Archie Sonic Universe Issue 57 is the fifty-seventh issue of the spin-off Sonic Universe comic series published by Archie Comics.
Official solicitation[]
- Pirate Plunder Panic Part 3: THA'RR BE MUTINY ON THE HIGH SEAS! As Capt. Metal and Capt. Whisker clash, the quest for the Sol Emeralds pits pirate against pirate even if th' be the same vessel. YO-HO! Meanwhile Blaze, Amy, Cream, and Marine are caught blazin' crossfire-and the tentacles of the terrifying sea-villain salty dog, the Kraken! You'll be walkin' if you don't read this exciting issue with new cover art from the scallywag Tracy Yardley, plus a variant cover from Sonic comic veteran artist Dawn Best!
Featured stories[]
Pirate Plunder Panic Part Three[]
- Script: Tracy Yardley
- Pencils: Tracy Yardley
- Inks: Jim Amash
- Colors: Steve Downer
- Letters: Jack Morelli
- Assistant Editor: Vincent Lovallo
- Editor/Executive Director of Editorial: Paul Kaminski
- Editor-in-Chief: Victor Gorelick
- President: Mike Pellerito
- Special Thanks to: Anthony Gaccione, Cindy Chau and to the Character Business and Licensing Department of SEGA Corporation
Synopsis[]
Bean the Dynamite and Bark the Polar Bear are currently fleeing with the Sol Emerald. Captain Metal orders his pirates to try and get the Emerald back, promising new gold plating to the one who retrieves it. Bean taunts the captain, waving the Sol Emerald in the air saying that it's "all his" and that the captain would never get it back. But his celebration is short-lived, as Johnny suddenly swoops in and snatches the Emerald from Bean's hand. Amy Rose gripes over the fact that another pirate has stolen the Emerald when Blaze the Cat says she is ready for Amy to break the bars. Amy smashes the bars of Blaze's cage with her hammer and Blaze uses her fire powers to drive the Kraken back. Blaze, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Marine then start going after Johnny, Blaze holding Amy and Cream holding Marine. Captain Metal, not letting his plans fall astray so easily, readies the fire cannon part of his arm to fire at Blaze. At that moment, the Sprocket Chief arrives, whacking Captain Metal on the head with a stick. The captain tries to get the Sprocket Chief, but at that moment a trio of sprockets arrive and rescue the chief. Captain Metal then realizes Blaze has escaped, though he is not surprised. One of the pirates then comes up to him saying Bean and Bark blew a hole in the wall and took off. This infuriates Captain Metal very much, and he takes the pirate's head off, then tells him to find them and kill them. The pirate responds with an "aye, aye, cap'n!" and a salute while holding his severed head in his hand. The captain orders Buckle and Swash to ready his submarine, to which they reply that it's not ready yet. This results in Captain Metal blasting Buckle in the chest with his fire cannon arm, and threatening to cut out Swash's hard drive if he didn't have his submarine ready in five minutes. He then tells Buckle, who's still uprighting himself from the blast, to "release the Kraken".
Meanwhile, Johnny is speeding away with the Sol Emerald, taunting Blaze and telling her that she'd never catch up to him. Blaze has recently heard of the dolphins and the sprockets helping her companions find her, and remarks that it's "a comfort to know that there are still some kind hearts" in her world. Marine replies that there are still too many pirates though, causing Amy to ask Blaze why there were so many pirates. Blaze explains that most of the planet is ocean, and that the sea is lawless and wild, and that when he gets all seven emeralds, she was going to send Amy and Cream back home, then she would end all the piracy. Amy says that there wasn't much chance of that happening if Johnny outruns them, and reports that Cream is getting tired. She tells Blaze to put her down and go on without her, but Blaze refuses. They touch down on a cliff, and try to think of a way to catch up to Johnny. Marine then suddenly spots Captain Metal's ship, which is at the bottom of the cliff. She says that by rights the ship is hers, as it is the ship that sunk her ship. Blaze warns Marine to get away from the edge of the cliff, making Amy ask Blaze if she is afraid of heights, and Blaze denies it, saying that heights just make her uneasy. Cream confesses that she gets afraid of the dark sometimes, and remarks that Blaze probably doesn't need a nightlight, and Blaze arrogantly states that she is not afraid. Blaze then grabs Amy and Marine and flies down to the ship, leaving Cream wondering if she said something wrong. When they land, Marine shouts at the crew to surrender, and that the ship now belonged to her. One pirate asks why they should take orders from her. Amy then smashes the robot with her Piko Piko Hammer, while Blaze melts down the pirate who was standing next to him, and Marine announces that that is why. Then she yells at all the pirates to set sail.
Out at sea, Johnny lands on Captain Whisker's ship, and tells the captain that he picked up some "interesting" plunder that day. He then shows the captain the Sol Emerald, which makes the captain very happy. One of his sidekicks, Mini, remarks that "Johnny did something right for a change", and Johnny tells him to be quiet. Captain Whisker asks Johnny where he got the emerald, and Johnny proudly announces that he stole right under the noses of Blaze and the captain's "favorite new rival", Captain Metal. Captain Whisker, very pleased, says he hopes that Blaze and Captain Metal won't forget Johnny's heist too soon. Mini and Mum then remind him that he can't keep the sol emerald, and has to give it to Eggman Nega. Whisker grumbles that even though he is under Nega's thumb for now, he would have vengeance. The two robots roll their eyes and doubt this fact, infuriating Whisker greatly. Johnny then announces that he sees Captain Metal's ship, but that Blaze and Marine seem to have taken command. Meanwhile, on (formerly) Captain Metal's ship, Blaze suggests that they turn into the wind for a better battle position. Marine replies that Blaze should just worry about setting things on fire, and let the captain (her) navigate the ship. Blaze quickly explains that she meant no offense, to which Marine replies by saying that Blaze shouldn't worry, before yelling orders at the crew. She is just ordering to loose the topsails when Bean and Bark come up from below, Bark holding a bag of loot, and Bean remarks that he prefers to run a tight ship. The pair are instantly surrounded by Blaze, Amy, Cream, and Marine; Amy warns the team that the duo is trouble, while Marine demands to know what they're doing on her ship. Bean retorts that they found the ship first and that by rights it's THEIR ship. He then launches into a dramatic and epic speech, pontificating that the shiny loot in the hold below was the only thing to comfort him now that his SHINY was torn from his grasp by a "fiend from the pit", and that he would captain the ship to the ends of the planet if he had to to take back what he loves. Marine stops him and snaps that SHE'S the captain of the ship. He snarkily replies by pointing at the giant "captain's hat" on his head, hinting that the fact he was wearing the hat made him the captain. Blaze puts an end to this by burning the hat off his head, leaving him shocked and still pointing at where his hat used to be. He quickly recovers, and asks no one in particular that "who wants to be a dumb old captain, anyway?".
Blaze tells Amy to keep an eye on Bean and Bark and to keep them close, as she was planning on sending them home, too. Marine and Captain Whisker begin to aim their cannons at one another, and are just about to fire when the Kraken comes up between their ships and begins to attack. Marine and Whisker fire anyway, though their cannons do no damage to the Goliath monster. Amy remarks that the squid is very tough, to which Bean replies that squids are indeed tough and make horrid sushi. Meanwhile, Johnny is trying to escape, but Whisker keeps him at his post at the cannon. Blaze tells everyone that nothing seems to harm the Kraken, and Cream realizes that their situation can barely be helped now. Suddenly, she notices Bean sitting on the deck, admiring a shiny diamond from the bag of loot that Bark had brought up, and gets an idea. Cream runs up to Bean and politely asks him to blow up the Kraken. He says that will help them, but only if he gets to be captain. Blaze, annoyed, agrees that he can be captain, which doesn't make Marine too happy. He then holds his hand high in the air and summons an enormous bomb, announcing gallantly that he will throw this behemoth explosive at the Kraken... but the bomb is too heavy for him, and falls on top of him, ruining his epic moment. Bark lifts the bomb up off of Bean and throws it in the Kraken's gaping maw, and the giant squid explodes. Captain Whisker loses hold of the sol emerald in the blast and it flies out of his hand and into the ocean... but a gleaming metal hand reaches out of the water and grabs it out of the air. This appendage belongs to none other than Captain Metal, who comes up in his submarine with his head, shoulders, chest, and one arm (the one holding the sol emerald) sticking out the hatch. He teasingly thanks Captain Whisker for delivering the emerald to him, and Blaze and Whisker begin expressing their anger by yelling that they would kill him and not show him any mercy. Captain Metal says that there was no need for all of them to be so crabby. He then climbs completely out of the hatch. It is revealed that his legs have been replaced with that of a crustacean, and his right arm now ends in a giant crab claw. He states with a wicked sense of humor that they could leave that to him.
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Bark the Polar Bear
- Bean the Dynamite
- Blackguard Pirates
- Buckle
- Captain Metal
- Kraken
- Rusty-Face Pete (mentioned)
- Swash
- Captain Whisker (first appearance)
- Eggman Nega (mentioned)
- Johnny (first appearance)
- Mini & Mum (first appearance)
- Sprockets
- Team Rose
Races and species:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- Captain Metal's Submarine (first appearance)
- Metal Marauder
Trivia[]
- Captain Metal's line "Release the Kraken!" is a quote of the well-known line from the original Clash of the Titans film.
- This story marks Johnny's first true appearance in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series since his brief debut in Sonic the Hedgehog #180, as well as the first true appearance overall of Captain Whisker, who had previously only in a flashback in Sonic Universe #1.
- Bean's appearance when flattened by his large bomb in this issue is reminiscent of his appearance in Sonic the Fighters when flattened by certain attacks.
Off Panel[]
- Script/Colors: Aleah Baker
- Pencils: Jennifer Hernandez
- Inks: Phyllis Novin
Synopsis[]
The Off Panel of this issue.
Bean and Marine run up to each other on a beach and start asking each other a load of questions and yammer on and on and on, until finally their hands brush up against each other and the world spontaneously explodes. In the last panel, Amy and Blaze are floating in nothingness. Amy announces that it is the end of reality, and Blaze remarks that Bean and Marine naturally existed in different dimensions for a reason.
Appearances[]
Characters:
Races and species:
Trivia[]
- This Off Panel is a reference to the famous running gag among Archie Comics Sonic fans that having the two equally insane characters of Bean and Marine the Raccoon meeting each other would cause mayhem.
- Bean asks Marine if she has water powers. This is most likely a reference to the popular fan theory that states the green energy ball Marine shoots in the cutscene "Egg Wizard destroyed" from Sonic Rush Adventure was her using hydrokinesis.
Quotes[]
- Captain Metal: And Mr. Buckle?
- Buckle: Aye, Cap'n?
- Blackguard Pirate: He's gonna say it!
- Captain Metal: Release the Kraken!
- Amy: Are you scared of heights, Blaze?
- Blaze: I'm NOT scared! They just make me uneasy!
- Cream: I get scared of the dark sometimes, Miss Blaze. I don't suppose you need a nightlight though, do you?
- Blaze: I AM NOT AFRAID!
- Captain Metal: Thankee fer delivering the sol emerald for me, Whisker! Mayhap ye ought to be me cabin boy!
- Captain Whisker: UPSTART SCALLIWAG! I'll have yer gaskets fer garters!
- Blaze: I offered you mercy once. I won't make that mistake again. This ends now, you filth!
- Captain Metal: A surly lot, ye are! But there's no need fer ye all to be so crabby. Ye can leave that to me.
Trivia[]
- On the variant cover, Bean uses the popular quote "I'm the king of the world!" from the movie Titanic.
- The variant cover is drawn by Sonic comic veteran Dawn Best, which was her first work for an Archie Sonic title since Sonic the Hedgehog #145, almost ten years prior.
- The heading on the introduction page, "CHAOS and CAPTAINS and CATS! OH MY!", is a reference to the famous line, "Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!", from the movie The Wizard of Oz.
Gallery[]
Cover artwork[]
| Gallery |
|---|
 Concepts of the regular cover  Variant cover (pencils)  Variant cover (raw artwork of Sonic only) |
Preview pages[]
| Gallery |
|---|
 Page one  Page two  Page three  Page four  Page five |
External links[]
- Archie Sonic Universe Issue 57 at Mobius Encyclopaedia, the Archie Sonic wiki.
