Princess Sally (Mini-Series): Issue 1

 
Princess Sally (Mini-Series): Issue 1
Publication Date: February 1995

These days, Princess Sally is relegated to an obscure corner of the “Sonic” fandom, composed of devotees to the comics, folks still holding a candle for “SatAM,” and hardcore furries. Most people dismiss her in favor of the damnable Amy Rose, the inferior pre-fab Sonic love interest. That makes it hard to imagine a time when Sally was probably the fourth most important Sonic character. Though Amy Rose was introduced in America in 1993, the character wouldn’t truly go over for quite some time. For many years, Sally was the female lead of the Sonic franchise.

Sega was so determined to popularize Sally that they even commissioned Archie to launch a three issue mini-series about her. (This is according to Dan Drazen, the original grumpy old man of the Sonic fandom, anyway.) Ken Penders and Mike Kanterovich, who had already done a lot of work with the character, were selected as the writers. Their initial pitch involved Sally discovering an underground civilization of roboticized Mobians, led by her mother, Queen Alicia. This idea was scrapped, either by Sega or Archie, late enough in the game that promos in the magazine gave us a peak at the cover art designed for the original story. The final comic would go in a totally different direction.

“Deadliest of the Species” Part 1 begins with a short recap of the back-up story from “Sonic” Issue 20. Sally and Geoffrey St. John barely escape a SWATBot ambush, exploding the factory at the last minute. In the woods, the Princess regroups with her team of back-up Freedom Fighters. She reveals the plan to them: Robotropolis is protected by an on-ground defense system. The team’s objective is to knock out the three energy stations that provide power to the system. The first was destroyed in the opening scene. The team marches into the second, facing great danger.

I actually really like the first issue of “Princess Sally.” It’s a straight-forward action story with propulsive pacing that doesn’t pause for much else. We begin with action, with Sally and Geoffrey firing back at SWATBots. Quickly, the team is inside the second station, Sally tossing a grenade inside, decimating hordes of SWATBots. A pair of giant Orb-Bots (thankfully unrelated to Orbot) appear and merely take the team down. Quick thinking on Sally’s part destroys the first one while the other falls into a ravine, like a stupid asshole. The tone is so similar to an action movie, that the characters even drop cheesy one-liners like “SWATBots always going to pieces!” or “Looks like fall came a little bit early!” Those are pretty painful, though it’s better if you imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger saying them. Mostly, “Princess Sally” #1 is so focused on pushing its story ahead, that there’s not even much time for tortured Penders-iffic dialogue.

Another element the story accomplishes is successfully introducing a new batch of characters. Geoffrey St. John would remain a divisive figures among Sonic fans, with people calling him everything from annoying to a rapist. If he comes off as slightly sleazy, that’s because he was probably suppose to. In my head, anyway, he sounds a lot like Bond-era Sean Connery. He works well enough in this story. He makes for a decent foil for Sally, trading amusing battlefield banter with her. His antagonistic attitude with the other Freedom Fighters also works well. Though Geoffrey and Hamlin act like pricks to each other for little to no reason, these scenes help cast doubts on Geoffrey’s alliances. It makes him a slightly ambiguous character, one we’re not totally sure we can trust. It adds some complexity to what is otherwise a simple story.

(This issue doesn’t give much space to the other Freedom Fighters. Hamlin is hot-headed, Dylan seems young, Arlo and Penelope aren’t even that developed. But I like them anyway. They’re colorful and interesting and shows us that there’s more to the Freedom Fighters then what we’re used to seeing.)

That ambiguity is important. Half-way through the issue, Sally is suddenly wearing a purple vest, instead of her usual blue. This is a sign that something is amiss. The story ends with an atmospheric set of dialogue-free pages – more excellent work from Art Mawhinney – that shows something is definitely up with Sally and Geoffrey. What exactly is going on will be revealed in the rest of the mini-series. But it’s a good hook to take us out on, guaranteeing that readers will grab up the next issue.

Exciting action, a fun cast of characters, great artwork, and a story that doesn’t mess around combines to make “Deadliest of the Species” Part 1 an early Archie gem. The only reason it doesn’t get a nine is for only being the first part of the story and for how stupid that one Orb-Bot was. How does one miss a canyon right in front of them? Stupid robot. [8/10]