Knuckles the Echidna: Issue 16

Knuckles the Echidna: Issue 16
Publication Date: July 1998

After the business of “The Forgotten Tribe” arc and the action heavy “Chaotix Caper” three-parter, “Knuckles the Echidna” takes a bit of a breather with issue 16. Of course, to Ken Penders, a “breather” means a comic that includes lots of mythology building, a bunch of new characters, political hand-wringing, and serious revelations about Knuckles’ past.

After teleporting out of the desert, Knuckles finds himself in his mom’s apartment. He has a heart-to-heart with Lara-Le, who informs him that Knuckles was unusually intelligent as a baby. Afterwards, he discovers that his mom and Wynmacher are getting married. Which upsets the boy. Luckily, Julie-Su and the Chaotix are there to comfort him. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Guardians gather in Haven. A discussion about Mobius’ post-Robotnik status segues into a debate about Knuckles’ growing power.

“Reunions” easily shows both Ken Penders’ strengths and weaknesses as a writer. This was a guy who was willing to tell a serious story with a cast of funny animals. He has filled Knuckles’ universe with far more depth then you’d ever expect. He also takes the relationship between the characters seriously. At the same time, he’s obsessed with his own convoluted mythology. Too often, the compelling aspect of the book are sacrificed for more exposition, more debate about mystic events of the far past or the distant future.

The stuff between Knuckles and his mother is potentially touching. While Locke hides like a coward, spies on his son, and micro-manages the boy's life, Knuckles has had lots of interaction with his mom. Lara-Le greeting her son with a hug and a kiss is cute. Knuckles’ reaction to his mom re-marrying is realistic. He storms out of the apartment, shocked and confused. I can relate to the weird rush of emotion that comes when a parent re-marries. Knuckles, whose life has changed so much here of late, must take it especially hard. It helps that the book has portrayed Wynmacher as such a normal, loving guy, almost to the point of making him dull.

Unfortunately, this part of the book also has Penders once again hammering home Knuckles’ Great Destiny. We discover that he was super-smart as a baby and that his father probably experimented on him before he hatched. (Echidnas lay eggs, by the way.) The idea of Knuckles being some super-being, even beyond his duties as a Guardian, has never appealed to me. It’s kind of boring, honestly. The flashbacks also don’t help Lara-Le’s character development. We discover that she knew from the beginning her husband wasn’t trust-worthy. Which raises the question of why she went ahead with the marriage. When she seeks advice from her mother-in-law, the older woman basically tells her to stand by her man. No wonder the marriage ended. Lara-Le was afraid to act and Locke was a manipulative, secretive dick bag.

Speaking of manipulative, secretive dick bags! Issue 16 opens up Haven and the Brotherhood more. We meet a bunch of Knuckles’ ancestors, like elderly Tobor, strangely purple Thunderhawk, gruff and mysterious Spectre, and the non-descript Sojourner. Unlike Locke and Sabre, who just ramble on endlessly about mysticism and destiny, Spectre and Thunderhawk aren’t afraid to speak up about the Brotherhood’s bullshit. That’s refreshing. Combined with interesting designs, that’s probably why those two were always the most popular of Knuckles’ extended family.

But the Brotherhood stuff is still a bore. It’s revealed that the retired Guardians observe all of Mobius, not just the Floating Island. There’s lots of debate about what to do in the fallout of Robotnik’s defeat, about his former generals fighting for control. Considering these are human (Mobian?) lives they are pettily squabbling about, it doesn’t make the Brotherhood seem any less dickish. Making the echidnas the secret architects of the planet doesn’t discourage the belief that Penders’ considered his original character more important than Sega’s creation. Tobor and Thunderhawk even dismiss Sonic’s adventures! When the Fire Ants show up and start talking about stuff… Jesus Christ, I don’t care.

How torn I am about issue 16 is truly summed up in its final sequence. After leaving his mother’s apartment, Knuckles finds some alone time, chilling on a dock. Julie-Su, against the opinions of the other Chaotix, goes to check up on him. While Knuckles is busy moping, Julie-Su gives him a kiss. It’s a cute moment. I wish Knuckles and Julie-Su’s relationship received more attention. After all, last time he saw her, she was in handcuffs and assumed to be an ally of the Dark Legion. Still, the kiss is an earned moment, considering the character’s obvious attraction to each other. The final page, of the two sitting in silence on the dock, is rather sweet.

Once again, Ken has to take an elegant moment and bog it down in bullshit. Instead of just having Julie-Su and Knuckles be attracted to each other, being teenagers of the same species with complimentary personalities, he teases the Soul Touch. Yep, echidnas have a magical drive to seek out their future mate. Once they find them, an attraction begins, regardless of how they feel. Gee whiz, Ken, couldn’t Knuckles and Julie-Su have just like each other? Must everything be some sort of mystic destiny? So much for free will.

Still, “Reunions” is an interesting story. It shows that, when he paused to focus on characters, Penders was a decent writer. Disappointingly, even a mellow issue of “Knuckles” must be racing towards the series’ on-going myth arc. So it goes. [6.5/10]