Sonic Blast Special #1
["Official Sega Game Adaptation!"]
     Once again, Spaziante favors us with a haunted cover.  In
this case, the ghost in question is Tails, who shows up
transparently on the left-hand side for no apparent reason.  In
fact, on the copy of the cover that appears in the ad opposite
the first "Find Your Name In Print" page, the image of Tails
doesn't show up at all!  The technique didn't help the Mecha
Madness cover and here, while intended to balance the composition
and give it some symmetry, it's simply a confusing add-on.  I
like the faux-reliefs of the Flickies, though.
     "Sonic Blast"
     Story: Mike Gallagher/Art: Art Mawhinney
     Snively, still smarting from having been stripped of the key
to the executive washroom at the end of "The Death Egg Saga",
deliberately sabotages a transmission from Robotnik to make sure
that the Knothole gang can eavesdrop.  While Tails and Rotor head
for their respective submersibles, Sally takes the overland route
and arrives at the "harbor" first.  There, in a VERY nice 2-page 
drawing, Sonic is supposed to be kicking back and drowning worms. 
Instead, he admits to being miffed at Sally for changing her
story about her and Knuckles between "Triple Trouble" and "Mecha
Madness".  Freddy's editorial box could also have mentioned the
version in "Black and Blue and Red All Over" (#44) and gone on to
say: "Yeah, I know it's a plot inconsistency.  Hey,  we're making
this up as we go!  You rugrats got a problem with that?"  Anyway,
Mawhinney then favors us with a GREAT close-up sequence while
Gallagher shows that HE knows something about quoting from
movies, too.  The quote from Bogie and Bacall's "To Have And Have
Not" feels kinda forced, but goes extremely well with the extreme
close-up.  OK, multiple choice time:
     During the close-up Princess Sally is:
          A. Bending over Sonic
          B. Sitting next to Sonic
          C. Kneeling next to Sonic
          D. Straddling Sonic
[Note to Ken Penders: You've wondered out loud why nobody
commented on the third to last panel of "Last Game Cartridge
Hero", wondering if maybe you had been too subtle.  You have to
realize that Sonic fans are of two minds on this matter: either
they don't want to deal with "mush" or (as in the conclusion of
the "Doomsday Project" episode) they want to see Sonic and Sally
engaged in some serious tongue-wrestling!  Unless it's going to
go somewhere and build to something major, subtle doesn't make
it.]  Before we can get a definitive answer to the multiple
choice question, Rotor and Tails show up to make sure Archie
stays within the Comics Code guidelines.  Sonic comes on board
and the boys head off to Flickie Island.
     Welcome to Flickie Island!  No, that isn't your host, Mr.
Dork; it's Robotnik and the only R&R he's here for is "rob and
run".  He demonstrates his scientific knowledge by saying that
the "flora and fauna bloom not with flowers, but with precious
gemstones."  I should HOPE that the fauna doesn't bloom; unless
you're a Chia Pet, animals can't grow much that blooms.  Stick
with the bots, Ivo!  The only local fauna, BTW, are the
terminally cute Flickie Birds (or is that "Flicky Birds"?).  In
addition to having those baby heads with the big, appealing eyes,
they have no predators and are thus unafraid of strangers.  So
it's an easy matter for Robotnik (and they don't come any
stranger than him!) to roboticize them and begin scouring the
island for a Chaos Emerald.
     As our guys arrive offshore, Tails takes to the air to
intercept what he thinks is a flock of friendlies.  However, the
Flickiebots don't treat him any better than the Wing Dingoes did
in "Southern Crossover" and he dives into the drink.  Which is
actually pretty fortunate because the sea water serves to
deroboticize the birdies.  Tails is pulled aboard Rotor's
bathysphere where he puts one hand behind his head in a weird
gesture.  That hand CAN'T belong to Sonic because HIS right hand
is leaning on the bathysphere.  Unless Sonic has grown a second
right arm when I wasn't looking.  Or maybe Tails is trying to dry
himself off by doing the Macarena.  For the record, Bill Mauldin
once drew a cartoon for "Stars and Stripes" showing three guys
and SEVEN HANDS clearly visible.  You're in good company, Art.
[Yet another note to Ken Penders: If you do subtle and it doesn't
work, you'll soon discover that everybody's an art critic!].
     After an implausible bit of business to confirm the effects
of sea water on Flickiebots [I'm sorry, no matter how fast Sonic
was working, the only kind of water that can act that way within
the realities of molecular chemistry is the kind of water you get
when the outdoor temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit],
Sonic leaves Rotor and Tails to deal with the Flickiebot flock
while he skitters to shore.  They arm themselves with
supersoakers and Gallagher risks incurring the wrath of
leathernecks everywhere with that "Semper Fi" gag.
     We take our leave of the birdbath sequence and follow Sonic
inland.  With the aid of a Flickie Bird, he comes across Robotnik
as he discovers a Ring/"dimensional portal".  After about three
pages of toing and froing wherein Sonic gives Robotnik a wedgie
(actually, the more I think of it, the more in-character it
seems), Robotnik jumps into the Ring with Sonic right behind him.
     The following two pages I'll have to assume are an accurate
representation of the relevant level in the game.  Nice artwork
by Mawhinney in the service of crass commercialism.  And someone
will have to explain that "Is this the end of Rico?" gag to me.
     Anyway, just when it looks like Sonic has got this thing all
wrapped up, he finds himself wrapped up in Robotnik's cape as the
Big Guy goes after the Chaos Emerald.  He finds it in the head of
a giant stone Flickie Bird which COMES ALIVE when the stone is
removed.  As Ivo Robotnik quotes a sentiment that would have been
relevant on the Sonic list a few days ago and as he probably
wonders if Indiana Jones ever had days like this, Sonic has a bad
case of deja vu.  He's been there and done that when a Zone
collapses.  Giving himself a case of the shakes, he manages to
bust out of the cape and escape the Flickie Zone before it
collapses.  Robotnik manages to escape as well, but the emerald
disappeared down a Flickie Bird's gullet.  He further discovers
that the Flickiebots have all been deroboticized, the roboticizer
he brought to the island has been smashed by Tails and Rotor, and
the exoskeletal battlesuit that got trashed in the Zone was what
got him there in the first place.  Well, it hasn't been his day,
his week, his month or...hey, you know how the tune goes!
     I'll be the first to admit that I approached this issue with
a certain amount of fear and loathing.  I thought the story idea
would be too slight and that the end-result would be nothing but
a glorified print ad for the game cart.  I've never been so happy
to have been proven wrong.  This story worked for me!  The
narrative was strong and devoid of puns in favor of actual humor,
so mush so that it was easy to forgive some of the lapses like
the business with the waterball.  This is Gallagher's best work
to date, even eclipsing "Rage Against The Machine" which I HAD
thought his strongest.  And Mawhinney's artwork is as great as
ever, even with that ambiguous hand bit on page 10.  And I don't
know if the Flickies are depicted here as they exist in the game,
but they are a rare bird indeed: minor characters who have great
breakout potential.  I don't know who gets the credit for their
design, but the more I look at them the more I can see that the
four basic Flickies might each plausibly possess well-defined
personalities (despite their limited vocabularies).  My favorite
is the lavender Flickie with the "pigtails", BTW.  Brilliant, and
a good reason to double-bag this one!
     Sonic Blast: What A Blast! -- I suppose one of the perks of
working in the comics industry is getting to test-fly a game if
you're going to adapt it.  Don't rub it in, Fred.  Another plug
for the outsides and the insides of "Knuckles: The Dark Legion". 
I'm a little more interested in Knuckles bio than I am in the
cover art.  And #45 features the return of Mobie (so what?) And
the continuation of Knuckles' Quest.  We also see Sonic and
Geoffrey comparing dental plans on #46, and get an (unexplained)
sneak at part of the cover of #47.
     "The T.U.F.F. Awards"
     Story: Angelo DeCesare/Art: Dave Manak
     I would have described this as "two pages worth of running
in place" but that would have implied that those concerned
actually worked up a sweat in the course of getting this done. 
It's a knock-off, pure and simple, something to fill two pages. 
The writing is a no-brainer.  Ever since "Court Martial" Dave
Manak has proved that he can do sustained artwork with a measure
of quality; this stuff, though, reminds me of a _Mad Magazine_
Don Martin parody of Art Mawhinney's style. Sally had the right
idea: pull the plug!
     Find Your Name In Print x 4: "Moronic" Melody Hillard?  
     "Bugged Bunny"
     Story: Angelo DeCesare/Art: Dave Manak
     OK, when the first panel features Robotnik and Snively
dressed up like they want to audition for the Waltz Of The
Flowers, you get an idea of the tone.  The plot itself isn't such
a travesty--the two slip a homing device on the sleeping Bunnie
expecting her to lead them to Knothole--but it's played for
slapstick all the way.  Likable if you're into that sort of
thing.  Wake me up for the Dance Of The Fertilizer Fairy.