Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 148

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 148
Publication Date: April 2005

Dear readers, I feel like we can level with each other. When Archie first published the “Good/Bad/Unknown” story arc, I was barely reading the comic. At this point, I'd yank the issues out of my comic shop bag and skim them. So, in a way, this is the first time I've ever really read this story. What I remember of this one is a plot that went nowhere and got loaded down with exposition. I guess what I was really remembering was Issue 148, which certainly features both of those elements.

Last time, Sonic and the gang were left in precarious positions. Sonic, Shadow, Isaac, and Metal Sonic fell down a hole in the floor, accidentally activated by Tails. Rotor and the others, meanwhile, got caught in one of the complex's traps. The group was in the process of being electrocuted to death. Tommy immediately sets out to rescue the Freedom Fighters. Sonic, meanwhile, awakens in an underground tram way. There, his rivalry with Shadow continues while Metal gets a lecture from Isaac.

In my previous review, I characterized this four-parter as being an excuse for Sonic and Shadow, and to a lesser degree Metal, to fight. I still think that was a good summation of this arc. However, if that was Penders' goal, he screwed up on this one. Sonic and Shadow barely fight in issue 148. After running into each other on the underground tram way, Shadow briefly puts Sonic in a choke hold. By slamming on the bumper car's brakes, the darker hedgehog gets tossed into the dirt. And that's about it, as far as erinaceinae fisticuffs go. This really puts a damper on Steven Butler's awesome ability to draw fight scenes, which where the sole highlight of the last two issues.

Instead, most of the story is devoted to Isaac laying some heavy-handed exposition on us. For some reason, Metal Sonic is being civil to Shadow. He patiently listens, sitting in a roller coaster car with Isaac, as the shinier robot drones on. And on. And on. When Metal Sonic notices that Isaac's creator was named Kintobor, it causes the other robot to launched into an unending lecture about his origin. Ken even takes a page from the Christian Weston Chandler playbook, as Isaac's narration carries over panels depicting unrelated events. Instead of just saying “Yeah, Kintobor was the guy who dissected the Xorda ambassador. Afterwards, he built me and this underground lair to survive the apocalypse,” the robot delivers a monologue about Mobius' entire history. It's just the worst, you guys.

If that wasn't bad enough, Archie is still struggling with what to do with the other characters. I honestly don't why Ken had Tails and the Freedom Fighters join Sonic on this journey. All they've done is hang back while the hedgehogs fight. Maybe it was all a ruse, another attempt to make Tommy Turtle interesting. In this installment, Tommy saves Rotor and the gang by donning a rubber glove and smashing a circuit box. There's two problems with this. First off, considering how long they were being shocked, I'm pretty sure Fiona and the others are already dead. Secondly, drawing the pudgy, slow moving turtle in such a heroic light is unintentionally hilarious. This summarizes the Freedom Fighters' involvement in this story.

Archie continues to fill each issue with three stories. What's weird is the back-up tales are clearly set at a different period then the cover story. “Playing Around,” for example, is a total goof with no affect on anything. It shows Sonic and the others putting on a play for Sally and the orphans. Sonic clearly wrote the play himself, as its an ego-stroking account of a time he rescued Sally from Robotnik. That's pretty much it.

The humor in “Playing Around” mostly comes from the bizarre casting decisions Sonic made in his play. Only Sonic and Uncle Chuck play themselves. Only Big as Robotnik makes much sense. Rotor is Tails, Tails is Snively, Bunnie is St. John, Vector is a SWATBot, and – seemingly to throw a bone to the slash shippers – Knuckles is Sally. The cross dressing and fat jokes have limited appeal but “Playing Around” did make me laugh once. When somebody gets punched, Amy holds up cards with sound effects on them. Otherwise, there's little reason to check this one out.

Rounding out issue 148 is “Destiny's Child,” a story starring Tails. Sadly, the plot does not involve whether or not somebody is ready for this jelly. Instead, Tails is sitting in Knothole, wondering why everybody else has gotten their parents back but him. That's when a disembodied voice starts talking to him. Turns out the floating head of Athair has come calling again, informing Tails of his great destiny as the Chosen One. Before this conversation reaches any sort of point, Athair disappears again, leaving Tails and the reader greatly annoyed.

All “Destiny's Child” really accomplishes is to remind the reader about Tails' status as the Chosen One. Athair expounds on his first encounter with Tails in that Australian crater, that time he helped beat Mammoth Mogul, and that whole business about Tails being cloned. Throughout this, Athair mentions Tails' magician uncle Merlin, who the fox claims to have never met. This is either a plot hole or only the copycat Tails met Merlin. At this point, I can't be asked to keep this shit straight. “Destiny's Child” ends by promising that this Chosen One business will be resolved soon. God, I hope so.

How about that artwork? Steven Butler is still doing a pretty good job on the cover story, even if the script continues to disappoint. Nelson Ribeiro, who we haven't seen in a while, returns to draw “Playing Around.” Ribeiro's artwork has never been very good. His characters remain overly furry, soft, and squishy. The last one is drawn by a newcomer named Tim Smith 3. Smith's artwork strike me as what Dave Manak's drawings would look like if he was really into anime. It's okay but pretty angular and loose.

The title story continues to drag further and further into uselessness. The “Tails is the Chosen One” plot point returning hardly excites this particular reader. The middle story is cute but pretty dumb. Right now I'm counting down the days until we reach Ian Flynn coming onto the book in issue 160 because this period of Sonic is as dire as I remember. [4/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 105

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 105
Publication Date: December 2001

2001 wasn’t a great year for Archie’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” series. After taking a two month break, so Mike Gallagher and Jim Valentino could indulge their in-joke, Karl Bollers was allowed to pick up where he left off. And, I don’t know, maybe the two month break gave the writer a little time to recharge. “You Say You Want a Revelation” isn’t a great story but, in a lackluster year, it still stands out as one of the better stories.

Karl continues to chop through the mishmash of story lines he’s thrown out in the last year. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters let the loss of Nate Morgan weigh on their minds. That’s when the hedgehog gets an idea. If the Sword of Acorn can restore the free will of robotocized Mobians, why can’t it restore the free will of robotocized Overlanders? Only Sally can wield the sword in this manner and talks her dad into allowing her to go on this mission. Meanwhile, in Robotropolis, Robotnik reveals his master plan – to poison the organic beings with radiation, forcing them to become his robotic slaves in order to survive – to Colin Kintobor and all the other Overlanders in the city.

How do you like your Robotnik? The villain comes in several different flavors. Some of the video games portray him as a stereotypical mad scientist. The “Adventures of” cartoon and other games draw him as a cartoonish buffoon. SatAM and “Sonic Underground” illustrated him as a cold-blooded tyrant. The comic version of Robotnik has fluctuated wildly between the three poles. My favorite version, if you couldn’t guess, is the genocidal dictator, eager to inflict his mad will on the world. This version of Robotnik returns to Archie’s pages with a vengeance in issue 105. After Hope informs her parents that Robotnik intends to roboticize them, the doctor reveals she’s right. He relishes the opportunity, actually. He happily states that he’s a robot and that every fleshy person in the city is poisoned. He joyfully robotocizes Hope’s grandmother before her eyes. I’m not sure why Robotnik waited until now to gloat evilly. But he sure is having fun doing it.

Ever since they returned to Mobius, the Kintobor family hasn’t contributed much to the book. It’s been a plot point that hasn’t gone much of anywhere. After writing Nate Morgan out last time, Karl decides to clip the rest of the Overlanders from the book this time. Hope gets away, as the book had bigger plans for her, but the rest of the family? Turned to robotic statues. About the only important detail rising from this resolution is Snively revealing how much he hates his dad. As much as we pile on the little twerp, he’s truly just as evil as Robotnik is. As for the Kintobors? Who’s going to miss them?

A plot point dragging the series down since issue 99 has been the romantic drama between Sonic and Sally. Issue 105 doesn’t resolve this, as the tiresome Sonic/Sally/Mina love triangle would stretch on for a while longer. The book finally addresses how dumb this is though. Before leaving on the mission, Sonic outright asks Sally if she’s pissed at him. Before she can respond, Mina zooms in and gives her a big hug, thanking the Princess for restoring her mom’s free will. It’s a cute moment. If it doesn’t outright negate the ridiculous love triangle, it at least goes a way towards deflating it.

We even get some action too. Sonic smashes some ShadowBots and has a face-to-face confrontation with Robotnik, something we haven’t gotten in a while. However, the issue pulls back on the action maybe when it was most important. Instead of a big exciting conclusion, the story ends with talking. Robotnik reveals another truth – that only willinging robotocized Overlanders don’t become statues – and let’s the good guys go. Moreover, the Freedom Fighters leave the Overlanders in Robotropolis, allowing themselves to become robots if they want too. It’s kind of a downer ending to what was otherwise a decent story.

In the back pages, Mike Gallagher concludes the Downunda Freedom Fighter story he’s been telling for three months. Guru Emu scales the dam he discovered last time, confirming the suspicions that it’s a leftover from CrocBot’s take-over of the continent. Below the waves, the bunyip has… Safely carried the other Freedom Fighters to an oxygen filled area? Turns out, Barby speaks the Bunyip's language. She levels with the creature, who is just angry CrocBot took away his billabong. Everyone agrees the dam has to go. The Freedom Fighters blow it up, restoring the lake, and making everyone happy.

Here’s a win for empathy, civil conversation, and peaceful resolution. Instead of another fight ensuing with the mythical animal, the Downunda Freedom Fighters instead communicate with their captor. No, it’s not a very satisfying conclusion. Barby’s ability to speak bunyip is the purest of ass pulls. Yes, Gallgher still loads his story with ungainly dialogue. As he enters the dam, Guru Emu takes the time to recap the events so far.

Still, there’s a certain novelty to the story concluding with everyone talking things out, without punching somebody in the face. It’s rare for this book, even if it doesn’t entirely work in this instance. As expected, Gallagher ends the story with another plea for the readers to request more Downunda Freedom Fighter adventures. Considering we wouldn’t see them again for a while, I’m going to say Archie didn’t get too many letters.

Ron Lim drew the cover story. Typically, it looks lousy. His robots look utterly ridiculous. Characters bend wildly off-model during the action scenes. He also has this weird habit of drawing Sally so that she always looks surprised. As for the back-up, Nelson Ribeiro takes over for Dave Manak. Ribeiro is an uneven artist. On the first page, Guru Emu’s hand twists out of shape. All the characters look slightly odd. But nobody is hideously ugly. I also like his decision to surround the first page of panels with wooden frames.

Issue 105 isn’t an A+ book but, compared to what we’ve been getting lately, still feels like a breath of fresh air. [6/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 97

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 97
Publication Date: May 2001

Issue 97 of “Sonic the Hedgehog” is not an especially memorable or well-regarded entry in the Archie series. However, it is notable for one thing. This issue was featured in a Guinness World Record book. Some time ago, Archie’s “Sonic” series broke the record for a somewhat specific superlative. It became the longest running comic book based on a video game. It was the first of many surprising records the comic has broken over its unprecedented run. With issue 108, it would surpass Marvel’s original “Star Wars” book as longest running licensed comic. Most recently, it became one of the longest running comic books to never be re-numbered. Who would have thought such a humble series would have earned such a prominent place in comic history?

Anyway, the plot. After his attempt to enter Robotropolis to rescue Uncle Chuck was blocked by the royalty, Sonic thinks up an alternative. He dresses himself in black and decides to sneak into the city under cover of darkness. He follows Geoffrey St. John and the Secret Service as they make their own quest into the city, to recover the Sword of Acorn. Both parties are captured soon afterwards, forcing an uneasy alliance. Meanwhile, Robotnik and Snively have ominous plans for the Kintobors.

Too often during the comic’s lamest run, Karl Bollers’ strategy was to throw a bunch of different story ideas into the comic, developing them as he went along. His most recent “Maybe this one’ll stick!” idea is the Sneak, the closest thing Sonic has to a superhero alter ego. It’s not an especially clever design. The version Spaz drew on the cover looks neat but the interior costume makes this look like Ninja Sonic with Karate Chop Action. Moreover, the persona’s role in the story is mostly unnecessary. Sonic sneaks into the city to avoid St. John but encounters him anyway. They then get captured, spend a few hours behind bars, and escape. Nothing is recovered, learned, or gained. Sonic would never don the Sneak outfit again, making this an even more wasted concept.

The Sneak ostensibly serves one purpose: So Geoffrey won’t recognize Sonic when the two get tossed into the pokey together. Mostly, this just makes St. John seem really bad at his job. It’s not like the costume disguises the hedgehog’s distinctive silhouette. There’s also no indication that Sonic alters his voice. Then again, St. John hasn’t been showing a lot of confidence here of late. There was his totally ineffective investigation last issue. Here, he continues to hold a petty grudge against the hedgehog. He belittles Sally for no reason and is rude to his superiors. After entering Robotropolis, Geoffrey immediately gets his team captured. They only escape because the villain lets them. I’m not sure why Elias and the King have any faith in this guy.

After discarding it for an issue, Bollers remembers Snively’s family is still in this book. We finally get a glimpse at what the doctor’s plans are for his relative. Eggman seemingly brainwashes and sedates Cheddermund, the absurdly named scientist that followed the Kintobors around space. What he plans to do next remains to be seen. That Colin and his family have yet to suspect anything seems unlikely, considering how obviously evil Robotnik and Snively are. But, once again, at least this dragging plot line is finally going somewhere.

Other elements of Robotnik’s scheme succeed only due to the incompetence of his enemies. After the Secret Service is captured, each one is taken and interrogated. While Heavy and Bomb are off-screen, Robotnik re-programs the robots, who then bust the others out. Despite those two obviously being machines susceptible to such things, Geoffrey and the gang never question this turn of events. They even know that something funny is up, as the skunk points out that Robotnik never interrogated them, just moved them temporarily to another room. Because, once again, St. John sucks at the spying business.

Two different artists draw this story. Sadly, neither are up to the standards set by Steven Butler and James Fry. Nelson Ribeiro returns to pencil the first half. There’s less hideous facial expressions this time but everyone still looks off-model. Snively looks especially disturbing during his brief appearance. The giant hands and feet are still present and the action is flat. Harvey Mercadoocasio draws the second half. His work is slightly improved over his previous illustrations. His characters never veer horribly off-model and his sense of motion is okay. But everyone is mostly undefined. Heavy, in particular, looks like a tin can while Mercadoocasio forgets to draw Bomb’s legs. Instead, the bigger robot carries the smaller one around in a weird fanny pack.

As exhausting as the recent cover stories have been, Ken Penders’ Knuckles back-up story still wins the dubious distinction of most tiring current plot. As promised last time, Chaos Knuckles and Turbo Tails fight. Six of the story’s seven pages are devoted to the scuffle. The characters reveal some deeply inane new powers. Tails’ tails have become totally prehensile. Knuckles, meanwhile, can shoot fuckin’ laser beams from his eyes. After the echidna cold-cocks the fox, he teleports towards Julie-Su, something he probably should have done sooner. There’s nothing this installment does that couldn’t have been accomplished a while ago. I’m starting to become numb to Ron Lim’s shittiness but his artwork here remains flat.

You might be wondering why Tails is in this story at all. Which is a good question! In the final pages, Ken reveals the nonsensical reason for bringing the Chosen One plot up again. After Turbo Tails gets his ass kicked, Athair and Merlin wonder why. Instead of assuming the fox’s inexperience was his undoing, this plot bomb gets dropped on us. This isn’t Tails, not the real one anyway! At some point, Tails was swapped with an identical impostor. Instead of developing this shocking turn, Athair’s floating head zaps him back to Knothole and thinks nothing of it. What the fuck?

Things look grim. Both the cover story and the back-up continue to spin their wheels in the air, resolving nothing and barely building on their respective plots. Some mediocre artwork and a dumb twist or two is enough to push this one down to a [4/10], a rating that hasn’t been rare here of late.

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 96

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 96
Publication Date: April 2001

Well, I guess we’re still doing this, huh? Instead of just moving on and forgetting like we’d all prefer him to, Karl Bollers decided to run with with his bad ideas. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters are still in high school, for some reason. Geoffrey is still hammering his grudge against Sonic home. Sonic and Sally are still being forced apart. Kodos and the juggling plot device of the Sword of Acorn are still plot relevant. At least the Kintobor clan do not appear in this issue.

So here’s the basic facts. Kodos has collapsed following his separation with the Sword last time. Geoffrey sneaks around, trying to figure out why the Warlord was sniffing around Knothole. He immediately places the blame on Sonic, who skillfully dodges the skunk’s investigation. At school the next day, a ShadowBot attacks. Sonic, Mina, and Bunnie attempt to fight off the machine before it begins to talk to them with Uncle Chuck’s voice. Apparently, Chuck sent the robot to contact Sonic. Before the conversation can get any further, St. John fills it full of holes, forcing a more drastic measure from Sonic.

Issue 96 – which is a very poor issue, indeed – is notable for one thing: How hilariously incompetent Geoffrey St. John’s investigation is. First off, it’s not entirely clear why St. John is searching around Knothole for clues. We begin in Dr. Quack’s hospital – which looks distressingly modern – where the duck diagnosed the unconscious Kodos with radiation poisoning. Apparently, between last issue’s conclusion and this one’s beginning, Sonic or someone else took the Warlord to the hospital. For some reason, St. John just assumes the culprit is in the village. Even though Kodos has had no prior alliance with anyone in Knothole.

It’s really just another excuse to further resurrect the Sonic/St. John rivalry, which has otherwise been a moot point since “Brave New World.” The skunk hunts down Sonic in his parents’ house, barges in, and asks him the vague question of “How did he get there?” Sonic provides a vague denial, after which St. John mutters “Blast!” and leaves. What the fuck was that suppose to accomplish? The next scene has St. John admitting to the King that they still know nothing about Kodos. When Hershey suggests maybe blindly pursuing Sonic, despite a total lack of evidence, isn’t the best method, St. John changes the topic. I don’t think Bollers was attempting to paint a portrait of police incompetence, petty abuses of power, and the total ineffectiveness of the state but that’s what we got anyway.

As has sadly been the case for a while now, you can see Karl struggling to introduce some emotional content inside a muddled plot-driven comic. Outside forces are still keeping Sonic and Sally apart. Sadly, this only comes up when St. John mocks Sonic about it and when Sally, once again, is seen pining for the missing Sonic. Mina asks Sonic to tutor her in controlling her super speed, a chance to develop their budding romance. However, Rotor then bumbles into the scene, cutting this interaction short. At that point, Sonic asks Rotor if he’s seen Tails – who has been missing for at least a day, at this point – only to get a negative answer. Before that plot point can go anywhere, the giant robot bumbles into the school, abruptly ending all the other story developments. With all this going on, Bunnie and Nate Morgan are essentially reduced to cameo appearances.

For all his attempts to build on other story threads, Karl only successfully develops one plot point. Sonic discovers that Uncle Chuck has regained his free will, that this falls under the Sword of Acorn’s various healing properties. I somewhat question Chuck’s method of delivering this message. Sending a killer robot to Sonic’s high school, smashing through walls and attempting to grab people, probably wasn’t the best way to contact Chuck’s nephew. This isn’t a case of Sonic and friends assuming the ShadowBot is there to attack them. The robot is immediately smashing walls and tearing up lockers. Gee whiz, Chuck, you couldn’t have sent Sonic a letter or something? Was it necessary to wreck the high school? Still, Sonic learning Chuck’s free will is restored is potentially touching.

Further sinking issue 96 is some truly unfortunate artwork. Nelson Ribeiro, who previously provided some idiosyncratic but decent pencils for Super Special #12, draws some hideous artwork. Each of the characters have giant hands, which is especially apparent on St. John and Hershey. Everyone is given weirdly overexpressive heads and faces. Ribeiro makes a simple sequence of Sonic eating a ball of cereal look horrifying. Bodies are often formless, with Mina and Nate Morgan getting it the worst. His action is very flat and borderline incoherent. I had to look at the panel of Bunnie slamming the ShadowBot through a wall a few times before I understood what was happening. The artist has done okay work before so I guess he was really rushing to hit a deadline or something.

In the back pages, Ken Penders’ Chaos Knuckles epic continues to stretch on and on. Most of “The Chosen One” is devoted to Tails, actually. Merlin Prower and Athair’s floating head argue about what to do with the two tailed fox. Eventually, they reach a consensus and Merlin zaps Tails into his super form. Tails confronts Knuckles, saying he doesn’t want to fight before immediately punching him in the face.

Hey, what’s your favorite part of Ken’s “Knuckles” story? Who here said the convoluted mythology? Or Ken’s inability to accept how flawed Locke, Athair, or the other members of the Brotherhood are? Well, that one person will love “The Chosen One.” The first half of the story is Merlin essentially calling Athair’s floating head on his bullshit just for the mystic to deny how wrong he is. It’s all unnecessary build-up for Merlin transforming Tails into Turbo Tails. If Ken was going to move ahead with that plot point so quickly, why did he bother to have Merlin and Athair argue in the first place?

It’s appropriate that Knuckles is radioactive green at the moment, as his behavior best resembles the Incredible Hulk. He can’t be reasoned with and is just rampaging through various locations. Knuckles is actively attempting to figure out what happened to everyone on the Floating Island – you know, the entire reason this plot point started ten thousand years ago – but anytime he might get a lead on that, he has to freak the fuck out. Turbo Tails offers to help Knuckles but he accuses Merlin of lying instead, forcing Tails to smack the echidna around. And forcing the reader to suffer through the forthcoming fight scene before this plot can actually begin to move again.

Oh yeah, Ron Lim draws the back-up story too and, unsurprisingly, it looks pretty shitty. Issue 96 mostly just leaves me exhausted. The book, in both its main plot and the back-up stories, is endlessly spinning its wheels, throwing a bunch of bullshit around and only succeeding in burying the things we care about. It’s going to get better eventually but this will be the state of things for far too long to come. [4/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 82

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 82
Publication Date: February 2000

For quite some time now, I’ve been talking about Archie and their “Sonic Adventure” adaptation. The truth is, the last several issues haven’t truly been a part of that adaptation. Instead, the comic book has been setting up the various narrative changes necessary to fit the new video game components into the comic’s world. With issue 82, the “Sonic Adventure” adaptation begins in earnest.

“Night of Chaos” starts with Sonic enjoying his stay in Station Square. He goes for a late night run across the rooftops of the city, pretending to be his favorite superheroes. Instead, he comes upon a collection of cop cars heading in one direction. He follows them, discovering a strange creature fighting the police. A being made of liquid, Sonic has a brief battle with the creature. From a distance, Dr. Eggman observes.

“Night of Chaos” is a direct adaptation of the opening boss battle of “Sonic Adventure.” The cover story even features some direct quotes from the video game. When the Station Square police officers attempt to shoot Chaos, their bullets harmlessly lodge in the creature’s watery body, falling to the ground. The fight, we discover, has been a way for Robotnik to test his newest weapon against Sonic. What Karl Bollers adds to this pre-existing plot line is some goofy opening narration, where Sonic talks about superheroes with names like the Rush, the Dark Bat, and the Super Surfer.

In other words, “Night of Chaos” is basically an action story. It’s a short one too, only running seven whole pages out of the book. An interesting hodgepodge of artist worked on the story. James Fry and Patrick Spazinate did the outlines. Nelson Ribeiro finished the pencils. This means there are individual panels that are clearly Fry or Spaz’s work. Such as anime-esque eyes and mouths on Sonic and the Station Squarers. Or nicely detailed panels of Sonic fighting off Chaos. The most distinctly Ribeiro touch is Chaos himself, who looks somewhat odd. His surface isn’t smooth but choppy, looking like a raging oatmeal monster instead of a being of animated water. Still, “Night of Chaos” is mildly entertaining for what it is.

The second story, “Door to the Past,” is this month’s Knuckles adventure. The writer and artist go uncredited but it’s clearly the work of Ken Penders and Steven Butler. Anyway, the plot: Knuckles’ exploration of the Ancient Ruins comes to a pause when he’s possessed by an ancient spirit. Calling herself Tikal, the entity explains the history of the area, its connection with the echidna race, and what happened to destroy that civilization. Meanwhile, the Chaotix continue to negotiate with the cat people on the near-by mainland.

If “Night of Chaos” was mostly a single action set-piece, “Door to the Past” is basically an exposition-fest. Once Tikal gets in contact with Knuckles, the story becomes devoted to parsing out the Ruins’ history. It turns out the area was colonized by some echidnas. The scientists left after fighting the felines while the warrior class stayed. In hopes of defeating this enemy, the warriors attempted to steal some Chaos Emeralds from a local shrine. This enraged Chaos, the protective spirit of the shrine and the peaceful Chao that lived there, who destroyed the echidnas. If you played “Sonic Adventure” back in 1999, you knew this already. Once again, the video game mythology fits roughly with Penders’ established Knuckles mythology. It would be years before Ian Flynn tied these two sources together in a more logical manner.

Knuckles is given nothing to do but respond to this information, making “Door to the Past” a fairly passive story. What about the Chaotix? It seems like Knuckles’ buddies have been in the same situation for months now. They remain captured by the residents of the Mysterious Cat Country. There’s some loose attempts at negotiation but it doesn’t amount to much. Just when things are threatening to get interesting, Penders has Locke wonder in. Because that always works out so well. In other words, “Door to the Past” feels mostly like narrative wheel spinning then actual story telling.

Issue 82 continues Archie’s recent habit of stuffing three stories into one comic book. “Double-Crossed Circuits” follows E-102 Gamma. We see his “Sonic Adventure” back story play out. Robotnik sends Gamma and his brothers to collect Froggy. Only Gamma succeeds, causing Robotnik to scrap the other robots. Afterwards, Gamma is sent to interrogate Amy Rose. Instead, the frightened girl moves something in the machine. He rescues her and now must face the consequences of his sudden sentience.

I have a soft spot for E-102 Gamma. Out of all the additions that “Sonic Adventure” made to the hedgehog’s universe, he’s my favorite. A robot learning to love is a standard tale but the game imbued it with a surprisingly amount of grace. Archie more-or-less follows the same outline as the game. What it adds is an interior monologue for Gamma, which is the primary dialogue in the story. The narration boxes are overdone but it still provides some insight into Gamma’s sudden change. Unlike the other two stories in the issue, at least this adds something to the video game’s story. “Double-Crossed Circuits” isn’t a lot but it’s still probably my favorite story in this issue. (By the way, this one is also uncredited. Since Bollers and Chris Allan handled the last Amy Rose-centric back story, I’m assuming they did this one as well.)

You can’t fight progress. Sega would not be denied their “Sonic Adventure” tie in, no matter how poorly it fit Archie’s already established world. With Issue 82, the comic hews more closely to the game, making this probably the most direct adaptation in the series’ history. It’s hard to judge, since it’s more-or-less just a transfer from one media to the other. I suppose this is an okay issue, as the first story is a swift action piece and the last is a mildly interesting character study. Only that exposition-laden middle story is a problem. [6/10]

Sonic Super Special: Issue 12 – Turnabout Heroes

Sonic Super Special: Issue 12 – Turnabout Heroes
Publication Date: Janaury 2000

We interrupt you’re regularly scheduled Sega Dreamcast adaptation for something completely different! While Archie’s main “Sonic the Hedgehog” comic was knee-deep in the “Sonic Adventure” adaptation, a new Sonic Super Special quarterly dropped with no connection to anything happening in the main book. This suggests one of two things. Either Archie’s interior scheduling is horribly haphazard or Sega demanded the “Adventure” adaptation to roll out at a certain date. Probably both, if we’re being honest. So let’s just forget about Station Square and Chaos for a little while and focus on something else entirely.

The majority of the Sonic Super Specials had some sort of gimmick that separated them from the standard book. Such as the all female led stories in issue 11 or the ill-fated crossovers in issue 10 and 7. What number twelve offers us is a cover story that turns the page sideways, the panels being read from the bottom to the top. “Turnabout Heroes” matches this visual gimmick by turning its heroes around too. Dimitri has seemingly teamed up with Dr. Robotnik, despite the former character being dead. Their fiendish plot involves swiping Sonic and Knuckles’ minds and bodies, leaving the hedgehog in the echidna’s body and vice versa. They attempt to blackmail the heroes into stealing the Master Emerald, in order to power a new super weapon. It doesn’t work.

“Turnabout Heroes” is said to take place between issues 71 and 72 of “Sonic” and issues 28 and 29 of “Knuckles.” However, as the Mobius Enclopedia is all too eager to point out, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. There’s a reason for “Turnabout Heroes” seemingly existing outside canon. The story line was originally published as a reoccurring comic stripe in Comic Shop News, a multi-page newsletter and sales flyer sent out to comic shops. This is also the reason for the vertical page construction. The change of format also explains some other things about the story. “Turnabout Heroes” opens with Sonic and Knuckles flatly discussing their recent history. Each of the characters are simplified and there are few references to either Sonic or Knuckles’ convoluted series. Presumably, this was done so as not to loose new and inexperienced readers.

On top of these issues, “Turnabout Heroes” is also Ken Penders’ take on the well worn body swap story line. Sonic and Knuckles do not reach a “Freaky Friday”-esque new appreciation for each other after their experience. Instead, “Turnabout Heroes” mostly plays the body switch up for humor. Knuckles, in Sonic’s body, does a belly flop while attempting to glide. Both the hedgehog and the guardian’s supporting cast seem very confused by the switch-a-roo. More definitely could’ve been done with the premise. Because this is a Penders, the story also a hell of a cheat for an ending. After touching the Master Emerald, Sonic and Knuckles’ minds are restored. The con they pull on the villains at the end is also barely coherent.

Despite these many setbacks, “Turnabout Heroes” works okay as an action story. Both Dimitri and Robotnik are on the offensive, sending heavy SWATBot and Dark Legion forces after the heroes. The Freedom Fighter Special crashes on the Floating Island, a decent action beat. The high-light of the story is the Freedom Fighters teaming up with Knuckles and Julie-Su to wreck the shit of their mutual villains. (The Chaotix, presumably, were on vacation during all this. Or Ken just forgot about them.) Amusingly, Nate Morgan is seemingly involved in the combat, which is likely a result of Penders not caring what Bollers was up to at the time.

Simplifying the personalities of the cast for an audience outside the usual book doesn’t mess with things too much. Sonic and Knuckles pepper their speech with more catch phrases then usual but everyone is more-or-less in character. Except for the villains. In the story, Dimitri threatens to use a Master Emerald-powered cannon to robotocize the Great Forest. This is unusual for a villain who has mostly been concerned with conquering the Floating Island and inflicting revenge on his enemies. And what is the original Robotnik doing in this story, considering he died in issue 50? Turns out this Dr. Robotnik is a robotic double. Where did it come from? You probably already guessed that no answer is provided, either in these pages or outside the comic.

Sonic Super Special #12 has two stories, both loosely linked by the concept of different personalities inhabiting our established cast. In “Zone Wars: Giant Robotno,” Sonic gets another visit from Zonic the Zone-Cop. Initially apathetic, the Zone Cop talks the hedgehog into tagging along on another adventure. He’s taken to an alternate Mobius were giant, monstrous versions of the Freedom Fighters attack a peaceful Overlander city. Sonic leaps into a giant robot designed by a benevolent version of Robotnik, searching for a fuel source for Kintobor’s robotic protectors. This puts Sonic in the path of grotesque versions of his friends, forcing him to fight.

If you hadn’t guessed already, “Giant Robotno” is another Dan Slott joint, the sometimes writer returning to his beloved “Zone Wars” concept. (Slott plotted out the story with Karl Bollers doing the actual writing.) Like Slott’s previous stories, this one is full of weeaboo pop culture references. The story begins with Sonic encountering versions of Sally and his friends from a universe patterned after anime series “Gatchaman.” Amusingly, Sonic is totally disinterested in this event, the action playing out in the background while he talks with Zonic in the foreground.

Once Sonic is guilted into leaping dimensions, “Giant Robotno” reveals itself as a pastiche of kaiju movies and giant robot animes. We get to see a mash-up of Bunnie and Godzilla. The Tails kaiju, meanwhile, features Devilman’s bat-wing ears. The plot also resembles (and obviously predates) “Pacific Rim” and any number of Japanese shows about giant robots fighting giant monsters.

A combination of Sonic and a kaiju movie probably sounds like a terrible idea but “Giant Robotno” is surprisingly willing to play the premise for horror. The giant, mutated versions of the Mobians are visually unnerving. The Bunnie/Godzilla combo has a disturbingly scaly tail and scutes growing from her back. A giant monster version of Uncle Chuck, frozen in place, looms over the city, his face locked in a scream. We see, in flashback, versions of the Chaotix mutated into deformed monstrosity by Chaos Emerald radiation, their bodies twisting against their wills. Seeing our beloved Freedom Fighters transformed into ugly giants is an unexpected sight, at the very least. Knuckles’ dreadlocks have become tentacles. Amy gets hideous vampire fangs. Rotor and Sally are freakishly buff. It’s not exactly Junji Ito but is still surprisingly twisted stuff for a “Sonic” comic book.

The anime references and zone hopping are obviously the work of Slott. However, “Giant Robotno” also has an interesting emotional component, which I’m willing to credit Bollers for. While piloting the Eggman resembling machine, Sonic lands down on the island populated by the kaijuized Freedom Fighters. Sonic finds the sight of his friends, mutated not-quite-beyond recognition, very disturbing. Moreover, he’s forced to beat them into submission, which also upsets him. The emotional turmoil reaches its peak when Sonic is forced to fight a giant, monstrous version of his father, a Chaos Emerald embedded in its chest. During the fight, he accidentally yanks the emerald from Monster Jules’ chest, killing him. This, understandably, upsets the hedgehog. He exits the alternate dimensions not feeling like a hero but greatly unnerved by the experience. Bollers stays on just the right side of emotionally overwrought, managing to find some actual heart in an outwardly ridiculous story.

James Fry provides the pencils for “Turnabout Heroes.” Fry’s work is solid, with Sonic and friends looking on-model, bright and colorful. Robotnik and Dimitri, meanwhile, look slightly off. Nelson Ribeiro does the artwork for “Giant Robotno.” It takes some time to adapt to Ribeiro’s work, which is a little more exaggerated then regular Archie artwork. However, once it wins you over, Ribeiro’s pencils prove effective for this story.

Sonic Super Special issue 12 is an odd collection of stories. “Turnabout Hereos” is a decently entertaining if unremarkable tale. “Giant Robotno” is a very odd scenario but the creative crew manages to make it work, somehow. I’d like to say that the two stories combine to make this one of the weirdest Sonic books but this comic got fucking weird at times, so who knows. We now return to your corporate mandated video game adaptation, already in progress…[7/10]

Sonic Super Special: Issue 8 – Sally Moon

Sonic Super Special: Issue 8 – Sally Moon
Publication Date: January 1999

When Archie started publishing special issues of “Sonic,” the extra-long format usually served one of two purposes. Either a story too long for a regular issue would be contained with-in or a crap ton of smaller stories would be jammed inside. It’s been a while since we’ve had a Sonic Super Special of the latter variety. Issue 6 and 7 were all devoted to a single story. The eighth Sonic Super Special, otherwise known as the infamous “Sally Moon” issue, jams four issues of wildly divergent quality, most of them bad.

The book begins with “Zone Wars: Prelude.” One day, Sonic is minding his own business when a cross-dressing version of Robotnik from another dimensions shows up and starts shooting damn laser beams at him. Sonic is baffled and that bafflement grows when Sally Moon, Chibi Rose, and Tuxedo Knux shows up. Zonic the Zone-Cop, an inter-dimensional police officer, appears, cleans this mess up, and explains just what the hell happened.

Ridiculous pop culture parody was common in the early days of the book’s life. This is, after all, the comic book that brought us Spawnmower and the Termite-nator. Pretty much all of Issue 19 was about smashing Sonic together with other pop culture characters. We haven’t seen goofiness like this in a while. It’s been long enough that the sudden appearance of Sally Moon comes as a pleasant surprise. Yeah, the version of our favorite Princess as the short-skirted anime heroine doesn’t do very much. She gets blasted by the alternate Robotnik before Tuxedo Knux downs the villain with a rose. Still, I’ll admit to having an affinity to this vein of silliness.

There’s something genuinely good about “Zone Wars: Prelude.” Writer Dan Slott does something straight forward and simple. Zonic, a wall-walking super-cop who polices alternate realities, explains some shit to Sonic. Basically, every time our hedgehog hero crossed over into another zone or through a portal, it was the work of Zonic. That… Makes an astonishing amount of sense. Later writers would get lots of praise for welding together different arcs like that. Slott, meanwhile, doesn’t get any credit for doing the same thing long before. Sadly, “Zone Wars: Prelude” doesn’t do much more than set up these elements. Yet the effort is appreciated. Jim Fry’s artwork is slightly off-model but not distractedly bad.

The second story, “Running on Empty,” begins with Sonic telling Amy Rose a story of the early days of the Robotnik War. In it, Sonic runs to the cries of Princess Sally. This was a trap, a hologram created by Snively. During the faux-rescue, Sonic is zapped with a ray. The device gives him even faster speed… Which has the side effect of making him age the faster he runs. As Sonic gets older, Rotor and Sally sneak into Robotropolis to find a cure.

“Running on Empty” has got its problems. Nelson Reibeiro’s artwork is frequently wildly off-model. His Sonic often bends in uncomfortable angles while his Snively looks weirdly buff. A bit too much of the story focuses on Rosie’s apple pie recipe, weirdly. The worst part is that Roger Brown writes Sally less as a girl of action and more like a weak-willed princess who cries a lot.

For its many flaws, “Running on Empty” still has a decent amount of heart. Sonic’s life is at risk here and his friend’s drive to save him shows how much they care. When Tails, Sally, and Rotor are surrounded by SWATBots, Tails refuses to leave his friends’ side. Naturally, the damage is undone by the end. Still, it’s not a bad adventure story.

Any good will Sonic Super Special Issue 8 builds up in the first half collapses in the second. “Den of Thieves” is a Monkey Khan solo story. This allows Frank Strom to discard the Sonic characters entirely and focus on his crappy self-insert original creations. Anyway, some stupid bat ninjas have been stealing gold from some hideously deformed puppy creatures. Monkey Khan appears and beats them up. Khan teams up with the ugly puppy creatures and follows the bats back to their lair. There, he beats up a robot dragon and retrieves the gold. The end. Who gives a shit.

Fans sure as fuck weren’t demanding Monkey Khan solo stories, I’m relatively certain of that. Frank Strom’s artwork remains bloated and disproportionate. Seriously, what the fuck are with the ears on Monkey Khan’s sidekicks? The artwork is flat as hell too, as the action is stiff, looking like paper cut-outs. The story is total bullocks. Monkey Khan remains obnoxiously perfect and nobody else is of interest. I have no idea why Archie kept inviting Strom back to work on the book. His devotion to Monkey Khan, and the character’s corresponding lameness, makes Penders’ echidna fetish seem restrained and controlled in comparison.

As shitty as “Den of Thieves” is, the next story is even worst. “Ghost Busted” is adapted from one of the goofier season two episodes of “SatAM.” For those who don’t remember the cartoon, Sonic, Tails, and Antoine go out camping where the hedgehog tells Tails a spooky ghost story. Later, Tails awakens to see a strange creature… Which is just Antoine covered in some glowing leaves.

I don’t know why Archie felt the need to adapt a random, not especially well regarded episode of “SatAM,” especially in such a short, mangled form. And I mean “mangled.” “Ghost Busted” features some insanely terrible art. The back-up is the sole pencil work of inker Jay Oliveras. Oliveras’ work brings to mind the infamous “Many Hands,” as its grossly off-model, amateurishly proportioned, hastily sketched, and garishly colored. Thankfully, the story only runs a brief eight pages. Presumably, “Ghost Busted” exists in the first place because Archie needed to fill eight pages. It’s just shitty, you guys.

The eighth Sonic Super Special is not the quarterly series’ finest hour. The cover story does some mildly clever arc welding and features some good-natured goofiness. The second story has its problem but at least has some sort of point. Both of the latter two stories are totally worthless. Dems da brakes. [6/10]

Sonic Super Special: Issue 5 - Sonic Kids

Sonic Super Special: Issue 5 – Sonic Kids
Publication Date: April 1998

Readers who grew up in the late eighties or early nineties may remember “Muppet Babies.” Spun off from a sequence in “The Muppets Take Manhattan” which showed Jim Henson’s famous felt creatures as toddlers, the show was a big hit. Big enough that other studios tried to spin their own properties into “baby” versions. That’s how we got “Flintstone Kids,” “Tiny Toon Adventures,” “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo,” “Tom and Jerry Kids,” “Jungle Cubs,” and even “James Bond Jr.!” Archie Comics might have pioneered this kind of thing with “Little Archie,” which has been published in various forms since the sixties. Considering all of the above, maybe “Sonic Kids” was an inevitability. Despite the gimmicky concept, the two Sonic Super Specials devoted to this concept are actually fairly well regarded.

The first story, “When You and I Were Young, Sally,” was written by Mike Gallagher and illustrated by Manny Galan. As kids, Rosie raised the future Freedom Fighters in Knothole. Tails is feeling insecure about his lack of special abilities, especially when compared to Sonic’s super-speed. Sonic gives the young fox the idea to spin his tails like a helicopter, defying logic and sailing into the sky. Being new at this, Tails quickly looses control of his new abilities. The gang track him to a hollowed-out tree stump and the cave below. That’s right. This story is the secret origin of Tails’ flying ability, his nick-name, and the future location of Freedom HQ. Accordingly, it ends with Sally naming the group the Freedom Fighters and deciding to battle Robotnik’s regime.

The above description probably makes the story sound really trite and silly. It’s actually surprisingly good, though. The Freedom Fighters don’t act like the heroes they are now. Instead, they’re kids. Sonic shows off and brags. (So, you know, not too much has changed.) Though a pretty serious kid, Sally is still happy to play when Julayla gives her permission. Rotor uses big words, as if he’s trying to impress his friends with his big brain. There are also cute nods to future history. “Boomer” is revealed to be a childhood nickname of Rotor’s. Sally, in as diplomatic a fashion as possible, acknowledges that Antoine wouldn’t be useful for a while. Though an energetic kid, Sonic is still willing to help out his pal, by encouraging Tails. The story concluding with the discovery of the future Freedom HQ and the team taking a vow to fight tyranny is satisfying.

It’s cute but not syrupy. It sets up future events but isn’t overly self-referential. It’s fun without being goofy. In other words, it’s one of the best things Mike Gallagher has ever written for this series. Unlike his uneven work in issue 60, Manny Galan’s artwork is very good here. The “kid” designs look like younger versions of the character we’re used too. Their cuteness is not overly emphasized. Galan’s expressive faces also really help this story out, since it’s mostly about the kids reacting to the world in the hyped-up, exaggerated way kids do.

The second story continues the “kids” theme. The embarrassingly entitled “Stop… Sonic Time!” was written by Karl Bollers and drawn by Art Mawhinney. In the present day, Sonic regales a group of kids with the story of how Tails got his sneakers. The flashback starts on Tails’ birthday. Sonic rushes into Robotropolis and buys a specialized pair of sneakers from a shifty individual, who readers may recognize as Tails’ uncle Merlin. Around the same time, Robotnik deploys a new weapon, a beam that can freeze time. He targets a random patch of the Great Forest, sending in soldiers to capture the frozen denizens. Sonic, being out of town, avoided the weapon’s range. So it’s up to him to save the day.

“Stop… Sonic Time!” feels a lot like a left-over “SatAM” script. A time freezing ray definitely seems like something Robotnik would have cooked up on that show. The long-forgotten Cluck even puts in an appearance. Sonic’s role in the story as a smart-ass hero who uses his cunning as much as his speed to defeat the villain recalls his characterization on that show. Sonic’s strategy involves him pretending to be frozen, being brought into Robotnik’s HQ, yanking on the villain’s mustache and getting the SWATBots to blow up the bad guy’s own device. Aside from a few comic-exclusive concepts, such as Merlin Prower or Crabmeat as Robotnik’s number one toady, this easily feels like it could’ve aired on ABC back in the day.

Furthering this feeling is Art Mawhinney’s pencils. Whahinney, of course, started out as a storyboard artist for the cartoon and, even this far into the book’s existence, he maintained that connection. The young versions of the Freedom Fighters look especially adorable in Mawhinney’s already cartoon-like style. He even manages to make Tails’ feet not look monstrously weird! Having said that, Art occasionally goes a little off-model. His Crabmeat looks more like an actual crab than a robotic facsimile.

The last story in the book doesn’t feature younger versions of the main cast, though it continues the theme of “memory.” In “Total Re: Genesis,” Sonic, Sally, and Antoine have barely survived a confrontation with the last remaining ComBot, which suddenly activated. As Uncle Chuck asks for a report on what happened, each Freedom Fighter gives their recollection of the events that just transpired. Each character’s version varies wildly from the other. Finally, using Nicole’s previously unmentioned satellite hook-up, Uncle Chuck observes the objective version of the truth. In other words, this is the Sonic version of Akira Kurosawa’s classic “Rashomon,” a reference the readership for this book surely understood.

What’s really cool about “Total Re: Genesis” is that it gives us a peak into each of the character’s heads. In Sally’s version of events, she’s extra confident. While her teammates are knocked unconscious, she stays in the action, defeating the robot with her quick thinking and enduring toughness. Antoine’s version has him as a dashing hero, single-handedly taking down the robot with his swashbuckling skills. When Sonic recalls things, he’s portrayed as a pun-sweeping action hero. He effortlessly defeats the villain with his super abilities, cracking lame jokes all the while. The objective truth shows that each of these stories are slightly true and, ultimately, teamwork is what took the bad guy down. This is a nice way to show us that the characters truly do depend one each other. The individual memories give us a concise idea of everyone’s personality. It’s a fun read.

A defining gimmick for “Total Re: Genesis” is that each memory is drawn by a different artist. Newcomer Nelson Rebeiro handles the framing device. I wonder if Nelson Rebeiro and Nelson Ortega are actually the same person, as their styles are very similar. The artwork is moody and features heads and hands that are slightly exaggerated. Yet it’s also consistent, with a good sense of motion. Sally’s flashback is drawn by Art Mawhinney. Mawhinney’s work is typically excellent though, it must be said, his ComBot looks a little blocky and uninspired.

Sam Maxwell draws Antoine’s flashback. Maxwell is an acquired taste, as his work is extremely expressionistic, frequently approaching action scenes from off-beat angles. I’m on record as being a fan and his work here is pretty great. I especially like his use of shadows, which emphasizes how melodramatic Antoine’s recollection is. Sonic’s flashback is drawn by John Herbert, last seen in issue 54 and credited as John Hebert here. Herbert’s action is a little stiff and his Sonic looks a little goofy. Yet his detailed ComBot is awfully creepy. Rebeiro returns for the epilogue, drawing most of it as a hyper-contrasted “hologram.” Though undeniably a gimmick, I like the different artists approach and it helps bolster a fun story.

“Sonic Kids” might be the best of the Sonic Super Specials thus far. It doesn’t have the plot holes or overdone writting of “Battle Royal” and “Return of the King.” While there’s nothing here matching the emotion of “Brave New World,” the artwork is much, much better. In other words, Archie managed to turn a potentially awful idea into a pretty solid comic book! Cherish moments like this because they didn’t happen very often. [8/10]