Knuckles' Chaotix

 
Knuckles’ Chaotix
Publication Date: November 1995

Of all of Sega’s poorly received game systems – which included such best sellers as the Nomad and the Pico – none were more ill conceived then the 32X. The second add-on for the Genesis, visually it resembled a tumor growing out of the top of the system. The console was hampered by the Genesis’ own ailing life-span, mechanical problems, cumbersome hardware, and a meager gallery of games. Of course, the 32X wouldn’t have been a proper Sega system without a Sonic game! And it got one, kind of. “Knuckles’ Chaotix” was an odd-ball spin-off starring Knuckles with a peculiar control gimmick salvaged from a scrapped game called “Sonic Crackers.” Though mostly ignored upon release, the game has developed something of a following among Sonic dorks. Like many of the Sonic games released during this time, Archie would loosely adapt it as a 48-page special. The comic’s legacy is more obvious, as it added many important characters to Knuckles’ supporting cast.

The video game involves an island-spanning amusement park called Carnival Island and new MacGuffins called Power Emeralds. The comic simplifies this slightly. The setting is now Happy Land, an amusement park that has sprung up on the Floating Island and the Power Emeralds are now Robotnik’s attempts to replicate the Chaos Emeralds. Aside from the new characters, Metal Sonic’s appearance, and a brief cameo from the power ring rubber band thing, the book ejects everything else. Anyway, the plot: Sonic and the Freedom Fighters are invited to Happy Land, much to Knuckles’ consternation. Naturally, it’s a trap. Teaming up with shyster Renfield T. Rodent, Robotnik traps the Freedom Fighters inside the Hall of Mirrors and strips Knuckles of his powers. The echidna has to team up with a new group of heroes to stop the villain and rescues the good guys.

“The Chaos Effect” is a straight-forward thumping action story. It quickly establishes its conflict, introduces the new characters and their abilities, and barrels towards the action. The carnival setting is fun, though could’ve been utilized more. Only the Hall of Mirrors gets any real page time. Wouldn’t an action scene set on a roller coaster or the Ferris Wheel had been fun? For once, sidelining the other established characters in favor of Knuckles’ makes sense. His name is above the title, so Sonic and friends getting trapped early on is okay. Renfield T. Rodent (who sounds like Warren T. Rat from “An American Tail” in my brain) is a fairly silly villain though compelling in his greasiness. He’s more like a sleazy, crooked businessman than a traditional supervillain, which makes for a nice contrast with Robotnik. Speaking of which, Robotnik’s plan in this is awfully flawed. Trapping the Freedom Fighters but leaving Knuckles running around shows the fat man carrying the Idiot Ball. Even without his knuckles spikes or gliding abilities, Knuckles is obviously still a threat to his plan. Moreover, the Power Emeralds can apparently do anything the plot requires, from powering the amusement park to allowing Knuckles to grow to giant size.

More then any of this, “The Chaos Effect” is focused on introducing the Chaotix. It does so quickly and succinctly over four pages in the middle of the book. Charmy the Bee (who sounds like the Honey Nut Cherrios Bee in my brain) is introduced buzzing around, in an perpetually up-beat mood. Espio is introduced blending in with a tree before dropping some punny dialogue, branding him as both mysterious and somewhat street-smart. Vector, already previous seen in the Triple Trouble book, hips and hops into the scene. Mighty the Armadillo busts through a wall with his super-strength while acting all laid back about it, revealing him as obviously the best member of the team in its current incarnation. Only robots Heavy (who sounds like Baymax in my brain) and Bomb get the short end of the characterization stick. Heavy mostly spouts exposition while Bomb just clicks and grins. Still, as far as a story with only so many pages to do everything, it gets the job done.

The plot and cast set up, the story runs head-long into the action. Robotnik grabs Metal Sonic out of cold storage and sics ‘em on the heroes. Despite knowing each other for all of five minutes, the Chaotix are already functioning as a team. The story does a good job of high-lighting each of the team member’s abilities. Charmy flies to get Metal Sonic’s attention, Espio disappears as a decoy, Mighty punches him through two goddamn buildings, Bomb blows the fuck up, and Vector… stands on the other end of the rubber band? The conclusion is just fun in its comic-book-y silliness, with Metal Sonic transforming into his intimidating super-form, Titan Metal Sonic. Amusingly, Knuckles gets a super-size power boosts immediately afterwards and dismantles the robot in seconds. It’s not high art – even Art Mawhinney’s otherwise excellent pencil falter a few times, as he’s obviously not use to drawing Knuckles – but it’s an entertaining story.

I wish the two back-up stories provided a little more meat to chew on. “Tag! You’re It!” is about the Chaotix playing an aggressive game of Tag. All the story really does is establish their personalities a little more, which is nice. It also teases the Archemedes character once again, Penders’ continuing to spin his wheels until he can get the Knuckles solo series up and running. Harvey Mercadoocasio’s artwork is angular and harsh but he shows a better grasp on these characters then he did the last time he drew a “Sonic” book.

Sadly, “Knuckles’ Chaotix” wraps up with a real stinker of a story. “The Hunt is On!” was both drawn and written by Ken Penders. The plot is a big nothing. The Chaotix wander across the island, each stumbling into a new lame trap. There’s a hole in the ground that Vector falls into, flying blue balls knock Charmy out, a badly design robot tangles with Mighty, and Espio is abducted by someone off-panel. Then the story ends with another teasing of Knuckles’ wider-ranging mythology. This one really shows off Penders’ limitations as an artist. The characters are so flat. When Charmy is knocked out, it looks like he becomes a cardboard cut-out. Mighty’s fight with the hideously designed random robot ends with both of them lying on the ground in very awkward positions. “Knuckles’ Chaotix” is a fun book overall but “The Hunt is On!” is just a lame, lame story.

Still, that cover story is lots of fun and the first back-up isn’t terrible. The video game this special promoted would slip into obscurity but the characters it introduces would become Knuckles’ best friends and primary supporting cast. It’s a significant contribution to the “Sonic” universe for those reasons. [7/10]