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Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 5 was the fifth issue of the main Sonic the Hedgehog comic series.
Summary[]
Story One[]
- "Olympic Trials and Errors" - Part One
Th story begins with Tails watching Sonic play a game of baseball by himself, using his super speed to appear in multiple places at once. As Sonic hits a ball, he runs off and tries to catch it, only to slam headfirst into a building in front of him. As Tails comes to Sonic's aid and Sonic recovers, both of them notice that the building in front of them is the Robotnik Stadium, an Olympic stadium created by Dr. Ivo Robotnik, as explained to them by a SWATbot. Sonic asks the SWATbot what Robotnik wants now, to which it explains that Robotnik wants to challenge Sonic and the Knothole Freedom Fighters in the first (and for them, the last) Robotropolis Olympic Games and offers a bet: if the Knothole Freedom Fighters can win at least one out of four events in the games, Robotnik will restore Mobius to normal, but if they fail to win an event, they will surrender themselves to roboticization. The SWATbot then finishes its message by delivering a personal taunt from Robotnik himself, which infuriates Tails. Regardless, Sonic accepts the challenge, certain that his friends will agree with his decision. Back at Freedom HQ however, Sally is absolutely opposed to participating, believing it to be a trick since Robotnik never keeps his promises.
The team discusses the situation. Boomer agrees with Sally's sentiment, and although Sonic agrees that Robotnik is untrustworthy, he notes that they cannot lose these games, so there is no risk. Antoine inquires how that is possible, to which Sonic explains that since he is the best athlete on Mobius, he can win all the events. Tails pipes in that he wants to compete too. However, Antoine tells him he is not good enough to compete, unlike himself, who is the champion fencer on Mobius. Depressed, Tails agrees with Antoine and decides to stay home and watch the games on R.B.V. As he leaves though, Tails gets the idea of making a sculpture for Sonic to surprise him with when wins the games.
On the following day, Robotnik and his Badniks see the Knothole Freedom Fighters arrive in Robotnik Stadium. Delighted by this, Robotnik asks his SWATbot if Sonic is not wearing his usual sneakers. The SWATbot confirms this, explaining that after he delivered Robotnik's message to Sonic, he followed him and eventually swapped his sneakers out with Robotnik's Energy-Draining Sneakers while the hedgehog was out swimming. Pleased, Robotnik asks the SWATbot what it did with Sonic's Sneakers, and the SWATbot replies that he threw them away in the trash. Robotnik, having planned to keep them as a trophy, smashes the SWATbot with a hammer in anger. Having went his frustrations, Robotnik announces the beginning of the games.
In the stadium, Sally, Boomer, and Antoine stand on the sidelines, cheering for Sonic. Sonic, ever confident, tries to warm up, only to suddenly collapse on the ground, completely drained of his energy. While Sally worries about Sonic, Antoine despairs over their situation.
- "Olympic Trials and Errors" - Part Two
Satisfied that Sonic is out of the picture for his games, Robotnik orders his SWATbots to prepare a Port-O-Bot for the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Sally, however, points that while Sonic cannot compete, she, Boomer, and Antoine can take his place, much to the surprise of Boomer. Robotnik agrees to this, noting that he will enjoy watching them fail to defeat his team of Badniks.
The games subsequently begins, which has Antoine complete in the Long Jump event, only to be outdone by Splats. Next up is Sally in the swimming event. Despite being the best swimmer in the Great Forest though, she fails to match up to Octus in a race. Then comes the weight lifting event. While Boomer manages to lift a heavy weight, a SWATbot outdoes it by lifting both him and the weight. The Freedom Fighters have all lost, but Robotnik claims there is still one more event left: a race against Robotnik's fastest Buzzbomber.
Meanwhile, Tails is looking for scrap metal to make his sculpture with in the Robotropolis Junkyard. Much to his shock, he finds Sonic's Sneakers among the junk and rushes to the stadium to return them, knowing Sonic will never be able to complete in the Robotropolis Olympic Games without them.
Back in the stadium, the race has already begun, with Buzzbomber in the lead while Antoine is puffing along far behind. Just as Sally has given up hope though, Sonic appears behind her with Tails, fully re-energized. Kicking things into hyper-sonic speed, Sonic catches up to Buzzbomber, just as he stands in front of the finish line, and kicks up a lot of dust. Disorientated, Buzzbomber decides to cross the finish line now. However, due to the dust Sonic kicked up, he turns around and races backwards. As such, Buzzbomber crosses the starting line as an exhausted Antoine crosses the finish line.
Furious that Sonic got his sneakers back, Robotnik orders his Badniks to get the hedgehog. Sonic, however, quickly responds by attacking the Port-O-Bot with a Sonic Spin. As the Port-O-Port begins short-circuiting, Robotnik flees with his Badniks before it can explode. Fortunately, Boomer pulls the plug on the machine before it can blow up. Sonic then thanks Tails for his help, and praises him especially for having the stamina to run all the way to the stadium, meaning Antoine will have to admit the fox cub is a good athlete. As Tails thinks that Antoine will give him fencing lessons now though, Sonic points out that Antoine still lies on the ground, out of breath.
Story Two[]
- "Chomp on THIS, Chump"
In Freedom HQ, Boomer tries to tell Sonic, Tails, and Sally about an ad in a magazine for an ant farm. However, the trio is too busy trying to remove a spoon from Sally's pancake batter, which proves to be incredibly thick and dense. Once they finally manages to pull the batter out of the bowl, Sonic asks Boomer what he was talking about. Boomer once again explains about the ant farm, but Sonic does not catch Boomer's interest in observing ant colonies. Regardless, Boomer grabs a postcard, determined to make his order for the ant farm.
Soon after, in Mobotropolis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik gloats that one of the Knothole Freedom Fighters has mailed away for his phony ant farm. He proceeds to have a SWATbot mail the package to Boomer quickly, certain that what Boomer has ordered will be the end of the Knothole Freedom Fighters.
Soon after, in the Great Forest, Boomer ecstatically presents his ant farm casing to his fellow Freedom Fighters. Sonic, however, is not impressed. Boomer then gets ready to open the jar holding the ants, only for a single large insect to pop out of the jar and immediately eat Boomer's oak table. The group, initially surprised by this, quickly realize that the insect is not an ant, but a termite. Boomer, however, has never seen a termite like that before and looks it up in The Insectlopedia. As he discovers that it is a Termite-Nator—an insect that eats anything made of wood or paper—the insect consumes most of his book.
As the Termite-Nator begins gobbling on a chair while the Freedom Fighters watch in distress, Rotor discovers from a page in his book that a Termite-Nator grows the more it eats. This proves true as the Termite-Nator quickly grows to mobian size. Sonic then realizes, much to his worry, that if the Termite-Nator gets outside, it will eat the entire forest that keeps them concealed from Robotnik.
In an attempt to occupy the Termite-Nator, the Freedom Fighters keeps feeding it wood and paper in Freedom HQ. After a short while though, the Termite-Nator has grown much bigger and the heroes are down to their last book: Sally's favorite cook book. As Sally expresses distress at losing that book though, Sonic realizes that it contains the same recipe for the pancake mix she made yesterday, which gives him an idea. Under Sally's instructions, Sonic uses his speed to swiftly mix up an identical portion of Sally's batter, before hurrying up through the Great Oak Slide with the batter for a hollow log. Sonic soon after returns with a log that he gives to the Termite-Nator. As the Termite-Nator chomps down on the log though, it finds its jaws clamped shut, and Sonic explains that he filled the log with Sally's pancake batter.
With the Termite-Nator's mouth stuck shut, Boomer takes a closer look at it. Discovering that the Termite-Nator is actually a robot built by Robotnik, Boomer decides to cross its wires a bit. The next day, in Robotnik, Inc., Robotnik is miffed by how his Termite-Nator robot has failed to devour the entire Great Forest by now. Immediately after, a SWATbot arrives with a large wooden crate for him. When Robotnik has it opened though, he discovers that it is his Termite-Nator, now a giant, but rebuilt into consuming metal instead of wood. As such, Robotnik is forced to keep feeding it metal while it holds him hostage, or it will eat all of them.
Bonus Features[]
Short Stories[]
- "Sonic's Ten Second Workout"
Sonic shows off his ten-second workout routine, spinning his feet for a few seconds, running on the walls and ceiling, and taking a few laps around the planet. Sonic suggests that, if his workout routine is too time consuming, Boomer's eight second workout is worth a shot. Boomer is hunched over, explaining that he takes eight seconds trying to reach his toes and the rest of the day trying to stand back up again.
- "Fast Food!"
Sonic tells the audience that being super fast has its advantages. He demonstrates by eating his dinner before Sally can finish saying that it's getting cold. Sonic starts to feel ill and Sally carries in Sonic's dinner, asking why he ate their wax fruit bowl.
Quotes[]
- Antoine: "EN GARDE!" (slices a Z in Boomer's hat) "Z what I mean?"
- Boomer: "*gulp!*"
- Boomer: "My oak table...It's gone!"
- Sally: "The ant ate it!"
- Antoine: "Maybe it's an ant-eater!"
- Sonic: "That's NOT an Ant at all, Ant...IT'S A TERMITE!"
- Sonic: "Boomer turned Robotnik's bug into a metal muncher! Isn't that IRON-IC?"
Key Events[]
- The Freedom Fighters defeat Dr. Ivo Robotnik at the Robotropolis Olympic Games.
- The Freedom Fighters fight the Termite-Nator.
Background Information[]
- This marks the first mentioning of the station R.B.V. (Robotnik Belly Vision) which would be mentioned or shown throughout the early comics. It later reappeared again in The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia.
- This is the first issue written by Angelo DeCesare.
Errors[]
- In one panel, Rotor's muzzle is miscolored purple.
Reprint History[]
This issue has been reprinted in the following places:
External links[]
- Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 5 at Sonic Wiki Zone, the Sonic wiki.