It’s been too long since I got to read a good Sonic comic. This is from the Sonic Select series and since it mainly covers the Tails miniseries; it’s a decent way to jump back in. The comics were a little more retro than the cover would have you believe, but that’s mainly a good thing. It feels like reading an old Marvel or DC comic, but with the likable Sonic characters. It’s a pretty quick read, but definitely worth checking out.

The collection brings a brief intro story where Tails must fight against an Octobot so show us how Tails got his sub. That brings us to the main story when Tails decides that it’s up to him to stop Eggman. The Freedom Fighters have been treating him like a kid lately and stopping Eggman will force them to admit that he’s just as much of a fighter as them. This 3 part epic sees Tails go through all sorts of adventures and he won’t stop until Eggman’s plans have been foiled. Things get a little more dicey for Tails when the infamous Crocbot steps in to complicate matters. Tails is going to have to use every bit of power that he’s got if he wants to win this.

The collection also brings a very brief story at the end, which is a very large change of pace. It takes place in the modern day and the art looks to be more 90’s to 2000’s level. Sonic and Tails are training when the cops from the multiverse say that they need Tails to save everything. Sonic tags along and we find out that Knuckles messed up and Mogul now has unlimited power. He’s literally crushing the multiverse and there are only two dimensions (zones) left. Tails is supposed to be the chosen one so all of the Tails from the different dimensions arrive. Will the real Tails be able to use these guys in order to defeat Mogul or are they all doomed? Sonic’s around so at least Tails has an ally that he can count on. Let’s the battles begin!

Sonic doesn’t appear a whole lot, but his brief appearances are pretty epic. He’s nice enough to apologize after the brainwashing done by Eggman and he is pretty brave when he goes up against Mogul. If not for all of the bystanders, I’m pretty sure that Sonic could have taken down Mogul on his own. He is Sonic after all and Mogul wasn’t able to land a single hit on the hedgehog thanks to his speed. This is why Sonic overwhelms most opponents and Mogul wouldn’t be an exception. Sonic definitely proves why he’s typically the main character.

Tails is the main character of the collection and he gets a lot of screen time as a result of this. Tails essentially represents the sidekick who wants to level up as he embarks on all sorts of dangerous quests, but always ends up getting rescued. He retreats into his comics where he changes the facts a little bit to show the world that he is the true hero. It’s pretty bold, but his comics were pretty great so I’ll cut him a little slack. The heroes were definitely being pretty condescending so going out to take on Eggman was the right call. Tails just made a big mistake when he let personal feelings get in the way of the mission. He never really recovered from that.

It’s lucky for Tails that there is a group of underwater Freedom Fighters as well as a Rodeo version. Without them, things definitely would have been dicey for him. Tails definitely gets thrown around a whole lot, but he’s still a pretty likable character. This was before he became known as the smart character of the group so we don’t see a lot of gadgets, but I’m okay with that. Seeing Tails as an adventurer in training is definitely more exciting and Tails does his best to fight the villains on his own. I wouldn’t mind seeing more Tails comics in the future and especially if they’re set in this era. He’s a fun supporting character who can hold his own series.

Eggman is always amusing to see onscreen because his minions insult him all of the time. Eggman typically ignores them, but they can be pretty bold about this. Eggman still does have his moments and his plan to get Tails in the grinder nearly worked thanks to his latest robot. Eggman’s role is pretty minimal after that, but his constant yelling at Crocbot is also fun. The Sonic comics definitely wouldn’t be the same without Eggman and I wish that the current games had kept this design. This was definitely Eggman at around his prime. (Only Adventure 2 Battle could stack up to this one)

I can’t say that I really remember Crocbot prior to this collection, but he seems like a decent villain. He’s basically the wild west version of Eggman and his minions are a lot more respectful. No insults to the Crocbot. He strikes terror into the hearts of many and he’s a decent fighter. He’s not a terrific villain and he lacks Eggman’s charisma, but he’s still a force to be reckoned with and I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.

Mogul is the final villain from the last comic and what he lacks in personality, Mogul makes up for in sheer power. His design was never my favorite since he doesn’t appear to be too fast, but he does have energy blasts. Mogul’s as generic as they come, but we can’t give detailed backgrounds to every character. It just wouldn’t work after a while right? Mogul fits the villain role and that will need to be enough.

The art for the majority of the comics is the old 70s art that we’ve all grown used to. It definitely works for the comics since we have a lot of puns and the art helps with the facial expressions. It may not be 5 star art, but the art is definitely pretty good and it’s nostalgic. There weren’t many battle scenes so I can’t say how it would perform in that area, but it appeared to get the job done and that’s good enough for me.

These comics are very light tones and are similar to the boat stories. The name escapes me at the moment but it had many memorable lines like “Blistering Barnacles” and “Thundering Typhoons.” Really great lines and this collection has a lot of solid ones as well. There is basically a pun a page and I like how Tails continues to mock just about everything. He tells the wise old echidna that he has no time to talk to statues and it’s a bold line. That’s what I liked about these days int he comics; the characters were very bold. It’s a give and take because comics of this era didn’t usually have a lot of fights, but the well played comedy and puns are enough of a counter to make this collection memorable.

Overall, this was a pretty great batch of comics. The final comic in particular was a big change of pace since the multiverse was suddenly at stake and we had a villain who could crush universes. That’s pretty huge and Tails got to step up and get a pretty epic super form. The early comics may not have had as much stakes, but we got to meet a lot of characters and Tails learned a valuable lesson. I would recommend this comic to all comic readers and I don’t see why you wouldn’t like it. This may be volume 8, but it’s safe to jump in since the comics are mostly just the Tails stand alones. This is why Sonic comics are typically so great! Solid cast, art, and plot.

Overall 7/10