Issue 84

Issue 84 is the eighty-fourth edition of Sonic the Comic. Released on the 7th August 1996 at the price of £1.20, the issue contained four original stories (all of them new) as well as several features.

Strips

Sonic the Hedgehog

Heroes & Villains is a 3-part story by Nigel Kitching, Richard Elson and Ellie de Ville. Sonic has arrived in the Special Zone to warn the Chaotix Crew about Super Sonic, but they have better things to do. Everyone goes down to Planet Meridian, where a brawl between the Justice Brigade and the Discriminators leads to Sonic getting caught by the police.

Knuckles the Echidna

Village of the Damned is a 3-part story and part of Knuckles' World Tour of Mobius. Written by Kitching, with art by Nigel Dobbyn and lettering by Elitta Fell, the story sees Knuckles stop off at The Green Man for the night. After a cool welcome, Knuckles is taken to his room, but his sleep is interrupted by the cries of a young sheep in the middle of a mob.

Tails

Sneaker Seeker is a complete story written by Lew Stringer, with drawing by Roberto Corona, colours by John M Burns and lettering by Tom Frame. A scientist has created some cool new trainers for Tails, but it's all a ploy by the evil Grimer. Although people are initially impressed by Tails' new footwear, it transpires that they contain a tracking device for a homing missile trained to kill him! He eventually drops them back where he got them, forcing Grimer to self-destruct the weapon.

Sonic's World

New Image is a complete story by Stringer, Carl Flint, Steve White and Frame. Sonic is approached by Sneaky and Snooty, self-improvement agents who believe Sonic needs a makeover. After showing them a picture of a tied-up Amy Rose, the crooks convince Sonic to advertise for them in a yellow anorak. A Badnik attack appears and Sonic's new clothes greatly slow him down. Fortunately, Amy has escaped so Sonic tears off his coat, beats the Badniks and defeats the villains.

Features

This issue's Control Zone sees Megadroid welcome in the summer by introducing this issue's stories and features. There's also an announcement for Issue 72's Name The Artist compo, the answer of Mike Hadley winning one lucky Boomer some artwork. The Sega Charts show that Brian Lara Cricket '96 and Euro '96 are still the year's big hits for the Mega Drive and Saturn. Rebel Assault re-enters the Mega-CD chart at the top and Sonic 2 moves back to the head of the Game Gear list.

David Gibbon covers this issue's Review Zone, awarding Panzer Dragoon 2 93% and Starfighter 3000 86%. A special feature this week is on the Sega Channel. The article goes into detail on the hardware and the different games available for it, as well as showing Andi Peters posing along with the peripheral and other stars.

Sonic 1 is the game featured in the Q Zone special "Revisited", presenting tips, cheats and codes. Chris Jones and Gibbon also help Boomers find the Chaos Emeralds on the Master System version. Letters to Speedlines include a complaint about the delivery service, praise for Megadroid and a sighting of Sonic the Balloon. Winning entrants won a Sega Mega Hog Tag.