Sonic the Hedgehog's Buddy Tails 1
From Sonic Retro
Sonic the Hedgehog's Buddy Tails #1 "Southern Crossover!" | |||||||||||||||
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Cover date: December 1995 | |||||||||||||||
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Sonic the Hedgehog's Buddy Tails #1 is the first of a three issue limited series published by Archie Comics, and the third mini-series released by the company in their Sonic the Hedgehog line. The issue would be reprinted in Sonic Select Book Seven.
Contents
Official solicitation
Stories
Southern Crossover! Part I
- Continued from Sonic #29.
- Tails sets up the plot, describing the once peaceful Mobius, then introducing some of the Freedom Fighters, including himself. Unknown to the Freedom Fighters, Tails, a young fox, had a secret identity: Captain Super Fox-Man, a mutant cyborg, the avenger of evil!
Tails sits on a dock, finishing the work on his own comic (as described above), hiding it away in an envelope so that the others won't see it. While taking out the papers from the envelope, he notices the paper with a list of supplies Robotnik had that he found after his battle with him and Fiona Fox. With the list, Tails has proof that Robotnik is setting up a satellite operation on the other side of Mobius. Not wanting to lose responsibility, he decides to keep it secret from the others.
Sally arrives on the dock, waving at Tails, so he quickly hides the list of supplies so she can't see them. She walks over to the Sea Fox, having never seen it before and checks it out. While telling her about its history, he quickly hides the list in the sub's trunk. She then hopes that he's not mad because she ordered that no oil be put in it. Tails, lying, denies any anger, especially since Sally argues that it was done because the Freedom Fighters are looking out for the younger generation. She then leaves the dock, needing to attend a meeting with Sonic, and tells Tails to return home before dark. Behind her back, Tails grunts with anger at being treated like a kid. Once she's gone, Tails pops open the sub's cockpit window and boards it. Having put oil in it some time back, he starts the machine up and begins his third adventure. He thanks Sonic, Sally and Rotor for being good friends, but he now believes he has fully grown up and doesn't need their help anymore.
Elsewhere in Robotropolis, Robotnik and his SWATbots have prepared a large supply blimp for their next operation. One of the working SWATbots presents a cargo list for him to compare to his own. Realizing he's lost his list, he tells the bot that the list is fine. The bot, however, is insistent on his programming, and reminds Robotnik of his orders to ask him for the list. Robotnik, not pleased with the SWATbot's faith, grabs his neck and crumples him into a small cube, kicking him away. He asks if any of the other SWATbots have any other issues, which they don't. With that said and done, he orders the SWATbots to board the blimp to prepare for take-off. Taking out a can of 10-W-40 oil, he christens the blimp. He then activates the blimp's invisibility hardware to prevent it being caught on its journey to the southern hemisphere by the Freedom Fighters. After that, he leaves to return to his lair, hoping nobody found the list he lost.
In the middle of the ocean, on the Sea Fox, Tails looks at the list, having found the sea lane that Robotnik will use for his scheme. He notices a large shadow in the middle of the sea and flies over it to investigate. Facing upward, he notices that large blimp flying over him high in the sky, wearing an invisibility cloak that only makes it visible by looking straight up at it. He flies up slowly to see who's piloting the blimp. Approaching the cockpit window stealthily, he notices SWATbots at the helm and a navigation computer showing where they have to go. Right when he realizes where they are going, an AERObot shoots Tails with a laser gun from behind, sending him falling for the ocean. In a woozy state, Tails tries to wake himself up, and does just before he hits the water, recovering his fall with his tails. He looks back to see two AERObots approaching him, guns in hand and targeting him. Using his tails, Tails performs a new attack: a water spout attack. He spins his tails into the water and sends out a huge water spout that disorients the AERObots, sending them into a whirlpool into the ocean.
To catch up with the blimp, Tails returns to the Sea Fox, which now has an odd eight-pronged entry hatch. As he approaches it, the metallic prongs pop up and grab Tails. The 'prongs' are actually the metallic tentacles of the Octobot, which has returned again to take its revenge on Tails. The Octobot chokes Tails as it reminds him of the loss he endured while trying to protect Robotnik's facility. To return the favor, the Octobot pokes holes in the Sea Fox, sinking it. The bot then pulls Tails down into the sea, in an attempt to drown him. Tails and the Sea Fox both start to drop into the ocean, entering a great darkness while trying to gasp for air.
Back in Robotropolis, Robotnik receives a report of the sinking of the Sea Fox and Tails' drowning at the hands of the Octobot. Putting his finger on an ejection seat button, he tells the SWATbot that the Octobot will be taking over his place, as, under the SWATbot's guidance, the blimp was found by Tails. The SWATbot pleads with Robotnik, which works, as he gives it a reprieve, removing his hand from the ejection button. Nonetheless, he orders the bot to continue with the mission. To send an update, Robotnik sends a message to the southern hemisphere, to Downunda. He successfully contacts his new underboss, the Crocbot, a large human-shaped crocodile robot. Robotnik tells the southern crocodile that his supplies are on the way and that Crocbot will be able to turn Downunda to a wasteland. To ensure successful delivery, it orders its band of winged dingoes, a bunch of robotic flying dingoes, to find the blimp and to ensure its safe arrival. Unknown to Robotnik, Crocbot has his own plans: to convert Robotnik's SWATbots into his own slaves to not only take over Downunda, but to double-cross Robotnik and take over all of Mobius.
At that same moment, Tails wakes up from the darkness to find himself with a bad headache, sitting on the edge of a small island. He looks into the water in shock as a manta ray floats near him, introducing himself as Ray. Tails fully comes to, wondering what has happened, as he only remembers being pulled into the water and the Sea Fox being scuttled. Ray helps Tails understand the situation, telling him that Octobot had almost drowned him. However, there is also a band of Freedom Fighters defending the seas from Robotnik, called the Forty Fathoms Freedom Fighters, consisting of Ray and many other non-roboticized water creatures. The jellyfish P.B. shocks Octobot, releasing Tails, whom is caught by Ray. Ray heads for the surface with Tails, but Octobot has come to and chases after them, only to get head-butted by Bottlenose, the bottlenose dolphin. Octobot, using its tentacles, spins madly to get the fighters away and prepares to escape...only to be met by the 'big guy' of the group, knocked out cold. Ray then mentions that, while Tails was reviving, the other water Freedom Fighters found his scuttled Sea Fox at the bottom of the ocean floor; unsalvagable.
Tails thinks he's stuck on the island for sure, and demands that Ray help him to get to Downunda. Ray moves aside a bit as the island starts to rumble. Tails watches as the small island he's on rises up from the sea, revealing a large blue whale by the name of Fluke. Fluke, having been the one who trashed Octobot, offers to take Tails to Downunda as its on his migration route. With a new means of transportation, Tails gets even more confidence in his ability to show the other Freedom Fighters that he can do work on his own.
Other features
Production credits
- Script: Mike Gallagher
- Pencils: Mike Gallagher ("Tails to Astonish" segment), Dave Manak
- Inks: Harvo
- Letters: Mindy Eisman
- Colors: Barry Grossman
- Cover art: Pat Spaziante & Harvo
- Cover coloring: Heroic Age
- Editor: Scott Fulop
- Managing editor: Victor Gorelick
- Editor-in-Chief: Richard Goldwater
- Special thanks to: Jennifer Hunn, Cynthia Wilkes and Susan Reyes Suarez of Sega
- Source: Page xx
Variants
References
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.comics.misc/c/AaNiZ1T-NP0/m/KIk5UmBdsasJ (Wayback Machine: 2022-05-15 02:50)
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