The Sonic Terminator

Red sky at night, the world is alight...

The Sonic Terminator is a Sonic the Hedgehog story which was serialised between Issue 24 and Issue 28 of Sonic the Comic. It is one of the principal strips in the comic, achieving several notable distinctions. It is the first story in STC to directly adapt one of the Sonic videogames (Sonic CD) as opposed to just using the general setting of Sonic's fight against Doctor Robotnik; at thirty-five pages (over five instalments) it is also one of the longest single Sonic stories published, sharing this accolade with the equally-long The Return of Chaotix. "The Sonic Terminator" also introduced the character Metallix: its name and behaviour is a key way in which STC is held distinct from other Sonic continuities, and it would become one of the comic's most enduring and notorious villains.

Story

The first two parts of "The Sonic Terminator" are preoccupied with a largely unrelated opening act which follows-up from the preceding Sonic tale, Pirates of the Mystic Cave.

The Freedom Fighters attack one of Robotnik's airships, commanded by Trusk, which is herding up Emerald Hill Folk for transportation to the Veg-o-Fortress and conversion into badniks. However, Sonic appears to have launched on an ill-judged venture this time, because he (and the rest of the Freedom Fighters following him) surrender after being surrounded by Troopers.

Trivia

• The Marxio Brothers are referenced in their capacity as Mario parodies - in Part Three, Sonic complains about the underwhelming experience of playing as the three "electricians" in a Marxio Brothers videogame, while the game screen includes a large pipe (a classic feature of Mario games) and a rendition of a "Bullet Bill" enemy.

Cop-out!

• This story opens with a misleading scene of Sonic's apparent death - the same concept would be later reprised in the "imaginary story" of Sonic No More.

• Frustrated with her recapture by Metallix, and maybe recalling recent events in Girl Trouble, Sonic decries Amy as a "professional hostage" - he would later transfer this jibe to the increasingly timid Porker Lewis.

Timeline

"The Sonic Terminator" does not only follow subsequently from, but directly references the previous story Pirates of the Mystic Cave - it is thus one of the earliest strips to make full and proper use of continuity. The next Sonic story was The Sentinel.