Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 63

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 63
Publication Date: July 1998

After a promising first part, the “Icon” two-parter ends on a disappointing note. Before we get to that though, let’s talk about that awesome cover. Sometimes less is more. Sonic leaning against a beautifully detailed statue of himself, amid a white backdrop, is immediately eye-catching and striking. There’s no big action or multiple characters. Just one guy and the centerpiece of the story. Spaz’ covers are always great but this might be one of my all-time favorites.

Anyway, the plot. “Icon 2: Cult of Personality” picks up with Sonic in the lap of luxury. He gets hand delivered chili dogs and daily massages. Tails, however, remains paranoid. The Sand-Blasters’ scheme to keep Sonic in the city for several more weeks doesn’t sit well with the fox. He’s right to be worried, as Jack Rabbit intends to keep Sonic there forever. The hedgehog’s not dumb though. He’s merely been playing dumb as not to alert their captors. The two perform a late night escape, deactivating the shield protecting Sand Blast City from the hostile Robians. Meanwhile, Snively and the other villains riot at Devil’s Gulag, preparing to make their own escape.

The biggest let-down with “Icon” is how it resolves so few of the questions we had after the first chapter. Why do the Sand-Blasters want to keep Sonic in the city? Because they admire him so much? So he can continue to protect them from the Robians? No answer is provided. Furthermore, what’s up with the violent Robians? Why are they soulless, when compared to the Mobotropolis Freedom Fighters? Why are they attacking Sand-Blast City? Bollers delivered a good set-up but either a lack of page space or just plain ol’ sloppy plotting prevents his story from being properly fleshed out.

Maybe that’s because the focus is on action. Honestly, I was a little disappointed that Sonic was onto Jack Rabbit’s scheme. Seeing our hero occasionally played for a dupe would’ve humanized him a little. Nope, Sonic knows something is up and has been plotting his own escape for a while. The Sand-Blasters are quick as well and block his escape. What follows is Sonic quickly dusting off the Sand-Blasters and Tails finding the repaired Winged Victory. This is disappointing too, as the duo easily disposes of the bad guys. Tails even drops a tarp on the team after the ol’ “Let ‘em go!” routine. Truly, the best moment here is when Sonic realizes the big ass statue of him in the center of town is also where the battery for the force field is kept. Sonic being forced to smash a statue of himself, and thus destroy his own sense of entitlement as a hero, is a good moment.

What follows is less of a good moment. The destructive Robians enter Sand-Blast City, like the zombies storming the mall at the end of “Dawn of the Dead.” Sonic is worried that his goose is cooked... Before Tails swoops down in the Winged Victory and rescues him. The two fly away from a city in flames. When Tails suggests that the Sand-Blasters weren’t all that bad and perhaps they could return, Sonic shoots him down. That’s right, kids. Our heroes just doomed an entire city, presumably with its fair share of innocent by-standers, and flew off without a care for any of them. Not exactly role model behavior, now is it? I know Sonic can be kind of a dick sometimes but this asshole behavior may be a bridge too far, even for him.

Bollers does do one clever thing. Snively and the other bad guys escaping from the Devil’s Gulag is contrasted with Sonic and Tails flying away from Sand-Blast City. As for that subplot, I like that Drago and the gang don’t outright murder Snively. They believe he freed them, somehow, and think it might be useful to have him around. That’s the kind of clear headed thinking you don’t expect from a bunch of thugs and killers. Still, this subplot is another example of how fast and loose Boller’s writing is, as we still don’t know why they were set free. All in good time, I suppose.

At least Steven Butler’s artwork is still aces. I love his gritty sense of detail. Sand-Blast City is such an interesting looking place, dusty and quasi-apocalyptic. There’s some solid action artwork here too. Sonic smashing through the statue of himself warrants a one-page spread. The chaos of the attacking Robians is handled well. I really only have two objections to the artwork. Continuity is a bit loose. For example, Sgt. Simian is wearing an entirely different outfit than what he had on last time. This isn’t Butler’s fault but Sonic has blue arms for about half of the issue. I also wonder if it was necessary to draw the female masseurs and waitress servicing Sonic on the first page quite so suggestively. This is still a kid’s book, after all. Still, Butler’s artwork helps elevate a story that has some problems.

The back-up story has Geoffrey’s squad of new recruits heading out on a training mission. They storm a former Robotnik building. The robots and guard systems inside apparently still function. The story shows the team working together nicely. Geoffrey St. John leads. Valdez uses his chameleon skills to sneak up and yank out some important cables. Heavy uses his mechanical interface to talk to the still on-line computer. Wombat Stu, uh, carries the rope. Hershey stands back and makes catty comments. It’s all in service of retrieving a functional SWATBot, which will probably be useful. The action is pretty low-key, even if Art Mawhineny makes it look far more exciting and dramatic than it actually is. While the team is still woefully undefined, it’s nice to finally see them actually working together and accomplishing something.

What makes the third part of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” interesting is Sally. Yep, she’s here. The back-up story begins with her confronting Commander Smiley about what the hell St. John has been up to recently. He denies her access, saying she doesn’t have clearance for it. Properly pissed, Sally directly asks Geoffrey who has approval above the Princess. The King, that’s who! So Sally discovers her dad doesn’t trust her and her potential love interest is more then happy to keep her out of the loop. Isn’t that just like Penders to push the most interesting part of the story to the sidelines? I really love the look of shock Mawhinney draws on Sally’s face when she learns her dad outranks her. Art probably still draws my favorite take on Sally.

It’s a bummer that what could’ve been the most experimental period for Archie’s “Sonic” comic has continued to be undermined by sloppy writing. Another interesting story arc fails to pay off. That’s the name of the game, I guess. [6/10]