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Special Zone (Sonic the Comic)

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This location exists primarily or exclusively within the continuity of Fleetway Editions' Sonic the Comic series.
Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity.

The Special Zone is a fictional universe from Fleetway's Sonic the Comic, based on the Special Stages from the early Sonic the Hedgehog games, and the setting of many stories. It first appeared in a single panel of Sonic the Comic #3, with a full appearance in #8. It is the home of the Chaotix Crew and the Omni-Viewer.

The ancient Echidnas of the Floating Island were aware of the Special Zone, since they referred to it as the Nightmare Country.[1]

Contents

[edit] "The Weird Bit"

Dubbed "the weird bit" by Charmy Bee in #84, the outskirts of the Special Zone are a surreal mess. Shown to contain the Special Stages from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, they also contain large chequered cubes, strange tangles of geometric shapes, small planets and multicoloured skies, among other oddities. (In #99, one panel showed a fish hovering in it.) They bear a strong resemblance to the magical otherworlds created by Steve Ditko from Marvel Comic's Doctor Strange (in the script for issue 4, writer Nigel Kitching specifically likened it to the realm of Dormammu[2]). The laws of physics do not apply, with drones from the Hive shown using a rowing boat to cross space.

The Chaotix Crew used to have a base here. In the early days of the comic, Doctor Robotnik launched attacks on Mobius and eventually ruled the planet from his Egg Fortress in the Special Zone; when he left it to personally oversee the Death Egg's construction and later move to the Metropolis Zone, the base was turned over to the Brotherhood of Metallix.

[edit] The Hive

Resembling a giant mountain floating in space, the Hive is situated in the outer regions of the Special Zone. It is home to a vast colony of bees, ruled over by the Queen; Charmy Bee is secretly her son and next in line to the throne. The bees of the Hive know how to create gold, making them both fabulously wealthy and prone to raids by the Wasps under Vesper.

[edit] Planet Meridian

Away from the outer regions, the Special Zone is said to contain many inhabited planets, though Meridian is the only one shown so far. It is inhabited by similar anthropomorphic animal inhabitants to Mobius. Its capital city is New Tek City; far south of it is the Mandrake Swamp, home of the supernatural villain Root.

New Tek City is a parody of superhero comics and cartoons. The first time it was shown, two teams of superhumans were fighting each other with no explanation for who were the villains and who were the heroes, and both sides run from the police. There are many such fights occurring all the time, with the only explanation being from Mighty: "fighting villains is just what us heroes do!" The city runs off a bizarre internal logic which the inhabitants understand but which leaves Sonic the Hedgehog confused and frustrated.[3] (Writer Nigel Kitching has stated that he intended these fights to be a generic parody of American superhero teams, rather than a specific reference,[4] although specific parodies were later included by Lew Stringer, for example The Bulk is a parody of the Incredible Hulk.)

New Tek City is also home to the secret scientific laboratory Equinox, staffed entirely by crocodiles.

[edit] Sonic the Comic Online

In the unofficial continuation Sonic the Comic Online, the evil Doctor Zachary theorises that the Zone was formed by a Big Bang of excess Chaos energy. Because of this, if the Chaos Emeralds came together in the Special Zone, they would begin absorbing that excess energy and wipe out the Zone in the process. Despite the best efforts of Sonic, Knuckles and the Chaotix Crew, Shadow the Hedgehog succeeded in bringing the Emeralds together.

The Chaotix now live in Mobius, trying to bring the Zone back. The only other known survivors of the Special Zone are the Family crime syndicate, who emigrated to Mobius before the Zone's destruction.

[edit] Notable Residents

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Sonic the Comic #53, "Total Chaotix, Part 1"
  2. ↑ Nigel Kitching's script for Sonic the Comic #4 (Microsoft Word document)
  3. ↑ Sonic the Comic #84, "Heroes & Villains, Part 1"
  4. ↑ Message #4558 "The Big Decision" by Nigel Kitching at sonicthecomic Yahoo! Group
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