Sonic the Hedgehog Archives, Vol. 13 Paperback – August 17, 2010

Perfect as described

It's Sonic! Need I say anymore.

This was a gift for my son, had this on his Christmas list. The books arrived on time, in great shape, my son was super happy, and really enjoyed reading this book.

My son loves these.

my son loves this series

Great!

This was it, the big finally.From here on out, Ken Penders and the Archie staff treated every issue as if it were the last issus of the series.And the fact that the quality become more consistent from here on out really shows that.After things stated getting shaky with the comics industry and the Sonic franchise, the staff went for the potential end of the book.And I have to say, 1997 was a pretty poetic time to do something like this.The last classic Sonic game (Sonic R) released, the Genesis got discontinued, and Sega's Bernnie Stolar made the infimas "The Saturn is not our future" quote that hurt Sega big time.But of course Sega World was established, and the comic sales where stronger then ever.With that said, lets look into Archie Sonic's finest hour.Issue 49 - Sonic discovers that Dulcy can sense the truth and heads to Angel island to get the help of Knuckles. But a Cat girl named Hershey was the one that murdered Sally but was tricked into doing so thinking it was Snivley. I'll admit that this twist has some holes in it, how did she not know every character looked like Snively when she wore the Sonic suit earlier? The beginning where Sonic escapes is pretty funny and ridiculous though. I should mention that Sam Maxwell draws this one, and it's alot better then the Battle Royal special he did. it's a good one, but not with out it's flaws.8 out of 10Issue 50 - Dulcy convinces Knuckles and Geofrey to team up with Sonic and Save Knothole, which has now been taken over by Dr. Robotnik who plans to destroy it with his most powerful weapon ever. That's all I will say. This issue really feels like a labor of love. Multiple artists work on this one and every artist gives it there all in this issue, even Dave Manik does a great job. I should also mention that while Ken Penders wrote the main story here, every writer contributes to the script as well. And the way this story wraps up is quite satisfying, and the ending is quite heart warming. ( although the exposition dumb before it is a bit complex). The action scenes are some of the finest ever, though Sonic line during the Snivley fight is very cringe educing. The steaks are higher then ever and it is very easy to see why this has become one of the most expensive volumes on Amazon. I should mention that this volume has the directors cut version of issue 50 here, not the original one (which I'll admit, I didn't like when I first read it), which is good because this was another issue that made me a fan of this series back in my teenage years. Overall, get this volume if you find it at a good price, it's a shame this book is so small because it deserves to be printed on something bigger.9.5 out of 10The last two stories are pretty decent. The second one is about Bunnie and Antione filling in the details of what happened during the climax, and the last story is just Sonic, Sally, and Antione telling there side of an event where they destroy a robot and think the others didn't contribute.But issue 50 is the real show stealer here, This volume is worth getting for that issue alone.Before I end this, I should mention that there is miss information about why Penders did the Sally death scene in this arc. People say that it's because Penders didn't like her or he thought fans didn't like her du to her mini series underselling. No, the real reason is because he did it for artistic reasons. He wanted to have a hero die in exchange for Robotnik's defeat and reveal she was a fake by issue 75 and have her double sacrifice herself to save knothole. Peenders was always aware if a character was hated, that's why he improved Antione's character in issue 46. It is true that certain people that wanted to get rid of Sally would eventually join the staff, but that wouldn't happen until a certain artist joined in in the 2000s to draw a certain break up issue. But since issue 134 was never gven a reprint, I'll leave that discussion for another time.Overall , this volume is fantastic. It the EndGame conclusion, that more then enough reason to understand why this volume is so expensive. Highly recommended.

The Endgame saga concludes in this volume, and nothing will ever be the same again. This was intended to be the finale of the comic, but I’m very glad it wasn’t. There’s not much else I can say about the stories without spoiling anything, except that this collection doesn’t have the original version of issue #50. It has the extended, “director’s cut” version from Super Special #6. I missed that issue when it first came out and have been searching for it since, and boy was it worth the wait. Don’t get me wrong, the regular version of issue was already the single greatest issue yet; but the added scenes make it even more awesome. We also get a bonus story from Super Special #4, which happens to focus on an untold story from the Endgame saga. I would have preferred it collected with the other story from the special in the Sonic Select series, but it fits well here. Bottom line, this is quite possibly the best Sonic collection of all. If you’ve been following the comic all this time, your patience will be rewarded with one of the greatest Sonic stories of all time. And there’s more to come. I honestly think that everything after this collection ranges from good to excellent.

11 yr old loves all in this series.

My kids love Sonic the hedgehog and are big fans of the pc/wii games. These books are a brilliant read for them and they often enjoy a little read just before bed!