With last issue's exciting cliffhanger, I've been dying to recieve this issue! Now that I finally have it, onto the review of the beauty that is Sonic the Hedgehog # 130!
Sonic has finally returned from Space and returned to Earth/Mobius. It's quite a long time, but the Blue Blur is finally back! Sonic gets out of his pod and sees smoke in the distance. He races off toward the source, which is a wall of flame. Sonic spots St. John and Hershey getting mairried (at last). The flame was caused by some SWATbots. Sonic destriys one, whuch gets the now-pronounced couple's attention. They all beleive they saw a ghost. Sonic deals with the bots. The couple are then convinced that Sonic is alive. They tell him that a war has been declared by Robo-mack. It's been 11 years since another war. Maybe this is why 11 years was stated instead of 10 in last issue. Sonic dashes off to find Eggy in Megaopolis- the capital of the Eggman Empire. By destroying the bot, the signal to Eggman was cut off. The last image recorded was the one responsible for the destruction: Sonic the Hedgehog! Eggy is ticked having known his numero uno enemy is back and alive. Sonic ends up back in Knothole, which has now been converted into: Knothole City! High-Tech! Confused, Sonic asks how long it's been since he helped defeat the Xorda. A girl tells him one year. Now shocked, Sonic asks where the King is. After being told, Sonic is confronted by 2 gaurds who thinks he's dead. Since he's recognized as the hero, they let him in. The folks are thinking on what Robo is hatching in Megapolis. They don't know but the one who does responds in the distance with "Oh, yes we DO!" The others turn around to find Sonic, who then says "s'up?". Funny. Everyone is suprised especially Sonic and Knux. They BOTH heard each other was dead and only one was right: Sonic. Anyway, they're both alive and well, even though Knux is lacking powrer from the gaurdians. Uncle Chuck joins in and hs a hug with Sonic. *cracks* I love moments like this. Sonic then asks where Sally is. The cover answers that question. Sonic approaches his "grave" where Sally is at. They then share a long, good kiss. This reminds me ALOT of the one in Sonic Super Special 6, but is better. Cameras are everywhere! Sally has had faith in Sonic and says that it was only a matter of time before he came back. They then see the others FFs in Knothole. There is a shot of Bunnie without a roboticized left arm. The same thing happened in ish 120. Could this be a mistake? Must be 'cause she still has roboticized legs. Antoine has a scar on the left side of his face. Rotor has glasses and Jules looks western with that hat. Bunnie has one too. Everyone else looks the same. Back to business, GUN is urging a preemative strike against Megaopolis. As the Pres is about to fill Sonic in on the attack, their signal is cut off by Eggman (must have been his way of revenge since Sonic did the same). Egghead tells Sonic about his new plan, so listen up: Robotropolis has been Force-Feilded again. Not done since Sonic 37. Eggy's robot horde is preparing to penetrate that barrier and bring on the big guns on Sonic's habitat. I see E-102 Gamma is back. He's part of the robot horde. To make things worse, there are 2 atomic warhead missles behind Eggman on the Old Megaopolis Harbor! This is Eggman's OPERATION: TRIPPLE THREAT! Can Sonic tackle it? Find out soon!

WONDERFUL!!! ASOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT!!!!! I swear, the Sonic comics get better and better! I've been witing for this issue for a while, and if you'd read it. you'd know why! It speaks for itself, great art, great story, great cliffhanger, great changes to the enviornment, great danger, etc. So a whole year has passed huh? That means that Bunnie is now an adult. This could mean her arm has rusted off? Maybe... The art was just as goos as ever. Speaking of art, I heard that Jon "WB" Gray is going to be a new one. I have no complaints with the only "flaw" in the art: Bunnie's arm. It might not be a flaw so I can't count it as one yet. I'm still waiting for my art and letters to appear in future issues. And after all these years, Mobius: 25 Years Later is at LONG LAST coming! Can't wait. My final statement is the Fan Art. I like the 2 at the top the most. Until next issue, see ya!
  

Again, overdue. I hope this isn't a recurring pattern.

COVER:
~~~Beautiful. That's all I can say to this. The sunset is the one that sets this picture as it makes the sky very vibrant. Infact, the entire picture is vibrant, composing a very Autumn feel which, with his many colors, is indeed a beautiful season.
The tombstone is indeed Sonic's. My theory was that it belonged to King Max because of what BobR supposly hinted. Heh. Even if you think the issue is terrible, it more then makes up for it with this divine cover. Savor it as SPAZ will leave soon.
Oh, and another note, I don't like Sally with long hair. It could just be the fact that I was never used to her having long hair. I hope she either cuts it or at least ties it back.
10/10
FRONTIPIECE:
~~~Okay, let me say this to get it out of my way, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop it with the Star Wars reference. I have a gut feeling J.G adminstrated this and if that is the case, J.G, please stop it with the Star Wars reference. It's just too much. That's all. I don't hate Star Wars (I don't even know much about it, I only saw Espiode 1 and 2), but I think you're overdoing it. How about laying it off for much later?
1/10 (There really isn't much to look at)

HOME: Part 1 of 4 "THE BLUE BLUR RETURNS"
~~~We see a beautiful full page of Sonic's vechicle crash landing in a forest which I assume is the Great Forest. And naturally, he does what most people do when they haven't seen home in a long time, they kiss it. Of course, home sweet home is cut short when he spots black smokes. Using his usual speed, Sonic makes his way towards it.

~In a small village, we see a rather...umm..unique wedding. Congrats, Hershey and Geoffrey are now offically married. I'm pretty sure their honeymoon is gonna compose of a daily mission given by King Max.
~Eggman gluts on about the wedding and sends A.D.A.M (shaped like some them skinny robots in Star Wars *SIGH*) to the couple because he wants to hear something. We don't know what that maybe just yet as Sonic comes outta nowhere (it's fast becoming Sonic's style) and chops it's head off.
~Both Geoffrey and Hershey are astonished that they are witnessing the biggest shock of their lives since Hershey decided to get her hair to go Super Saiyen.
~More guns comes in Sonic's direction, but in four panels, he destroys them. Then we see a three panel of Sonic's face close up. Dramatic. The people obviously cheers for them. Sonic cuts the chitchat and demands what's up. Answer: Remember in #125 when Eggman agreed to share his lands With Max, well, Eggy got tired of playing "Share the world" and betrayed the furries and he does so by means of nuclear missiles. Bummer. So naturally, Sonic hi-tails it to the one place he truly misses the most. Three guesses to what it is.

~Scene switch to New megaopolis, Eggman's new base of operation. If we only knew where in Mobius (Earth) it is loacted. Eggman is speaking with A.D.A.M who happens to call him father, as well as a short haired woman wearing 80's clothes. Now we need Eggman in a mullet. Theories peek that she's some sorta android/robot, either that or Eggman got himself a girl some years back.
~Eggman is wondering what the deal was back a few pages ago and he gets his answer with a record of Sonic, which makes pure panic to Eggy's eyes. The woman (named simply M) wonders who he is. Eggy responds and M ask why they ain't no files of him. Eggman made the stupid mistake by thinking that Sonic is dead, he wouldn't need those files no more. Rule you need to learn, Eggy: Main characters don't usually die.

~Scene to Sonic as we see him run (and hear Eggman gloat some more towards his hatred for all things fast and blue), Sonic (revealed to have been in Space for 6 weeks), finds Knothole...but not in the way he thought he would see...

...A two page spread of Knothole Village turned Neo Tokyo. Knothole City...

~Spotting the nearest person he can find, he asks a little blonde haired girl(who, for some very odd reason, reminds me of Sailor Moon's Usagi), how long it's been since the Xorda appeared. The kid answeres that it's been a year. Shocked at the big time gap between a year and 6 weeks, Sonic request to see the king to which the girl points in the direction of Castle Acorn.

~Sonic makes his way to the castle and the guards are more then surprised to see him alive. He wants in and the guards, unsure, lets him. In there, we see a rather unschedule meeting with Knuckles and the Chaotix who are having a chat with Max about reclaiming Angel Island. Ol' Mrs. Acorn declines the offer since Knothole still needs Knuckles. King Acorn agrees as he is unsure of Eggman's plan..until Sonic comes telling him what it is. Of course, the others are in shock when Sonic comes barging in the castle door. The Chaotix run up to him (Julie looks ready to hug him), and Sonic and Knux share a nice "typical guy" reunion.
~Max and Alicia also comes from their thrones. This time, it's Sonic's turn to be shocked when he sees Max walking again. He bows down like a true knight would (too bad he was stripped off that title), and Sonic reveals Eggy's plans of use of nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Max seemed pretty aware of this (seeing as he used to work side by side with him).
~Next on the list of "people Sonic hasn't seen in over a year...errr...6 weeks", Uncle Chuck, complete with old man clothes and glasses. Sonic is obviously happy to see his old uncle and vice versa. He's ready to go get his parents, but ignoring that, he asks for someone more important in his eyes...Sally.

~Scene switch to another dramatic moment with 3 panels showcasing Sally close up while she cries over on the Sonic memorial statue. In the last panel, she turns around to see...you guessed it, Sonic. They kiss in a full panel scene which you can definitly reminds you of Sonic #50, Director's Cut.

~Newsreporters come to take pictures of the couple to make horribly stupid rumors in the Mobius Natural Inquirer. The guards manage to save the day. The two couple are linked, arm to arm. Sally looks beautiful in those last two panels here.

~Back in Castle Acorn, Rotor, Bunnie, Jules, Bernie (all sporting new looks), Tails, and Amy runs up when they hear the good news (Tails tackling Sonic like like a big, furry, blue football). Only Antoine (also with new duds), remain calm, rather,he's dead serious in looks and personality now, with a cool scar to boot. That phase chicks dig scar seems to work here.
~Next scene shows the TechnoloTree, which is a tree merged with TV screens. Hey, it still freaks me out. But it helps as it can help keep in contact with other people over the world, example, the president of Station Square who wants G.U.N to help, though Alicia refuses. Glad to know she's doing some ruling instead of Max. The TV screens go frisco and is replaced all by Eggman's ugly mug. His plan: take away the shield on Robotropolis (which came on in #110), while sending atomic missiles to both Station Square and Knothole City. Operation Triple Threat. Bummer.

STORY:
~~~This issue sufferes from what I call the "124 issue syndrome" in that it has way too many things going off at once. Naturally, I could complain (I slightly did in #124, I think), but I won't. Why? It's a 4 parter. If Archie plays it right, they'll explain the events throughout the other three parters on what they heck just happen in one short year because they made quite a number of achievements over just one year. Here are a couple of theories I like to point out:

~Knothole City was built to look all futuristic in one year because the citizens of Echidinapolis helped. So far, Angel Island is taken over by Eggman and we see the Chaotix are definitly there. We do not know if the other inhabits of Angel Island are, but if they are, it's a plausible reason that they helped bring Knothole from Middle Age to Modern Age.

~Antoine's serious-ness. I assume his father died in battle or something. After all, his father is flesh and vulernable.

~M is an android/robot, unless Eggman did get a gal some years back, but I'll stick with the first one right now.

Naturally, it has so many going on, it's enough to make me spin my heads, but at the same time, they manage to deliever a nice balance of emotions. Yes, the one that truly is emotional is Sonic reuniting with Sally while most of the others were, "Glad your back, Sonic" for only a couple of panels, but it's better them saying nothing at all. In all honesty, I thought Amy would at leasy give a hug to her hero Sonic, unless she moved on to Shadow. I also liked how Alicia also took charge in a couple of scenes. It's nice to know she's doing something worthwhile. Overall, it's still good. Not great, but good and it has me eager for the next one.
8/10

ART:
~Axer manage to score once again with his detailed artwork. His massive detail on Geoffrey and Hershey's outfit (to which I think they look cool) are uncannily good.
~Butler comes in afterwards with his brand of art and like Axer, it's pure brilliance. Particulary, I always loved the details Butler puts in the lesser known characters which is a reason I liked that little blond haired girl with the pink dress' design. It's quite adorable and would fit very well in a furry Sailor Moon cast. He also drew Alicia in two different wear (WB answered it saying she can switch the top part of her outfit or something, personally, I like the ones without those puffy sleeves, never liked puffy sleeves).
~He also overdid the manga showing dramatic panels of the characters with little to no speech bubbles. As much as it is cool to take a slight manga approach, I think he overdid it. I kinda wished he used less of that and more on the story. They can keep the Sally one because it helped moved the story along, but to me, being it's only a 22 something page comic with THIS much crammed stories, I don't think it was best to overuse the dramatic panels.
9/10

LETTERS:
~~Speaks of how J.G plans to adapt the Sonic X special (I hope they put in Cream and Cheese because the Sonic X adaptation is a perfect time to do so). And fanart which mostly composes of Sonic. They've been acceptiong mostly artwork from the SegaSonic cast, possibly a reason why my Remmy art isn't up there...well, it could also be because the pic I did is pretty crappy. ~Neo