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STH70
Sonic the Hedgehog
Publication Details
Issue 

70

Date Published 

February 1999

Publishing Company 

Archie Comics

Production Staff
Cover Artist
Writer
Pencils
Inks
Letters
Colors
Editor
  • J.F. Gabrie
Managing Editor
  • Victor Gorelick
Editor in Chief
  • Richard Goldwater
First Appearances
Only Appearance
  

Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 70 was the seventieth issue of the main Sonic the Hedgehog comic series.

Summary[]

Story One[]

"saving nate morgan"

Sonic tosses Sergeant Simiam's grenade into the skylight of the juice bar, where it explodes harmlessly. Sonic and his friends go to King Max to tell him that, under the orders of Snively, Nate Morgan was kidnapped by the escaped convicts from Devil's Island Gulag: Flying Frog, Sergeant Simian, Lightning Lynx, Predator Hawk, Drago, Sleuth Dawg, Uma Arachnis, and Kodos. Geoffrey St. John insists that the escaped prisoners perished, with the two missing shuttlecrafts having crashed, but Dr. Quack arrives with word from one of the prison guards that the prisoners may have escaped in a third shuttlecraft.

Sonic and the Knothole Freedom Fighters proceed to plan a rescue mission but are stopped by King Max, who instead disbands the group and tasks the Royal Secret Service with rescuing Nate Morgan. When the group arrives at the criminal hideout on Big Kahuna Island, however, they find Sonic already waiting for them with his plane, the Winged Victory.

Sonic and St. John argue briefly, but Sonic is allowed to join the mission on the condition that he cooperate with the rest of the team. However, Geoffrey's plan is to order the felons to surrender, thus making Morgan a hostage and placing him in further peril. Sonic protests and fights Geoffrey, defeating him, forcing Prince Elias to remove his disguise and break them up.

Kodos gives Morgan a chance to join Snively's group or face execution; Nate chooses the latter. Kodos prepares to execute Nate, but Elias, Sonic, and the Secret Service confronts the convicts and a battle ensues. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure aboard an orbiting satellite activates the R-Sat, causing a gigantic squid mutate to rise through the floor and attack everyone.

The mutate grabs both Snively and Bomb, but is destroyed when Bomb explodes. Snively is presumed dead and most of the criminals are captured, but Kodos and Uma Arachnis escape in the Winged Victory with the remains of Crocbot while Predator Hawk flies alongside.

Story Two[]

"Statue Of Limitations"

Sonic recalls a dream where he flies the Winged Victory over Sand Blast City when it dissolves into nothingness. He falls towards the giant statue of himself, which cackles madly at him, and through the mouth into a world where even the leaves on the trees are shaped in his image. Surrounded by obsessed fans, he is taken to the Sonic Adventure Archivists, who catalog his adventures. The Archivists discuss some of their differing viewpoints, but agree that Sonic "can do no wrong."

After waking up, Sonic invites Tails over to talk to him. He expresses feelings of failure over leaving Sandblast City open for the Robians, and Tails comforts him, saying he doesn't have to be perfect, but that it's just about being there when you're needed.

Bonus Features[]

Pinup Pages[]

Unused Spread

Downscaled version of the original two page spread used to open the issue's first story. Due to limited page space, the spread was changed to a single splash page in the final story. Art by Steven Butler.

Pro Art Pinup

Pinup illustration of Sonic posing on a destroyed robot. Presented in black and white as a coloring page. Pencils by David Brewer, inks by Andrew Pepoy.

Gag Strips[]

Off Panel

Sonic spots a spy satellite above him and starts to do a "Figure Eight Spin" to hover over to it. As he starts to make his way up, he notices that the editor is about to write a pointless editor's note and begs him not to. The editor's note asks readers to write in if they know when Sonic first used his Figure Eight Spin. Sonic ends up buried under a list of the names of various readers who correctly answered the editor's trivia question, grumbling about how he hates gratuitous editor's notes. Written by Mike Gallagher, art by Dave Manak.

Quotes[]

  • Geoffry: "That does it!"
  • Sonic: "No -- this does!"

Key Events[]

  • The escaped convicts take Nate Morgan to Big Kahuna Island.
  • The Knothole Freedom Fighters are disbanded by King Max, who sends the Secret Service to rescue Nate instead.
  • Sonic invites himself as a free agent to rescue Nate with the Secret Service.
  • A fifth satellite activates a mutate below Big Kahuna Island, disrupting the battle
  • Snively is seemingly killed in action.
  • Nate Morgan is rescued.
  • Kodos, Uma and Predator Hawk manage to escape in the Winged Victory while the rest of the convicts are sent back to the Devil's Gulag.

Background Information[]

  • This is the first time the Knothole Freedom Fighters are disbanded. From this point on, the team would often switch between active duty and dissolution until StH #177.

Cameos & References[]

  • The title of the first story is a parody of Saving Private Ryan. The title is also written in all lowercase letters, just like the promotional material for that film.

Errors[]

  • Wombat Stu has his Secret Service coat on for a couple of scenes, but in the fight with the future Destructix, he doesn't have his coat. Also, when he is blasting Sgt. Simian he is back in his regular clothes.
  • In "Statue of Limitations", Barry Grossman and Vickie Williams are mistakenly reversed in their roles on the credits page, with Grossman listed as the letterer instead of the colorist and vice versa.

Reprint History[]

This issue has been reprinted in the following places:

External links[]

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