Knuckles the Echidna: Issue 28

Knuckles the Echidna: Issue 28
Publication Date: July 1999

In the final part of “The First Date” story arc, Ken Penders’ seems intent on wrapping up all the story’s plot threads. Knuckles’ approaches his mom for advice concerning his up-coming date with Julie-Su. Turns out, the date is falling on the same night as a surprise birthday party Lara-Le is throwing her son. She organizes the party with Julie-Su and Locke. Meanwhile, Knuckles makes peace with Vector and his parents.

“The First Date” three-parter is an idea I like more conceptually then in actuality. Considering how constantly insane Knuckles’ life is, slowing things down for an arc and focusing on character relationship was a great idea. Moreover, the story line finally allows Knuckles and Julie-Su to get serious, putting aside that stupid “soul touch” concept in favor of actually developing their attraction.

And it sort of did that, in a way that was slightly jumbled if relatively amiable throughout. For example, this issue turns the focus from Knuckles and Julie-Su’s upcoming date – the event we’re really invested in – towards Knuckles’ surprise birthday party. Feels slightly like a cheat, since there’s been so much build-up towards the Guardian and his would-be girlfriend finally having some personal time together.

How many times has the book drudged up Locke and Lien-Da’s failed marriage for extra drama? Issue 28 seems to bury that plot point once and for all. While Locke is spying on Knuckles and his friends like a total creep, Lien-Da gives him a call. She asks him to come to their son’s birthday party, the two assuring each other they can put their problems behind them for the sake of their child. At the party, Knuckles’ parents tell him they have a big announcement. His reaction is one of the story’s most unnoticed and saddest moments. He wonders if his mom and dad are getting back together. Hope springs eternal for this child of divorce, apparently. Lien-Da and Locke assure him that will never happen but they’ll continue loving him. It’s a potentially strong emotional beat that probably deserved a little more attention then it got.

That’s not the only instance of forgiveness in this story. After nearly tearing his stupid head off last time, Knuckles and Vector make up. Both basically admit they acted too rashly, deciding to forgive and forget. This seems to dismiss the serial asshole behavior Vector has been displaying from the beginning. The book even acknowledges that, with a hilarious exchange where Espio flat-out admits that people wonder why they hang out with Vector. See?! Everyone knows he’s useless! Still, the Chaotix are back together again. That’s good, I guess.

With everything else the issue is handling, the eponymous first date gets sidelined. It basically comprises two pages. Knuckles shows up as Julie-Su’s apartment. She slips on a slinky, little black dress. (This isn’t the only example of blatant fan service for us Julie-Su fans. Earlier, she appears wearing only a big t-shirt.) The two walk to their destination, exchanging some mildly flirtatious dialogue. That’s when this story line collides with the birthday party plot thread. At the party, they dance a little, which is a cute moment, before locking lips. That’s a moment I wish the story spent a little more time building up to.

Chris Allan continues to do the artwork for this story arc. His work in the last two issues was frequently off-model and overall a bad fit for the book. In issue 28, Allan looses his fucking mind. In several panels, Knuckles, his parents, and his girlfriend become lankier. Sometimes, Knuckles appears to grow several pounds of muscle. Allan apparently previously did work for Archie’s Ninja Turtles comic. It seems he thought he was drawing Raphael and Leonardo at times. Near the end, Vector suddenly becomes a muscled monstrosity. It’s ugly as hell. Once again, Archie reached out to artist who clearly had no attitude for drawing these characters.

Luckily, series regular Manny Galan is back to draw the back-up story. (Save for Andrew Papoy drawing a single page, for some reason.) Unluckily, the story arc devoted to Mighty, Nic, and Fiona searching for Ray continues to be a jumbled mess. Mighty throws open a vault and discovers Ray clinging to a magical crystal. In flashback, it’s revealed that Robotnik originally powered the prison camp with this stone. When Sonic and Mighty escaped, Ray grabbed the crystal and blinked out of reality. Apparently, he’s been floating between dimensions for the last decade. Also, Fiona reveals that she sneaked out of the camp on her own.

If I had to guess, I’d assume that Ken really wanted to tell this story. Perhaps he had trouble justifying devoting three cover stories to a quartet of minor supporting characters. So this plot got shoved into the back of the “Knuckles” book. You can tell this was a bigger idea that the writer clipped down. The page devoted to Ray disappearing while Sonic and Mighty escaped the camp borders on incoherent. How Nic rescues Ray from his trans-dimensional fate is a total narrative shrug. Throughout it all, the script never provides a reason why Mighty cares about Ray so much. The stuttering squirrel is a thin sketch, with little personality. Meanwhile, the entire business with Fiona seems shoved in for no reason. It’s a mess... Which is a shame, as the concept showed some promise. A story devoted to a young Sonic and Mighty wrecking Robotnik’s shit probably could’ve been a lot of fun.

To say issue 28 is a disappointing conclusion betrays the intentionally low stakes this story had. It could’ve been great but some pretty awful artwork and a script that leaps around too much brings it down. The back-up story, meanwhile, feels seriously abbreviated. Oh well. [6/10]