Sonic & Knuckles

 
Sonic & Knuckles
Publication Date: May 1995

Knuckles has been such an essential part of the Sonic cast for so long that it’s hard to remember a time when he wasn’t a part of it at all. The Sonic cast was still fairly small at the time. In the years since his first appearance, Sega has increasingly characterized Knuckles as dumb muscle, a strong doofus. This was not how it was originally. Though gullible, Knuckles was originally the mysterious bad-ass of the Sonic-verse, a character with an unexplored back story with links to ancient, mysterious legends. He was tougher then Sonic, more willing to strike first and ask questions later. His allegiances were initially ambiguous. Though he would soon be established as a good guy, his morals were obviously different then Sonic. This made Knuckles a big deal. (Shadow has largely usurp Knuckles’ role as the mysterious bad-ass of the series, which is probably why Knuckles has been recast as a dim-witted goofball.)

Despite that, Sega was slow to capitalize on his popularity. His developer, Takashi Yuda, never considered Knuckles anything but a supporting character. Though he got his own game in 1995, with “Knuckles’ Chaotix,” that was on the little-played Sega 32X system. It wouldn’t be until the “Sonic Adventure” days before Knuckles actually started to receive merchandising of his own. Fans wanted more Knuckles but Sega seemed reluctant to give it to them. Archie, on the other hand, understood fan demand. The 1995 one-shot “Sonic & Knuckles” was ostensibly made to promote the newest Genesis game, basically the second half of “Sonic 3.” In truth, the issue was designed to properly add Knuckles to the comic’s cast, develop his own mythology, and make him a major character that would eventually headline his own series.

The first of the annual’s three stories is “Panic in the Sky,” a very loose adaptation of the “Sonic & Knuckles” plot. Aside from some scenes in the Mushroom Hill Zone, an appearance by that lumberjack robot, and a brief sequence in a lava-filled area that we can assume is the Lava Reef Zone, the comic doesn’t resemble the game much. Instead, the plot concerns itself with the Floating Island flying wildly off-course. The Island is floating in-land, towards Knothole Village. Concerned, Sally sends Sonic and Tails to investigate. They discover Knuckles, who is still antagonistic to them, and an island fortified with automatic turrets and robot traps. Yep, Robotnik has taken over the Floating Island, utilizing it in his latest scheme to crush the Freedom Fighters.

“Panic in the Sky!” has a few plot hole issues. Robotnik’s idea depends entirely on him knowing where Knothole Village is. This runs counter to most every other Sonic comic Archie would publish in the near-future, where locating Knothole Village was Robotnik’s central objective. Knuckles and Sonic still being at odds, despite their previous team-up in “Sonic #13,” seems like an obvious excuse to get them to fight. Penders and Kanterovich really pull the conclusion to this one out of their ass. Knuckles smashes the Chaos Emerald that keeps the island afloat, forcing Robotnik to flee suddenly. Knux then immediately reveals that he smashed a duplicate, prepared for scenarios just like this. After seeing the Floating Island resume floating in his rear-view mirror, don’t you think Robotnik would have flown back and continued his plan? Truthfully, “Panic in the Sky!” is not Ken Penders at his strongest, as the story is fairly heavy on exposition and awkward dialogue. Such as a two page spread where Sonic talks exclusively in puns for no reason.

 
Despite its problem, I still like this story. Incorporating some of the “Sonic & Knuckles” elements makes the Floating Island seem like an even stranger, more mysterious location. Yes, Sonic and Knuckles fighting before teaming up to take down Robotnik is a plot we’ve seen before. However, there’s always something a little satisfying about it. If this story is meant to develop Knuckles more then anything else, it shows him as a flawed hero, someone who is brass and temperamental but also resourceful and quick-witted. Another thing worth liking about the story is Art Mawhinney’s once-again excellent artwork. The story begins with a gorgeous two-pager of the Floating Island looming over a happy Mobian beach. Dave Manak takes over in the second half and, though Dave does better then usual with the action, it’s still a noticeable drop in art quality.

This being a double-stuffed annual, “Sonic & Knuckles” features two further stories. Showing that this book truly was written to capitalize on Knuckles’ growing popularity, both are devoted exclusively to the echidna. “Fire Drill” was both written and drawn by Penders. It would lay the foundation of the mythology he would soon build around the character, for better or worst. In it, Knuckles pursues an unseen intruder on the island, stumbling into a series of different traps, surviving each by the skin of his teeth.

If there’s anything the internet has criticized more then Penders’ writing, it’s his artwork. And, yeah, over the years he would contribute some awful illustrations to this series. However, “Fire Drill” looks okay. The backgrounds are flat and simplistic. A scene of Knuckles exploring a temple features some odd-shaped buttons on the wall. However, Knuckles never goes wildly off-model like he would in later stories and there’s a generally okay flow of action here. Plot-wise, there’s not much to “Fire Drill.” It mostly exists to exert the Floating island’s mysteriousness again and show that someone is watching over Knuckles. Knuckles spends the entire story talking to himself. On one hand, this is probably because he spends a lot of time alone. On the other hand, it inflicts a lot of awkward Penders’ dialogue on the reading. The story is middling work but nothing bad.

“Lord of the Floating Island” is another Penders’ joint focused on establishing a part of the echidna’s personality. This story focuses on his role as the Floating Island’s protector. In it, a solar eclipse causes some strong winds to blow through the Island. Knuckles rescues a lost kangaroo joey, avoids a stampede of dingos, and returns the kid to his mom. That’s it.

Since the Floating Island has always been portrayed as desolate, it’s weird to see other character occupying it. It’s also weird to read Knuckles referring to dingoes as “harmless,” as later issues would establish echidnas and dingoes are eternal enemies. The kangaroo kid is slightly annoying and his mom’s sudden appearance at the end is anti-climatic. Hearing Knuckles proclaim himself protector of the island makes him sound egotistical. The story also features Harvey Mercadoocasio, who usually works as an inker, contributing some seriously awkward pencils. There’s no motion to Mercadoocasio’s work and the characters are slightly squishy, always on the verge of going off-model.

In short, none of “Sonic & Knuckles” is mind-blowing work. The lead story is fun, if unimpressive. And the back-ups are varying degrees of just-okay. Still, as a young kid eager to learn more about this Knuckles guy, I really appreciated this special. It was one I thumbed through constantly when I was young. For nostalgia reasons alone, I’ve got to bump this up from a [6/10] to a [7/10.]