Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 144

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 144
Publication Date: December 2004

The “Mobius: 25 Years Later” story arc has been running in the back pages of Archie's “Sonic the Hedgehog” series since December of 2003. After a year of getting half the book to itself, which lead to a sometimes overly relaxed pacing, the possible future of Sonic and his friends gets a cover story to itself. Probably because this promised to be the final story in that setting for quite some time. Let's get to it.

Rotor and Cobar have finally figured out a way to possibly avert the incoming apocalypse. The Royal Family and Knuckles travel to the Badlands, which appear to be the radioactive remains of Old Robotropolis. Under the blasted out wastelands, they crawl towards Robotnik's time displacement machine, the device which will toss Sonic into the past and hopefully save the world. Unbeknownst to Sonic or her father, Lara-Su is a stowaway on their plane, eager to join the adventure.

“The Die is Cast” is mostly concerned with barreling towards “25 Years Later's” quasi-conclusion. However, the issue does sneak in some cute moments between the characters. At the story's start, Knuckles informs Lara-Su that her training to become a Guardian will officially begin as soon as he gets back from this mission. Her reaction, to leap excited into his arms and give him a big hug, seems very genuine and charming. When Julie-Su hears Knuckles is going on this one without her, he defuses the tension with a big meaningful kiss. I'm not sure why Knuckles excluded Julie-Su on this mission but it's nice that Ken took the time to ask her opinion.

If “The Die is Cast” provides a satisfying conclusion to anything, it's King Sonic's recent bad mood. The hedgehog hero has spent most of this story arc in a funk, feeling neurotic about his status as royalty. In “The Die is Cast,” he finally gets over himself. Rotor informs Sonic that there might not be a way to get him back to this time line, that he might end up stuck in the past. Sonic leaves no doubt that he's willing to do this. It's nice to finally see Sonic man up and act like the hero we all know he is. Should've happened a lot sooner, if you asked me.

Archie would be putting the “Mobius: 25 Years Later” alternate universe on the shelf for a while after this story line, not returning to it until after Ian Flynn came onto the book. I'm not sure why they picked this particular point to table things for now. It ends on a huge cliffhanger. Something goes wrong with the time displacement machine, Sonic being tossed to unknown whereabouts. Simultaneously, Lara-Su begins to fade from existence like Marty McFly's siblings in “Back to the Future.” The exact cause for this is still up in the air and we won't get any answers for a while now. Which is a disappointing conclusion to one of a hugely uneven but intermittently touching story arc.

The back-up story returns to the present timeline. “Love and Loss” focuses on the wildly popular Knothole News, a publication that apparently someone in Knothole has the time and resources to assemble, publish, and distribute. The paper is so popular because of a romance advice column called “Dear Aly.” The story covers four letters written to the columnist. The first is from Bunnie, still torn up over Antoine's personality shift. The second is from Mina, who is debating over ditching Ash or attempting to pursue the newly single Sonic. The third is from Amy, who is still struggling to get over her crush on Sonic. The last letter is from Sally... Which is funny, since Sally is Dear Aly.

By focusing on emotion, “Love and Loss” addresses a few of the things “Sonic” fans have actually been wondering about recently. Such as “Is Bunnie okay?” The answer seems to be “Maybe not.” She's a mess, weeping openly, desperate for answers, her heart torn up by Antoine's cruel rejection of her. Something else fans are wondering is what the hell Sally has been thinking. “Love and Loss” confronts this as well. She regrets slapping Sonic, realizing she overreacted. It provides some insight into her rejection of Sonic, that she's afraid of loosing him again. (This is still bullshit, as I refuse to believe Sally would be that petty, but it's something.) The story concludes with Sally hoping to talk things over with Sonic, to reevaluate the changes in their lives. Moreover, she promises not to let this relationship drama hold her back. It's a positive change, if nothing else.

Because just focusing on Bunnie and Sally's strife probably wouldn't be enough, “Love and Loss” also devotes some page to Sonic's stalkers admirers. That Mina is still holding a torch for Sonic is not surprising but somewhat disappointing. Seems to me that love triangle was murdered and buried a while ago. I guess Mina's feelings die harder than John McClane though. Still, Mina's reaction to Aly's response – tossing a photo of Sonic over her bed into the trash and calling Ash up for a late night booty call – is cute. As for Amy, I do like her ignoring Aly's answer, which the advice columnist predicted. Seems realistic for a girl that is physically a teenager but emotionally still a ten year old. It also must be really easy for Sally to figure out who wrote each letter.

Jon Gray, who I'm no fan of, draws “Love and Loss.” Gray's loose, cartoony style is far better suited to a low key character story like this than a big action epic like “Return to Angel Island.” Considering it's a story focused on emotions, Gray's tendency to exaggerate everyone's facial expressions actually works in this one's favor. Bunnie's face twisting in tearful agony is effecting. A panel devoted to her holding her tear-strewn face really gets to me. Amy's blunt dismissal of the Aly's response works equally well. I even like the kind of cute opening scene, devoted to people swarming the newsstand. Gray should stick to stories like these, is what I'm saying, I guess.

That back-up story makes up for some of the cover story's shortcoming, though it's not enough to boost the entire issue to a generally positive rating. “25 Years Later” wraps up for now and some characters' hearts still aching proves a little more compelling. Over all, issue 144 is another deeply uneven issue, bringing a deeply uneven year to its conclusion. [6/10]