Fantasy STC TPBs

[curiousorange]

It sort of defeats the object of time-saving acronyms when they require explanations - I'm talking about ideas for Sonic the Comic trade paperback collections.

I was wondering if anyone else had ever frittered time out of their precious lives (as I have) working out how stories would be ordered in chronological collections of Sonic the Comic. If these had ever existed.

When I started looking into it, Nigel Kitching's story arcs suit the format pretty well - when you collect all the seven-page stories related to each larger plot (and Kitching's one-offs that cropped up during the same period), you could make pretty cosy 120-160 page books. It got a little less tidy when I tried working out how to collect the others...

I don't know if something like this has been talked about before (I searched the forum but couldn't find anything), but here are my ideas for collections that would work pretty well. They're far from perfect! I just think these would make pretty good books.

Collections:

1. The Origin of Sonic (158 pages. Sonic CD adaptation and all stories written by Kitching only - STC 4-29 + poster mag 3-4 + 1994 summer special. I know, it's a bit messy)

Day of the Badniks, Attack on the Death Egg, Super Sonic, The Origin of Sonic, Back to Reality, Megatox, Hero of the Year, Casino Night, Hill Top Terror, The Kid Cruel Caper, Girl Trouble 1-2, Pirates of the Mystic Cave, The Sonic Terminator 1-5, The Sentinel, Ocean of Horror, Doctor Sun 1-2

2. Enter Knuckles (170 pages. Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles adaptation and other Kitching stories from STC 33-56 + poster mag 8)

Enter Knuckles 1-2, Power of the Chaos Emeralds 1-2, Robotnik's Revenge 1-2, Sonic No More, The Chaos Emerald Thief, Carnival Night Conspiracy 1-6, Badniks Bridge 1-2, Day of the Death Egg, The Big Con, Mystery of the Sandopolis Zone 1-2, Countdown to Disaster 1-2, Disaster! 1-3, The Great Escape! 1-2

3. The Brotherhood of Metallix (142 pages. Total Chaotix and all Kitching Sonic stories up to STC 79/1996 holiday special)

Total Chaotix 1-6, The Brotherhood of Metallix 1-4, The Return of Chaotix 1-6, Mission to the Metropolis Zone, Smokey and the Badnik, The Big Decision, Voice of the People, Plasma, Return to the Miracle Planet, Break-Out

4. Running Wild (133 pages. Super Sonic/Doomsday arc, STC 80-100)

Running Wild 1-3, Heroes and Villains 1-3, Mister Shifter, The Ultimate Nightmare, The Tomb 1-2, The Hive 1-2, The Big Fight, Doomsday 1-3, The Final Victory 1-4

5. Robotnik Reigns Supreme (142 pages. Flickies' Island adaptation and Drakon Empire arc, STC 104-130. Skips out some Kitching one-offs due to space, which are included in book 6)

Flickies' Island 1-3, The Evil Empire 1-4, Best of Enemies 1-3, Hobson & Choy 1-2, Order & Chaos 1-3, Robotnik Reigns Supreme 1-3, Showdown 1-3

6. Roots (119 pages. Pretty much all one-shots - Kitching Sonic stories between STC 113 and 145 not collected in book 5)

The Detour, Crisis in the Chemical Plant Zone 1-2, Black Christmas, The House on the Hill, Back in the Special Zone, Roots 1-4, Whatever Happened to Grimer?, The Forgotten Badnik, The Haunted Zone, Revenge, Secret Enemy 1-2, Child's Play

7. Shanazar (126 pages. Collects the Shanazar arc from STC 148 to 165, by Kitching and Stringer. Yeah, I know - I was going to collect Stringer's stories separately, but what can you do when Kitching gets fired half-way through a story?)

It's a Small World, Shanazar, Robotnik No More?, The Mystic Mountaion, Mountain of Doom, Heart of Evil, Desert Storm, Secret of the Tower, No Escape 1-2, Bottled Up!, The Rig, Knightmares, Space Race 1-2, Medusa, Worlds Collide 1-2

8. Game Over (133 pages. Collects Super Sonic stories between STC 102-148, Game Over arc from 171-174 and Chaos arc from 175-184)

Whatever Happened to Super Sonic?, Hunter and the Hunted 1-3, Return of the Nightmare 1-3, Planet in Peril, The Terra Connection, Game Over 1-2, The Coming of Chaos!, What Price Victory?, Night Terrors!, Splash-Down!, Out of Time!, Prisoner of War!, The Origin of Chaos!, War of the Worlds!, Perfect Chaos!, Point of No Return!

9. Knuckles: The Homecoming (105 pages. Knuckles stories from STC 65-83 and the Knuckles Knock-Out Special. This and the next book should really be combined, but that's getting a bit bulky compared to the Sonic books)

The Homecoming 1-4, The Graveyard 1-4, New Master Emerald, Traitor of the Lost Pyramid 1-2, Jake's Story, Reflections, The Ghost Ship 1-6, Troubled Waters 1-2

10 Knuckles: On the Run (110 pages. Knuckles stories from STC 84-138)

Village of the Damned 1-3, The Good, The Bad and The Echidna 1-4, Roots 1-3, Victims 1-3, The Final Victory part 2 (repeated from book 4), Loose Ends, On The Run 1-4, The Take-Over 1-4

11. Tails: Hero of Mobius (132 pages. Nameless Zone and Zonerunner stories between STC 16 and 144. Other Tails stories by Stringer and others can be collected elsewhere)

The Nameless Zone 1-2, The Land Beyond 1-4, The Morbidden Hunt 1-4, Hero of Mobius, The Revenge of Trogg 1-6, The Goblin Overlords 1-2, Zonerunner & The Flock 1-4, Zonerunner & The Big Freeze 1-5

12. Decap Attack: Starring Chuck D. Head (112 pages. All Decap stories from STC 10-94)

Starring Chuck D. Head 1-6, Who Killed Chuck? 1-6, The Replacement, Monster of the Year 1-3, The Headless Snowmen, Nanny Knows Best, The Bride of Chuck D. Head, The Pumpkin Chaser, Boris and the Book, The Legend of Mr Cuddle Bunny 1-3, The Hungry Guest

13. Decap Attack: Dead! (125 pages. All Decap stories from STC 97-132)

Dead! 1-3, Walls, Life with the Snagsbys, Funny Old Game, Wish, Caught by the Prefects 1-2, Dreaded Poople Plague, The Tooth, The Maltese Budgies, The Fearless Monster Hunters, Chuck and the Cheese Factory 1-2, Return of the Pumpkins, Christmas Carol II, Chuck's Savings, Love is Blind, Dog, Mother, Decap-Man 1-2


Those are the only ones I've actually planned out, and in most cases I've taken apart and reassembled STC scans to make these collections a reality and they (mostly) read pretty well. If I made more, there would have to be books collecting some of Lew Stringer's notable arcs - mainly Brutus and the Cybernik - as well as odds and sods like Robotnik and Chaotix stories and Captain Plunder (definitely a sod), but I've spent long enough on this already

All the remaining Tails stories could be collected in 2 books of 100-something each, same for all the Amy stories, but to collect all the non-Kitching Sonic stories and Sonic's Worlds would be a hefty task, and need at least 4. Personally, I wouldn't bother - the point of making these collections was to gather some of STC's finest stories and avoid the mediocrity.

[chrisengland8]

Not a bad idea that!

[Tom]

I think I'd collect them either by year or by writer. Breaking them down to character risks missing things. Also 100 pages is rather short for this sort of thing, collections tend to run over 200 pages these days...

[Arch]

If it helps, I think it was Stu that has already collected every Decap strip into a collection, albeit just a digital .CBR collection. Not quite the same thing, but still...

[curiousorange]

Yeah, I've just got them all in .cbr format too. The 200 words comment puts my mind at ease and means I can stop being so paranoid about hitting 200 - it also means all the Kitching/Dobbyn Knuckles stories can be collected together nicely.

To be honest, this started with collecting the Running Wild/Doomsday arc, then I realised it also worked well for the Sonic 3 & Knuckles adaptation and Brotherhood of Metallix arc. But then it started getting more complicated when I had to pick and choose what to include and what to leave out - like including random Kitching efforts like 'The Great Escape' with the Brotherhood of Metallix just because it was around the same time.

So on balance, it's probably a good thing these paperbacks were never released. They create more problems than they solve - just dig out the comics!

[The Stiv™]

Or keep them in nice, tidy binders in a bookcase just next to your computer =)

......As well as bagged VGC duplicates for collection purposes.

And digital copies on your computer.

=/ I'm such a [censored].

[Baron Canier]

They should probably exist in order to showcase that STC had more going on than just an evil Super Sonic.

[Tom]

Nov 30, 2011 13:05:29 GMT curiousorange said:

Yeah, I've just got them all in .cbr format too. The 200 words comment puts my mind at ease and means I can stop being so paranoid about hitting 200 - it also means all the Kitching/Dobbyn Knuckles stories can be collected together nicely.

To be honest, this started with collecting the Running Wild/Doomsday arc, then I realised it also worked well for the Sonic 3 & Knuckles adaptation and Brotherhood of Metallix arc. But then it started getting more complicated when I had to pick and choose what to include and what to leave out - like including random Kitching efforts like 'The Great Escape' with the Brotherhood of Metallix just because it was around the same time.

So on balance, it's probably a good thing these paperbacks were never released. They create more problems than they solve - just dig out the comics!

To be honest you could squeeze a book out of every year or so. None of the major story arcs ran longer than that. (Well, not in the original comic, ahem.)

[madhair60]

Nov 30, 2011 11:09:21 GMT Arch said:

If it helps, I think it was Stu that has already collected every Decap strip into a collection, albeit just a digital .CBR collection. Not quite the same thing, but still...

Yeah, I did. Someone had a similar project a while ago.

[Matt]

This is actually quite interesting as an idea.... i've been trying to think of a way to properly introduce my girlfriend to STC, I mean we've been together for almost 5 years; she gets I like Sonic to a stupid degree and that the was this UK Comic and all that, but she really has no more of an idea what STC is then she did when she didn't know me, which is to say 'No idea'.
But an easy collection that misses out some of the filler, and has key story's collected together would actually help give her a quick insight as to what it is, I waste so much time on.

Also would be useful for introducing other people to what stc is....
ummm

[Arch]

Dec 1, 2011 7:32:24 GMT Matt said:

i've been trying to think of a way to properly introduce my girlfriend to STC, I mean we've been together for almost 5 years; she gets I like Sonic to a stupid degree and that the was this UK Comic and all that, but she really has no more of an idea what STC is then she did when she didn't know me, which is to say 'No idea'.

Mine read the Tails story "Grounded" over my shoulder. It's alright, but hardly a good way of getting into the comic.

[curiousorange]

Well I've compiled most of them in .cbr form (40-ish MB each). I won't post any links here, but can send them privately if my Wi-Fi stays connected long enough to upload to Mediafire or something.

Though even that's probably dodgy, as not only is it copyright infringement, but none were my original scans (even if I feel less illegal as the whole set of comics is still probably under a bed or in a loft somewhere at my family's place - well, nearly all of them from #21 onwards, anyway).

[madhair60]

Dec 1, 2011 7:32:24 GMT Matt said:

This is actually quite interesting as an idea.... i've been trying to think of a way to properly introduce my girlfriend to STC

Wrap an issue around your cock.

I immediately apologise for this crass, invasive remark.

[madhair60]

By request, The Complete Decap Attack.

[Matt]

did anyone ever make an CRB collection of any major Sonic stc stories... re my reasons above?
if not no problem, just might be useful and I have no idea how to do it myself, so thought i'd ask

[madhair60]

Yeah, I did. They're a bit big to host but I could get around to it. Or I could just teach you how?

[Matt]

Aug 27, 2012 16:19:19 GMT madhair60 said:

Yeah, I did. They're a bit big to host but I could get around to it. Or I could just teach you how?

either/or, I just looked through your Decap collection which I downloaded earlier after coming back to the thread to post my comment, and it's certainly confirm to me that the idea is sound and thank to you for bothering to but it together i'm sure it took a great deal of time.

If you get time to host something like that or even just email to me, I'd very much appreciate it.
Other wise if you don't have the time (which would be very understandable) a little info on how I can do it myself would do.
Thanks very much for your reply Stu

[Fools in Miru]

The Return of Ixis Nagus: Sonic and co are warped to prehistory and fight Nagus.

Bodycount: Blaze and Rouge kill many filler villains from.the comic's early years.

[snowthefox]

that sounds awesome! is there some place I can get some!

[Adamis]

Apr 19, 2013 4:40:33 GMT Fools in Miru said:

The Return of Ixis Nagus: Sonic and co are warped to prehistory and fight Nagus.

Bodycount: Blaze and Rouge kill many filler villains from.the comic's early years.

Never heard of any "Ixi Nagus" in StC

[Mambo's Here! Look Busy!]

Haven't you heard? It's a new character; he defeats his enemies through the power of persistent nagging!

[ShayMay]

..."Return" of Ixis Naugus?
Blaze and Rouge killing people?
Are we even reading the same comic? stconline.co.uk is the one we all read.

[Charles]

Apr 19, 2013 19:21:38 GMT Mambo's Here! Look Busy! said:

Haven't you heard? It's a new character; he defeats his enemies through the power of persistent nagging!

Charmy Bee saves the day by introducing him to the internet, and Nagus gives up on villainy to do Facebook memes about how immigrants are stealing his bins.

[Balls]

Nov 30, 2011 13:59:01 GMT The Stiv™ said:

Or keep them in nice, tidy binders in a bookcase just next to your computer =)

......As well as bagged VGC duplicates for collection purposes.

And digital copies on your computer.

=/ I'm such a [censored].

I'd tell you to stop being a nerd and go get laid but you probably get more gash than anyone on this forum.

[Fools in Miru]

The Complete Decap Attack: Possible hardcover collection if all Decap Attack strips.