Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles

Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles
Publication Date: February 1996

This one was a big deal when I was a kid. Though still a relatively new addition to the “Sonic” universe, Knuckles had already emerged as the hedgehog’s most prominent rival. He was a hero too, and well-established as one by this point. Yet Knuckles still had a certain grit to him, an edge, that Sonic lacked. Inevitably, the two would come into conflict. At this point, every single time Sonic and Knuckles met, they would fight. So what made another issue devoted to them fighting such a big deal? You don’t get it, man, these were their super forms! The fight had been elevated to a whole other level! There was also a certain novelty to seeing a character besides Sonic achieve a super transformation. Unlike the many other 48-page specials Archie would publish, “Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles” felt like an event. For Sonic-obsessed little nerd kids like me, it was an event.

The comic doesn’t waste too much time getting to that main event of a showdown either. Worried about the Floating Island’s stability, Knuckles hopes to retrieve a spare Chaos Emerald, should anything happen to the current one. After consulting a book of arcane knowledge, Knuckles suspects a link between Power Rings and Chaos Emeralds. He heads down to Robotropolis, to the mystical Ring Pool. The echidna’s loyalties still uncertain, Sonic is sent to investigate. The two immediately get into a fight. Their rumble unearths the entrance to a new Game Zone. Once inside the alternate world, Sonic and Knuckles quickly gather fifty rings and seven emeralds, both transforming into their super-forms. Now, the fight really gets ugly.

While reviewing the “Triple Trouble” special, I commented on how Sonic and Knuckles’ constant fights were getting tiresome. At this point, they should know the other was a good guy. However, “Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles” is built entirely around that fight. The book contextualizes the two heroes’ constant scuffles in a new milieu: It’s a game. They recognize each other as worthy opponents, each knowing the other can take the punishment. They like to fight because it allows them to be challenged and to show off. Thanks to Mike Gallagher’s script, Sonic and Knuckles drop puns frequently during their fist fight. There’s no risk of a battle to the death, since both characters are heroes. So instead, their conflict becomes a pair of super-powered boys rough-housing. It’s a competition, one where neither can come out on top but both enjoy the race. There’s so much macho posturing during the comic that Sonic and Knuckles start sounding more like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Duke in “Commando” then colorful video game mascots. (And like any good eighties action flick, eventually the guys’ one-liners start to seem less like pithy attempts to take down their opponent and more like romantic flirting.)

Like-wise, most of the book’s 48 pages are devoted to that fight. Gallagher seems to delight in thinking up new ways for the heroes to wail on each other. Knuckles punches through a piece of paper. Sonic rams the echidna with his figure 8 maneuver. Knuckles tosses the hedgehog into a tree before Sonic yanks the tree up by its roots and slams it on Knuckles. Once the two go Super Saiyan, the fight truly escalates in ridiculousness. Entire page spreads are devoted to the guys punching, slamming, and kicking each other. Knuckles tears stones out of the walls to smash Sonic in the face, while a two-page spread has Sonic yanking on the echidna’s dreadlocks. In their superforms, both are more-or-less invincible, making their fight seem even more like an overblown game.

It’s a lot of fun though. Art Mawhinney really gets to stretch his drawing muscles this time. His strength for action is right at the forefront. Since the book is double-length, it allows the artist to devote whole pages to dramatic action artwork. Considering half of the story is located in a psychedelic game zone, that also allows Mawhinney a chance to show off. The fight concludes when Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles take running tackles at each other, the force of the blow collapsing the pocket universe and tossing both back into reality. That’s how hard Sonic and Knuckles wail on each other this time: An entire alternate universe is torn apart by it.

Sonic and Knuckles’ fight doesn’t advance the plot much, even though it’s the reason we're here. By the end, a potential power source for Robotnik is destroyed, Knuckles gets the extra Chaos Emerald he wanted, and Sonic gets an active work-out. Everybody wins! The only true emotional beat the story has is the reveal that Sally and Knuckles know each other, that they met at some point in their childhoods. This makes Sonic jealous, furthering the two’s conflict. Knuckles would never emerge as a serious love interest for Princess Sally though. The jealousy Sonic feels over their friendship would truthfully only deepen the relationship he has with his Princess. It does here anyway, as the reveal leads to some pretty cute flirting between the hedgehog and the chipmunk.

Unlike most of the 48-page specials, “Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles” is only composed of two stories. The back-up story is “Fathers and Sons,” a Ken Penders written-and-drawn story. Unlike the needlessly drawn-out Archimedes saga playing out in the back pages of the “Sonic” book, “Fathers and Sons” actually moves the story forward. Knuckles’ father Locke is properly introduced, as we see Knuckles being trained by his dad in the ways of guardianship. Since Locke is teaching his son valuable lessons, Penders’ exposition-heavy dialogue actually makes sense. Knuckles reflecting on the events of his childhood also gives the story a slightly melancholy feeling. The recollection of his feelings after being abandoned by his dad adds some much-needed heart to this story. (Growing up alone on a peril-filled island might also explain why Knuckles is an asshole sometimes.) From a writing perspective, “Fathers and Sons” is actually pretty good, expanding the mythology while also expanding the characters without belaboring the points. Because there’s no action or dramatic posing in the story, Penders’ artwork doesn’t suffer that much either. It’s still pretty squishy in parts, and Locke’s goatee looks ridiculous, but it’s fairly passable.

So there you go. The cover story of “Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles” is a fun, fight-centric story that defiantly satisfies those that want to see Sonic and his most important rival beat the shit out of each other. It’s funny without being goofy and action-packed without loosing sight of the characters. The back-up story, meanwhile, finally shows Knuckles’ story growing. Add in some killer Art Mawhinney pencils and you’ve got a winner. [7/10]