Sorry it's been a couple of months again, but I'm finally ready to talk about Issues 82 and 83! Also, first post of 2026! Woo!
So after Sonic and Tails find Lunar and the Chaos Emerald, Lunar reveals that Lunar's real name is actually Soleil...
Soleil was a part of an acrobatics team made up of Soleil's family called the Celestial Troupe, but Soleil was removed from their acts due to choking from fear and not meeting their expectations, which led Soleil to becoming a fan of Sonic and his acrobatic maneuvers by watching videos of him online. A side effect of this however is that Soleil's internal love of acrobatics and knowledge gained from watching Sonic manifests itself into an alter ego named Lunar, and Lunar is the one who stole the Chaos Emerald before Soleil regains control. After all of this is revealed, Soleil's parents Apogee and Perigee arrive with Lunar's siblings, and they begin fighting Sonic due to them blaming him for Soleil's recent acts of defiance, which also prompts Soleil to change back into Lunar, who once again tries to escape. Sonic however is able to convince Lunar that Soleil has what it takes to prove Soleil's self to Soleil's parents without Lunar taking control, which prompts Lunar to change back into Soleil just in time for Soleil to do just that.
After a little bit more help from Sonic and Soleil confronts Soleil's parents about how Soleil's been feeling, Apogee and Perogee finally realize that they were wrong to force their expectations onto Soleil and drive Soleil away, and they agree to support Soleil from now on.
...wait, did they have that confetti and sign on them this whole time just in case something like this happened? :3
Their celebration is short lived however, as Shadow and Rouge show up and start fighting over who gets the Chaos Emerald, which is then followed by Eggman suddenly appearing as well, which leads into Issue 83.
Eggman just so happened to arrive in Sequin in a mech called the Egg Juggler without realizing that Sonic, Tails, Shadow, and Rouge were there with a Chaos Emerald as well, but once he realizes that Sonic and the gang are there, Shadow and Rouge set aside their plan to take the Emerald to help Sonic, Tails, and Soleil beat Eggman, eventually culminating in Shadow attempting to use Chaos Control but getting cut short when Eggman takes the Emerald for himself.
As the others continue fighting, Tails and Rouge begin messing with the Egg Jugglers power supply, and with a little help from the Celestial Troupe, they succeed in destroying the Egg Juggler and Eggman flees.
The Chaos Emerald is also nowhere to be found after the scuffle, but everyone begins to part ways, unaware that the mysterious figure carrying the other Chaos Emeralds in a coffin is watching from above and has gotten their hands on the last one...
And that's it for Issues 82 and 83! We also got a few covers and the solicits for Issues 85 and 86, which are set to come out in March and April...
In their quest to find Metal Sonic, the now-trapped Sonic, Belle, Motobud, and Sage discover that someone has used stolen Dr. Eggman tech to take control of creatures. During their search, Sonic becomes trapped in a cryptic illusion, leaving Sage and Belle to work together to fend off the controlled Metal Sonic. Will these three creations of Dr. Eggman be able to find common ground? Or will these relationships explode?
With Sage captured by a corrupted Metal Sonic, the favorite daughter of Dr. Eggman is about to be deleted. The only way to survive? Combine forces with her "sister," Belle. As the two overcome their pain and fight to survive, they find themselves caught with Sonic under the whim of a mysterious ghostly figure.
Imprisoned in its sinister lair, will the children (and ultimate enemy) of Dr. Eggman be trapped forever beneath the harsh ice?
I also mentioned in one of my last posts that Sonic Frontiers takes place between Issues 82 and 83 leading to Sage's introduction in Issue 84, but that info is no longer on the Sonic Wiki and some have noted an obvious discrepency given that the Chaos Emeralds are both in the hands of the mysterious coffin person and involved in the plot of Frontiers at seemingly the same time, so Frontiers taking place in between Issue 82 and 83 might not be accurate anymore and Frontiers' placement in the timeline of the comics might just be ambiguous. It was also revealed back in November that the Chasing Shadows one-shot has officially been canceled, but some elements from it could appear in the main series at some point in the future including a new villain named Bones the Falcon, but we'll have to wait and see.
