Knuckles: Twenty Years Later

August 24, 2003 Notice: This page will probably never be updated again. K:20YL won't ever see print, but it is being replaced. Starting in Sonic The Hedgehog #131, Mobius: 25 Years Later (a.k.a. M:25YL) will become a regular feature in the Sonic The Hedgehog comic. It is not going to be exactly what was planned in K:20YL, but it is an on-going series based on some of the concepts of K:20YL. We'll see what happens when Sonic The Hedgehog #131 hits the stands (in the United States) in December 2003.

Onto the original page...

In a nutshell, this planned Sonic Super Special was going to be entirely devoted to telling us the futures of Knuckles, Julie-Su, the Chaotix, and the Floating Island in general.

The sad history of a Knuckles story that hasn't reached print:
It was originally scheduled to be Sonic Super Special #9 (and was even hinted at appearing soon in Knuckles The Echidna #25), but was postponed to Sonic Super Special #13. When the Knuckles The Echidna comic book series was officially cancelled in September 1999 (though it ended in November of the same year), it was pushed back to Sonic Super Special #16. Then, the publishers decided to cancel the Sonic Super Special series around the time #15 was being created, so Sonic Super Special #15 ended up being the last one and Knuckles: 20 Years Later remained unpublished.

Known specifics about the story:
1. It's based on the dream Locke had, but never saw the end of (check Knuckles The Echidna #25 for the dream).

2. Knuckles and Julie-Su will be together, but not married. Ken Penders said "[Knuckles] believes in commitment and not ceremony."

3. Lara-Su, named after Lara-Le, will be a teenager (about 14) and is Knuckles and Julie-Su's daughter.

4. The future shown in Sonic: In Your Face is the true future for Sonic and Sally. For the benefit of those without the issue, Sonic and Sally are married as King and Queen. They have regained Mobotropolis and have two kids, a son and a daughter, making Maximillian (Sally's dad) a grandfather.

5. Lara-Su will have "knuckles" like Knuckles does. She will also have the ability to retract them whenever she wants.

6. Sonic and Sally's kids will be named Sonia and Manic out of respect for Sonic Underground which is not going to incorporated into the Archie universe. They will also be teenagers, but about a year younger. Ken said that they'll be around 13.

7. The villain from Sonic Super Special #7 (Dr. Droid is his name) will be fighting Knuckles in K:20YL. In fact, when Dr. Droid hinted at knowing them from the future, it's the battle that Locke had a vision of in Knuckles The Echidna #25 that Dr. Droid was mentioning.

8. There will be some emphasis on Lara-Su in this special.

9. Ken Penders' official pic of Lara-Su (credit goes to Chainspike of Sonic HQ). Lara-Su's eyes will be the same color as Julie-Su's. The shades are supposed to be green. Lara-Su's fur will be red and her hair will be similar in color as Julie-Su (mostly pink with purple ends).

10. Knuckles will be a little different as well. Besides the vest, hat, and boots we've seen in Knuckles The Echidna #25, according to MacX, Knux will have "a 'Kragok' eye" and "a left metal hand (lost real hand in an accident)."

11. Ken on Julie-Su: Even though she has less cybernetic implants later in life than she does now doesn't mean it implies she became some domesticated housewife. Granted, I open up the story with a doctor telling her she's pregnant, but that was simply to tip off the readers immediately that this story is going to be unlike any other Knuckles story they've read. She's every bit Knuckles' equal regardless of her condition, a point I make abundantly clear.

12. Lara-Su will be 14 when Julie-Su finds out that she's pregnant again.

13. Lara-Su will be similar to Julie-Su in attitude.

14. Spaz' official sketches of Knuckles and Julie-Su in their 20YL forms.