Sonic the Hedgehog: In Your Face

 Sonic the Hedgehog: In Your Face
Publication Date: October 1994

I may be remembering things wrong. From the beginning, I’ve been saying that Issues 17 and 18 were my first “Sonic the Hedgehog” comic. Thumbing through “Sonic the Hedgehog: In Your Face,” huge waves of nostalgia washed over me. Maybe this one-shot special was actually my first “Sonic” comic? If it wasn’t the first, it was a very early issue for me. The bizarrely named “In Your Face” – the title doesn’t reflect anything in the story other then the hedgehog hero’s general ‘tude – was the first 48-page “special.” Archie would publish these on a roughly quarterly basis for about two years until the tradition was folded into the “Sonic Super Special” series. Most comic companies publish quarterly double-length issues of their biggest characters without much fanfare. Archie, however, always made these one-shots feel like events. They were Giant Sized 48 Paged Collector’s Editions, you guys! Today, I recognize this as the savvy, cheesy gimmick it is. As a kid, it totally got me. I treasured the one-shots more then the regular issues. They were specials and I treated them as such.

Despite Sonic getting top-billing, “In Your Face” actually begins with a story primarily revolving around Sally. “The Quest” concludes the Sally-centric backstories Penders had been sneaking into the main Sonic comics for a while. Despite sparring with Sonic in slightly Jason Voorhees-esque protective gear, Sally is distracted. Julayla’s recent passing and the mysterious orb that fell from the sky still weigh heavily on her mind. Julayla willed Sally all of her possessions, which include the Princess’ trademark blue vest and a mysterious treasure map. Later that night, Sally is awoken by the orb. Inside is a handheld computer that calls itself Nicole. Julayla’s map leads the Freedom Fighters on a journey into the Forbidden Zone, a perilous piece of Mobian land filled with monsters.

After the two very good shorts that proceeded, “The Quest” is a little bit of a disappointment. It does finally bring Nicole, the last major SatAM cast member yet to be added, into the comics. The early scene of Sally going over Julayla’s possessions is touching, if slightly hampered by typically stiff Penders’ dialogue. Once the titular quest gets going, the story looks like it’s evolving into a bad-ass team on a mission tale. However, Bunnie, Antoine, and Tails mostly just stand back while Sonic and Sally trash SWATBots. Bunnie and Antoine actually do nothing throughout this story. You’d think Bunnie’s super-strength and Antoine’s swordsmanship would come in handy.

 
The encounters with the three monsters are all slightly anticlimactic. The giant purple Cyclops (which Sonic refers to as a “one-eyed monster” without a hint of irony) is defeated by standing still. The only time Tails makes himself useful is when he pulls a sword from a stone. This, for barely defined reasons, causes the Griffin to fall down dead. The two-headed dragon is defeated with some circular logic puzzle on Sally’s behalf. And what’s the secret treasure Julayla hid within a cave full of monsters, for some reason? A piece of paper saying “To Thine Self Be True.” Seems like a lot of effort for that. Because it’s not done defusing tension any, “The Quest” ends with a flash-forward to the distant future where Sally and Sonic have married, had kids, defeated Robotnik, rescued King Acorn, and restored peace to the land. This revelation not only spoils some suspense but it also provides a convoluted origin for Nicole. You see, Nicole was actually invented in the future and sent into the past. This is a fact that would be largely forgotten over the years. (About the only thing I like about the Post-252 rebooted universe is Flynn simply making Nicole the invention of a present-day scientist. That’s way more simple.)

It’s a bummer “The Quest” is a bit of a dud. Art Mawhinney’s artwork is, once again, excellent. The more of his stuff I see, the more I realize how much his pencils defined how Sonic and his cast look in my mind. Unfortunately, the story really lacks a sense of forward movement. It seems to exist to build up the mythology Penders was only starting to build and boost Sally’s character, despite her not really needing it. A story about Sonic and friends fighting a bunch of monsters really should’ve been a lot better.

The second story, “The Mirror Zone,” isn’t worth discussing much if not for one thing. The story only takes up two pages. Sonic and Tails chase a SWATBot into a parallel dimension – Mobius is crawling with parallel dimensions – where everything is backwards. Basically, the two-pager is another silly attempt to get fans involved. You’re supposed to read the pages in front of a mirror. What makes this one notable is the artist. Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante contributes the pencils. Spaz would soon move on to doing cover art for the series, which he would do for years. His highly stylized character work, incredibly dynamic action sequences, and anime-esque energy would also largely define the look and feel of the series.

The final story is a silly if fun short revolving Tails. (Archie pushed Sally and Tails very hard in the early years of the comic. Both characters would headline their own mini-series within the next year.) Tails is invited to a local convention for Sonic fans, full of nerds arguing about shit. While wildly exaggerating an encounter he had with a frog, Robotnik attacks the con, incensed that there’s an entire convention devoted to his enemy. Tails has to leap into action, outsmart the villain and save the innocence.

Though it’s unlikely, “Tails’ Tallest Tale” is maybe my favorite story out of this one-shot. Scott Shaw’s artwork has been sorely missed. It’s cartoony and exaggerated without being rough and jagged, like Dave Manak’s stuff. The plot is silly without being ridiculous and actually functions as a fairly cute little adventure. It also allows some more character development for Tails. His budding genius is shown in the way he outsmarts Robotnik. The convention location also allows for some good-natured jabs at comic fandom. I even like Posey Possum, the earliest love interest the comic would introduce for Tails. Disappointingly, she would never be seen again, not even as an in-joke. It’s a fun little story and shows how much better the comic has already gotten at balancing goof-ball comedy and more serious issues.

I wouldn’t normally comment on this but, in the SonicGrams, someone sent in a new character. Like most fan-created Sonic character, it’s an awful idea. Trigger is gimmicky, being a pirate, and obviously grimdark, wielding a gun and being a crack shot. (At least he’s not a brightly colored hedgehog.) I suspect the character was based off the writer’s dog. Instead of ignoring this like they would most fan ideas, Archie saw fit to draw a little illustration of Trigger. Weird. Let’s see Flynn fit in a reference to that one!

As for "In Your Face," the art work is nice but only one of the three stories contained within are very exciting. [6.5/10]