Issue 74

Issue 74 is the seventy-fourth edition of Sonic the Comic. Released on the 16th of March 1996 at the price of £1.20, the issue contains four original stories (two of them new) as well as several features.

Contents[]

Control Zone
Sonic the Hedgehog - Mission to the Metropolis Zone
Graphic Zone
Knuckles the Echidna - The Ghost Ship: Part 1
Pixel Zone
Shining Force - The Curse of Zeon: Part 3
Q Zone
Tails - Fox On The Run: Part 2
Speedlines
Next Issue

Strips[]

Sonic the Hedgehog[]

Mission to the Metropolis Zone is a complete story by Lew Stringer, Roberto Corona, Steve White and Steve Potter. The Freedom Fighters are in the Metropolis Zone to take advantage of Commander Brutus absence, but things go badly when Sonic and Johnny Lightfoot are captured and taken to Citadel Robotnik. However, it appears to be a ploy to allow Amy Rose to sneak into the info centre, deleting files on Doctor Robotnik's new weapons.

Knuckles the Echidna[]

The Ghost Ship is a 6-part story co-starring Captain Plunder, written by Nigel Kitching with art by Nigel Dobbyn and letters from Elitta Fell. High in the sky, the Sky Pirates have finally found the Ghost Ship of Tantaragor, but a bolt of lightning sends them plummeting to the Floating Island. In the Mushroom Hill Zone, Porker Lewis has no idea how to fix ancient Emerald Chamber technology, but Knuckles has more pressing worries when he learns that a ship has landed on the edge of the island.

Shining Force[]

The Curse of Zeon is a 6-part story written by Kitching, with art by Martin Griffiths, colours by Gina Hart and lettering by Tom Frame. Baron Kadavaar and his golem have come in search of robot Zynk on Granseal Island whilst archeologists are evicted from the Ribble dig. In a house, Bowie attempts to wield Maximillian's sword, but discussions about a new Shining Force are interrupted by the arrival of Kadavaar, recognising the old man right away.

Tails[]

Fox On The Run is a 4-part story by Stringer, Carl Flint, Mike Hadley and Potter. Underneath the Spring Flower Zone, Tails finds Tantrum the Mouse, who promptly causes a rockfall to block their escape route. As Fleabyte the Bounty Hunter attempts to track the pair from above, Tails is forced to battle a Crawlton, before attempting to rescue a falling Tantrum from hitting the lava. Soon enough, the heat causes them both to fall towards their deaths.

Features[]

This week's Control Zone sees Megadroid look forward to Spring, going over this issue's stories and features, as well as mentioning the Knuckles Knock-Out Special. Speedtrack also has a new email address. The Sega Charts is largely unchanged, with FIFA Soccer '96, Sonic 2 and CJ's Elephant Antics topping the Mega Drive, Master System and Game Gear charts respectively. Earthworm Jim moves up to lead the Mega-CD chart.

The Graphic Zone celebrates St. Patrick's Day with all but one picture being predominately green, the other presumably included because it includes the word "Emerald". All featured entries received a pack of Crayola Overwriters, as did entrants into this week's Pixel Zone.

Chris Jones presents a 'Saturn Special' for this week's Q Zone, giving tips and cheats for Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon and Virtua Fighter. Finally, Speedlines features letters about the Humes taking a holiday, a possible girlfriend for Megadroid and someone concerned about Nack the Weasel. All Speedlines letters and pictures received a Sega Sonic & Knuckles disposable camera.