Knuckles the Echidna: Issue 22

Knuckles the Echidna: Issue 22
Publication Date: January 1999

While the “Sonic the Hedgehog” series is reaching a relaxed mid-point between major story lines, “Knuckles the Echidna” just keeps rolling along, a high-strung melodrama aboard the Floating Island. That’s not necessarily a complaint. Issue 22 gets blatantly political, addressing how things work in Knuckles’ home town while bringing back a major villain from issues past.

As always, things are busy in Knuckles’ end of the “Sonic”-verse. While in Haven, the young Guardian chews out his dad for being such a massive, serial cock to him. Locke, meanwhile, transports his ex-wife, Julie-Su, and Remington back to the city. When they arrive, they’re greeted by a group of protesting dingoes, irritated by their continued treatment as second-class citizens. Meanwhile, the Dark Legion begins to move their own plan in motion, hoping to manipulate politics in Echinaopolis.

A big complaint I’ve had with Ken Penders’ “Knuckles” series is how big of an ass wipe Locke is. The Brotherhood basically tells Knuckles nothing, dicking him around with vague words about a prophecy. Issue 22’s “You Say You Want a Revolution” directly addresses this issue. Knuckles yells at the Brotherhood, wanting to know why the hell his dad and collection of grandfathers have been jerking him around for so long. The weirdest thing is Locke even admits he was wrong, which is very unusual. He realizes his differences with Lara-Le are irreconcilable. More importantly, he admits he wasn’t the father to Knuckles that he should have been. He says he isn’t much of a parent. Such self-awareness is very uncharacteristic for Locke. And welcomed.

The comic has always treated the Dingoes as irredeemable bad guys, always plotting to do something evil to the peaceful echidnas. At least, that was probably the plan. Instead, it often seems like the dingoes are a persecuted minority in Echidnaopolis. Despite the echidnas dismissing technology, they’re all too willing to treat the dingoes badly because of their lack of technology.

In Issue 22, the dingoes are protesting their treatment by the echidnan government. When someone tosses a bomb into the crowd, a fight erupts between the dingoes and the echidnas. Knuckles, in another surprising act of self-awareness, has Archimedes BAMF him into crowd to protect the dingoes. In another rare display of fairness, the “Knuckles” comic admits that the echidnas have treated the dingoes badly and that they deserve better.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Dark Legion, right? “You Say You Want a Revolution” picks up that dangling plot point as well. On the first page, the Dark Legion break into an echidna politician's home, noted how full of advanced technology it is. (He has a flat screen, HDTV which raises some interesting questions. Are their echidnan TV shows?) The plot is eventually revealed that the Legion has put a mind control chip in the politician's head, getting him to push a pro-technology agenda in the echidna senate. That certainly seems like a more effective tactic than marching an army on city.

More pressingly, the Dark Legion regains an old villain and grabs a new one. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Enerjak, since his de-powering by Mammoth Mogul. Turns out, the Legion replaced his frail, ancient body with robotic parts, rendering him more machine than man. In flashback, we see that Dimitri has a personal grudge against the echidna political body, as they directly blocked his plans to lower the island for political reasons. Once again, we see how a more sympathetic villain can make for a more compelling story. Dimitri has the right to be angry. It’s his reaction that makes him a bad guy.

The new addition helps too. Kragok was a fantastic bad guy, ruthless and brutal. But Kragok is locked in another dimension or some bullshit at the moment. In his place, a new bad guy has been introduced. Or bad girl, as it were. Lien-Da is a female echidna who likes to boss people around and wears tight leather. Whether or not you believe such a sexualized character is appropriate for a kids’ comic, Lien-Da cuts a mean figure. Considering how villains in this book can be focused on vague, far-off goals, it’s refreshing to see an antagonist who gets shit done. Unsurprisingly, Lien-Da would become one of the best villains that book ever had.

Seeing an issue of “Knuckles the Echidna” actually address some of the problems I’ve had with the series is… Surprising. Manny Galan took a break this time, as Jim Valentino provides the pencils. His artwork is still occasionally off but it’s certainly a big improvement over his work in the Image crossover special. I don’t know if this story arc will continue to improve the series’ problem. Truthfully, I’m betting on it not doing that. Yet I’ll enjoy this reprieve while it last. [7/10]