Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 19

 
Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 19
Publication Date: November 1994

Issue 19 of Archie’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” series was one I wondered about for a long time before I ever actually read it. You see, back in the day, I didn’t have a subscription. I had to depend on local bookstores or friends at my near-by comic shop to provide me with the issues. Usually, I did fine by this method. Occasionally, I would miss one. Issue 19 was one such issue. I saw the preview in Issue 18 and the “In Your Face” special and was intrigued by the cover. A whole issue of different Sonics from different alternate universes? Wow! Eventually, I saved enough money direct order this one and a few other back-issues I missed. The issue didn’t exactly live up to my expectations but it’s still not all that bad.

Sonic and friends’ journey through a pale green field is interrupted when a giant portal opens up in the sky. A half-cybernetic Sonic from an alternate dimension falls through. This Terminator-esque Sonic explains that, in his universe, Robotnik robotocized the Freedom Fighters. This only made them super-strong cyborg. So the dictator robotocized himself, crushing the resistance. Thus, the Cyborg-Sonic fled across the multi-verse looking for other Sonics to team up with. Sonic Prime does exactly this, gathering an army of alternate Sonics. Robo-Robotnik deceives the group, tricking them into grabbing the last piece he needs for his super-weapon.

“Night of 1,000 Sonics” is a silly Sonic story that thinks it’s a serious Sonic story. It revisited the multi-verse concept Penders spat out in Issue 11. I’ll admit, I’ve always liked the Anti-Mobius crew and, under the pen of Ian Flynn, they would become a truly interesting collection of characters. “Night of 1,000 Sonics” is wackier then that and not as focused. Mostly, the first half of the story is devoted to introducing an army of bizarre and goofy Sonic variants. After Robo-Robotnik springs into action, the hedgehogs and Robotnik Prime form an uncertain truce. Robotnik’s thought is that no one – not even an alternate universe version of himself – is allowed to conquer the universe but him. Sadly, the story doesn’t do much with this idea. You’d expect Robotnik to betray the collection of Sonics. Though this is hinted at, it never happens. By the second half of the story, the entire truce idea is forgotten.

That said, the second half of the story is more compelling. First off, Art Mawhinney’s sturdy work takes over for Dave Manak’s shakier art. Secondly, the latter half is more action-oriented. The Sonics travel to the Neutral Zone, a part of the multi-verse that is in black-and-white. Anti-Sonic shows up, leading to another scuffle. Finally, Robo-Robotnik completes the Giant Borg. Despite being the ultimate weapon, the Giant Borg is also easily defeated whenever it would appear. Here, all of the numerous Sonics pool their resources, destroying the machine with one giant spin dash. Silly, simplistic, and not very dramatically sound, but sort of fun anyway.

Issue 19 also seems unusually obsessed with reader-interaction gimmicks. Four goddamn times, the fourth wall is broken and the reader is call upon to perform silly task. First, we’re asked to pick out how many different Sonics there are in a crowd scene. When the armies of SWATBots and Shadow Bots cancel each other out, we’re asked to cut out and glue the severed pieces together in fun and new combinations. During the black and white section, we’re asked to color the pages. Finally, when the Giant Borg is defeated, we’re asked to find a bunch of random items in the chaos, Look-N-Find style. Did the comic ever seriously expect anyone to do this? I mean, even when you’re primarily readership is kids, surely even they weren’t expected to cut up their comics? Archie in the nineties was weird.

Anyway, this is a dumb but still kind of fun issue. [6/10]