Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 280

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 280
Publication Date: April 2016

While reading issue 280 of Archie’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” comic. Since the reboot started in November of 2013, it never felt like the plot was moving much. The heroes would, from time to time, grab one of the ten thousand magic MacGuffins they need to save the day. But the World remained Shattered and the Freedom Fighters took on a lot of side-missions. With issue 280, it finally feels like we are moving towards a conclusion. And it only took Flynn two years and five months to make the plot progress in a meaningful way!

“Keys to Victory” has Sonic, Tails, and Chip hanging out on the Efrika continent which is, go figure, basically Africa. Sonic gets Axel and his team of bikers to chase him around a tree. Meanwhile, Tails and Chip sneaks into the local Gaia Temple. The two locate the second-to-last Gaia Key. Chip also flies into a glowing green doorway and a floating ball of light informs him of his duty in life for the first time.

“Keys to Victory” is another one of those rare Archie “Sonic” issues that Sonic barely features in. While Tails and Chip are doing the actually plot relevant stuff, Sonic leads Axel and his men on a wild goose chase around a big-ass tree. This allows Flynn to get the required action beats in, as Sonic slaps around some of the bikers and gets slapped himself. I could nitpick here and point out that Axel probably should’ve realized something was up, especially after Sonic casually leaves at the end. But mostly I’m amused by the way the writer constructs the story that barely features the star character.

Instead, this issue is focused on Chip. Since his introduction, I’ve had a lot of mixed feelings about Chip. On one hand, he’s a sweet kid. His confusion about his own origins was occasionally semi-touching. However, he rarely contributed to the actual plot and was mostly just another small, cute, flying thing in the book’s universe. Here, Chip finally learns about his special purpose, in an amusingly psychedelic sequence. Its not that seeing Chip reach some self-realization means much to me but it is nice to see this plot point finally start to come around.

A lot more touching is the interaction between Tails and Chips. See, the two have something in common. Before he met Sonic, Tails felt like an outcast. It’s all of one panel but his reminiscence about their friendship is pretty cute. So is the way Chip, who still feels like an outcast, extrapolates from there. Remembering the interactions he’s had with the Freedom Fighters since coming aboard the Sky Patrol. It’s a little bit of emotion but it makes this story stronger than it would’ve been otherwise.

Issue 280 continues the recent trend of sticking stories focusing on the Freedom Fighters into the back pages. In “A Special Occasion,” Sally and Rotor have taken Professor Pickles to the university in Spagonia, that vaguely Mediterranean part of Sonic's world. The professors put them in contact with Lucia, the young woman who protects the latest Gaia Key. Lucia, however, has other matters on her mind. Tonight is her mom's birthday and getting a reservation at her favorite restaurant is proving impossible. Sally decides to help the girl, using her royal status to pull some strings.

Over the course of “A Special Occasion,” Professor Pickles and his diminutive rival get into a petty argument. Rotor shouts “Hey old guys!” – is that a “Men in Black” reference? – and later expresses his frustration to Sally that people are still letting their petty differences get in the way when the world is literally in pieces. While I find myself agreeing with Rotor, Flynn makes a good case for the little things with this one. Watching Sally and Rotor go about helping normal folks, doing small favors to make sure people are happy and healthy, is pretty cute. Lucia also strikes the reader as a likable character, a forgetful girl with a lot on her mind. It's a nice way to cover up another story about retrieving some magical object.

Honestly, a tale with deliberately low stakes like this doesn't seems pretty uncharacteristic of Ian Flynn recently. Though Flynn gets credit for this one, I suspect Aleah Baker helped out a lot. This is further evident in the story's conclusion, where the emotional heart is revealed. While having dinner with Lucia and her family, Sally mentions that her mother died when she was young, that she only has the vaguest memories of her. This causes Rotor to have a flashback to his own mother, laying sick in bed. It's a small moment but it provides a lot of heart to a cute, more character focused story.

It's a decent issue but there's one small thing about it that still bugs me. Sonic and the gang really are going to be hanging out with normal humans for the rest of the reboot, aren't they? While my grievances with this are pretty well known by this point, I have another issue with this factoid. Why are they all so damn ugly looking? Lucia is kind of cute but Pickles has those awful eyebrows. His professional rival looks like some sort of hideous hobgoblin. The African tribesman they meet in Efrika have weirdly giant heads. You know, Mobians interacting with regular people is weird enough but must they be so visually unappealing as well?

Still, this is a minor nitpick. Truthfully, issue 280 is a pretty good one. Though the back-up stories have been strong recently, this is the best overall issue in quite a while. It got that way by focusing on characters over action and finally moving the plot forward. (The solid artwork, from Jamal Peppers and Jennifer Hernandez, certainly doesn't hurt any.) [7/10]