When Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1994) released on this day in 1994, gamers were introduced to Knuckles the Echidna. Takashi Yuda’s mischievous, dreadlocked antagonist is my favourite of Sonic’s supporting cast so excuse me while I celebrate his debut throughout February.

Quick Facts:
Following an initial four-part miniseries, Archie Comics’ Sonic comic books became the longest-running videogame comic book in history. As proven by cartoons like Sonic the Hedgehog/SatAM (1993 to 1994), Sonic was extremely popular at the time, so Archie branched out with a Knuckles the Echidna companion series that eventually became bogged down by convoluted lore. Before a bitter lawsuit forever changed Sonic’s comic books, Knuckles famously matched his rival in every way, including getting his own impressive “Super” form.

The Review:
“Crash of the Titans” sees stubborn loner Knuckles the Echidna make an unexpected appearance in the Great Forest just outside of Knothole Village, the home of the Freedom Fighters. When intrepid leader Princess Sally Acorn and enthusiastic sidekick Miles “Tails” Prower spot Knuckles stomping around, they call in Sonic the Hedgehog. Despite always parting on friendly terms with Knuckles in the past, Sonic and the others are suspicious of their visitor, especially as he never leaves the Floating Island he’s duty-bound to protect. Sonic’s suspicions become full-blown paranoia when Knuckles heads towards Robotropolis, the mechanical, polluted capital of Mobius’s semi-cybernetic dictator, Doctor Ivo Robotnik. Assuming Knuckles is out to cut a deal with Dr. Robotnik, Sonic races off, barely acknowledging Sally’s order that he simply talk to the echidna. When the story shifts to Knuckles, we learn that he’s disgusted by the environmentally destructive ways of “landlubbers” and why he’s come to the surface. After witnessing a Chaos Emerald be split in two in the Triple Trouble special (Gallagher, et al, 1995), Knuckles became concerned about his floating home, which was once held aloft by a dozen Chaos Emeralds and now relies on only one. Determined to keep the island from falling, Knuckles consults the legendary Book of Myths and discovers a link between the Chaos Emeralds and the Magic Rings found within “Zones” (in Archie’s comics, Zones are temporary, semi-magic dimensions that spawn from Chaos energy). Knuckles also learns that Magic Rings sporadically appear at the fabled “Lake of Rings”. However, Knuckles assumes that the Lake of Rings must be in Robotropolis due to the high radiation generated by the mechanical hellscape and left the island under the care of his super strong ally, Mighty the Armadillo, to investigate. Instead of a mystical lake, Knuckles finds a polluted, desolate grotto on the city outskirts, one that was apparently once closely monitored, and is suddenly blindsided by the hot-headed Sonic.

After landing the first hit, Sonic speed reads Sally’s declaration for a parlay but, naturally, Knuckles isn’t interested and the two go at it. Sonic smacks Knuckles with his signature Figure Eight but finds himself running right into a tree when Knuckles yanks on a nearby root. Though temporarily stuck, Sonic uproots the tree and collapses it onto Knuckles, forcing Princess Sally to intervene to keep the landscape from being damaged. While her presence quells the fighting, Sonic and Knuckles continue to bicker, but Sally ignores them as her portable computer companion, Nicole, detects vast radiation coming from where the tree was standing, discovering the entrance to an unknown, hazardous Zone swimming with Magic Rings and Chaos Emeralds! Eager to get what he came for, Knuckles dives in, prompting Sally to offhandedly comment that Knuckles “hasn’t changed since [they spent] summers together”. Stunned by the revelation that Sally has known Knuckles all this time, Sonic pauses his pursuit to question the princess, only to be dismissed and sent after the echidna, the matter shelved in favour of some dubious flirting. Sonic enters the chaotic, hazardous Zone (a mishmash of Badniks, spikes, and other vaguely recognisable videogame elements) to find Knuckles snagging the Magic Rings and making a run for a Chaos Emerald. Thanks to his superior speed, Sonic easily snags fifty Magic Rings and seven Chaos Emeralds, transforming into Super Sonic, a golden, super-powered form that makes him functionally invincible. While Super Sonic is busy bragging, Knuckles quickly collects enough Magic Rings to trigger his own transformation, a burning pink form he dubs “Hyper Knuckles”.

Angered by the gimmick infringement, Super Sonic quickly learns that Hyper Knuckles’ strength has been increased “a thousandfold” when he takes an uppercut. However, Super Sonic immediately answers back by demonstrating that he’s now “a thousand times faster than before” with some rapid punches to Hyper Knuckles’ snout. Hyper Knuckles retaliates by smashing a chunk off the Zone and bashing Super Sonic over the head, amazed at how fast Super Sonic recovers but refusing to back down. The two super-powered rivals fly at each other, brutally grappling in an impressive two-page spread before Hyper Knuckles easily deflects Super Sonic’s Super Spin Dash (which is oddly drawn to be the Figure Eight) and snatches his golden-hued rival out of mid-air with his superior strength. However, Super Sonic pivots, using the “backward momentum” to propel himself at Hyper Knuckles with a Super Figure Eight, only for Hyper Knuckles to immediately recover, spin his spiked fists like wheels, and launch a flying kick to Super Sonic’s nose! With both combatants enraged, the two clash with such incredible force that they literally bend time and space and disrupt the integrity of the Zone. The unstable energies are so powerful they cause the Zone to explode, triggering an earthquake so massive that Dr. Robotnik picks it up on his sensors. The explosion obliterates the Zone, drains Sonic and Knuckles of their Super forms, and returns the exhausted, disorientated Sonic to the Lake of Rings. Princess Sally confirms that the Zone and all its Magic Rings and Chaos Emeralds were destroyed, revealing that she saw everything using the seemingly inoperable camera setup nearby. She then gives Sonic a lift back to Knothole but refuses to elaborate on her past with Knuckles. As for Rad Red, he returns to the Floating Island with a brand-new Chaos Emerald in hand, his epic fight with Super Sonic apparently having made waves amongst its residents.

Of course, it wouldn’t be an Archie Sonic special without a backup story. Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles opts not to feature an additional story focusing on the two Super-powered forms and instead continues Ken Penders’ convoluted backstory for Knuckles with a flashback to his youth. “Fathers and Sons” shows that young Knuckles grew up alongside his father, Locke, who taught him his duties as a future guardian of the Floating Island. Locke reveals that this responsibility is passed down through the generations and takes Knuckles to the Chaos Chamber for the first time, revealing that the island is held aloft by a Chaos Emerald and emphasising Knuckles’ duty to protect it. This flashback is revealed to be the ruminations of the troubled Knuckles in the present day as he ponders the puzzle of the mysterious “Archimedes”, a disembodied voice who’s been testing him over the last few months and recently kidnapped his allies, the Chaotix. After dismissing the idea that Archimedes is his father testing his mettle, Knuckles recalls his father’s teachings, which stressed analysing a situation before deciding the best course of action and understanding an enemy before attacking. Knuckles also remembered how his father disappeared into the “Forbidden Zone”, passing his duties as guardian to his son, and his run-ins with Sonic, Dr. Robotnik, and the Chaotix. Realising that he’s let his pride get in the way and that he still needs to grow up to be the guardian his father always wanted, Knuckles vows to track down Archimedes, get the answers he’s seeking, and rescue his friends to make his father proud.

Final Thoughts: 
Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles is a lot better than some of the other 48-page Archie Comics specials I’ve read, but not by much. The main story is showcased far better than some of Archie’s other videogame adaptations, taking up most of the pages and thankfully limiting the backup stories to one ugly, but ultimately forgettable footnote in Penders’ weird Knuckles canon. “Crash of the Titans” retains the distinctly “SatAM” style rendering of its characters but still laces that more serious tone with puns and daft moments, like Tails and Dr. Robotnik breaking the fourth wall, the Book of Myths being hidden in a tree trunk, and Princess Sally’s letter. The story is another example of Archie’s writers awkwardly trying to mash videogame elements with their largely disconnected canon, placing videogame mechanics like traps, spikes, Magical Rings, and Chaos Emeralds in unstable, interdimensional Zones that randomly appear throughout Mobius. I’ve never been a big fan of this and much prefer it when the comics simply adapt the game Zones into locations within the comic’s world, which seems like a far easier solution. They could still have had Rings and Chaos Emeralds in Special Stages/Zones to include fantastical elements, which is something the Fleetway comics did to really well. As presented here, the Zone is kind of baffling. I don’t get why it’s populated by Dr. Robotnik’s Badniks and traps or why Archie’s Sonic comics had so many damn Chaos Emeralds floating around. I guess they figured the many Chaos Emeralds included in Sonic’s games were all different sets, but that doesn’t explain why they’re all green. Archie also deviates from SatAM by changing the nature of the Magic Rings. In SatAM, the Power Rings were invented by Sonic’s Uncle Chuck, spawning from a machine installed at the Lake of Rings every twenty-four hours, temporarily boosted Sonic’s speed and power, and could also be used as a power source. Here, they’re much closer to their videogame counterparts and simply facilitate a Super transformation.

Technically, “Crash of the Titans” is a very barebones story. It’s simply another chapter in the rivalry between Sonic and Knuckles, one given extra spice by the revelation that Sally and Knuckles grew up together and Sonic’s many dubious run-ins with the hot-headed echidna. Accordingly, Sonic doesn’t hesitate to attack, suspicious as he is of his untrustworthy rival, and the two finally have a more physical fight that’s given time to breathe with the additional pages and panels. “Crash of the Titans” emphasises that Sonic and Knuckles are as bad as each other and evenly matched: both are stubborn, prideful, and occasionally reckless, letting their emotions get the better of them, and Sonic’s pure speed is perfectly matched by Knuckles’ brawn. Even Sonic’s hitherto-unique ability to turn Super is matched by Knuckles, who debuts his Hyper Knuckles form and proves every bit Super Sonic’s equal. The battle between Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles was really well executed, being a colourful, engaging brawl that saw the two bust out some unique moves, such as Knuckles spinning his fists for added momentum and Super Sonic super-charging his Figure Eight. As they’re both functionally invulnerable, the stakes are minimal during this fight and there could never have been a clear winner, hence the destruction of the Zone, which only further reinforced how evenly matched the two were. Still, I think it might’ve helped differentiate the two if Sonic had been reckless and irresponsible and Knuckles had been trying to avoid a confrontation and talk sense into his rival, only to be pushed to the edge and fight back, if only to show that Knuckles is the more mature of the two. The backup story is barely worth mentioning but, again, I would’ve preferred to see this ditched to perhaps see Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles set aside their differences to battle Dr. Robotnik (or one of his creations). Still, Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles was an enjoyable, if mindless special that delivered exactly what it promised and upped the ante for future conflicts between the two rivals.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy the clash between Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles? What did you think to Hyper Knuckles’ first appearance in Archie’s Sonic comics? Did you enjoy his Archie Comics changed the lore of the Chaos Emeralds, Rings, and Zones? Would you have liked to se the two team up against a common enemy? Which of Archie’s Knuckles stories and/or characters was your favourite and how are you celebrating Knuckles’ debut? Use the comments below to share your thoughts and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest more Knuckles content for the site.

When Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1994) released on this day in 1994, gamers were introduced to Knuckles the Echidna. Takashi Yuda’s mischievous, dreadlocked antagonist is my favourite of Sonic’s supporting cast so excuse me while I celebrate his debut throughout February.

Quick Facts:
Following an initial four-part miniseries, Archie Comics started the longest-running videogame comic book and capitalised on Sonic’s popularity with a popular Knuckles the Echidna companion series that eventually became tarnished by convoluted lore and a bitter lawsuit that forever changed Sonic’s comic books.

The Review:
The two-part story “Panic in the Sky”, which acts as the centrepiece to this 48-page special, sees the legendary Floating Island (as it was then known) sending the locals in a panic when it descends below the clouds and passes over the Western Coast of Mobius (as Sonic’s world was once called). Naturally, the Knothole Freedom Fighters (engineer Rotor the Walrus, semi-Roboticized Bunny Rabbot, cowardly Antoine D’Coolette, and fearless leader Princess Sally Acorn) are bemused and alarmed by the floating continent, which is heading straight for Knothole Village. When Sally wonders how the island floats (odd, considering a later retcon reveals she knew Knuckles as a child), Sonic and his enthusiastic two-tailed fox pal, Miles “Tails” Prower, fill the gang in on their earlier adventure to the Floating Island and their encounter with Knuckles. Although Sonic left on friendly terms with the echidna, he and Sally ponder Knuckles’ true allegiance and she orders Antoine to investigate any potential threat posed by the island. Sonic’s alarmed when their “turbo-prop” biplane is suddenly attacked by heavy artillery now installed around the island and orders Antoine to fly to safety while he and Tails parachute down to see what’s going on. After being knocked loopy by a pendulum in a vague allusion to the Mushroom Hill Zone, Sonic’s attacked by the axe-wielding Hey-Ho, though a single hit is enough to destroy what’s presented as a mini boss in the videogame. Sonic then runs right into a trap and finds himself hanging on for dear life. He’s therefore glad when Knuckles shows up, only to find the echidna is unimpressed with “trespassers [turning his] home into a war zone” and ready to send Sonic plummeting to his doom.

Luckily, Tails is on hand to help but, in his haste, his rock misses its target and both Sonic and Knuckles fell into an underground cavern, eventually ending up on a slab of rock floating in a lava stream (like in Lava Reef Zone). Before the two can come to blows or be boiled alive, Tails swoops in for the save and Sonic makes Knuckles realise that the Floating Island has been hijacked. Angered and concerned, Knuckles leads Sonic and Tails (via “zoot chute”) to the Chaos Chamber, a crystalline cavern that houses the Chaos Emerald that keeps the island aloft. When Knuckles investigates a strange device siphoning power from the gem, he gets a nasty shock that doubles when Mobius’s devious, semi-cybernetic dictator, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, appears (via hologram projection) to spill his latest plot. After discovering the Floating Island, Dr. Robotnik began surreptitiously turning it into his personal battleship, installing engines, a command centre, and weaponry, all powered by the Chaos Emerald and with the purpose of annihilating Knothole Village. Distraught that he was easily duped into fighting Sonic and Tails rather than spotting the takeover, Knuckles smashes the Chaos Emerald, causing the Floating Island to drop from the sky! Panicked, Dr. Robotnik quickly ejects, though his hopes of seeing Knothole decimated by the falling island are dashed when Knuckles busts out a spare Emerald to keep his home aloft (only to later reveal he smashed the spare and replaced it with the original in a double bluff). Though he vows to use better judgement next time, Knuckles refuses Sonic’s offer to join the Freedom Fighters, with Sonic musing that Knuckles is apparently destined to be a loner.

Accordingly, the rest of the special is taken up with two solo stories for Knuckles. The first, “Fire Drill”, sees Knuckles investigating an explosion at the beach (which borders Sandopolis Zone), finding only a crater and footprints in the sand leading to a nearby bush. Leaping into action, Knuckles is left angered and humiliated when whoever it is disappears and, eager to get his mitts on whoever’s messing with him, Knuckles glides over to the only place they could’ve gone: the ruins of the Sandopolis Zone. Assuming only Sonic could evade him so fast, Knuckles braves his fear of the dark to enter the temple ruins and is further enraged when he’s buried beneath falling debris. Blundering into the maze-like temple, Knuckles barely avoids being skewered by an axe and finds a room full of strange hieroglyphics that momentarily puzzles him before sand pours in. Knuckles easily leaps to safety and smashes his way out of the temple, following “Sonic’s” footprints to the island’s edge and, bizarrely, assuming the hedgehog ran to his death, completely oblivious to the shadowy figure (later revealed to be the fire ant Archimedes putting the young guardian through his paces). “Lord of the Floating Island” closes the special and sees Knuckles rescuing Benjy the Kangaroo during a particularly wild storm as part of his duty to safeguard the island’s other inhabitants. Though grateful, the youngster asks his protector to “bring back the sky”, learning about eclipses from Knuckles before being air-lifted out of the path of a pack of dingoes rattled by the chaotic weather. Although Benjy’s scared by the harsh winds, the weather calms as the eclipse passes and Knuckles returns the youngster to his mother, happy to “protect and serve” his floating home and all its inhabitants.

Final Thoughts: 
Considering how rushed and short Knuckles’ introduction into Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog comics was, Sonic & Knuckles was ideally placed to deliver a more comprehensive adaptation of Sonic 3 or the titular videogame (SEGA, 1994), perhaps something again to the French adaptation published in the year prior to this special. Instead, as Archie (and Fleetway, to be fair) often did, the publisher spread elements of Sonic 3 & Knuckles across multiple stories and specials, meaning the best thing about this one-off comic is the cover, which promises a far more enjoyable story than anything contained in its pages. Like Knuckles’ debut story, “Panic in the Sky” takes place almost entirely in one location, which can only be generously described as the Mushroom Hill Zone. Sure, Sonic hops to some giant mushrooms, flies through the sky using a pendulum, and fights Hey-Ho, but there’s basically no substance to any of this and comic does an awful job of bringing this colourful location to life. I again have to assume that Archie’s writers and artists only had access to very limited materials when producing these stories as everything’s presented out of context or radically altered, such as the lava flow and the “Emerald Chamber”, neither of which evoke the same feeling of grandeur as Lava Reef Zone of the Hidden Palace Zone. Dr. Robotnik’s plot to weaponise the Floating Island is an interesting one but it’s ridiculous that Knuckles prioritises attacking Sonic and Tails over wondering why the stars have changed position and his island is so wildly off course! Rather than Sonic and Tails enduring a hazardous trek across Sonic & Knuckles’ recognisable locations, struggling to talk sense into Knuckles and racing to prevent the launch of the Death Egg, we get a nothing burger of a rematch between Sonic and Knuckles and a lame-ass, childishly simple solution to Dr. Robotnik’s plot.

Incredibly, rather than devote all 48 pages to adapting Sonic & Knuckles, Archie’s one-off special wastes the rest of its pages on meaningless solo stories for Knuckles. On the one hand, I don’t mind this as Knuckles was still new to readers (and gamers) at the time and “Fire Drill” does at least take place in Sandopolis Zone. On the other hand, he’s not fighting any of the Badniks or mini bosses from the videogame or exploring its locations in interesting ways. The Sandopolis Zone temple is a far cry from the haunted pyramid of the videogame, which would’ve made for an awesome setting for a story, and “Fire Drill” seems more concerned with introducing some mystery around Knuckles and his shadowy stalker. “Lord of the Floating Island” is, in a word, ridiculous. All this story tells us is that Knuckles is committed to safeguarding the island, which we already knew, and that Archie Comics decided that the Floating Island should have a bunch of other anthropomorphic inhabitants on it rather than Knuckles literally living in isolation. This would be fine if he were doing something interesting, but all he does is save Benjy, recap Dr. Robotnik’s threat, and teach him/us about eclipses. While the art in “Panic in the Sky” is in-line with Archie’s Sonic publication and mirrors the 1993/1994 Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon on which it’s partially based, the other two stories are awful. Knuckles, especially, looks disgustingly off model and his gliding is constantly depicted as flying, which was a common mistake. I appreciated seeing his climbing and super strength on show, but none of the stories are particularly impressive showcases for Knuckles and the entire special feels like a waste of time as the main story is essentially a repeat of Knuckles’ debut story and the other two are a waste of time.

My Rating:

Terrible

Were you also disappointed by Sonic & Knuckles, its atrocious art, its pointless stories, and its less than half-assed attempts to adapt the videogame? Perhaps you enjoyed this era in the Archie comics and would like tot ell me why when everything is so cheaply done? Which of Archie’s Knuckles stories and/or characters was your favourite and why? Are you celebrating Knuckles’ debut this month? Comment below with your thoughts and support me on Ko-Fi for more Knuckles content!

With the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1994) on this day in 1994, gamers were introduced to Knuckles the Echidna. This mischievous, dreadlocked antagonist was created by Takashi Yuda and is my favourite of Sonic’s supporting cast so excuse me while I celebrate his debut today (every Sunday in February!)

Story Title: “This Island Hedgehog” (Part 1 and 2)
Published: 16 May 1994 (cover-dated: August 1994)
Writers: Mike Kanterovich and Ken Penders
Artist: Dave Manak

The Background:
When Sonic the Hedgehog made his dramatic videogame debut in 1991, he was an immediate hit thanks to SEGA’s aggressive marketing campaign seeing his debut title being bundled with the Mega Drive. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992) expanded his popularity and, suddenly, Sonic merchandise was suddenly everywhere! He was included not only in the Macy’s Day Parade, but in cartoons and numerous comic books. Following the initial four-part miniseries, which combined narrative elements of Sonic’s cartoon adventures, Archie Comics published what would become the longest-running videogame comic book of all time. In time, to better capitalise on Sonic’s continued popularity, Archie also produced various Sonic spin-off comics, with the Knuckles the Echidna sister series being the most prominent. Long before writers like Ken Penders lumbered Knuckles with a convoluted lore and launched a bitter lawsuit that forever changed Archie’s Sonic comics, Knuckles debuted in this issue as one of Archie’s many loose videogame adaptations.

The Review:
Sonic and his perennial kid sidekick, Miles “Tails” Prower, first encounter Knuckles, the last of the echidna race and guardian of what was then known as the Floating Island, completely by chance. While flying through the skies of Mobius in search of Doctor Ivo Robotnik’s “hovercraft”, the two stumble upon a mysterious island in the sky. Interestingly, unlike in Fleetway’s comics, the two have no knowledge of the Floating Island and can thus only speculate how it stays afloat, with Sonic guessing (correctly, it turns out) that it’s held aloft by one of the (many) Chaos Emeralds. As the two come in to land to investigate further, unaware that they’re being watched by a mysterious, spike-fisted individual, their biplane is knocked from the sky by a literal “unwelcome mat” and Tails is forced to air-lift the duo to the ground. With no choice but to investigate further to find some way back to Knothole Forest, Sonic and Tails venture into a close approximation of Angel Island Zone and are attacked by an “Assaulting Batter Blimp” (essentially the “Fire Breath” mech from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, but with a far less intimidating white paint job). Assaulted by the blimp’s flame bursts, Sonic is randomly shielded by “some sort of energy shield” (visually similar to his Insta-Shield ability, though Sonic seems unaware of how this happened) and forced to dive into the nearby water. Caught in an inescapable current and blasted past spikes and through crumbling walls in what I guess is supposed to be Hydrocity Zone (but which looks more like Labyrinth Zone), the duo find themselves blacking out from the strain and the force of the suction. They awaken in a dark room with their arms and legs bound and are stunned when they’re greeted by Knuckles, who steps from the shadows and introduces himself as the island’s guardian.

Knuckles also reveals that he’s formed a friendship with Dr. Robotnik, who’s fed him lies about the two’s intentions to steal the island’s Chaos Emerald! Dr. Robotnik observes the events with glee alongside his long-suffering right-hand and nephew, Snively, and reveals that he’s misled the naïve echidna in order to steal the Chaos Emerald for himself to recharge his hovercraft. Having successfully duped Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik sits back and watches as the echidna’s riled up by Sonic and Tails’s defiant attitude. Still, Knuckles offers to give them ten minutes to get off the Floating Island before he hunts them down like wild dogs. While Sonic and Tails instead resolve to use the time limit to prove their innocence, Dr. Robotnik berates Knuckles for not finishing off the “jewel thieves” when he had the chance. Thus, Dr. Robotnik moves up his schedule and, after snatching the Chaos Emerald from his minion, Crabmeat, prepares to enact his dastardly plot. Angered that Sonic and Tails are still hanging around, Knuckles takes a short-cut to the Chaos Emerald and is horrified to find it’s been swiped from its simple stone pedestal. When Sonic and Tails arrive immediately after, Knuckles realise that he’s been duped and demands to be taken to Dr. Robotnik. The three arrive just as the semi-cybernetic dictator is preparing to take off and, after swiping the gem, reduce his SWATbot guards to scrap metal. However, Dr. Robotnik manages to elude them by powering up his hovercraft (how he does this without the Chaos Emerald is beyond me) and awkwardly escaping across the sea. To thank his newfound allies, Knuckles gathers the pieces of Sonic’s trashed plane so Sonic can reassemble it at super speed and then sees the two off, sure that it won’t be the last time their paths cross.

The Summary:
My first observation about this story is that the art is pretty atrocious. A lot of it was back then in the Archie comics as their artists opted for a more cartoony approach to these characters, one that emulated the cartoons that inspired them, yes, but which was also somewhat dumbed down and a far cry from SEGA’s official artwork. Most of this criticism is aimed towards Knuckles, who looks decidedly off-model here. Judging by the poses he strikes and the limited exploration of Sonic 3’s environments, I wouldn’t be surprised if the writers and artists only had access to limited materials to produce their story. It seems like they had footage or screenshots of Angel Island Zone (at least Act 1) and Hydrocity Zone and images of Knuckles, and that was it as this story explores even less of the Floating Island than in the Fleetway adaptation! As was the style at the time, “This Island Hedgehog” is seemingly more concerned with awful puns and pop culture references than emulating the source material. While the “unwelcome mat” was kind of funny, ““plane” crazy” was very cringe, Tails’s reaction when Sonic says they should “hit the drink” probably went over most kids’ heads, and “cute” references to Super Mario and the 1960s Batman television show just come across as corny. Sonic’s “energy shield” really bugged me since it appears out of sheer convenience to save him from being roasted, is never seen again, and never gets explained. Again, it’s like the writers just watched some footage of Sonic 3 and had no idea how the Insta-Shield works, making its inclusion even more egregious than how Fleetway handled it. Couple that with the Master Emerald and Hidden Palace Zone shrine being reduced to a simple, run-of-the-mill Chaos Emerald and a pile of rocks, and that Dr. Robotnik’s plot is to power up his hovercraft rather than the Death Egg, and you have a very poor representation of the source material, even by Archie’s standards!

I wish I could say that Knuckles, at least, comes off well, but it’s a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. I liked that he was kept hidden, seen as merely a fist and speech bubbles for most of Part 1, and that he was shown to be responsible for the traps and pitfalls that deter Sonic and Tails. His reveal was somewhat dramatic, but a far cry from how he made an immediate impact in Sonic 3 and his impactful introduction to Sonic in Sonic the Comic. I will say, though, that I liked Knuckles’ more relaxed way of speaking (he often drops g’s from his words) and that he gave Sonic and Tails a fighting chance to leave the island, showing he has some pride and honour despite being duty-bound to protect his home. He’s still easily fooled by Dr. Robotnik (though we’re not seen how) and quick to assume Sonic and Tails are jewel thieves based on paltry evidence, but he’s also seen to be quite eloquent and intelligent rather than a meathead. However, in saying that, we don’t get to see any of Knuckles’ abilities here: he’s not seen gliding, digging, or climbing and never throws a punch. Sure, he and Sonic trash some SWATbots but the action is obscured by sound effects and dust, so there’s no indication of his physical strength…again, almost as though the writers only had promotional art to work from. Knuckles does part on far friendlier terms with Sonic and Tails than in most adaptations, however, but is a far cry from the character he should be. The story is also an extremely weak adaptation of Sonic 3, serving only to touch upon the most basic of elements and leave the door open for further adventures. Perhaps if Archie has spread the story out across a few issues, or dedicated this entire issue to Sonic dealing with Knuckles rather than wasting pages with a back-up story, things might’ve been different but, as is, this is probably the worst comic book adaptation of Sonic 3 I’ve ever read!

My Rating:

Terrible

What did you think to Knuckles’ first appearance in Archie’s Sonic comics? Were you also disappointed by how poorly he and Sonic 3 were represented here? What did you think to Dr. Robotnik’s drastically reduced plot for the Chaos Emerald? Which of Archie’s Knuckles stories and/or characters was your favourite and why? Are you celebrating Knuckles’ debut this month? Whatever you think about Archie’s Sonic comics, and especially Knuckles, leave a comment down below and let me know, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other Knuckles content!