right, RIGHT??
