Vincent Lovallo

I am what you could charitably call very skeptical of Sonic the Hedgehog in all of his various forms. I wasn't a Sega kid, so I never got into the games when I was young, and despite the fact that he's been a constant presence in the world of comics since 1993, that's a vast swath of storytelling that I've never engaged with. Now, however, it might finally be time to take the plunge. For the past two weeks, there's been a massive collection of Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics available at Humble Bundle, allowing readers to pay what they want for a new starting point and support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. It might be the tipping point, but while I remain a little reluctant, I've given Sonic editor Vincent Lovallo the chance to convince me once and for all to read these comics.

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," Sigma, major big bad from Mega Man X's future, traveled through a Genesis Portal to the world of Lost Hex in Sonic's universe. There, he forcibly teamed up with Eggman to create an army of robots and to have Sonic's nemesis aid in the creation of the Unity Engine. To that end, Sigma also brought in Dr. Wily from Mega Man's world, and together with both doctors, Sigma was able to quickly put his plan to sap the power from all the known (and unknown) universes to fuel his ascent into godhood.

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.

Over the course of the last five years, Archie Action has been retelling Mega Man's video game adventures in graphic form. In that time, the creative team has only managed to scratch the surface of the character's history at Capcom, with the most recent storyline just glancing Mega Man 4's narrative. Despite still having plenty of stories to tell in the Mega Man canon, the Blue Bomber's sequential adventures will be coming to a (temporary) close this November. With Mega Man #55, Archie Action will be ending its current run of Mega Man comics. The publisher is being very tight-lipped about what the future holds for Rock, Roll, Dr. Light, Dr. Wily and the rest of the Robot Masters, but we talked to Archie Action editor Vincent Lovallo and Mega Man writer Ian Flynn about their time on the book, what they could have done differently, and what to expect from these final few issues post-"Worlds Unite." We've also got the exclusive debut of the final solicitations and cover art for Mega Man #55.

Welcome to the tenth 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,” our dutiful heroes ventured forth into mysterious new universes through Genesis Portals opened by Sigma in hopes to both stop his Unity Engines from activating, and to recruit some help in bringing the bigger bad down. Archie had been promoting the cameos of characters from various Capcom and Sega franchises in the lead up to the crossover, and though we'd been teased with the arrival of Street Fighter's World Warriors, this last chapter was the first time we really saw any of the new faces from these classic games.

Welcome to the ninth 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," while under siege from the Freedom Fighters and Robot Masters, Sigma kicked off his massive universe invasion plan. While Sigma's Mavericks were holding the attention of the heroes, a select group began taking Unity Engines through Genesis Portals. Sonic, Mega Man and the rest of the good guys finally manage to subdue the attacking forces above Lost Hex, but not without the aid of Sticks and Street Fighter's World Warriors. Finally able to regroup, and beneath Sigma's attention (for now), our true blue heroes craft a plan for an invasion of their own, and hope to put a stop to Sigma's machinations for good.

Welcome to the eighth 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,” the Zeti used their powers to take control of the Robot Masters, pitting Mega Man and his friends against Sonic and the Freedom Fighters. It was an epic battle, but Wily and Eggman came up with a disruptor ray to shut down the robots and stun the Zeti long enough for the good guys to prevail. Though everyone needed time to recuperate, Sigma's newly evolved form bursts forth from Lost Hex. Not only will the heroes have to contend with the bigger, badder Sigma 2.0, they're also faced with taking on every single Maverick you can think of, and even some you can't. The battle for Lost Hex has clearly only just begun, and our heroes are going to need every last bit of help they can get.

Welcome to the seventh 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. This week, we're digging even deeper with more details about the future of Archie Action, Mega Man and Sonic Boom straight from San Diego Comic-Con. Previously in "Worlds Unite," our heroes had been searching for Sigma and his hideout, Lost Hex. The group, traveling aboard Sky Patrol, had been searching the area Wily and Eggman directed them to, and were met with swift resistance from Sigma's new robot army. Fortunately, the team of Freedom Fighters and Robot Masters makes short work of the mechanized opposition, but the Deadly Six prove to be a bit more trouble than expected. Even as defeat loomed, the Zeti were able to overcome the odds and take control of Mega Man and his friends to do the fighting for them.

Welcome to the fourth 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," the heroes of both Sonic's and Mega Man's universes had regrouped and started roaming the combined worlds aboard Sky Patrol in search of Sigma. With little to go on in the way of actual leads, Sonic, Mega Man, X and the rest of the team spent time bickering about what steps to take next. Elsewhere on Lost Hex, Eggman and Wily had betrayed Sigma, and were trying to hide from the Deadly Six. Fortunately for them, Xander Payne arrived to teleport them to Sky Patrol, where they would help the Freedom Fighters and Robot Masters prepare for an assault on Lost Hex. Though Sonic and Mega Man were weary of Wily and Eggman, they had no choice but to ally themselves with the doctors in the hopes of stopping Sigma. Now it was finally time to take the fight to the man behind all the worlds' troubles.

Welcome to the fourth 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 and Mega Man had been captured by Sigma, transformed into evil versions of themselves by the doctors Wily and Eggman, and sent to one another's worlds to plant Sigma's Unity Engines. Once activated in Mega City and Mobotropolis, the Unity Engines started the process of combining Mega Man's and Sonic's worlds into one. It was then that Sonic Man and M'egga Man first set eyes on each other, and began fighting immediately. While chaos ensued all around them, the Robot Masters and Freedom Fighters did their best to salvage a terrible situation. Unbeknownst to Sigma, Wily and Eggman implanted a fail-safe into both M'egga Man and Sonic Man's designs. When struck at the proper time, Mega Man and Sonic freed themselves from Sigma's control, and were able to return to normal. Unfortunately, they may already be too late to save their worlds.