Sonic Universe #60

History

The 'Shadow Fall' arc (issues #59–62) was written by Ian Flynn with interior art by Jamal Peppers, inks by Jim Amash, colors by Matt Herms, and letters by Jack Morelli; the regular cover was by Tracy Yardley and the variant by Vincent Riley (Native Drums). The story was originally conceived around Black Doom and Mephiles the Dark as antagonists, but both characters were written out at SEGA's request, prompting Flynn to create Black Death and Eclipse the Darkling as their respective replacements. The arc was part of the first wave of Team Dark stories set in the rebooted post-Super Genesis Wave continuity, and issue #60's story 'A Shadow in the Dark' was originally solicited to appear in issue #59 before being pushed back, as announced publicly at the 2013 New York Comic Con.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Issue title and arc: 'Shadow Fall Part Two: A Shadow in the Dark,' the second installment of a four-part arc running through Sonic Universe #59–62.
• Published March 2014 by Archie Comics; written by Ian Flynn with interior pencils by Jamal Peppers, inks by Jim Amash, colors by Matt Herms, and letters by Jack Morelli.
• Two covers: a regular cover by Tracy Yardley (whose lettering of 'SHADOW' directly echoes the title treatment of the 2005 Shadow the Hedgehog video game cover) and an 'Alien Invasion' variant by Vincent Riley.
• Eclipse the Darkling's origin is revealed in this issue: he was engineered by Black Death to be the Black Arms' 'Ultimate Alien,' a pure-blooded counterpart to Shadow's 'Ultimate Lifeform' status — effectively what Shadow would have been had he been a full Black Arms rather than a hybrid.
• Eclipse and Black Death successfully brainwash Shadow in this issue through a combined psychic assault, after which a mind-controlled Shadow turns on Rouge and E-123 Omega — the central cliffhanger resolved in issue #61.
• The issue features six in-story flashbacks to events from prior Sonic video games, including Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Heroes, and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), anchoring the comics' continuity to the games' canon.
• A key game-canon moment is established: Commander Abraham Tower pointing a gun at Shadow — a branching-path event from the 2005 game — is treated in this issue as the definitive, canonical version of that scene within the comics.
• Eclipse was conceived as a replacement for Mephiles the Dark, who was originally planned for 'Shadow Fall' but removed at SEGA's request; writer Ian Flynn has described Eclipse as representing what Shadow would look like as a pure Black Arms lifeform. The 'Shadow Fall' arc was later planned for collection in Sonic Universe Sagas Volume 2, a trade paperback that was solicited but ultimately never released after Archie's Sonic license ended.

Cast · 4 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Sonic Universe

★

#38 1st appearance — Orbot

★

#63 1st appearance — Relic the Pika

Variants (2)