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Sonic the Hedgehog Publication Details Issue  148 Date Published  April 2005 Publisher  Archie Comics Production Staff Cover Artist Patrick Spaziante First Appearances

Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 148 was the one hundred and forty-eighth issue of the main Sonic the Hedgehog comic series.

SummaryEdit

Story OneEdit

"The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown" Part Three: "Genesis"

Dylan approaches Sally with news that all connection with the Freedom Fighter team has been lost. She then asks him to get Jules Hedgehog for her, while back at the bunker Tails and Tommy are struggling to find a solution for their friends' predicaments. Tommy asks Tails to stay in the control room and keep an eye on things while he departs to help Rotor, Bunnie, and Fiona, to Tails' brief irritation. Meanwhile, Sonic finds himself in an underground train system, narrowly escaping being run over by a train just as Shadow, Isaac, and Metal Sonic arrive on the scene. He then jumps on the car, leaving his three opponents to question his motives. While Shadow takes off after him, the two robots begin discussing things, with Metal Sonic revealing his allegiance to Robotnik and Isaac questioning whether the name has any relation to that of Kintobor.

Tails, tracking Tommy on the monitors, contacts him as he arrives on the scene where Rotor and the girls are being electrocuted. He dons a leather glove so as not to become a victim of the electricity himself, and is surprised by its number of fingers. Dismissing the oddity, he uses a pipe to smash a circuit box, cutting the power and freeing his friends. Still in contact, Tails also zeros in on Isaac and Metal Sonic, and is able to eavesdrop on their conversation. Tails then gets into contact with Sonic as well, and the group listen in as Isaac narrates his own history. The team that created him was led by Ivan Kintobor, who appropriated Xorda technology for the project and wound up antagonizing them. Subsequently, Kintobor had Isaac place him in stasis so as enable his survival as the Xorda hit Earth with their Gene Bombs. He was then assigned the task of monitoring the changes that befell the planet as a result of the cataclysm.

As Isaac's narrative goes on to describe the Days of Fury, Shadow attacks Sonic, only to be thrown off by his target. Issac then describes the evolution of the Mobians, and how Professor Kintobor-who occasionally left his stasis cell-told Isaac to record historical events as well, to the point of venturing forth in search of information. As the Freedom Fighters continue to listen in, Isaac reveals that he witnessed Mammoth Mogul's initial rise to power, the advancement of the Echidnas, and even the coronation of the Kingdom of Acorn's first monarch. The two automatons then rendezvous with Shadow, at which point Sonic engages them all once again. However, the confrontation is then disrupted as a missile emerges from a silo behind Sonic, who is cornered by his three adversaries.

Story TwoEdit

"Playing Around" Staring Sonic the Hedgehog

Rosie and her orphan charges arrive at Knothole's theater to watch a show being put on by the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix. Rosie is surprised to find Sally sitting in the audience, meaning that she won't be playing herself in the show. Sonic and Tails appear on stage to begin the show, which tells the story of a time that Sally was almost Roboticized. Sonic is then pulled backstage by Knuckles, who was somehow convinced to play Sally in the show. Further strange castings are made apparent as Bunnie appears as Geoffrey St. John, Archimedes plays the part of NICOLE, Big the Cat plays Robotnik, and Tails emerges as Snively. After "Sally" is kidnapped by the pair, Uncle Chuck-clad in various metal parts to simulate his Robian form-approaches Sonic and "Tails" (played by Rotor) and informs them of "Sally's" capture. As the two depart, Rotor's flying harness is revealed to be operated by Jules, Mighty, and Espio, all of them struggling to hold the Walrus aloft. The heroes and villains-Vector joining the cast as a SWATbot-then engage in battle, with Amy holding up boards with sound effect words printed on them to simulate the action. "Sally" is then freed, but as Sonic leans Knuckles back for the kiss, only to receive a warning from the already irate Guardian.

Story ThreeEdit

Tails: "Destiny's Child"

By the side of a pond in Knothole, Tails laments the absence of his parents in the face of so many of his friends being reunited with their families. Impatient to get them back, he is then surprised as Athair-or rather his disembodied floating head-appears to speak with him. The two then discuss past events, such as Tails' previous meetings with Athair and first conflict with Mammoth Mogul. Tails discusses his frustration at not understanding his role as the Chosen One, while so many other people seemed to. Athair then revealed that "only the most devout of practitioners ever learn", and then reveals that one of those is Tails' uncle Merlin Prower, whose existence Tails was previously unaware of. He then reveals that he met with Merlin personally during Tails' struggle with Chaos Knuckles, only for Mammoth Mogul to interfere in their efforts with his Tails duplicate. Tails then angrily questions if Athair can explain the matter to him, only for the former Guardian to disappear. Tails is initially frustrated, but Athair's voice then counsels him to be patient, as "the hour of the Chosen One is now at hand.

QuotesEdit

Key EventsEdit

• Sally sends for Jules in regards to the missing Freedom Fighters.
• Isaac reveals much of Mobius' early history, though some of his information was later revealed to be corrupt.
• Tommy saves the Freedom Fighters from the booby trap.
• Sonic's battle with Shadow, Metal Sonic, and Isaac continues, only for a missile to emerge from a recess in the bunker.
• The Knothole Freedom Fighters and Chaotix put on a play for Knothole's children, though with dubious casting decisions.
• Athair approaches Tails, informs him of the existence of Merlin Prower, and warns him that the time for his destiny as the Chosen One to be fulfilled is near at hand.

Background InformationEdit

• This issue is one of the most important for detailing the history of Mobius. Isaac very specifically details years and dates and links up previous continuity, such as the Days of Fury and the Xorda Attack. It also retcons the Xorda attack from happening just over 3000 years ago to over 12,000 years ago, which is necessary as Mammoth Mogul was stated to be over 10,000 years old in the Mecha Madness special.

• Ironically, StH #165 revealed that by that time Isaac's data was primarily corrupted or erroneous. Writer Ian Flynn stated he did this as to make it vague whether or not the history of the Chaos Emeralds as detailed by Isaac was true (as many prefer them to be considered magical items as opposed to having a scientific explanation). However, when asked whether or not Isaac's timeline of Mobius were true or the Xorda's, Flynn stated Isaac's timeline was more accurate. Given that Isaac's data could have been corrupted during or after the battle shown in this issue, the information he detailed is considered canon until proven otherwise.

• The cover art was designed to be an homage to Sonic Battle, and was not the cover shown in the preview for this issue given in issue #147. The preview cover's art is a mirror image to STH: 149's final cover and did not have the Sonic Battle art design. Eggman was in the background laughing while at the bottom-right, Sonic, Shadow, Isaac, and Metal Sonic are fighting.
• The arc's name is a nod of the famous western film The Good, The Bad and the Ugly featuring Clint Eastwood.
• This arc's part is possibly a reference to the Sega Genesis.
• This is the first issue in a long time to not feature a Sonic Grams page at the end. From here on, Sonic Grams would begin to appear in the book less and less, until being completely phased out after #161(before finally being brought back as a regular feature in #185).