Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 233 is the two hundred thirty-third issue of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by Archie Comics.
Official solicitation[]
- "The Trial of Geoffrey St. John." Fresh from the epic "Babylon Rising" arc in Sonic Universe, Sonic and Tails investigate the fate of their enemies before hurrying home for the trial of their former ally, Geoffrey St. John. How did this international man of mystery become an Ixis wizard? Where do his true loyalties lie? The answers fans have been demanding finally arrive.
Featured stories[]
The Trial of Geoffrey St. John[]
- Writer: Ian Flynn
- Pencils: Steven Butler
- Inks: Terry Austin
- Colors: Matt Herms
- Letters: John Workman
- Assistant Editor: Vincent Lovallo
- Editor: Paul Kaminski
- Editor-in-Chief: Victor Gorelick
- President: Mike Pellerito
- Special Thanks to: Anthony Gaccione and Cindy Chau at SEGA Licensing
Synopsis[]
Sonic and Tails investigate the fate of the Battle Bird Armada and get into a quick fight before hurrying home for the trial of traitor Geoffrey St. John. Hip and Hop act as the judges, Antoine is the prosecutor, and Geoffrey is defending himself. King Naugus sits by, bored. Answering Antoine's questions, Geoffrey reveals that he had become Ixis Naugus' man during the Great War, before Dr. Robotnik (then Kintobor) had taken over.
After his father was killed by an Overlander and Kintobor was made warlord, Geoffrey found an artifact in Warlord Kodos' belongings. The Ixis remains let him talk to Ixis Naugus, trapped in the Zone of Silence. To prepare for his return, Naugus had Geoffrey train by his father Ian's manuals left behind after his death and taught Geoffrey how to become a wind Ixis. Geoffrey eventually raised the Rebel Underground and met up with the Knothole Freedom Fighters.
Geoffrey continued to help Naugus over the years, not daring to be too obvious until the time was right, or risk being defeated. Even the members of his Royal Secret Service were suspect: Bomb and Heavy were Badniks, Hershey had almost killed Sally once, and Wombat Stu was a foreigner. Any of them, besides Valdez, could have been blamed if anything had happened against the kingdom. When questioned if Hershey was also a pawn, Geoffrey went into a rage.
Geoffrey explained that he loved Hershey, and she had gone missing in a mission in Soumerca. He had spent days searching for her, but could not find a trace. After that, he returned to the kingdom to help Naugus by betraying Sonic. Hip and Hop declare Geoffrey guilty, and there is brief cheering among the crowd. Naugus steps in and uses his annual pardon—granted to him for being king—to have Geoffrey released.
Meanwhile, Eggman has modified a Power Ring and implants it in Mecha Sally's body in order to give her the power needed to defeat Sonic, but not restoring her free will.
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Armand D'Coolette (mentioned)
- Battle Bird Armada
- Council of Acorn
- Destructix (flashback)
- Kodos Lion (flashback)
- Uma Arachnis (flashback)
- Dr. Eggman
- Dr. Ivo Robotnik (mentioned)
- Felidae (flashback)
- Forget Me Knots
- Geoffrey St. John
- Knothole Freedom Fighters
- Hip and Hop
- Ian St. John (mentioned)
- Ixis Naugus
- Maximillian Acorn (mentioned)
- Megan Acorn
- Mina Mongoose
- Rebel Underground (flashback)
- Royal Secret Service (flashback)
- Bomb (flashback)
- Geoffrey St. John
- Heavy (flashback)
- Hershey St. John (flashback)
- Valdez the Chameleon (flashback)
- Wombat Stu (flashback)
- Shadowbot (flashback)
- Shinobi Clan (mentioned)
- Snively Robotnik
- SWATbot (flashback)
- Iron Dominion (mentioned)
Locations:
- Multiverse
- Prime Zone
- Mobius
- Northamer
- Great Forest (flashback)
- New Mobotropolis
- Castle Acorn (flashback)
- Civic Center
- Robotropolis (mentioned)
- Soumerca (mentioned)
- Southern Tundra (mentioned)
- Eurish (flashback)
- United Federation (flashback)
- Northamer
- Mobius
- Zone of Silence (flashback)
- Prime Zone
Races and species:
Items:
- Babylon Garden
- Chaos Emerald
- Crossbow Gauntlet (flashback)
- Death Egg Mark 2
- Ixis Artifact (only appearance) (flashback)
- Nanite
- Power Ring
- Sonic's sneakers
Misc.:
- Great War (flashback)
- Ixis Magicks
- Ixis Wind Magic (flashback)
- Propeller Flying
- Roboticization
- Sonic Spin
Continuity[]
- This issue takes place after Sonic Universe #36.
- Geoffrey has flashbacks to events from previous issues about his actions:
- In the first flashback, during the Great War, Geoffrey's father, Ian St. John, was killed by Overlanders on mission for King Acorn in Knuckles the Echidna #19.
- In the second flashback, when Geoffrey works with the Rebel Underground, he eventually meets Sally in Sonic the Hedgehog #20.
- In the third and and fourth flashbacks, Sonic caught King Max unconscious and Geoffrey saves Sally with his jetpack when the zone was destroyed in Sonic the Hedgehog #41,.
- In the fifth flashback, Sonic and Geoffrey face off against Kodos Lion, Ixis Naugus and Uma Arachnis in Sonic the Hedgehog #53.
- Geoffrey recalls Sonic and Tails chased Naugus to the Northen Tundra and Naugus was imprisoned in the Zone of Silence again in Sonic the Hedgehog #66.
- Antoine recalls Hershey was responsible for the presumed demise of Sally in Sonic the Hedgehog #47.
- In the sixth and seventh flashbacks, Elias agreed to Geoffrey's favor, and Elias punished Sonic for his crimes in Sonic the Hedgehog #93.
- In the eight flashback, Elias leaves Castle Acorn in Sonic the Hedgehog #102.
- In the ninth flashback, Geoffrey and Hershey were protecting the Knothole inhabitants from the Shadow Swatbots when Sonic returned from space in Sonic the Hedgehog #130.
- In the tenth and final flashback, after Hershey's death, Geoffrey eletrocuted Sonic so he could give a Chaos Emerald to Naugus in Sonic the Hedgehog #219-Sonic the Hedgehog #220.
From the Shadows[]
- Writer: Ian Flynn
- Pencils: Evan Stanley
- Inks: Terry Austin
- Color: Evan Stanley
- Letters: John Workman
- Editor: Paul Kaminski
Synopsis[]
Elias is arguing with his parents about fleeing the city in order to find a safer haven in the forest. Alicia declines, wanting to stay with Max, who seems to have gone into shock trying to comprehend the situation. Alicia then tells Elias that she and Max don't want to lose him too, because they had already lost Sally. Elias decides that he and his family would be in danger even if they moved. He goes to Harvey Who, his father's old adviser and convinces the owl to let him in. Harvey tells Elias how the Acorn family didn't deserve the crown, how Max went against him in accepting first Kodos and then Julian Kintobor, and kicking out Nate Morgan.
Harvey says that Elias and his wife will move out as planned, but he will sneak back in later, and that the time between will be enough to create a new team of Secret Freedom Fighters.
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Amadeus Prower (mentioned)
- Dr. Ivo Robotnik (mentioned)
- Geoffrey St. John (mentioned)
- Harvey Who
- House of Acorn
- Ixis Naugus (mentioned)
- Kodos Lion (mentioned)
- Merlin Prower (portrait)
- Nate Morgan (mentioned)
- Sir Charles Hedgehog (portrait)
Locations:
- Prime Zone
- Mobius
- Northamer
- Feral Forest (mentioned)
- New Mobotropolis
- Northamer
- Mobius
Races and species:
- Mobian
- Robian (mentioned)
- Overlander (mentioned)
Off Panel[]
- Script: Ian Flynn
- Pencils: Jonathan Gray
- Inks: Gary Martin
- Colors: Aleah Baker
Off Panel
In the first panel, Antoine is yelling at Sonic, Hip and Hop state that this is a serious trial and that they shouldn't make jokes. He tells them no food, no "order in the court" and no "kangaroo court" jokes. Sonic reluctantly agrees and Hip and Hop comment that he's a spoilsport. In the next panel, Geoffrey is standing on top of a podium looking smug at Antoine. Antoine asks what he is doing up there. In the last panel, Geoffrey smirks and says that "I'm on the stand am I?". Antonie literally bursts into flames in anger at the joke.
Appearances[]
Characters:
Races and species:
Trivia[]
- This issue features the first appearance of Harvey Who since Sonic the Hedgehog #16 and the first appearance of Hip and Hop appeared since Sonic the Hedgehog #40. Long time dead character Nate Morgan has received mention and cameos for the first time since his last appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog #105.
- The original solicits stated "From the Shadows" would feature as the back story in the previous issue. Editor Paul Kaminski corrected this mistake, saying the story would appear in this issue.[1]
- This issue reveals that Geoffrey St. John had actually been an apprentice of Ixis Naugus before Julian Kintobor became Robotnik, and that all of Geoffrey's actions in the series up until this point had been part of a master plan to assist Naugus.
- Hershey's new design is seen on the cover, something that would have debutted later on had the series not been rebooted into a new timeline.
- In Harvey's house an old picture can be seen atop the fireplace. He is in it, along with King Maximillian Acorn, Sir Charles Hedgehog, Nate Morgan, General Amadeus Prower, Merlin Prower, Commander Ian St. John, and Colonel Tig Stripe.
- In France, "The Trial of Geoffrey St. John" was printed in Delcourt Sonic 4: Le Jeu De Alliances.
- In Germany, this issue was printed in Panini Sonic the Hedgehog #4.
Gallery[]
Cover artwork[]
Preview pages[]
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 Page one  Page two  Page three  Page four  Page five |
References[]
- ↑ Paul Kaminski (21 November 2011). STH #234/SU #37/Sonic Genesis HC Previews. BumbleKing Comics. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015.
External links[]
- Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 233 at Mobius Encyclopaedia, the Archie Sonic wiki.
- Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 233 at Sonic Retro
