Worst ever STC Stories

[Spudiator]

We all loved reading STC when we were kids, there were great stories, but let's face it, there was some real stinkers on occasions too, mostly as a result of Lew Stringer's writing. Worst I can remember off the top of my head was the woeful Sonic's World - Cam 'n Bert stories, I think there was only two multi-part stories for them, but they were truly awful!!! Anyone think of any worse ones?

[Charles]

Sonic & Techno VS The Trickster. Bleurgh.

The first ever Sonic story wasn't that great either. And by that, I mean it was highly naff.

[Retro]

Spudiator said:

Worst I can remember off the top of my head was the woeful Sonic's World - Cam 'n Bert stories, I think there was only two multi-part stories for them, but they were truly awful! Anyone think of any worse ones?

Oi! Those stories ruled!

Oh and by the way if Lakit see's that she's liable to rip your arm off and beat you to death with the wet end....she's a big fan of Cam n' bert if I have my facts correct.

But honestly, who can beat...the No.1 Hammer!

*lifts a great hammer off the floor and poses dramaticilly against a flashing background, before its sheer weight brings the head down on top of him, crushing him into the orchestra area.*

Worst stories....hmm. Personally I dont look for worsts, I much prefer to look for whats good I na story being the optimist that I am. But I would say, Bravehog...the whole thing just seemed a little too far fetched for me.

[Omega Wants Cake]

"Sonic the human" Was an intresting concept, but an ugly one. O.o

I'd go with Bravehog too myself.

[Baxter]

Bravehog. Urgh.

[Purpleweasel]

Retrogamer said:

Oh and by the way if Lakit see's that she's liable to rip your arm off and beat you to death with the wet end....she's a big fan of Cam n' bert if I have my facts correct.

Nah, that's Samface methinks...though if anyone says anything bad about Nack *cracks knuckles* >_<

Worse story...hmm...Bravehog. Complete rubbish.

[Tom]

There was far worse than "Bravehog".

[Spudiator]

I still stand by my dismissal of Cam 'n Bert, although the whole Metamorphia saga was pretty bad too. Only Lew Stringer story I ever did like was the Project Brutus saga. I do remember a woeful story called Beware Predicto, which was bad too!

[JC]

Predicto....

I just cant stand it.

[Omega Wants Cake]

Tom said:

There was far worse than "Bravehog".

Did they happen to star a particually annoying character with the Initials F V? <.<

[-LB-]

Self said:

Did they happen to star a particually annoying character with the Initials F V? <.<

Funnily enough, they did. How'd you know? ;D

[archangelffx]

Well I quite liked Beware Predicto. A decent idea, nice artwork and shows off Sonic's arrogance.
But this is an opinion thread.

For me, I disliked many of the Shanazar stories. The intro ones were good and the meeting with Kintobor, but I hated Jewel of the Tower (I think) and Space Race annoyed me. It was at the time reprints were starting to bug me too

[Spudiator]

Looking back at the archive I actually found an even worse story than any of the previously mentioned stories, and worst of all, it was one of Nigel Kitching's stories too. Way back in issue 39 he wrote a story called Sonic No More, if you don't remember that far back, Grimer had invented a device which reverted Sonic to back before he got his "powers" and diverted all of them into Robotnik, who thus, became super fast and athletic, which was something of a plothole in itself, because Sonic didn't get his "powers" from the explosion in Dr Kintobor's labrotory, all that did was change his colour, so turning brown shouldn't have made any difference to his abilities. I hated this story because it was very reminiscent of the god-adwul Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon that used to be on telly, but the worst thing of all, was that Nigel Kitching, who has always been rightly regarded as the greatest comic script writer STC ever had, adn he really let himself down with this one, still, everyone can have a bad day!

[Charles]

Most of the Amy/Tekno stories were pretty dire, which was a pity- one of the main Freedom Fighters, one alternately aggressive and maternalistic teamed a genius and former weapons designer... That should've made an interesting series of buddy adventures, but it didn't. The Ring Of Eternity only made things worse, taking them away from Mobius and anything vaguely like Sonic.

In fact, the only Amy/Tekno story I really liked was Gangster Trap, and that only for the nifty concept of the entire planet being shaped by willpower.

Was Lew Stringer hampered by editorial edict on those stories or what?

[Admin Droid]

I asked Lew why the style of his stories changed so greatly over his run, and his answer was:

Purely and simply editorial policy. Different editors, different preferences, but we writers have to adapt to whatever is required.

Now, I wouldn't like to be quoted on any of this because I may be misremembering, but I think a little research will probably bear me out. Deborah Tate asked Nigel Kitching to write shorter stories, generally complete stories. She wanted stories to feature Amy and for her to be a strong action hero, not the quirky character Nigel had been writing. She asked for more Earth stories. I believe she wanted Amy and Tekno to be put in a position where they could explore lots of different places from normal Mobius, which was the impetus for the Eternity Ring stories, but don't quote me on that.

Now I'm not sure how he felt about those stories himself. I'm sure he tried his best to meet the editorial direction. That doesn't mean he was being hampered, necessarily; in the same way that if you write for 'The Beano' you aren't being hampered. You're just telling a different kind of story.

I would speculate that the 4-issue arc commissioned, I believe, by Steve MacManus (his last arc) probably reflected the style of story he thought suited the comic best -- big, dramatic, good versus evil epics. But there's no evidence for that, it's just an observation.

[Tom]

I seem to recall that Steve MacManus asked for something darker.

[Charles]

Ed said:

She wanted stories to feature Amy and for her to be a strong action hero, not the quirky character Nigel had been writing.

Getting rid of quirky Amy? Bah. Couldn't she have been both an action hero and quirky at the same time?

I would speculate that the 4-issue arc commissioned, I believe, by Steve MacManus (his last arc) probably reflected the style of story he thought suited the comic best -- big, dramatic, good versus evil epics. But there's no evidence for that, it's just an observation.

Which arc would that be?

[Admin Droid]

Tom: Yeah, that does make sound right.

Charles: I guess not. Nigel talked about his problems with writing Amy on the list just the other day. Worth a read. The arc I'm referring to was #171-174: "Planet In Peril" through to "Game Over". (Although I really liked "Splitzoid" as well in #170, though it's often forgotten).

[Robert Frazer]

I know that everyone on the forum is going to loathe me for criticising one of the comic's most fondly-regarded arcs, but there was one story in STC which most certainly left an exceedingly bitter and repellently sour aftertaste in my mouth...

DISASTER!

How very apposite.
Yes, the long-expected climax to the renowned Sonic III and Knuckles adaptation was, stated bluntly, an anti-climax. For several thrilling issues Sonic the Comic had chronicled Sonic's valiant trek across the adverse climes of the Floating Island, as through each panel an undercurrent of steadily-accentuating tension broiled, gushed and surged as the Death Egg II inched inexorably towards its terrible launch.
And, indeed, the final launch was traumatic - but for the wrong reasons. After stoking up a furious, blazing conflagration of expectancy, this was all hosed down in seconds with the Death Egg II being wrecked in a mere five pages!
It was such an appalling and tragic waste of drama, and to have it end with all the excitement of a damp firework seemed to taint the entire arc for me. Admittedly, the strip ended with a double-page splash spread, but even that seemed something of a poor consolation - it was hardly the most sumptuous or explosive art the comic produced. All in all, Disaster! was simply underwhelming.

If you're looking for the rotten tomatoes to pelt me with, they're behind the red-paned glass marked "emergency", along with some firecrackers and a half-brick.

[Admin Droid]

I didn't like it much either. I didn't hate it, and the ending was fine, it just stuck too closely to the games to be of much interest to me. I don't get the hype really.

[Charles]

Robert said:

After stoking up a furious, blazing conflagration of expectancy, this was all hosed down in seconds with the Death Egg II being wrecked in a mere five pages!

To be fair, they could hardly keep it around for much in the page-space available, and it was either wreck it or have Robotnik nuke Emerald Hill.

And that Floating Island VS Death Egg fight was fun as hell.

[Samface]

CharlesRB said:

And that Floating Island VS Death Egg fight was fun as hell.

Too right. I loved "Disaster!" and I'll take all o'yuz critics on! *shakes fist*


Anyway, "Bravehog" gets my worst story vote. As a story it's bad, as a spoof it's crummy, the jokes are particularly unfunny, continuity is ignored (why are all these hedgehogs like post-treadmill-accident Sonic?) and I will just never like Mick McMahon's art.

There was another one around that time I really hated, too - can't remember the title, it was where a badnik threw Sonic a thousand years into the future to where Mobius was ruled by the memory of Robotnik and everyone kept going on about how much they liked being beaten up by badniks. Awful. >_<

[Admin Droid]

Oh, I loved "No Future". That was great. Funny script, great art, serious tone. Really liked it.

[Oz]

I agree with Robert Frazer on that one. After building the arc up after so many strips it was a very big let-down to see the Death Egg just be took down in five mere pages Something that I am definatly going to correct when Sonic Adventures swings by

[archangelffx]

Don't forget the other writers, Oz. 0_o