Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 22

 
Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 22
Publication Date: February 1995

Issue 22’s main story, “The Return,” is a good case study of the things Ken Penders was good at as a writer and the things he kind of sucked at. It pushes the series into a more coherent, serialized direction. The mythology continues to be built upon. There are actually stakes involved, characters’ lives are actually at risk. There’s a clever, central concept to the tale: What if Robotnik had nothing left to loose? On the other hand, the story is bogged down by heavy-handed exposition, features some really goofy dialogue, sidelines nearly all of the supporting cast, and all that solid, suspenseful build-up fizzles out because of a weak ending. Let’s examine further, shall we?

As anyone could have predicted, E.V.E.’s laser blast did not de-atomize Robotnik. Instead, it flung him into the alternate future timeline last explored in “Sonic: In Your Face.” A pleasant picnic for King Sonic, Queen Sally, and their kids is interrupted when Robotnik falls from the sky. The battle is short lived as Robotnik is zapped up to a satellite, run by the robotic version of himself from this timeline. Robotnik convinces his double to send him back to his own time. Meanwhile, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters are beginning to salvage Robotropolis, following the dictator’s apparent death in the last issue. Snivley accidentally activates Robotnik’s contingency plan which leads to an army of SWATBots marching on Mobius, destroying everything in sight.

First, let’s discuss what works about “The Return.” If allowed to run a little longer before Robotnik’s reappearance, “The Return” could have been the darkest Sonic story yet. By saving a particular phrase – an admittedly silly story turn – Snively activates a maneuver only meant to be used following Robotnik’s actual death. Operation: Wasteland unleashes a wave of SWATBots and crushing machines designed to kill or level everything in their path. Robotnik is operating under the “If I can’t have it, no one will!” doctrine of villainy and it works especially well. The machines are programmed to be utterly ruthless. They will destroy Robotropolis, the forest, the Freedom Fighters, and even Robotnik’s own workers, like Snively. It’s a severe story move and one that seems to genuinely endanger Sonic and the gang’s life.

Unfortunately, the story spends way too much time on set-up. The first six pages are devoted to Robotnik being zapped into the future, encountering his alternate self, and being released back into the past. There’s really no reason for these scenes to be here, other then for Ken to referenced his beloved alternate universe one more time. Robo-Robotnik also comes off as slightly incompetent, as he apparently has enough power to send Robotnik back to his world but not enough to crush Sonic and the Freedom Fighters. And why exactly E.V.E.’s ray gun transported Robotnik to an alternate world, instead of just killing him, is never elaborated on.

Another thing dragging down the story is the ending. Sonic racing around and smashing SWATBots may be a little carefree but this is, after all, just the beginning. If Operation: Wasteland had continued, the Freedom Fighters would have been beaten down by constant destruction. This doesn’t happen though, because Robotnik returns and, in order to save his own empire, shuts down the order. That’s right, kids. Robotnik saves the day. He tries and spins this by saying it should be a blow to Sonic’s ego. I kind of fail to see how. Given Sonic’s carefree attitude, it seems unlikely such a thing would affect him. Basically, the main villain had the hero right in his lair, in his sights, and let him go. Another bummer is that the story barely features roles for the other Freedom Fighters. Tails panics a few times, Rotor and Antoine have one or two lines, and Bunnie isn’t even in the story. Disappointing.

At the very least, Patrick Spazinate’s artwork is quite good. Though not as action filled or dynamic as his work on issue 21, just due to the nature of the story, Spaz’ work is still astonishingly cinematic. There’s still an innate sense of movement to each of his panels but always a posed, planned quality that I like. There are plenty of striking images in this story: Sally in the sights of a SWATBot, the machine forces marching out to destroy the world, Robotnik blasting a rogue robot with his laser cannon. Spaz’ strength for expressive, detailed faces is also shown off here. There are many panels focusing on Robotnik or Snively’s face and each one carries a great deal of emotions. It’s still not perfect. Sonic and Tails go slightly off-model in a few panels. In one example, Tails’ mouth looks like it has become a yawning muppet mawl. Still, Spaz does good work.

Before I wrap up, I guess I should mention the back-up story. Written by Angelo Decesare at his puniest with typically loose and goofy artwork provided by Dave Manak, “Tails’ Knight Time Story” has Sally regaling Tails with a bedtime story. The tale recasts Sonic as a knight, Tails as his page, Robotnik as an evil black knight, and Sally and Uncle Chuck as cameos. It’s a story we’ve seen before: The sidekick feels unappreciated by the heroes and wants a slice of adventure. When he gets a chance to fill the hero’s shoes, he realizes this hero-ing stuff is dangerous. Thus, the actual hero flies in at the last minute and saves the day. There are few amusing jokes. I do like Sonic’s quip about how airlines haven’t been invited yet. Amusingly, Tails completely misses the story’s point. It’s interesting that relatively serious stories like “The Return” and goofy one-shots like this would co-exist in the comic for so long. Anyway, it’s dumb. [6/10]