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Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 281 is the two hundred eighty first issue in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by Archie Comics.

Official solicitation[]

SONIC is SPEEDING down the Dragon Road in “Wings of Fire” Part One: Sonic and the Freedom Fighters travel to city-state of Chun-nan in search of more Gaia Keys! Dulcy the dragon is bringing all her might to help, but is her fledging team ready for end-of-the-world stakes? Could anyone really be? Then in “Homesick,” Bunnie and Tails come to the aid of a Key Guardian in a time of crisis! Featuring Cover art by the totally-terrific Tyson Hesse and a special Valentine’s Day “Love Struck” variant by the super-expressive Diana Skelly!

Featured stories[]

Wings of Fire Part One: Slow Burn[]

Synopsis[]

In Yurashia, Sonic, Sally, Antoine, Cream, and Big are being attacked by Silver Sonic and other Badniks on Dragon Road. Sally begins to wonder where Dulcy and her team are when suddenly a stream of fire torches a badnik in the distance before burning Silver Sonic. Dulcy the Dragon then swoops down from the sky and knocks Silver Sonic off the bridge, ending the badnik assault. Afterwards, the Freedom Fighters are lead to the Shijin Shrine where Dulcy introduces them to her team of heroes: Bunker; the shine's matron, Cinder; a member of the Southern Pyre Clan, and Jian; an ex-member of the Egg Clan Army.

During lunch together, The Knothole Freedom Fighters learn from Dulcy's team that the last Gaia Key Guardian Zonshen makes frequent offerings to the local phoenix spirit: the Gaia Phoenix. Although Dulcy hopes he hasn't been lately as the guardian spirit has been acting strange recently. It is explained that the Gaia Phoenix is the only reason the Egg Army haven't taken the Gaia Temple yet and while the clans in Yurashia agree the Eggman Empire is a threat, they can't agree what to do about it because of each clans contempt for each other. Dulcy expressed her hatred over these clan feuds, saying it was the reason she ran away from her home in the Eastern Forest Clan many years ago.

In a flashback, Dulcy meets Sonic, Sally and Tails for the first time Westside Island and is surprised when Sally allows her the stay even though she's not a part of the chipmunk's "clan". Dulcy gets even more confused when Sonic tells her that he's never been part of a clan and has been staying on the island for a while. Sally thinks that Dulcy could use some down time and decides to take the dragon to meet the rest of her friends.

Back in the present, Dulcy explains that the Freedom Fighters showed her a different side of life from the one she knew and was inspired to return home and make some changes for the better. However, while progress has been made, the Egg Army has been using these changes to their advantage. Welcoming people from any clan to join their ranks with the promise of unity through strength. While Sally begins to inquire about what other advantages their enemies have, Sonic tells them that they can worry about the Egg Army later since they already have the back door to all the temples with the Gaia Gate and just need to find the last Gaia Key.

After lunch, the Freedom Fighters and Dulcy's team discover that Zonshen was last seen going to the temple grounds guarded by the Gaia Phoenix and the Egg Army. Meanwhile, at the army's base, the regional Egg Boss Conquering Storm is informed that the Freedom Fighters have been spotted in the area. Believing that they're coming for the Gaia Temple, Conquering Storm orders to let them pass into the temple grounds so that the now-corrupted Gaia Phoenix can destroy them.

Appearances[]

Characters:

Races and species:

Locations:

Items:

Misc.:

Trivia[]

  • In the first panel, when Dulcy first arrives to defeat Silver Sonic, the back of Sally's ears are colored brown instead of red.
  • This story marks the first appearance of Dulcy the Dragon in the post-Super Genesis Wave timeline.
  • The species-makeup of the Shijin Warriors is a a reference to the Four Symbols, a quartet of mythical beasts that each represent a Chinese elemental and a cardinal direction.

Homesick[]

  • Writer: Ian Flynn
  • Pencils: Jennifer Hernandez
  • Inks: Terry Austin
  • Colors: Gabriel Cassata
  • Letters: John Workman

Synopsis[]

Appearances[]

Characters:

Races and species:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Misc.:

Off Panel[]

See also: Off Panel

Synopsis[]

STH 281 Off Panel

Off Panel

Tails and Bunnie discuss how hard it is for them not knowing their own origins. Tails considers that he may have been bitten by a radioactive helicopter and Bunnie considers being the offspring of an iPhone and rabbit. They both laugh at these thoughts and Tails jokes that they may need new writers if the origins were true.

Appearances[]

Characters:

Races and species:

Trivia[]

  • In the "Off Panel", Tails took a bite from a 'Radioactive helicopter bits' bug, which references the Spider-Man series, in which the series protagonist Peter Parker is bitten by a "radioactive spider" and then gains superpowers.

Quotes[]

Sonic: Remember back then 'Twan? Good times.
Antoine: I am remembering her sneezing and setting my hair on fire.
Sonic: Good times.

Trivia[]

  • The ghost girl on the variant cover is Lah who appeared in the animated short Sonic: Night of the Werehog released by Sega.
  • A loop shaped like a heart can be seen on the variant cover.
  • The "Love Struck" variant cover was intended to coincide with Valentine's Day (the issue was originally scheduled to release around February). Due to the delays that Sonic-related Archie Comics titles suffered at the time, however, the issue ended up not releasing until May.

Gallery[]

Cover artwork[]

Gallery

Concept artwork[]

Gallery

Miscellaneous[]

Preview pages[]

Gallery

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Ron C. (9 May 2016). Preview the new Archie Comics on sale 5/11, including ARCHIE #8!. Archie Comics. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020.

External links[]

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