Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 6

 

 

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 6
Publication Date: October 1993

Throughout the history of Archie’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” comic, occasionally Mother Sega has called on the company to publish a story promoting whatever the new video game may be. In the early years of the series, when the stories were non-serialized and mostly self-contained in nature, this wasn’t much of a problem. As the comic developed on-going plots and its own convoluted mythology, sometimes the video game tie-ins would drop in the middle of a story line, interrupting its pacing and flow. However you feel about the game tie-ins, the very first one technically occurred here. Right on the cover, Issue 6 declares itself an advertisement for “Sonic Spinball.”

Despite getting the cover, the version of “Sonic Spinball” that appears here is heavily abbreviated. The game is a nostalgic favorite of mine, as its colorful levels and inventive control gimmicks kept me coming back despite the sometimes steep difficulty. In the comic, Sonic and gang march on Robotnik’s lair only to discover that he’s instead shacked up inside a hollow volcano, dubbing it the Veg-o-Fortress for some reason. For some other reason, the base has been outfitted with pinball-style rails, flippers, and bumpers. Sonic quickly rushes through the four levels, encountering a handful of the games’ enemies and giving us a vague idea of what each stage is like. Then he leaves, the volcano erupting for ill-defined reasons.

This first story is barely a “story.” It really exists only to advertise Sega’s new game. It doesn’t even do that good of a job of it. We meet Rexxon and Scorpius, the main enemy and boss of the first level, briefly encounter some characters and themes from the next two levels, and the final stage is skipped over entirely. Aside from a few random ass appearances from Hip and Hop and Scorpius way down the line, this story would never be referenced again. Robotnik nor Sonic achieve nothing here. It’s weak stuff.

The first story is bad and largely pointless. The second story is content with merely being bad. Even though the Mobius Encyclopaedia tells me this issue was published in October, otherwise known as the Halloween season, the entire second half of the book is devoted to Christmas. An especially dire adaptation of Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol,” at that. Robotnik is recast as Scrooge, Rotor as Bob Cracket, the rest of the Freedom Fighters as Crachit’s starving family, with Sonic occupying the roles of the three ghosts. The comic fusion of the then-current Sonic style with Dicken’s tale is awkward, to say the least. The novel’s moral lesson is ejected entirely, as Robotnik learns nothing from his visions of the past, present, and future. That could’ve been a funny subversion but the book barely has time to acknowledge this. Mostly, it’s an excuse for more lame slapstick, like teenage Robotnik falling face-first in some porridge or Sonic delivering an exploding turkey bomb. And in the end, it’s all a dream. It’s over quicker then “Sonic’s Christmas Blast,” which I guess is something.

The best story in this issue is a one-page gag comic in which Sonic receives an enthusiastic fan letter about Antoine. This one-pager continues to show Sonic acting like kind of a dick towards Antoine for next to no reason. The letter refers to the coyote as “brave and loyal,” which annoys Sonic. Ironically, later in the series, Antoine actually would be characterized as brave and loyal.

The story also introduces Snivley, Robotnik’s much-loved lackey from “SatAM.” He plays the Jacob Marley stand-in during the Christmas Carol riff and, unfortunately, wouldn’t become a reoccurring character in the comics for a few more issues. Michael Gallagher and Angelo DeCesare at least remember that Bunnie exists this time, even if she only appears in a handful of panels, doing nothing.

Archie’s “Sonic” series is still highly disposable at this point. No issue, thus far, is more disposable then this one. Issue six fails at telling a good story, advertising “Sonic Spinball,” or putting on a funny or interesting variation of “A Christmas Carol.” Bah humbug indeed. Merry Christmas, assholes. [3/10]