Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 62

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 62
Publication Date: June 1998

When I said Karl Bollers was the new head-writer of “Sonic” back in my review of issue 54, I might have been exaggerating. Ever since the start of the New Direction, with Sonic and Tails walking the Earth like Caine in “Kung Fu,” it seems like Bollers has only written a few stories. Old-timers like Mike Gallagher or unwelcomed newcomers like Frank Strom seem to be dominating things. With issue 62, Bollers returns with what is probably my favorite story arc from the post-“Endgame” world.

While flying over the Great Desert, Sonic and Tails’ bi-plane begins to choke out. They make a swift crash-landing. Though the plane is damaged, Sonic and Tails are fine. In the desert, they’re quickly met by a group of tanks and armored trucks. Inside are a group of desert-based creatures calling themselves the Sand-Blasters. They adore Sonic, considering him a mythic hero. The centerpiece of their city is a huge statue of Sonic and, that night, they throw a big party for the hedgehog. However, Tails notices that something is up. The city is beset by hostile Robians who the Sand-Blasters vehemently hate. The other team also seems very invested in keeping Sonic and Tails there as long as possible. Meanwhile, on Devil’s Gulag prison, Snively and the other criminals are mysteriously freed from their cells.

“Icon” has a set-up like a horror story. We’ve seen the tale before. A couple traveling through a barren location find a place of safety, usually a hotel, that only brings them more trouble. “Psycho” is a prominent example of this story. “Wolf Creek” fits as well. “Icon” isn’t a horror story but it has a similar sense of underlying tension. There’s something off-putting about the Sand-Blasters. They’re blind hero worship of Sonic is slightly creepy. The almost racial hatred they have of Robians does not paint them in the best light. When Tails awakes the next morning, their hotel room has been locked from the outside. The Sand-Blasters tell them the Winged Victory won’t be flying again for weeks. Interestingly, this story plays off Sonic’s weaknesses as a character. He doesn’t notice how off the entire situation is because Sonic has always been a show-off and slightly arrogant. People practically worshiping him puts him in a blind spot.

It’s a good set-up which, slightly disappointingly, is all this story is. Just as it’s starting to get really interesting, “Icon” ends. There’s a lot of question lingering in the readers’ minds. Where do the hostile Robians come from? Why are they acting like mindless drones, while the Knothole Robians maintained their free will? What are the Sand-Blasters’ final plan? More importantly, what’s going to happen to Sonic and Tails when they discover the inevitable subterfuge? You can’t blame a story for leaving the reader wanting more. I just wish Bollers’ had a little more room to explore his creation here.

Character wise, there isn’t much to the Sand-Blasters. Design wise, they make an immediate impression. Jack Rabbit, their leader, has a studded leather eye-patch, a bandolier, a side-arm, and bandages covering his arms and legs. He looks like Bucky O’Hare’s biker ancestor. In a cute joke, most of the Sand-Blasters are patterned after Looney Toons characters. There’s a green mohawked roadrunner, a wiry coyote, and a fearsome alligator. It’s interesting to note that the Sand-Blasters traverse the desert in tanks and trucks deck out in machine guns. That, combined with their leather clothing, makes it look like Sonic and Tails wandered into a Mobian version of “The Road Warrior.”

Less compelling is the subplot about Devil’s Gulag. It’s not that Snively, sitting in his cell and talking shit with Drago, isn’t amusing. It is. There’s a lot of potential in seeing what the scumbags of Mobius get up to when left to their own. Morally bankrupt characters like Nack and Drago have always been interesting. In a world without major baddies like Robotnik or Mammoth Mogul, what could they get up too? However, how the villains escape is a total question mark. In space, we see a satellite floating over the planet. Someone aboard presses a button, freeing the captive crooks. Even as a kid in 1998, I understood what was happening here. Robotnik’s corpse hasn’t even cooled and the book was already priming for his return. Not even a dozen issues have passed since his demise.

A big shining bonus in issue 62’s favor is Steven Butler’s artwork. Holy shit, it’s good, you guys. The amount of detail in Butler’s work is insane. The opening two-page spread of the bi-plane crashes is incredible, trees tossed into the air by the spinning propeller. The Robians look incredibly creepy, appearing to be robotic demons. The vehicles and armors of the Sand-Blaster are vividly depicted. When Butler drew the Sonic characters, they always seemed slightly taller, more mature. He was also great at action. Sonic spinning into a cyclone, kicking up a massive dust storm, could’ve been badly drawn. Yet Butler keeps it alive, producing some dynamic art. The final page of the story, of the villains rioting in Devil’s Gulag, looks like Spaz could’ve drawn it. Fantastic.

The back-up story continues the “Tales of the Freedom Fighters” arc. Now that Geoffrey St. John has assembled his team, he has to start training them. Heavy and Bomb are quickly added, after blowing up Geoffrey’s office. The next day he shows the team their secret weapon - a device that fires a concussive blast - before he drops Hershey into a pool with a robotic shark. She doesn’t immediately die, the team saves her, and Geoffrey proclaims the first day of training a success.

My biggest problem with this arc continues. Penders doesn’t provide us with a good bead on any of these characters. Valdez the Chameleon remains a mystery. Wombat Stu, probably the least fleshed-out member of the Downunda Freedom Fighters, plays like a less intelligent, slightly scrappier version of Tails. Hershey is a damsel in distress in this story. I still don’t know why someone who tried to assassinate royalty would be selected to be a royal spy. Why do Heavy and Bomb want in on this? Heavy basically says “there’s nothing else for us to do” and Geoffrey lets them on the team. The ensemble is interesting but there’s so little to go on.

As an action story, this works slightly better. The back-up promises us a peak at what role espionage will play in a post-Robotnik world. It doesn’t really deliver but the promise is worth something. The action beat, of the team working together to rescue Hershey from a robot shark, isn’t bad. I mean, a sentient bomb throwing himself into the mouth of a robot shark and then exploding is worth something. Art Mawhinney’s artwork is swell. I especially like the shot of other trainees practicing their skills. Archie should’ve let Mawhinney design characters more often. I would’ve liked to have seen more of the raccoon girl dangling off the gymnastic rings, for one example.

An mysterious, promising cover story and an overly thin if competent back-up story? That’s a [7/10] for you, issue 62.