To be fair, that's an aspect lifted from the SatAM cartoon, and not really an Archie original idea. But, yeah, the Archie book does have its fair share of long lost relatives, and ignorance of integral Sonic game lore, especially the longer it went on. Thankfully though, that began to change when Ian Flynn joined the fray.
One of the writers actually said the Metallix were based off the Daleks from Doctor Who. He also said that the show had been off the air long enough (at the time) that he didn't expect anyone to get it.
Lmao that’s like their equivalent to the saying that “nobody in comics ever stays dead, except the Waynes, Bucky Barnes, and Jason Todd” and how it aged. To him at that moment it was probably like an obscure, old series that really only people super ingrained in that kind of media really ever thought much of and therefore an obscure little reference few would clock but now few WOULDN’T clock it!
I prefer the Archie art that was late into the comics run (the most I can say to tell you what I mean is the post genesis Archie comics) but yeah this is totally better than Archie’s art before then.
UK viewer here who grew up with STC. Yes, they did refer to their readers as Boomers. I assume it was to do with the term "Sonic Boom", but since it pre-dated the "OK, Boomer" meme by quite a few years, it didn't sound weird to us.
@@WanderlustZero well the original 2D series was different so of course people prefer the original series, but you younger gentlemen can’t understand it because you’re going crazy from all the drugs and rapping music and promiscuous sex, that young folks are always doing, you know?
Yep and u probably also know that it matches up with the first stage of the Sonic & Knuckles cart: Mushroom Hill Zone. I think the start of the comic actually looks great
@@pinhead7422 yep I was just pointing it out, in case people might not know that there's that mushroom zone, associated with Knuckles... it's been a while since 1994 after all, lol.
The great thing about this short comic though, even though it is short and doesn't do 'that much' as you say, is it subtly sets up SO many things that were paid off. Not just the metallic brotherhood, but the role of the omni viewer in the special Zone, Nack being a traitor, emerald Hill zone folk on angel island... all going to be important if you carry on reading. Also, that gun. The fact he pulled it out of his hat as a tiny little thing and it expanded to some full size massive death machine. THAT of all things is significant 😜
Yay! The Fleetway books! If you have any questions about any of them, drop me a line, I love these things! For example, yes, Boomers was slang for readers. Richard Elson's artwork is my earliest and heaviest artistic influence, I get your thing about the jelly bean bodies but I find his work to be simply incredible and he was on the book practically start to finish. I've met him at some UK conventions and he's an incredibly nice guy too! Comics with four short five to seven page stories are pretty normal in the UK, it's the 2000AD model. Just how we've done comics for a long time. What's weird is the Emerald Hill folk living on the Floating Island is something that wouldn't come to a head until the run up to issue 100, and they sowed the seeds for that this early. Zordon's actually pretty accurate. Your reaction to the outright strangling got me belly laughing. The Metallix are like goddamn Terminators in this continuity.
Sad thing is, as a 30 something fan of Sonic... I kind of am a sonic boomer (even though I'm actually a part of Gen X since 'boomer' is reference to baby boomer, aka my parents, but whatever)
While I've DEVOURED Archie and all its Spin-Offs, I've yet to read a single issue of the UK version (though it is on my lifes to-do-list). So this is certainly going to be...new.
This version of the Chaotix seems more in line with their characterization from Sonic Heroes, Vector the leader, Charmy the annoying youngster, and Espio the stoic but powerful warrior. As much of an OG expert on the Sonic franchise as I am I have to admit Fleetway's STC is the one corner of the franchise I know almost nothing about.
This comic was my childhood. I collected every issues, read and reread every story and for me it expanded the world of sonic outside of the games so well. This story (along with his own special issue) nailed Knuckles as my favourite character.
Me, disagreeing with your comment but also seeing that you're at 68 likes: *"I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it"*
Man, talk trash but the fleetway version of the Chaotix got most of their personalities pretty spot on from Vector the leader, Mighty the aggressive hot head, to Charmy the Charmy. Gotta respect being ahead of the curve, especially in comparison to Vector the “jive talker”.
Mighty is not even part of the chaotix. He is just a peaceloving dude traveling places and he came across the conflict by pure chance and decided to help.
@@devaunbeats Making him evil makes sense when chaos isn't exactly a positive trait. It implies utter mayhem and destruction and that's what Super Sonic is, especially in the game when he's super hard to control and decimates every enemy he comes in to contact with
In a perfect Sonic universe where it combines bits and pieces of the different lore across the media, Fleetway Super Sonic would be the embodiment of his less pleasant side and Werehog Sonic being the embodiment of his bottled up anger.
I grew up reading Sonic The Comic. The quality varied wildly from story to story, but as a rule of thumb, Anything written by Nigel Kitching and Illustrated by either Richard Elson or Nigel Dobbyn was absolute gold.
As someone who’s read both Archie and StC, I can say that in terms of earlier game adaptations, StC seems to do a better job. From Sonic Adventure and onwards Archie will take the cake with adaptations (mostly by default considering StC didn’t get past SA). However, the rest of StC is an absolute drug trip
Man, it’s weird to hear the other side of the story, because STC was all I had for lore as a kid. Knuckles in my head has always been wearing a necklace.
It wasn't until recently, (after watching DiamondBolt review Transformer Comics) I realised that the UK would get different versions of comics than other regions. I suppose it makes sense as things were very analogue then, no digital creation of comics which can be transferred to printers.
Nice to see someone covering the comics of my youth! I have some info on some of this if it helps? • When we were first introduced to Metallix (Metal Sonic) he was literally called 'The Sonic Terminator' on the front cover (maybe it was the title of the story too? This was decades ago) so that's why he's often seen as an unstoppable badass with few voice lines • I think the Metallix Emperor was more closely based on the Master Mold Sentinel from X-Men comics, the red was probably a nod to the Chaotix boss though • STC was 'presented' by a character called Megadroid, a robot created out of bits of old Mega Drives (Genesis) who loved the comic. He called readers 'Boomers' and yeah I guess maybe it was because of a sonic boom! I never put that together as a kid. He used to call humans 'Humes' too • The 'Chaotix Crew' turn up quite a few more times during the main casts adventures. At one point it's revealed that Charmy is a Prince - maybe it was some outlandish royal party he was thinking of? But they were always treated as sort of goofy backup as far as I recall, never anything to take too seriously • Nack's shrinking gun, and the technology behind it actually comes up in a future story as I recall... I understand how reading something like this might be jarring if you played the game, but at the time of it's release, NO-ONE I knew could afford the 32X - for the longest time I had to go around to a friends house to even play a Mega Drive - so this is the only way we got to experience the story, and in hindsight I'm super glad we got STC and not Archie. I'm sure the latter is fine if you grew up with it, but looking back on that stuff makes for bizarre reading indeed! And I'll always be a fan of Richard Elson's work - what it had over many of the other artists work at the time was consistency - the Sonic designs and the STC specific designs might have all been weird, but at least they looked like they belonged together, in the same world. Aside from the fact that everyone from the games is naked of course...
Yes mega-droid, who was a sentient mega-drive, called us boomers. Not entirely sure why but was super cool. he was the person doing the calls to other comic books for references normally the yellow bars and would say what’s coming up in the next issues and fan art work.
STC is probably my ask time favorite comic, I followed it from issue 1 all the way until the end of the main run, it’s such a shame it just became re-runs, Richard Elson’s art is fantastic and the universe is that Nigel Kitching created was amazing I remember the Epic issue 100 (arguably its peak) I can’t wait to see you read more. Where did you read these if you don’t mind me asking, I would love to read this series again
Personally, I don't think there's ever been a better artist to tackle the Sonic universe than Richard Elson between the Sonic & Knuckles stories and the Sonic 3D period.
@Stop yeh I’ve read so those, they’re very good, I answered my own question here’s a link to an archive for anyone who wants it: read.ukprintarchive.com/Egmont%20Fleetway/Licensed%20Comics/Sonic%20The%20Comic/Sonic%20The%20Comic/
I was addicted to this comic as a kid, always got excited when it was posted through my door. This video has brought back some memories! Accidentally left them all in my old loft when I moved out, but glad to see they live on in digital form.
This was great seeing you read through this, it's amazing how much I remember. I look forward to seeing more of your reactions to the Fleetway interpretations. Their interpretation of the Insta-shield from Sonic 3 was interesting to say the least!
This started the Brotherhood of Metallix arc which was utterly incredible, one of the best arcs in the comic Kitchin and Elson were one hell of a dream team
Awesome recap, brought some of my childhood back. There is also a 'casino on angel island' ark in the fleetway comics which I swear was also taken from the games - if you have time it is also worth checking out. If for no other reason Mario (lookalike) features! Either way, great to see a comparison with fresh eyes
Knuckles looks upon the master emerald in its rightful resting place, then travels around Angel Island to check up on its inhabitants and explore, eventually uncovering an ancient relic that takes him to an unusual world. That’s literally just the Knuckles prologue short for Sonic Frontiers!
I’ve got to say the differences between these comics, Archie And the IDW comics, Something that really interests me. I’ve only recently just found your channel and I have been watching so much of the sonic speed reading, Game apologist for the classic games, And your humour is just so good! Can’t wait for more
You know it would’ve been cool if the characters and elements from Sonic the Comic appeared in the Archie Sonic comics. Maybe the whole ordeal with Naugus in the throne and Mecha Sally causes Sonic’s mood to sour and he starts acting a bit like his STC counterpart, Tekno the Canary is a mechanic who wanted to work with the Battle Bird Armada only to be rejected, leading her to join the Freedom Fighters for revenge, Shortfuse being reimagined as Shorty the former Robian who was banished by the Sand Blast Freedom fighters and has stolen a robot suit from Eggman and fights to save his family who protested his banishment, Porker Lewis and Johnny Lightfoot being appointed as sort of police by Naugus who go on the run after learning of Naugus’s plans, the Drakon Empire being an underwater civilization who had kidnapped a chunk of the Devil Dog population and evolved them to use as slaves maybe seeing Thrash and emotionally breaking him by turning him into a Devil Dog, maybe Thrash is forced to work with Knuckles when he and his people are also kidnapped and subjected to the same thing.
one of the artists sneaked tekno the canary into one of mina mongooses concerts and sega america were furious they hated the uk continuity as much as japan seemed to hate the archie one
0:56 Sparkster? I loved Rocket Knight Adventures. I was always surprised that series didn't take off better. It seemed almost tailor-made for a cartoon or comic adaptation. Maybe that's because the plot was essentially Star Wars, though. Still, fun game with an awesome soundtrack. Oh, and my apologies that this comment isn't about Sonic.
This was one of the first storys i ever read after i started getting these, i was frigging hooked, i loved the art style and storys And yeah, we didnt really have a comics code authority over here so a lot of comics here got away with some shit under the radar, Its why we have 2000AD and VIZ lol Also, that comics format (magazine) is pretty standard here and could be just as wierd to americans as your format is to me so im glad you mentioned it just in case anyone wants to read them
UK Sonic fan here! Grew up with these comics and seeing an American's take on these stories is a joy to see. I'm hoping you do more in the future! Our crazy evil Super Sonic awaits you in a future video I'm sure 😉
One thing to note is the publication dates. STC's 'adaptation' was released the month after the game reached Europe (May 95 for the game, June 95 for the comic), compared to the US game release of March 95 with the comic taking all the way until November 95. With the usual kind of writing, art and printing lead times, STC has probably yet to even play the game when they started putting things together. I also doubt they got a whole ton of info directly from Sega outside of a fairly typical press release pack of assets to reference the characters (when the guy who wrote two of the four UK Sonic novels was interviewed, he revealed that about the extent of the support given was being told to "Read a copy of Stay Sonic", and everything else was just based on the games and manuals). That would go a ways to the essentially unrelated story, lack of Heavy and Bomb, as well as integrating Nack. Triple Trouble was still relatively new, with the Chaotix arc starting more or less as soon as the Sonic & Knuckles one wrapped up. I always considered it a fun point that the original Metallix, the actual Metal Sonic of the CD arc, was never actually beaten in the comic. It had to be erased from time with iffy (and cheaty) time travel shenanigans. They did the metal boi pretty good really.
I like that the Chaotix was actually trying to kill Knuckles like he's a real threat. To many times guardian forces in stories all they do is drive out bad guys as if they wont try again to get back in or get the thing they are protecting. I can't help but think of charmy with a stereotypical cockney accent in this comic.
Man... Imagine that this betrayal by Nack is a starting point for a battle between him and the Chaotix. More than one Metal Sonic? A boss battle between Los chaotix and Nack and perhaps some other rival? Maybe bring Bean and Bark... (Sonic Championship) I LOVE IT! This gives you an idea of what Knuckles Chaotix (32x) would have been if only it had been more worked out.
Please talk about more fleetway stuff! I love this comic! Also for anyone interested in this comic you should check out Sonic The Comic The Podcast! It's a great listen
it was covered in a later issue but when mighty and vector used the tether rings to swing on the little planet chain to kill a metallix, it was raw as hell
Man, I loved this comic as a kid. Had it on subscription for years. I never cared for the apparent story in the games. Heck, never even realised they had a story in them. But this comic really turned Sonic into something as epic as Star Wars for me (which was great, as I didnt like Star Wars all that much).
Ah now THIS is my sonic comic! loved the darker parts, metal sonic being written like doctor whos daleks insane super sonic. amys girlfriend tekno and so much much more. and yeah omni viewer is pretty much the guardian of the special zone. god i cannot wait til you do more of this series it totally blends the games in a much better way than archie did
Growing up with Archie and reading it for the 20+ years it was around, I had always heard about the Fleetway comic, but never bothered to check it out. The artwork (from this story at least) looked really good for the most part and the personalities of the characters seemed vastly different from the ones I'm used to from Archie. Definitely going to try to check out more of it now. Thanks for the video.
Sorry I'm late, but great video as always! I think I may prefer Fleetway over Archie but I'm still not sure. Also I love it whenever Espio freaking strangles Knuckles lol!
Something I really liked about Fleetway, I've gotta admit, was how often times, the artwork was pretty close to the Classic games, and was overall more consistent in quality than the Archie comics were in its early issues. But even with that said, man oh man, those Modern Sonic designs towards the end of the series (17:14) were just weeeeird. Not a huge fan myself.
I always thought the concept of them as guardians of the special zone and using Nack as a fake member who betrays them was pretty rad.
Cooler than detectives.
Hi dad
Its him
The cross-over I never expected.
@@GameApologist makes you wonder why Mighty Left the team.
Fleetway: actually references aspects of the Sonic video games
Archie: what if Sonic had an uncle?
Writing Sonic as a guy with no parental figures would be harder I guess(?)
@@driveasandwich6734 that's actually a good point. Sonic has never really had someone to learn from or look up too.
To be fair, that's an aspect lifted from the SatAM cartoon, and not really an Archie original idea.
But, yeah, the Archie book does have its fair share of long lost relatives, and ignorance of integral Sonic game lore, especially the longer it went on. Thankfully though, that began to change when Ian Flynn joined the fray.
@Ethan Kellerman It can't be both though. Either it was poorly written before Flynn or Penders had some great ideas.
@@PCFROMVCS I don't think it's necessary for sonic's character tho
I love how Nick's immediate response upon seeing Knuckles being strangled by Espio is to burst out in laughter. (I mean, I did too.)
I laughed so hard at that panel. It's so shockingly intense looking, you can't help but laugh.
Why did I think of knuckles with a choking kink
Espio is taking any chances
So what we learned today: We British are a very volatile people.
bobux
I agree with both if you especially on the bobux part
My brain is *THE SPECIAL ZONE*
ha
Can you share your tickets to *THE SPECIAL ZONE* please, I wanna go there too
Hmm so when u close ur eyes, u imagine thousands of shining jewels, this actually might be a great idea
One of the writers actually said the Metallix were based off the Daleks from Doctor Who.
He also said that the show had been off the air long enough (at the time) that he didn't expect anyone to get it.
So that’s why they have the red death lasers
Lmao that’s like their equivalent to the saying that “nobody in comics ever stays dead, except the Waynes, Bucky Barnes, and Jason Todd” and how it aged. To him at that moment it was probably like an obscure, old series that really only people super ingrained in that kind of media really ever thought much of and therefore an obscure little reference few would clock but now few WOULDN’T clock it!
6:50 Ah yes, I remember Espio’s secret ability, having someone at choke point 😂
Espio aka, the Nina, the silent assail, the choke a bitch
I always forget how incredible the art quality in STC was. Most of the time it surpassed archie's art standards.
It is more consistent than the archie that for sure
I prefer the Archie art that was late into the comics run (the most I can say to tell you what I mean is the post genesis Archie comics) but yeah this is totally better than Archie’s art before then.
@@Unifoseum fleetway was better early on while the Archie got better later on.
A L L A C C O R D I N G T O P L A N .
- Every robot villain ever.
Sega...where was espio’s choke ability in Sonic Heroes? This better be added in a Sonic heroes remake/remaster/port
So true,but it would look weird to play with a choking chameleon
@@vesh1093 that’s the point though
@@makotoyuki345 That would be cool ,your right
More to the point, where was it in Tails Gets Trolled? T.T
Same with team hooligans
It looks like every single member of the chaotix could break your spine, even Charmy
Especially Charmy
@@I_was_a_Bullfrogbut ESPECIALLY Vector
yeah...this is ALOT better than the Archie adaptation.
yeah!... wait
Impostor
Lot better than the adaption of you too LOL
You said it
I should find this in my library.
UK viewer here who grew up with STC. Yes, they did refer to their readers as Boomers. I assume it was to do with the term "Sonic Boom", but since it pre-dated the "OK, Boomer" meme by quite a few years, it didn't sound weird to us.
Yep I think "Ok, boomer" only started in the last year or two...
Sonic fans: 'I hate this game because x'
Okay boomers
@@WanderlustZero well the original 2D series was different so of course people prefer the original series, but you younger gentlemen can’t understand it because you’re going crazy from all the drugs and rapping music and promiscuous sex, that young folks are always doing, you know?
@@JamesChessman lol what?
@Andres Quiles yes, most likely because I watch every Sonic The Comic Reviews video! 🙂
Knuckles hops into a Mario pipe and is transported to a land of mushrooms? That fits really well lmao
Yep and u probably also know that it matches up with the first stage of the Sonic & Knuckles cart: Mushroom Hill Zone. I think the start of the comic actually looks great
@@JamesChessman Bruh, I'm not an uncultured swine. I've played the games, I know it was Mushroom Hill Zone, just making a simple Mario joke.
I think the idea came from the Knuckles-only route in Lava Reef 2.
@@pinhead7422 yep I was just pointing it out, in case people might not know that there's that mushroom zone, associated with Knuckles... it's been a while since 1994 after all, lol.
@@JamesChessman Oh okay, just thought you were being sarcastic or something lol
The great thing about this short comic though, even though it is short and doesn't do 'that much' as you say, is it subtly sets up SO many things that were paid off. Not just the metallic brotherhood, but the role of the omni viewer in the special Zone, Nack being a traitor, emerald Hill zone folk on angel island... all going to be important if you carry on reading.
Also, that gun. The fact he pulled it out of his hat as a tiny little thing and it expanded to some full size massive death machine.
THAT of all things is significant 😜
You could’ve just went,
_“Looks like knuckles found the computer room!”_
Vector is happy about it
"Flippin' heck!!" was the go-to placeholder way of swearing in 90s kids media from the UK.
That panel had a real Beano feel to it, not gonna lie
When I was british, I’d say „what the snog“? or „dasnogg?!“ all the time🇬🇧
Yay! The Fleetway books! If you have any questions about any of them, drop me a line, I love these things! For example, yes, Boomers was slang for readers. Richard Elson's artwork is my earliest and heaviest artistic influence, I get your thing about the jelly bean bodies but I find his work to be simply incredible and he was on the book practically start to finish. I've met him at some UK conventions and he's an incredibly nice guy too! Comics with four short five to seven page stories are pretty normal in the UK, it's the 2000AD model. Just how we've done comics for a long time. What's weird is the Emerald Hill folk living on the Floating Island is something that wouldn't come to a head until the run up to issue 100, and they sowed the seeds for that this early. Zordon's actually pretty accurate. Your reaction to the outright strangling got me belly laughing. The Metallix are like goddamn Terminators in this continuity.
Thank you for that info, this was a lot of fun to do. I'm really looking forward to checking out more of it!
Coincidentally Richard Elson was also one of the main artists on 2000 AD for a number of years .
Disappointed the video didn't end with "TOOT TOOT Sonic Boomers".
It started off with that intent, then drastically veered into Charmy noises.
@@GameApologist lol
@@GameApologist beee beeee biiiiiiiiiiiii charmy biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
@@GameApologist I would have done the same
Sad thing is, as a 30 something fan of Sonic... I kind of am a sonic boomer (even though I'm actually a part of Gen X since 'boomer' is reference to baby boomer, aka my parents, but whatever)
While I've DEVOURED Archie and all its Spin-Offs, I've yet to read a single issue of the UK version (though it is on my lifes to-do-list).
So this is certainly going to be...new.
It's actually pretty damn good, as someone who read through all of it fairly recently
As someone who grew up with STC...this is a brilliant read and better than Archie's version in my opinion.
I always heard Fleetway was goofy and weird compared to Archie but this actually seems rad? Thanks for the video, Nick. This was fun to see.
Richard Elson's artwork was godly during this era.
I like to think of his Kingdom (from 2000AD) as a hardcore evolution of the Sonic world.
This version of the Chaotix seems more in line with their characterization from Sonic Heroes, Vector the leader, Charmy the annoying youngster, and Espio the stoic but powerful warrior. As much of an OG expert on the Sonic franchise as I am I have to admit Fleetway's STC is the one corner of the franchise I know almost nothing about.
This comic was my childhood. I collected every issues, read and reread every story and for me it expanded the world of sonic outside of the games so well. This story (along with his own special issue) nailed Knuckles as my favourite character.
Me too. Imagine my annoyance when my local asda stopped selling it the same week as super sonic explosion!
@@SageNoodleVT Damn mate. That sucks
If "Toot toot Toodly-Doo" doesn't become the ending lines for videos from here on, I'll be upset lol
Me, disagreeing with your comment but also seeing that you're at 68 likes: *"I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it"*
Man, talk trash but the fleetway version of the Chaotix got most of their personalities pretty spot on from Vector the leader, Mighty the aggressive hot head, to Charmy the Charmy.
Gotta respect being ahead of the curve, especially in comparison to Vector the “jive talker”.
...Mighty isnt a hothead tho. Quite the opposite.
@@chalkfourtyfive
Yeah exactly
Mighty is not even part of the chaotix. He is just a peaceloving dude traveling places and he came across the conflict by pure chance and decided to help.
“Charmy the Charmy” I am dying lol 😂
If I'm being real, this comic was far better then the Archie comics.
@@devaunbeats Making him evil makes sense when chaos isn't exactly a positive trait. It implies utter mayhem and destruction and that's what Super Sonic is, especially in the game when he's super hard to control and decimates every enemy he comes in to contact with
In a perfect Sonic universe where it combines bits and pieces of the different lore across the media, Fleetway Super Sonic would be the embodiment of his less pleasant side and Werehog Sonic being the embodiment of his bottled up anger.
@@rayvenkman2087 Werehog Sonic was a result of Dark Gaia energy. Sonic still had complete control in that form.
Everyone: SHUT UP CHARMEE
_Dude, I'm a crocodile!_
That was so hecking funny to me somehow
I grew up reading Sonic The Comic. The quality varied wildly from story to story, but as a rule of thumb, Anything written by Nigel Kitching and Illustrated by either Richard Elson or Nigel Dobbyn was absolute gold.
kitching somehow managed to make an amazing decap attack serial. i only know it still exists cause of the serial
As someone who’s read both Archie and StC, I can say that in terms of earlier game adaptations, StC seems to do a better job. From Sonic Adventure and onwards Archie will take the cake with adaptations (mostly by default considering StC didn’t get past SA). However, the rest of StC is an absolute drug trip
Man, it’s weird to hear the other side of the story, because STC was all I had for lore as a kid. Knuckles in my head has always been wearing a necklace.
Lol. I always thought that little crescent on his chest was weird.. like it’s not like Sonic’s circle, or tails shadow and silvers fur..
'Sonic The Comic' is still my favourite official piece of non-game media in the franchise.
“These animals are packing all kinds of heat”. Phrasing! Think about what fandom you are talking about.
The Archie chaotix got way better under flynn. I hope you’ll cover the “rescuing Matilda” arc!
As much as I always hated the fleetway designs, this video really helped me appreciate the quality and work they put into the art.
Same.
Can we talk about Vector's bizarre shoulder holes? Are they...part of him? Is he wearing a vest or something?
Maybe he's wearing the skin of another crocodile
Right when I heard the Sonic boomers, I waited to hear: "Toot toot Sonic boomers."
I love how much this guy loves making these videos. Keep it up, guy 👌🏻
When I clicked on this video I got an ad with the first words of “Reading is to your mind what exercise is to your body.”
Aka my favorite interpretation of the Chaotix.
I always found it off putting that Knuckles Nikes’ symbol on his chest is an actual neckless instead of some special chestfur.
If I remember correctly the omni viewer is their interpretation of the player.
Metallix were basically Daleks.
It wasn't until recently, (after watching DiamondBolt review Transformer Comics) I realised that the UK would get different versions of comics than other regions. I suppose it makes sense as things were very analogue then, no digital creation of comics which can be transferred to printers.
17:17 Oh God, modern Tails literally has a big brain here!
It's weird that the omniviewer is actualy really closely involved with how robotnik was able to takeover the world in this continuity.
Nice to see someone covering the comics of my youth! I have some info on some of this if it helps?
• When we were first introduced to Metallix (Metal Sonic) he was literally called 'The Sonic Terminator' on the front cover (maybe it was the title of the story too? This was decades ago) so that's why he's often seen as an unstoppable badass with few voice lines
• I think the Metallix Emperor was more closely based on the Master Mold Sentinel from X-Men comics, the red was probably a nod to the Chaotix boss though
• STC was 'presented' by a character called Megadroid, a robot created out of bits of old Mega Drives (Genesis) who loved the comic. He called readers 'Boomers' and yeah I guess maybe it was because of a sonic boom! I never put that together as a kid. He used to call humans 'Humes' too
• The 'Chaotix Crew' turn up quite a few more times during the main casts adventures. At one point it's revealed that Charmy is a Prince - maybe it was some outlandish royal party he was thinking of? But they were always treated as sort of goofy backup as far as I recall, never anything to take too seriously
• Nack's shrinking gun, and the technology behind it actually comes up in a future story as I recall...
I understand how reading something like this might be jarring if you played the game, but at the time of it's release, NO-ONE I knew could afford the 32X - for the longest time I had to go around to a friends house to even play a Mega Drive - so this is the only way we got to experience the story, and in hindsight I'm super glad we got STC and not Archie. I'm sure the latter is fine if you grew up with it, but looking back on that stuff makes for bizarre reading indeed! And I'll always be a fan of Richard Elson's work - what it had over many of the other artists work at the time was consistency - the Sonic designs and the STC specific designs might have all been weird, but at least they looked like they belonged together, in the same world. Aside from the fact that everyone from the games is naked of course...
I always felt this way about the Master Mold inspiration too.
The Metalix in STC are basically Daleks from Doctor Who, just some info for future videos
The Fleetway comics have the best version of Amy IMO. I love that her “romance” with sonic is just her annoying him by calling herself his girlfriend.
Yes mega-droid, who was a sentient mega-drive, called us boomers. Not entirely sure why but was super cool. he was the person doing the calls to other comic books for references normally the yellow bars and would say what’s coming up in the next issues and fan art work.
STC is probably my ask time favorite comic, I followed it from issue 1 all the way until the end of the main run, it’s such a shame it just became re-runs, Richard Elson’s art is fantastic and the universe is that Nigel Kitching created was amazing I remember the Epic issue 100 (arguably its peak) I can’t wait to see you read more. Where did you read these if you don’t mind me asking, I would love to read this series again
Personally, I don't think there's ever been a better artist to tackle the Sonic universe than Richard Elson between the Sonic & Knuckles stories and the Sonic 3D period.
@Stop yeh I’ve read so those, they’re very good, I answered my own question here’s a link to an archive for anyone who wants it:
read.ukprintarchive.com/Egmont%20Fleetway/Licensed%20Comics/Sonic%20The%20Comic/Sonic%20The%20Comic/
@@wattage84 Amazing, thanks!! I picked it up with issue 5 and stuck with it until just passed issue 100. Be great to fill in some of the gaps :-)
@@nickporter4279 I feel Nigel D also did some quality stuff
still teasing with the Knuckles Chaotix review
This is the second time I was like "Damn it, it's just another comic."
I was addicted to this comic as a kid, always got excited when it was posted through my door. This video has brought back some memories! Accidentally left them all in my old loft when I moved out, but glad to see they live on in digital form.
Well there is a whole podcast about it called Sonic the Comic the Podcast by David and Chris.
Again, another awesome and in-depth Sonic video from Game Apologist, nice work!
This was great seeing you read through this, it's amazing how much I remember. I look forward to seeing more of your reactions to the Fleetway interpretations. Their interpretation of the Insta-shield from Sonic 3 was interesting to say the least!
Impossible, OmniViewer shows up, and yet not once does he mention his book "Operation Red Dragon: The Daikaiju wars Part 1"
This is gold
It sounds like you had a lot of fun making this video. XD
This started the Brotherhood of Metallix arc which was utterly incredible, one of the best arcs in the comic
Kitchin and Elson were one hell of a dream team
Awesome recap, brought some of my childhood back. There is also a 'casino on angel island' ark in the fleetway comics which I swear was also taken from the games - if you have time it is also worth checking out. If for no other reason Mario (lookalike) features! Either way, great to see a comparison with fresh eyes
Knuckles looks upon the master emerald in its rightful resting place, then travels around Angel Island to check up on its inhabitants and explore, eventually uncovering an ancient relic that takes him to an unusual world.
That’s literally just the Knuckles prologue short for Sonic Frontiers!
I’ve got to say the differences between these comics, Archie And the IDW comics, Something that really interests me.
I’ve only recently just found your channel and I have been watching so much of the sonic speed reading, Game apologist for the classic games, And your humour is just so good!
Can’t wait for more
You know it would’ve been cool if the characters and elements from Sonic the Comic appeared in the Archie Sonic comics.
Maybe the whole ordeal with Naugus in the throne and Mecha Sally causes Sonic’s mood to sour and he starts acting a bit like his STC counterpart, Tekno the Canary is a mechanic who wanted to work with the Battle Bird Armada only to be rejected, leading her to join the Freedom Fighters for revenge, Shortfuse being reimagined as Shorty the former Robian who was banished by the Sand Blast Freedom fighters and has stolen a robot suit from Eggman and fights to save his family who protested his banishment, Porker Lewis and Johnny Lightfoot being appointed as sort of police by Naugus who go on the run after learning of Naugus’s plans, the Drakon Empire being an underwater civilization who had kidnapped a chunk of the Devil Dog population and evolved them to use as slaves maybe seeing Thrash and emotionally breaking him by turning him into a Devil Dog, maybe Thrash is forced to work with Knuckles when he and his people are also kidnapped and subjected to the same thing.
one of the artists sneaked tekno the canary into one of mina mongooses concerts and sega america were furious they hated the uk continuity as much as japan seemed to hate the archie one
0:56 Sparkster? I loved Rocket Knight Adventures. I was always surprised that series didn't take off better. It seemed almost tailor-made for a cartoon or comic adaptation. Maybe that's because the plot was essentially Star Wars, though. Still, fun game with an awesome soundtrack. Oh, and my apologies that this comment isn't about Sonic.
sadly the sparkster strip was based on the second game and not the frankly great first one
I woke up to this video, and I have to say, I like this interpretation of the Chaotix story! Thanks for another great video, Knickles!
Great video man! Reminded me of my childhood, keep up the good work 👍🏻
This was one of the first storys i ever read after i started getting these, i was frigging hooked, i loved the art style and storys
And yeah, we didnt really have a comics code authority over here so a lot of comics here got away with some shit under the radar, Its why we have 2000AD and VIZ lol
Also, that comics format (magazine) is pretty standard here and could be just as wierd to americans as your format is to me so im glad you mentioned it just in case anyone wants to read them
I love how wild any version of the sonic comics get at time. Knuckles with a glock and espio trying to strangle knuckels is so funny out of context
UK Sonic fan here! Grew up with these comics and seeing an American's take on these stories is a joy to see. I'm hoping you do more in the future! Our crazy evil Super Sonic awaits you in a future video I'm sure 😉
I found Sonic had special one issue comic in France called Sonic Adventures. Might want to check it out.
You're so damn productive! I like your workflow :D
As a UK listener I greatly appreciate you covering Sonic The Comic (STC/Fleetway).....loved your Sally video too btw.
SANIC THE CAMIC
Excellent vid B.T.W. Oh! And keep up the good work Game Apologist. 👍👍
16:25 I’m sensing Doctor Who, Emperor Of The Daleks, Evil of the Daleks vibes here
One thing to note is the publication dates. STC's 'adaptation' was released the month after the game reached Europe (May 95 for the game, June 95 for the comic), compared to the US game release of March 95 with the comic taking all the way until November 95.
With the usual kind of writing, art and printing lead times, STC has probably yet to even play the game when they started putting things together. I also doubt they got a whole ton of info directly from Sega outside of a fairly typical press release pack of assets to reference the characters (when the guy who wrote two of the four UK Sonic novels was interviewed, he revealed that about the extent of the support given was being told to "Read a copy of Stay Sonic", and everything else was just based on the games and manuals).
That would go a ways to the essentially unrelated story, lack of Heavy and Bomb, as well as integrating Nack.
Triple Trouble was still relatively new, with the Chaotix arc starting more or less as soon as the Sonic & Knuckles one wrapped up.
I always considered it a fun point that the original Metallix, the actual Metal Sonic of the CD arc, was never actually beaten in the comic.
It had to be erased from time with iffy (and cheaty) time travel shenanigans. They did the metal boi pretty good really.
I like that the Chaotix was actually trying to kill Knuckles like he's a real threat. To many times guardian forces in stories all they do is drive out bad guys as if they wont try again to get back in or get the thing they are protecting. I can't help but think of charmy with a stereotypical cockney accent in this comic.
Damn the uk comics had good art
It was mixed. There were some awesome artists and some really slapdash ones.
now this is what i was waiting for mate. this is my childhood, right here.
Im actually loving this chaotix series of videos
Man... Imagine that this betrayal by Nack is a starting point for a battle between him and the Chaotix.
More than one Metal Sonic? A boss battle between Los chaotix and Nack and perhaps some other rival? Maybe bring Bean and Bark... (Sonic Championship) I LOVE IT!
This gives you an idea of what Knuckles Chaotix (32x) would have been if only it had been more worked out.
Wtf is this, I love it
This is my favourite art style for the classic versions of the characters tied with Tysson Hesque's
I forgot STC even had the chaotix
tbh same
How? Some of the best storylines in the entire comic feature the Chaotix .
@@IcyWind14 i know i just don't look at stc all that much
Please talk about more fleetway stuff! I love this comic!
Also for anyone interested in this comic you should check out Sonic The Comic The Podcast! It's a great listen
it was covered in a later issue but when mighty and vector used the tether rings to swing on the little planet chain to kill a metallix, it was raw as hell
Man, I loved this comic as a kid. Had it on subscription for years. I never cared for the apparent story in the games. Heck, never even realised they had a story in them. But this comic really turned Sonic into something as epic as Star Wars for me (which was great, as I didnt like Star Wars all that much).
Ah now THIS is my sonic comic! loved the darker parts, metal sonic being written like doctor whos daleks insane super sonic. amys girlfriend tekno and so much much more. and yeah omni viewer is pretty much the guardian of the special zone. god i cannot wait til you do more of this series it totally blends the games in a much better way than archie did
Knuckles : Enters special zone
Screen face : *Ah so you have chosen DEATH* Sends out Chaotix
yooo? im that early??? i only watched one of your videos and i absolutely LOVED IT, might subscribe :)
I grew up with Sonic the Comic, this is giving me serious nostalgia!
Growing up with Archie and reading it for the 20+ years it was around, I had always heard about the Fleetway comic, but never bothered to check it out. The artwork (from this story at least) looked really good for the most part and the personalities of the characters seemed vastly different from the ones I'm used to from Archie. Definitely going to try to check out more of it now. Thanks for the video.
Zazz: *gets his shit rocked by Espio*
Knuckles: First time, huh?
I wished you talked about Sonic the comic online since it's really well done
I've never read Fleetway Sonic Comics, but this honestly gets me interested.
Sorry I'm late, but great video as always! I think I may prefer Fleetway over Archie but I'm still not sure. Also I love it whenever Espio freaking strangles Knuckles lol!
To be fair, Knuckles did thtoe the iron bar into the engine of Metal Sonic, so that's probably the reason why he got destroyed in one shot.
The STC version of Chaotix is basically the A-Team.
Something I really liked about Fleetway, I've gotta admit, was how often times, the artwork was pretty close to the Classic games, and was overall more consistent in quality than the Archie comics were in its early issues. But even with that said, man oh man, those Modern Sonic designs towards the end of the series (17:14) were just weeeeird. Not a huge fan myself.
Your laughing and impressions of the characters just made me lose my shit xd