Commentary for June 17, 2019:

Once again, happy Pride, everybody!

This week, I’m celebrating Pansexual Pride with Nicole the Lynx.

Like Sally Acorn, Nicole is a late addition to Eon’s World, having not appeared as permanent recurring character prior my first pass at remastering Vol. 1 last year. And, like Sally, I made her presence in Eon’s World concrete with Chapter 9 of Vol. 2, which concluded this April. The Nicole in Eon’s World is very similar to the Nicole from Archie Sonic, taking elements from both the pre and post-reboot continuities. Like in Archie Sonic, she began as an advanced artificial intelligence created to assist Sally Acorn, and was invaluable to the Freedom Fighters. Over time, she grew and developed until she had an identity, thoughts, and feelings of her own. She started wanting to experience life the way organic creatures do, so she created a holographic avatar for herself, which became gradually more complex and advanced over time. However, unlike in Archie Sonic, by the time of Eon’s World Vol. 2, Nicole no longer uses a holographic body, having been transferred instead into an advanced robotic one, the better to interact with other people. She now works as chief of staff to Sally Acorn, who was elected President of the Terran Union in 2511.

I guess it was kind of inferred that Nicole was somewhere on the queer spectrum, given what I said on the pic I did of Sally two weeks ago. Indeed, this is not just headcanon; Archie Sonic writer, Ian Flynn has talked about how he planned to explore a romantic relationship between Sally and Nicole, had the comic lasted beyond the start of 2017. Since it’s unlikely to be explored in any official Sonic media now, I guess it’s down to fan works, isn’t it? Anyway, I decided that Nicole in Eon’s World is pansexual. It made sense to me. She is an artificial intelligence in a robotic body and there is no reason why her attraction to another person should be constrained by their gender. She, more so than many, may have a particular appreciation for the mind and personality of another over any physical considerations, because, for a long time, she was a personality without any physical form.

Anyway, I’m really pleased with how this pic turned out. I really enjoy drawing Nicole, so you can bet she’ll be back in Eon’s World before too long -- in both Vol. 1 and 2.