"Knuckles might become a bi-monthly comic."

That was the news I heard on the first day I got Internet access. At first, I thought it was a joke. I read both books and I knew that Knuckles had better stories, better plotlines, better character development, better art(until #26) and well, better everything! I said to myself how could they even think of making Knuckles only 6 times a year. Then I saw later on the same day that Ken Penders himself was asking fans to send in letters and e-mails to Archie Comics Publications. That's when it home that this was no joke and it was serious.

I know the sales are supposed to be down, I know they have to pay SEGA for using SEGA characters, and I know some stores aren't selling Knuckles anymore because of parents complaints, but I also think that Archie isn't really helping Knuckles sell at all:

1) To anyone who reads Knuckles, raise your hand if you have had absolutely no problems trying to find issues of Knuckles(subscriptions don't count)...**no hands are raised**...I thought so. I can take a two minute walk to my neighborhood drug store and get the latest issue of Sonic(#76), the issue from last month(#75), the issue from the month before that(#74), the issue that is three months old(#73), and the issue that is four months old(#72). Why? Because it gets about 30 copies of each issue and sells about ten. Once an issue has been in the store at least four months, it ships back the issue to Archie. But it doesn't sell Knuckles. Hey, if I don't want to get my Sonic issue from there, I can go to two different comic book stores. Both of them sell Sonic, X-Men, Batman, Superman, Archie, Fantastic Four, Spawn, and others. But guess what, no Knuckles. In September, issue #30 will be upon us and the comic book stores in my area still don't sell Knuckles. However, they sold Sonic from day one?! What's going on here Archie Comics? Until I subscribed, I had to go to Waldenbooks, which is 20 miles away from my house, to get Knuckles. It is the only place within 20 miles of my house that sells Knuckles(is it just me, or does this make no sense). At Waldenbooks, the issues sell out every month. Sonic does too, which of course I could get at Waldenbooks as well. Being dependent on my parents to take me to Waldenbooks for as my parents say, "just a comic book" was not working as I missed 10 out of the first 20 issues(that's why I finally subscribed). However, I now have all the issues I missed by ordering the Knuckles 1998-collector set, the Dark Legion, and the Lost Paradise series.

2) I visited their site(it sucks, but I don't like the Archie characters, anyway). There's a section for Archie & his friends, Josie & the Pussycats(who don't have their own book), Cheryl Blossom, Katy Keene(who doesn't have her own book), Sabrina, the Mighty Crusaders(who don't have their own book), and Sonic. Well Betty, Veronica, & Jughead have their own books, but not a specific section and are heavily mentioned in the Archie section, so I figure that they did the same for Knuckles in the Sonic section. WRONG! The Sonic section mentions Knuckles in the "All About Sonic" page, but he's the last one and there's absolutely nothing about the Chaotix, his family, nothing! Basically, they make Knuckles seem like he's just some red echidna who protects an island that floats. There is nothing to interest anyone in Knuckles, unless they are an extreme Sonic hater and think that part where they say that Sonic and Knuckles "have an uneasy relationship with each other that continues to this day" means that Knuckles must be cool because he can't stand Sonic. That brings me to my next gripe, the information in that "All About Sonic" page is ancient history. It's like talking about the death of Julius Caesar as if it happened yesterday. That stuff was true around Sonic #40(which was 3 years ago), not now with Sonic #76 and Knuckles #30. If Archie isn't going to promote Knuckles even an eighth as much as it promotes characters that don't even have a currently published comic book on it's own official site, then how is Knuckles supposed to sell?!

I think Archie Comics is not giving Knuckles the chance it deserves. I'd buy into the sales being down as a good reason to make it bi-monthly only if Knuckles was as available to customers as Sonic. I'll admit that I'm a huge Knuckles fan and I like him a lot more than Sonic. I don't hate Sonic, I just don't find him as interesting. Sonic is exciting, but it's the Freedom Fighters that get me to read Sonic's book. In Knuckles' book, Knuckles is the cake and his friends are the icing. It's because of SatAM and the Freedom Fighters that I gave the Sonic comic a chance with issue #37, but it was Knuckles(in #39 with those brief 2 pages of action and finding Rites of Passage #3 during a vacation to Virginia) that made me stick around. Knuckles also got me to buy my first SEGA system(Genesis) and game(Sonic & Knuckles) in 1996. I was strictly Nintendo before, now I play both Nintendo and SEGA. I wanted to play as Knuckles and love playing as Knuckles. That is the only reason why I have bought or will buy any SEGA game. When Knuckles got his own book, I was estatic and I stopped spending $1.95 on X-Men and started to use it for Knuckles. I used to read X-Men and Sonic, well now it's Knuckles and Sonic. It's been a great two years plus with Knuckles and while Sonic stunk during these past two years plus, I kept buying it because of Knuckles. If Knuckles becomes bi-monthly, Sonic becomes bi-monthly at best or will no longer be bought at worst(for me anyway). I know doing that will not make Knuckles monthly again, but I'll feel better because Archie owes me money for all those issues of Sonic I bought that sucked. I was loyal, and now I've been stabbed in the back. That's how I feel.