Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 56

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 56
Publication Date: January 1998

I was nine years old in January of 1998, around abouts when issue 56 of “Sonic the Hedgehog” was published. When it started, I wasn’t reading the “Knuckles the Echidna” series. This wasn’t because I disliked the character or wasn’t interested in his adventures. The truth is I bought the comics with my own allowance money. I didn’t have much expendable income and, since there were other toys and books I was interested in, I couldn’t justify subscribing to a second series. At the time, I naively assumed there was no reason for me to read both. Soon enough, I discovered that Archie planned for multiple crossovers between the “Sonic” and “Knuckles” book. Issue 56 followed up directly on a cliffhanger introduced in issue 9 of “Knuckles.” This left me extremely confused about the comic’s contents. Back then, I just assumed I missed something important in “Knuckles.” Re-reading this one as an adult, it’s readily apparent that the issue itself is just extremely incoherent.

After the events of “Dark Vengeance,” Mammoth Mogul has teleported Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails off to some sort of cosmic plain. Atop a floating chunk of space debris, they’re attacked by rock monsters. After a brief scuffle, Athair appears in the sky and a portal opens behind him. Meanwhile, Mogul has become supercharged by Enerjak’s power, transforming into Master Mogul. While destroying an indistinct rocky part of the Floating Island, Sonic and Knuckles somehow reappear, lugging behind fifty power rings. After being zapped by Mogul’s chaos energy, they transform into Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles. Soon enough, Tails appears in his own super form, Turbo Tails, carrying a Chaos Syphon with him. The battle concludes in the Chaos Chamber where the Brotherhood of Guardians intervene, combining the Floating Island’s two Chaos Emeralds into one and trapping Mogul inside. Now defeated, Knuckles is free to return the Sword of Acorn to Sally.

I don’t even know where to start with this one. “Immortality is forever… Life is Finite,” from the title on down, is a smoldering heap of (hedge)hogwash. The story lurches around in awkward, confusing ways. First, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails are on a rock floating through space. Two pages later, Sonic’s figure 8 maneuver somehow sends them floating up into a portal that appears out of nowhere. Instead of attacking Echidnaopolis, Mogul attacks a castle on a rocky outcropping, apparently somewhere on the Floating Island. Inside, supporting characters randomly appear and disappear. Archimedes, a dingo, Hershey the Cat, Sally, Rotor, Athair, and Vector all zip in and out of panels, senselessly. Sonic and Knuckles reappear out of nowhere, continuing to fight Mogul in this ill-defined setting. Then the Floating Island is in space. Then Tails shows back up, without explanation, holding a Chaos Syphon. Where did the Chaos Syphon come from? I don’t know!

More characters reappear, Mogul somehow ends up in the Chaos Chamber, and Locke somehow traps Mogul by creating the Master Emeralds. It’s all so horribly incoherent that I frequently have no clear idea what’s going on. In previous issues, writer Scott Fulop fell back on explaining events with magic, the Ancient Walkers, or Mogul’s spells. Tails being the Chosen One, a plot point not referenced since his three-page mini-series, is also trotted out for no reason. That tendency is in overdrive here, half of the book’s events occurring due to some powerful being making an off-screen decision. About the only meaningful thing we learn in this issue is that Mogul has a Chaos Emerald embedded in his chest. Holy fuck, it’s bad.

Part of the reason issue 56 is so difficult to follow is because of John Herbert’s artwork. Herbert previously illustrated Snively’s sequences in issue 54 of “Sonic.” Those scenes where atmospheric and moody. Unfortunately, Herbert’s work here is a complete mess. The artwork is overly dark and difficult to follow. The characters frequently seem to be floating in an empty panel, without context of their location or place within it. Herbert’s action is awful, as Sonic and Knuckles rarely seem to be interacting with Mogul. For some god forsaken reason, an entire page shows the action as reflected in Locke’s computer screens.  That means the images are without color and are slightly warped. As if the action wasn’t warped enough already. The combination of a script that can’t keep still and disjointed artwork results in a books that’s impossible to follow.

In its last third, this mess of an issue finally comes back down to Earth. The pencils switch over to Manny Galan. For all his flaws – such as giant teeth or off-model Freedom Fighters – at least you can tell what’s actually happening on Galan’s pages. Knuckles bequeaths the Sword of Acorn to Sally, finally resolving that long dangling plot point. In its final pages, Sonic and Knuckles have a talk outside the city. Both are having a hard time relating to a world without Robotnik. While Sonic tries to convince Knuckles to run away with him – emphasis on the gay subtext there’s, not mine – Knuckles decides the newly changed Floating Island needs him more. The book concludes with Sonic conferring with his other male life partner, Tails. Scott Fulops’ dialogue continues to be awful but at least there’s some sort of bearing to these scenes.

Though there’s still a lot of shit to shift through, “Immortality is Forever… Life is Finite” is definitely one of the most haphazard story Archie ever (barely) assembled. Despite this issue being awful, it would contribute two lasting aspects to the Archie Sonic-verse. Tails’ super form of Turbo Tails would reappear a few times. Mammoth Mogul would remain trapped inside the Master Emerald for a while. As a villain that was potentially interesting but rarely well used, I can’t say I’ll miss him. As for this story, I have to give it the dreaded [3/10.]