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/___//_\ /___\ ascii Sonic by Han J. Lee
|====================== THE SONIC FAQ FILE =====================|
August 25, 1995 edition
Compiled by: Daniel J. Drazen
Contributors: Chris Baird, Ron Bauerle, Brad Clark, James
Firmiss, Maureen Furniss, John W. Johnston, Craig Moore, Michiyo
Nakajima, Paula O'Keefe, Eric E. Pearson, Jeff Pegnato, David
Pistone, Alessandro Sanasi, Erich Schulman, Fred Sloniker, Andy
White, Shawn Wolski
Address all comments, corrections, contributions and flames to:
drazen_at_andrews.edu
*****************************************************************
WHAT'S NEW?:
[Note: There WILL be spoilers. You have been warned. DJD]
Game Gear Adaptation #1 [Oct 1995]
Triple Trouble issue
"Tttriple Tttrouble!!!"
Story: Mike Gallagher/Art: Dave Manak
Robotnik miscalculates when trying to exploit a Chaos Emerald as
a power source, and the stone splits into two fragments. One
half lands in the Great Forest where a new set of action zones is
created. The other half lands on Knuckles' floating island where
it starts burrowing into a mountain. Knuckles investigates but
is hit on the head by a rock and loses consciousness. As for
Sonic, he enters the new zones to retrieve the shard, but as soon
as he does so he's knocked out by Knack the Weasel. As for
Knuckles, he comes to in a cave surrounded by a group of Ancient
Walkers--cave-dwellers wearing masks. After some exposition
about how if the half emerald should come in contact with the
Floating Island's emerald it'll blow the place apart, Knuckles is
returned to the surface in time to trash Knack, who happens to
have Sonic in the trunk of his vehicle. Sonic & Knuckles start
to resume their old grudge match when Robotnik contacts Knack in
order to keep the plot moving. Sonic & Knuckles reunite the
Emerald which disappears; they then part company after exchanging
insincerities and mutual distrust. As for the emerald, it
reappears in the possession of the Ancient Walkers.
"Submersible Rehearsal"
Story: Gallagher/Art: Art Mawhinney
Tails' joy as Rotor finishes work on The Sea Fox is punctured
when he learns that Sally has instructed Rotor not to put any oil
in the sub (fuel or lubricating? It doesn't say). Tails then
learns that Robotnik has an octobot terrorizing sea creatures;
this information comes from an oil-soaked gull. Draining the oil
from the gull to power the Sea Fox, Tails defeats the octobot and
destroys the underwater robot factory. This is all prelude to
the Tails miniseries--a full-page ad shows Spaziante cover
designs, but we all remember what happened to the cover designs
for the Princess Sally miniseries, don't we?
"First Contact"
Story & Art: Ken Penders
Back on the floating island, Knuckles interrupts a tussle with
Vector to investigate what he thinks is a Robotnik invasion
attempt. But it turns out he's being taunted (as in "Fire Drill"
in Sonic & Knuckles #1) by someone whose name turns out to be
Archimedes. He leads Knuckles to the Chaos Chamber where he
tells Knuckles that "only when you can find me will we know that
you are capable of seeing the answer within the question." The
solution promised in the upcoming Knuckles Chaotix issue.
****************************************************************
I. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
II. SOURCE DESCRIPTIONS
A. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG EPISODE GUIDE
B. SONIC COMICS DESCRIPTIONS
C. OTHER SOURCES
I. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
=============================
Q1: How did Tails come to have two tails?
Q2: Is "Tails" his real name?
Q3: Is Tails related to Sally? He calls her "Aunt Sally" quite
often.
Q4: I can't figure out what kinds of animals some of the
characters are supposed to be.
Q5: "Sally Acorn?"
Q6: How old are the characters supposed to be?
Q7: What happened with the Princess Sally miniseries?
Q8: Does anyone have a theory about Sonic's speed?
Q9: Why didn't ABC renew Sonic for a third season?
================================================================
Q1: How did Tails come to have two tails?
A: The writers of Sonic comics solicited reader responses to this
question; the replies were printed in issue #2 ("All The
Mail's About Tails!"). Theories range from transplantation to
mutation. The latest entry is in the Sonicgram of #22. They
state that Tails just happened to be born that way--with no other
comment (thus illustrating the difference between an Explanation
and an Answer). At this point, there is no "official"
explanation as to how Tails got that way, so you're pretty much
free to believe what you like. Personally, I prefer the theory
that it is a mutation, induced by Robotnik's pollution of Mobius.
This would accord with the fact that Tails had not been born when
Robotnik took over (cf. Q6).
Q2: Is "Tails" his real name?
A: No, his real name is "Miles Prower" (you have to say it
sorta fast to get the joke). That was his name when he was
introduced on the front screen of the Sonic 2 video game. Tails
was given as his nickname, and it stuck.
Q3: Is Tails related to Sally? He calls her "Aunt Sally" quite
often.
A:This argument has been put forward by the "Sally is a fox" camp
(see below). However, if that were true, then he'd also be
related to Bunnie, as he's been known to address her as "Aunt
Bunnie." For that matter, it seems that everyone in the Knothole
gang refers to Sir Charles Hedgehog as "Uncle Chuck," though he's
technically only uncle to Sonic.
While it was not explicitly stated in either the comics or in the
cartoons, it has to be kept in mind that all of the freedom
fighters' families were disrupted by Robotnik's takeover of
Mobius. It's safe to assume that they all have had relatives who
have ended up being roboticized. As a result, they have become
not so much a paramilitary resistance group as a loose-knit
family. Sonic, for instance, clearly relates to Tails as if the
latter was his little brother, the difference in species
notwithstanding.
Q4: I can't figure out what kinds of animals some of the
characters are supposed to be.
A: Admittedly, it's trickier to spot some species in the series
than others. Herewith is the list:
Sonic and Sir Charles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .hedgehogs
Bunnie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rabbit
Tails. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .fox
Rotor. . . . . . . . . . . . . .walrus (sea lion, cf. Teitelbaum)
Antoine D'Coolette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .fox
Sally Acorn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ground squirrel/chipmunk
Sally's father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .fox
The identification of Sally as a ground squirrel is based on
extended discussion of the topic on Internet {alt.fan.furry and
rec.arts.animation). She was also declared to be a ground
squirrel in the comics, most recently in the Sonicgram of Sonic
#19. As for the designation "ground squirrel/chipmunk", which
has been questioned by at least one correspondent, I entered it
this way on the assumption that the two terms were synonymous. I
have consulted a dictionary, which states that the term "ground
squirrel" applies to several kinds of rodents, including the
chipmunk genus _Tamias_. Given the present ambiguity, the
designation will remain as is.
Despite this, controversy continues. Identifying Sally's species
has been particularly vexing to some fans, especially those who
reason that since Sally's father is clearly a fox, then she must
be one herself. It is possible that Sally takes after her mother
in this regard more than her father. Cross-species mating is a
definite possibility, and an example is implied in the
"flashforward" at the end of "Sally's Crusade" [Sonic: In Your
Face #1].
At this point, the identification of Sally's nanny, Rosie,
remains ambiguous. Given her buck teeth, she could be either a
beaver or a woodchuck. Since she is always shown wearing a long
cloak, I've been unable to spot the character beaver tail. Final
identification is still pending.
Q5: "Sally Acorn"?
A: This is how she was identified as far back as the beginning
of the comics [Sonic Miniseries, #0, Mar 1993]. Technically,
royalty do not have surnames or family names in the accepted
sense; rather, the title of the personage tends to serve the
purpose. Her middle name, Alicia, is apparently seldom used (cf.
"Blast to the Past," part 1). If you wanted to be grandiose
about it, Sally's formal title would be: Sally Alicia, Princess
of the House of Acorn. But in any event it's unlikely that
Sally's formal title will come back into use so long as Robotnik
is in charge.
Q6: How old are the characters supposed to be?
A: According to the TV series ["Blast to the Past: part 1"]
Sonic and Sally were both 5 years old when Sally's father was
overthrown and Robotnik took over. Two other age clues were
given in the "Drood Henge" episode: that Tails was 10 years old,
and that Sally wouldn't "come of age" for another two years.
At one point, Sally's age is explicitly given as being 16,
though the comics reportedly put both Sally and Sonic at age 15.
Subtracting 5 from 16 leaves the number of years Robotnik has
been in charge: 11. Thus, it would appear that Tails was born
after the fall of the House of Acorn. Still, the simplest way
out of this dilemma would be to put the age of majority on Mobius
at 17 instead of 18; that would eliminate the extra year
differential without altering the stated ages of Sonic and Sally
(in the comics) or of Tails (in "Drood Henge").
Q7: What happened with the Princess Sally miniseries?
A: Archie Comics was supposed to roll out a three-part
miniseries starring Sally as the main character, but its
introduction was delayed--a situation acknowledged in the
SonicGram of #21. The story actually began with "Deadliest of
the Species" in Sonic #20. The cover art for the miniseries,
however, differed in subsequent advertisements: one cover for the
first issue prominently featured Geoffrey St. John, while another
did not. The third issue cover either does or doesn't feature
Sally doing battle with a clone of herself, depending upon where
you see it. Two different versions of the cover for #2 appeared
in Sonic #22. The fact that the Sally creative team PLUS Archie
Comics PLUS Sega reportedly came together to discuss "improving"
the series (as reported in Sonic #21 -- hence the delay) would
seem to indicate that someone had come down with a case of
"creative differences." In any event, the "improved" Sally
miniseries began shipping the week of Feb 13, after a slight
delay.
Q8: Does anyone have a theory about Sonic's speed?
A: How, in other words, is Sonic able to run so fast? Apparently
the same way you get to Carnegie Hall in the old joke: practice.
I'm serious; here is the only print explanation I've come across
so far: "Years ago, when things were right on Mobius, there lived
a hedgehog named Sonic.... Sonic was only interested in running
as fast as he could. Every day he practiced." [Michael
Teitelbaum, _Sonic the Hedgehog_. Mahwah, NJ: Troll, 1993, pp.7-
8]. And that's the extent of Teitelbaum's explanation. Thanks a
heap, Mike! Chris Baird may be onto something, and it looks like
he wants to force the issue by asking Archie Comics about "The
rumor going around the Internet that [Sonic] got his speed from
falling into a vat of power rings when he was a baby."
Q9: Why didn't ABC renew Sonic for a third season?
A: There are now three answers to this question -- one appears to
be definitive, but the other two are more fun. Believe what you
like:
1) ABC got clobbered in the SatAM ratings of the November sweeps
because the show was up against the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
on Fox. Despite the fact that ABC shifted Sonic to an earlier
time slot (doing so without warning just before the first airing
of the "Doomsday" episode), Fox jazzed with its schedule so that
MMPR was once more up against Sonic. This 1-2 punch was enough
to do it. Source for this item: someone from within the offices
of Archie Comics, as posted to alt.fan.sonic-hedgehog.
2) DiC allegedly screwed the pooch by releasing StH animation
cels onto the market without clearing it with Sega. Upon
learning of this, Sega took umbrage that its property was being
sold without its consent or agreement to a cut of the action (can
you say "anal retentive"?). Words were exchanged and the show
was effectively cancelled.
3) ABC's kidvid programming has lately been adhering to a policy
of "two seasons and out" for shows. Though it's possible that
some ideas only last two seasons because they're kinda bankrupt
to begin with.
=================================================================
Received on Fri Aug 25 1995 - 10:10:37 PDT
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