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Sonic the Hedgehog Archives #13
Sonic The Hedgehog Archives: Volume 13
It's the final showdown between good and evil as Sonic and Doctor Robotnik duke it out to the finish!
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Michael Gallagher
204 books28 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 27, 2017
Issue 49, Sonic makes a bridge from dirt from his shoe. I am trying to decide whether I think this is clever or ridiculous. Shortly after, Robotnik reveals that the King is a robot! SHOCKING! TRULY! All of this worked because Robotnik kidnapped Dr. Quack's family and blackmailed him. So... if Robotnik knew where Knothole was, why didn't he just destroy it? Whatever! Moving onto to Hersey finding out she killed Princess Sally because her Sonic suit was designed to make her see only Snivley. No comment that she thought she was killing Snivley. Bunnie and Antoine are chilling in Crockbot's jail because reasons. Dulcey flies to the floating island and... what do you know, Knuckles punches her! How shocking :l Then the skunk shows up. I hate the skunk. And... that's it? Sonic often suffers from single issues being a mishmash of STUFF rather than a story and this one is certainly a mess of different punching scenes.
And now... issue 50! Well, the director's cut version. It starts with another flashback to a much more interesting time in the Sonic universe. Do we ever learn about the Overlanders? I think I stopped reading by the time they showed up when I was a kid... Anyway, Robotnik has some green haired Overlander captured to experiment on. Dark! Also, the Overlanders don't know that Robotnik was one of their own? I am very confused over what Robotnik's reign looks like. He blasts the nameless Overlander with a new weapon and lets out an evil blast. Then, back to Sonic, Knuckles, and the skunk! Dulcey clears up the whole traitor thing and they all head back to Knothole. SO EASY. WHY DID WE NOT DO THIS THREE COMICS AGO?!?! In the village, Tails and Rotor are trying to escape to their submarines, but Drago captures them. Then it's a quick look at Antoine and Bunnie escaping Crocbot. Sonic and Co show up and everyone decides to trust Sonic again! YEAH. Mobians are dumb. Antoine and Bunnie find a convenient video explaining Robotnik's plan, then Hersey decides to take down Drago. I get that this was supposed to be the abused woman escaping, but her whole arc is confusing. How was she even hooking up with Drago when the wolf pack is usually somewhere else? Plus, the whole abused woman thing would have had some meaning if Hersey had more than two scenes... Hersey reveals to Sonic that she killed Sally, but Sonic is off to fight Robotnik. And it is an epic battle! The writers FINALLY pushed Sonic enough to be serious and throw himself into battle by destroying Knothole. Then things go BOOM and... well, I'm a bit confused, but it looked epic? Sonic is saved by his special ring, and he wakes up in Knothole's hopsital which looks quaint and not at all high tech like it did only a couple comics ago.
Now we get some explanations! Knothole is... three hours in the future. The fuck I don't even know. Dr. Quack accidentally revealed the location of Knothole with his weird dream machine. While being blackmailed, he realises that Snivley reprogrammed the giant weapon to ONLY affect Robotnik, so Dr. Quack just went along with things... Okay? Anyway, Sally is alive, but in a coma, but Sonic's love brings her back! How cute :) And everything ends fine! YEAH :D There are technically two other stories, but one just tells us more about what happened with Bunnie and Antoine, and the other is... unrelated to anything.
So! Endgame... Robotnik is dead. That's a big leap for the comics. I'm sad they killed him off before they did something interesting with him. They just seemed to be getting into a grove with what to do with him these past few issues. Overall, the story was decent. It would have been much better served setting up the various characters and plots earlier and stretching out this tale past 4 issues, but alas, forward thinking is not something that the Sonic comics do much. The different artists doing a few pages each was neat, but it added to the chaos of the narrative. However, despite its flaws, these are easily the best issues of the series so far. A lot of adventure, action, and emotion! It can be done! Let's see how badly they muck it up now :D
March 27, 2020
While I understand why they had to place the issues together in these volumes and probably couldn't plan for this ahead of time, it feels just weird to me that the Endgame arc was cut in half in-between volumes 12 and 13. The Endgame arc being issues #47-50 of Archie Sonic that ends with the destruction of Dr. Robotnik and teased the possible death of Princess Sally. So yes, if you're buying these collections based on story arcs and you recognize the image on this cover as being the climax of the Endgame arc, you will have to buy Volume 12 to get the full set-up.
Instead, this volume starts with issue #49, so this volume opens with Sonic escaping authorities by building a bridge out of the dirt he keeps in his shoe and running on it in mid-air. Then it collects issue #50, Endgame Bonus Features, Sonic Super Special #4, and Sonic Super Special #5. These are all tied to Endgame, which is all fine and good, except Issues #47 and #48, the beginning of Endgame, are in a different book entirely. Whoops.
That being said, do these stories hold up?
Well...yes and no.
I do think the Endgame arc is an exciting climax and its certainly important to the Sonic Comics history, but it also had the weird "Everyone thinks Sonic killed Sally and refuse to believe him" story arc that goes on for way too long, has strange plot devices like "oh yeah the King is actually a robot", "dragons are incapable of lying" (yeah Dulcy is a big part of the plot, anyone remember her?), and "Robotnik knows the location of Knothole but decides to leave it alone rather than destroy it".
I think I more enjoy the general idea of Endgame rather than the actual execution of it. I found myself skimming a lot of the word bubbles the first time around because something about the way these characters are written just feels...off. The things they say don't feel like natural dialogue in my head. Sonic throwing shoe dirt in mid-air in order to make a bridge is silly enough, but Sonic monologuing "Although I would've preferred less dramatic conditions!" in his head while he's doing it makes it downright obtuse.
Also, I know this comic tries its hardest to introduce tertiary Freedom Fighters into the mix and make them look cool but I just can't get excited by the Downunda Freedom Fighters and their whole story just feels like unnecessary fluff.
Also it was this collection was how I learned that Dr. Quack's children are named Hubert, Duane, and Louise. Get it? Do you get it?
Instead, this volume starts with issue #49, so this volume opens with Sonic escaping authorities by building a bridge out of the dirt he keeps in his shoe and running on it in mid-air. Then it collects issue #50, Endgame Bonus Features, Sonic Super Special #4, and Sonic Super Special #5. These are all tied to Endgame, which is all fine and good, except Issues #47 and #48, the beginning of Endgame, are in a different book entirely. Whoops.
That being said, do these stories hold up?
Well...yes and no.
I do think the Endgame arc is an exciting climax and its certainly important to the Sonic Comics history, but it also had the weird "Everyone thinks Sonic killed Sally and refuse to believe him" story arc that goes on for way too long, has strange plot devices like "oh yeah the King is actually a robot", "dragons are incapable of lying" (yeah Dulcy is a big part of the plot, anyone remember her?), and "Robotnik knows the location of Knothole but decides to leave it alone rather than destroy it".
I think I more enjoy the general idea of Endgame rather than the actual execution of it. I found myself skimming a lot of the word bubbles the first time around because something about the way these characters are written just feels...off. The things they say don't feel like natural dialogue in my head. Sonic throwing shoe dirt in mid-air in order to make a bridge is silly enough, but Sonic monologuing "Although I would've preferred less dramatic conditions!" in his head while he's doing it makes it downright obtuse.
Also, I know this comic tries its hardest to introduce tertiary Freedom Fighters into the mix and make them look cool but I just can't get excited by the Downunda Freedom Fighters and their whole story just feels like unnecessary fluff.
Also it was this collection was how I learned that Dr. Quack's children are named Hubert, Duane, and Louise. Get it? Do you get it?
April 15, 2025
A great archive. Too bad Sonic assumed that Robotnik was finished when he really wasn't...
The dramatic idea of Princess Sally dying (when she doesn't) is compelling enough until the supposed truth is revealed, leading the citizens of Mobius to believe that Sonic had killed someone when he really hadn't. Truly one for the books.
The dramatic idea of Princess Sally dying (when she doesn't) is compelling enough until the supposed truth is revealed, leading the citizens of Mobius to believe that Sonic had killed someone when he really hadn't. Truly one for the books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2025
Some extremely stupid and lazy writing here (dragons can’t tell lies an incredible piece of BS) but the extended edition of issue 50 is pretty solid action comics. I wish the art in this title was decent more often.
May 27, 2022
A solid but flawed finish to the Endgame saga.
The end to the Sonic as a fugitive story feels abrupt and contrived after otherwise being fairly well handled. Thankfully it jumps into the director's cut of issue 50 where Sonic and Robotnik have their main confrontation. This is a fantastic issue for the most part, and made my inner child very happy. It's not perfect, once again the resolution feels a little bit contrived. I wish the writers were a little better at building endings where the heroes use cleverness and skill to win, instead of constantly inventing new universe gimmicks to magically get them out of trouble. But given where this comic started this is a small complaint.
If you're not already a Sonic fan these last few volumes aren't quite good enough to change your mind, but for the fans of the blue blur these are an absolute blast.
The end to the Sonic as a fugitive story feels abrupt and contrived after otherwise being fairly well handled. Thankfully it jumps into the director's cut of issue 50 where Sonic and Robotnik have their main confrontation. This is a fantastic issue for the most part, and made my inner child very happy. It's not perfect, once again the resolution feels a little bit contrived. I wish the writers were a little better at building endings where the heroes use cleverness and skill to win, instead of constantly inventing new universe gimmicks to magically get them out of trouble. But given where this comic started this is a small complaint.
If you're not already a Sonic fan these last few volumes aren't quite good enough to change your mind, but for the fans of the blue blur these are an absolute blast.
February 20, 2011
"Endgame", the greatest story in the comic's whole series, past and present. All of the Freedom Fighters come together to battle against Robotnik's legions...and a very final showdown between Sonic and Robotnik--this story should've been in the SatAM cartoon!
June 8, 2012
Manages to be confusing, jumpy, and repetitious at the same time. Not how you'd want to plot a climax.
Want to Read
December 16, 2009Cant wait.TEEHEE!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews