Issue 12

Issue 12 is the twelfth edition of Sonic the Comic, the UK's official SEGA comic. Released on the 30th October 1993, at the price of 95p, the issue contained four original stories (one of them new) and several features. The comic was marketed as a Hallowe'en special.

Contents[]

Control Zone
Sonic the Hedgehog - Hidden Danger!
Review Zone
Kid Chameleon - Kid Chameleon: Part 6
News Zone
Streets of Rage - Streets of Rage: Part 6
Q Zone
Decap Attack - Starring Chuck D. Head!: Part 3
Speedlines
Next Issue

Strips[]

Sonic the Hedgehog[]

Hidden Danger is a complete story written by Mark Millar, drawn by Carl Flint and lettered by Ellie de Ville. Sonic has fallen from Doctor Robotnik's new Sky Fortress into the secret Hidden Zone but has lost his memory. Robotnik takes this opportunity to plunder this new Zone with an army of Badniks and Sonic doesn't know how to stop them! But an unwitting Badnik accidentally finds a way to jog Sonic's memory and the cool hedgehog saves the day again.

Kid Chameleon[]

Kid Chameleon is a 6-part story by Michael Cook with art by Brian Williamson and Steve White, letters by Tom Frame. Stuck without his chameleon powers, Casey is left trying to survive a tangle with a robot gorilla. Using his wits, Casey throws his skateboard into the beast's mouth and finally escapes Wildside. After making his way home, he discovers that he and Suzi have been out all night and Brad is still missing, prompting Casey to prepare for a return visit to the game.

Streets of Rage[]

Streets of Rage is a 6-part story by Millar, Peter Richardson and Frame. The incendiary bomb ordered by Officer Murphy has hit the foundry with Hawk and Max Hatchet stuck inside. As the fight rages between them, Blaze Fielding is eager to go in and rescue him but Axel Stone wisely stops her. Max and Hawk continuously edge close to death, but a finishing move from Max sees his old partner burning in molten scrap and Max lives to see another day. Outside, Axel, Blaze and Max prepare to fight crime their own way.

Decap Attack[]

Starring Chuck D. Head! is a 6-part story written and drawn by Nigel Kitching, with lettering by Steve Potter. After a quick recap from one Loyd Grossman, we see Chuck D. Head and Head make their way back into Castle Frank N. Stein to rescue Professor Frank N. Stein. However, a stupid Chuck decides to pull a stake out of a skeleton and suffers from a thirsty vampire. Chuck is happy to engage in a fight with the creature, but the brawl is soon over when the vampire faints after seeing Chuck's purple blood!

Features[]

This issue's Control Zone, hosted by Megadroid, kicks things off by waving goodbye to Kid Chameleon and Streets of Rage, but is ready to welcome new Sega Superstars entry Ecco the Dolphin as well as ushering in an old favourite in The Legend of the Golden Axe. Megadroid also promises new free gifts as well as competitions to win toys and books in forthcoming issues. All of this is covered elsewhere in the feature, with the gifts revealed to be a belt clip and a Christmas decoration. There's also news on Golden Axe story Plague of Serpents, involving Rockguard and an invasion of snakes. The Sega Charts show that four new entries top all of the charts; Mortal Kombat proved to be successful in dominating the Mega Drive, Master System and Game Gear charts, while Batman Returns enters the Mega-CD list in first place.

The Review Zone is extended to five articles this issue. David Gibbon awards Cosmic Spacehead a hearty 90% and B.O.B. (both MD) 73%, while Vincent Low gives the MS version of Ottifants and Asterix and the Great Rescue (MD) both 70%. He also claims to be the first person in Europe to complete Sonic Chaos (MS and GG), awarding the new Sonic game 85%.

The News Zone this issue veers away from games, focusing on books and TV shows. The paperback entries are Sonic the Hedgehog in Robotnik's Laboratory (a Virgin book) and games-related The Official Sega Mega Drive Power Tips Book and Mean Machines: The Essenetial [sic] Guide. STC also teases the arrival of Sonic cartoon Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog with the story and a few pictures. However, only one of these pictures is related to the show itself (a future-STC-like Robotnik), with one actually taken from alternate cartoon SatAM and another being a canned promotional picture of another cartoon. Elsewhere in the article is a competition to go to the next Future Entertainment Show by sending in a SAE, while, surprisingly, C.J. - Elephant Fugitive is a game previewed as coming to shops soon.

A Q&A Special is the way of the Q Zone this issue, with letters answered by Gibbon on Ecco the Dolphin, Revenge of Shinobi, Fatal Fury, X-Men, Smash TV and Rolo to the Rescue for the Mega Drive. 8-bit readers were helped with Bubble Bobble, Jungle Strike and Columns. Finally, Speedlines has more letters with information on Superstars adaptations in the comic, the possibility of an Ecco strip, somebody converted to STC from The Dandy (and tripping over his dog in the process) and someone deriding the content of the comic's reviews and previews (incorrectly stating there are no previews, ignoring the News Zone). Despite this, the author, along with all other Speedlines entries, received a Tomy Sonic the Hedgehog Water Fun Game.