True Blue, Part 11: The Gang’s All Here, But Can They Win?

Welcome to the eleventh installment of True Blue, our weekly recap of Archie Comics‘ crossover event between the Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man series, “Worlds Unite.” Each installment, we’ll recap the notable moments of the latest chapter in “Worlds Unite” with Archie Action Editor Vincent Lovallo, and take a look at what lies ahead for the next chapter of the crossover event.

Previously in “Worlds Unite,” Sonic, Mega Man and their friends had followed Sigma's forces to a whole lot of new universes to track down the Unity Engines before they could be activated. For the last two issues, that's pretty much been the mission everyone's been involved with, which has allowed for the introduction of numerous Capcom and Sega characters into the crossover. While it's been fun seeing all these new faces, there are bigger stakes at large back in the Sonic homeworld. It's about time the heroes returned home to tackle the main source of all their troubles.

In Sonic the Hedgehog #275, all the good guys return to focus their attention onto Sigma 2.0. There's a grand battle, and Sigma does his best to fend off Sonic, Mega Man and the characters of Panzer Dragoon, Monster Hunter, Breath of Fire, Skies of Arcadia and Street Fighter. The entire battle takes up a massive portion of the issue, and it hits all the notes readers and fans of all the various franchises had hoped it would. Bringing in all these different characters gives the action sequence a lot more variety than the previous encounters in "Worlds Unite," and it also gives you a bit of a good idea of what to expect if Archie ever snapped up any of these licenses for their own comics.

After he's had quite enough of the conflict, Sigma finally does evolve into his 3.0 form, which is a bit more comparable is size to the rest of the cast, but way, way more powerful. You can tell because he lays waste to anyone and everyone in his path once he transforms into this final (?) form. Fortunately for everyone, Sonic and Mega Man do have one final trick up their sleeves as well. Setting things up for the final chapter of "Worlds Unite," Sonic and Mega Man activate the Chaos Emeralds, and turn into their super Saiyan forms.

There's a brief moment with Xander Payne and the two doctors, where we learn Payne's destiny may include Eggman and Wily meeting their makers. It's all too short to really make anything out of it at this time, but with only one chapter left in this event, the payoff for this side-storyline will finally come to fruition in another week. Whether that end result will have been worth the wait remains to be seen.

ComicsAlliance: A large portion of this issue is devoted to the huge battle with Sigma. Can you talk a little about the choreography of such gigantic engagement? The fight for the characters is a massive undertaking, and it was surely just a big a task for the creative team. I'm curious how you broke down which heroes teamed up to attack parts of Sigma, and how you paced the fight.

Vincent Lovallo: This is a question best left to “Worlds Unite” writer extraordinaire and all around great guy, Ian Flynn! I reached out to him and this is what he said: “Because we had so many characters, and because this would be our last chance to really play with all of them, the battlefield really becomes more of a backdrop than a setting. Because Sigma and his influence is omnipresent, the heroes can be anywhere at any given point and it still makes sense that they're battling something somewhere. This way we could focus more on small, fun moments and characters pairings.”

CA: Sigma's third form evolves during the battle, and he's no longer tied down to Lost Hex like he was in his giant form. How is he able to still channel all the energy from the Unity Engines since he's gone mobile?

VL: At this point Sigma has developed Bluetooth technology and is able to sync directly to the Master Engine. I’m slightly joking, but Sigma was always absorbing the power from the Master Engine even before his merging with Lost Hex. I touched base with Ian on this as well. Here is his official response, “Sigma-1 wasn't connected to the Master Engine either, and he was still receiving power form it. Sigma-3 is his ultimate form, and thus can tap into the power of the Master Engine remotely from a great distance. If something were to happen to the Master Engine itself, though...”

CA: While Eggman, Wily and Payne have been low key the past few issues, we see them up to no good again in this chapter. Though they don't have a lot to do, there were two takeaways from their brief scene. One, we learn that the Chaos Emeralds aren't as powerful as the Unity Engines from Eggman, which begs the question, how do Sonic and Mega Man stand a chance against Sigma 3.0?

VL: It’s an important factor in the final fight, and you’ll see exactly how the Doctors’ mission comes into play with how the final battle of Sonic and Mega Man against Sigma concludes. All will be revealed with part 12 of "Worlds Unite" in Mega Man #52!

CA: Secondly, we finally learn that Payne's destiny may include the doctors meeting their ends. We've been kept in the dark about what Payne believes his destiny to be so far, but will it have any ties to the future of Mega Man after "Worlds Unite"?

VL: Absolutely. Mega Man #53 will shed some light on things pertaining to Xander Payne’s “destiny”. Though, some fans that’ve been reading Mega Man before “Worlds Unite” may have already started suspecting what it may be!

CA: The bonus story in this issue teases the upcoming "Silver Age" storyline in the Sonic comics in a post-"Worlds Unite" universe. Silver's been bouncing around time and space using the Genesis Portals, and we've even seen him help out some of the Mega Man characters during this event. I know we're still waiting out the conclusion of "Worlds Unite," but what can you tell us about how this crossover will impact the "Silver Age"?

VL: Actually, “The Silver Age” is a prequel of sorts. The story arc actually takes place before the bonus story featured in Sonic the Hedgehog #275, which also means that it takes place before the whole crossover event! Take about a time scramble! The "Silver Age" covers a series of events that lead into Silver’s Genesis Portal escapades. It’s also, long-time Sonic comic artist, Evan Stanley’s first venture into writing for the Sonic Universe comic and we’re really excited for her story! It’s going to be a lot of fun! Don’t miss part one of “The Silver Age” in Sonic Universe #79!

And now, get an advanced look at the final chapter of "Worlds Unite," with out exclusive preview of Mega Man #52.

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