Issue 274 is the two-hundred and seventy-fourth edition of Sonic the Comic and the fifty-first edition of Sonic the Comic. Released online at http://www.stconline.co.uk/comics/stc274/ in April 2018, the issue was the final one in the build-up towards Issue 275 and, although tied up no loose-ends, 2-3 of the strips tied directly into The Battle for Drak.
Contents[]
- Control Zone - with features regarding STC25 and the late Matt Dittmer
- Data Zone
- Comics
- Flashback Zone - Hyper Sonic
- Pin-ups
- Next Issue
- Speedlines
- New to STC?
- Back Issues
Strips[]
Sonic the Hedgehog[]
The Cyber-Shifter Strikes! is a 2-part Sonic story written by A.W. Pitt and Michael Corker, who also lettered the strip, with art by Marcus Stockley. Sonic is struggling against Lord Zurm, a powerful Drakon warrior who can teleport short distances and change his density at will. Sonic uses the geography of the Silver Glade Zone in his favour but ultimately only wins when the Cyber-Shifter alters his attack plan. Sister Haggra is furious when their pawn loses, but Master Scholar insists it was part of the plan...
Tekno & Shorty[]
Eternity Beckons! is a Tekno & Shorty complete story written and lettered by Corker, with art by Reggie "Ziggyfin" Graham and with special thanks to Chris Gould. Having visited Tekno's Workshop, the canary has now lost her Cybernik suit and is being attacked by a rogue suit of Cybernik armour. Even more prototypes join the battle, but Tekno turns things back in their favour by modifying her household gadgets into reinforcements. They ultimately win with some help from the Ring of Eternity and a quick anti-virus. In the future, Tekno has modified the prototypes into the "Cybernix", joining Niya the Gorilla's guerilla forces.
Sonic's World[]
The Wrong End is a complete story starring Sally Acorn, Tufftee and newcomer Sticks the Badger, focusing on the war effort and acting as an overall recap. The script was written by Mauro Fonseca and Chris G, drawn by Ernest Panda, coloured by Claire Ryan and Fonseca and lettered by Gould. Sally and Sticks debate each other's effectiveness in the war effort, ultimately reminding readers of what has happened up to this point. Sticks then launches into a number of conspiracies she believes in, including an impending invasion of alien fish...
Rouge the Bat[]
The Boss of Me is the first Rouge the Bat complete story, written by Gould with art and letters coming from Corker. Rouge has been employed by the Mobius Banking Corporation to turn around their fortunes but immediately fires the board and sends her staff home. She secretly wanted to gain access to the CEO's private vault, but is alarmed to find a Mobius Ring. Her contract comes to an abrupt end when Master Scholar destroys the building and Rouge, who protected herself just in time, is concerned about talk of a Drakon invasion.
Features[]
Control Zone[]
The Control Zone, hosted by Megadroid, is mainly here to hype up Issue 275 and STC-O's 15th anniversary. It also advertises the STC25 event, a successor to the Sonic The Comic Con taking place in Manchester in June 2018.
Significantly, news was broken of the passing of artist Hume Matt Dittmer. Megadroid invited readers to pay tribute by submitting Amy Rose fan-art and donate to the Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital's Fund for a Mobile CT Scanner at https://www.qehb.org/mobile-ct-scanner. This was followed-up on in Issue 275.
Data Zone[]
A recap of the main characters in this issue, the main focus today is on Sonic, the Cyber-Shifter and the Drakon Empire as a whole. Expanding the section leads to information on Rouge, Tekno, Shortfuse, Robotnik, Sally and Tufftee.
Flashback Zone[]
As a nod to the surprise in Issue 275's The Battle for Drak, this issue's article by L.T. Fletcher and Corker focuses on the Hyper Sonic story from Issue 134. The Omni-Viewer is particularly excited about next issue, "buzzing with excitement" so much that he is blurry.
Pin-ups[]
Wallpapers this issue are two versions of the cover (Michael Corker, a special Decap Attack scene by Nigel Kitching, the framed Rouge artwork from "The Boss of Me" (also Corker), a re-imaging of a scene from "In Memory" this time drawn by special guest Ferran Rodriguez, a new poster of Amy and Tekno (Corker) and a still from "Eternity Beckons!" (Reggie "Ziggyfin" Graham).
Speedlines[]
At the time of writing in June 2018, 61 votes had been cast regarding this issue's top story. "The Wrong End" narrowly won with 38% of the selections (23 choices), followed by "The Cyber-Shifter Strikes" (19), "Eternity Beckons!" (15) and "The Boss of Me" (4).
The majority of the comments praised "The Wrong End", particularly the introduction of Sonic Boom character Sticks, plus the possibilities of re-introducing Tantrum the Mouse and Fleabyte the Bounty Hunter from older Tails stories.
Staff[]
- Michael Corker - editor-in-chief and cover artist
- Special Thanks to all contributors this issue to strips and features.
Timeline[]
The previous issue of Sonic the Comic Online was Issue 273. The next is Issue 275.