Summary

Official Solicitation

A-WOOOOOOOOO! THE WAIT IS OVER! Prepare yourself for the terrifying debut of SONIC THE WEREHOG! “Control" Part One: Sonic, Amy and Sally venture deep into the rainforest in search of a Chaos Emerald. What they find are Mighty, Ray – and serious trouble! Will Egg Boss Thunderbolt push Sonic to the breaking point? Then, in “A Nice Day to Start Again,” Bunnie and Antoine experience the effects of the Shattered World Crisis in a very personal way! Featuring new cover art from PATRICK "SPAZ" SPAZIANTE and an "UNLEASHED" SEGA variant!

Story One

Control: Part One - "Breaking Point"

In the Rocky Jungle Zone in Soumerca, Sonic is in a middle of being chased by another E-Series Badnik, E-113 Xi, which possesses an animal-like form and has a laser gun attached to its tail. Up ahead, Sally and Amy hide behind a tree, preparing to ambush. However, Xi detected them and strikes at them. Able to dodge, Sally calls Sonic to regroup for another shot, but as Sonic tries to gain distance between him and the badnik, Xi intercepts with a laser blast. Luckily, he is saved by Ray the Flying Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo, who have arrived to help. Ray carries Sonic out of harm's way while Mighty throws Xi to the rocky wall hard enough to put it out of commission.

At a nearby Egg Army Base, a monitoring officer informs Thunderbolt, an Egg Boss whose face is hidden inside a robotic suit, that Xi has been discovered offline and a recovery team is being sent for it. Thunderbolt laments how disgraceful it is to have one of "Lord Eggman's prized Super Badniks" taken out so quickly. Despite this, another officer informs her that preparations for her plan is underway, though she iterates that this is "Lord Eggman's plan" and they simply have "the pleasure of making it happen". She vows that her unit will be the ones who will destroy Sonic.

Back at the jungle, with introductions made, Sally tells Mighty and Ray of their mission to restore the world by collecting the Chaos Emeralds and finding the Gaia Temples. Ray tells them of the damages the jungle suffered due to the shattered world. Mighty is angered at how he couldn't do anything with his super strength. When Ray reminds him of "Master Moss's lessons", the armadillo quickly calms down with a strange proverb. They continue to discuss the occurrences of their current location, including the reason of Eggman's E-100 robot attacking them a while ago. Mighty tells them that they have been scouting the closest base for weeks, but could not risk fighting while being outnumbered.

Entering a nearby hut, Mighty introduces his friends to Moss, a sloth who has been helping him with focus and control over his power. While Sonic makes fun of the guru, Moss approaches him, saying that he senses a "touch of darkness" within the hedgehog. Amy remembers that he was exposed to the mysterious purple smoke from a few days ago but, despite his friends' concern, Sonic once again insists that he is fine and they should focus on their mission. Amy performs Mystic Melody, which she had learned from their time in Meropis, and senses the Chaos Emerald they are looking for is a few miles southward. Mighty lets them know that the Egg Army Base is in the same direction, and they will have to head there by nightfall if they have any hope to get it.

When the group reaches the dig site near the base, Sally suspects the lack of security, especially with a chance that Dark Gaia Monsters may arrive. Not waiting any longer, Sonic breaks from the stakeout and leads an attack on the few badniks present. Just as they believe they won, they see the towers surrounding them open up and charging with electricity. They then see above them Egg Boss Thunderbolt and a group of officers. Stating that she doesn't take prisoners, Thunderbolt has the towers activate, firing violent currents of electricity which incapacitates the Freedom Fighters one by one. Sonic watches in horror as every one of his comrades and friends fall before he is struck himself. As Sonic suffers from the electrocution, the emotional and physical strain becomes too much to take, causing him to quickly undergo a lycanthropic transformation that destroys his gloves, mutates his shoes, and increases the size of his torso and arms exponentially while long, dark hair covers his body. Fueled by the essence of Dark Gaia within and the electricity without, the Werehog rises and bares his fangs, howling like a rabid wolf.

Story Two

"A Nice Day to Start Again"

The story starts off with Antoine and Bunnie following an energy signature of a chaos emerald. Near the end of the signature, Bunnie and Antoine find themselves in a ruined, flooded city to which Antoine suspects the world's current state had made it prone to floods. Noticing endangered civilians, the duo quickly move to save the guests of a wedding ceremony, with the bride and groom themselves stranded atop a sinking car. As Bunnie tries to move the Bride and Groom out of the way, she crashes into flickies the newly-wed couple had used for their wedding, and accidentally drops them. Trying to save them, Antoine is pushed underwater by a falling billboard, but is able to save himself using his extreme gear ("Eh, what is the phrase? Surfs up?").

Dangling off the side of a building, the Bride and Groom struggle to hold onto one of the building's poles. The bride, slipping out of her husband's grip, falls near the wild rapids of the water. With a last minute save, Antoine is able to catch the bride, and guides the rest of the citizens to safety. Checking their energy sensor one more time, the two find themselves dissapointed, as the signature was only an energy shadow. Saying goodbye to the citizens, the freedom fighter duo take their leave of the city. As they are flying, Bunnie starts to get emotional, saying that she was worried that she lost Antoine again as he was forced underwater. Comforting her, Antoine reassures her that the two of them will be together, no matter what, forever and ever.

Bonus Features

Gag Strips

Sonic the Werehog sighs, reassuring himself that at least someone appreciates his transformation. Big the Cat is holding Sonic's elongated arm and using it as an impromptu jump rope for Cream. Cream asks Sonic to give Big his other arm so she can skip "Double Dutch". Script by Ian Flynn, pencils by Adam Bryce Thomas, inks by Rick Bryant, colors by Steven Lisefski.

Quotes

Key Events

Sonic, Sally and Amy encounter E-113 Xi.

Mighty and Ray help trash Xi and take the trio to Moss the Sloth.

The group finds the location of the next Chaos Emerald, only to fall into a trap set by Egg Boss Thunderbolt.

Sonic transforms into a Werehog for the first time.

Bunnie and Antoine save some civilians from a flooded area of Soumerca.

Background Information

On the final cover, the ripped section shows the first page of the comic. However, that image is slightly lower than the actual page for unknown reasons (though it might be so people don't assume the cover was legitimately damaged). The final cover also omits the "Archie Action Series" caption on the bottom.

This is the first main series Archie Sonic issue to be marketed under the "Archie Action Series" banner.

E-113 Xi was previously referred to only in the (now defunct) Sonic Universe blogs.

Cameos & References

The second story's title is a reference to the song White Wedding by Billy Idol.



