Knuckles the Echidna: Issue 31

Knuckles the Echidna: Issue 31
Publication Date: October 1999

The “King of the Hill” story arc continues with its second chapter, “The Thrill of the Hunt.” Knuckles and Monk are cornered by an Overlander calling himself Hunter. He captures Monk and talks Knuckles into coming back to his lair with him. As his name suggests, Hunter likes to pursue the most dangerous game. Knux and Monk are his next targets. Outfitted with shock collars, the two enemies are forced together to defeat their captor. Meanwhile, Locke and Archimedes try to get to the bottom of this.

Last issue, I referred to Hunter as an uninspired riff on Kraven the Hunter, a well established Spider-Man villain. There’s little doubt in my mind that Ken was ripping off Marvel, as Hunter has similar facial hair and clothes to Kraven. Yet the character’s lack of originality runs deeper. “King of the Hill” also rips off “The Most Dangerous Game,” a piece of well-trotted literary ground. Hunter has a large manservant, a detail-lacking robot called Aryu-One-Two. He considers hunting living beings a sport. While inside the lair, Knuckles discovers a series of mounted Mobian heads. (Pollo the Bear, from “SatAM,” appears to be among them.) This grisly scene is taken directly from the 1932 film version of “The Most Dangerous Game.” Ken’s not done paying “homage” to his influences. Hunter also, at one point, fires a grey version of Scaramanga’s Golden Gun.

This standard “Hunting Humans Mobians” story line is also mashed up with a standard “Enemies Forced to Work Together” story line. Monk’s bravado immediately has him stunned by Hunter. After the villain laboriously explains his modus operadi, Knuckles and Monk are tossed out into the Floating Island. As you’d expect, the two have to work together in order to survive. Hunter outfits both Mobians with shock collars, so they’ll cooperate. I’d assume Ken ripped this off from “Battle Royale” but the movie wouldn’t come out until the next year. (Oh yeah, Hunter also threatens Julie-Su. You know, that character you’d much rather be reading about.) However, Monk is still such a thin sketch of a character. He spends the majority of this issue unconscious. There’s no dynamic between the gorilla and Knuckles, meaning their force partnership lacks tension.

Because it’s impossible for Penders to write a “Knuckles” comic without forcing in the Brotherhood of Guardians, Locke appears in the story too. Inside Haven, Thunderhawk and Sabre notices that something has disrupted their signals. This is the work of Hunter, which the reader can figure out immediately. Locke and Archimedes, meanwhile, have to investigate further. I don’t know what business Locke and Archy have in this story. I’m assuming they’ll eventually save Knuckles’ ass? Otherwise, their presence drags down the pacing of a story that is already moving at a snail’s pace.

“King of the Hill” having a lame concept, weak execution, and introducing unneeded new characters isn’t enough. The story has to look like shit too. Ken’s pencils aren’t just ugly and lifeless. They’re often incoherent. An early scene has Hunter stunning Monk and I have no idea what happens in those panel. The faces of Monk, Knuckles, Archimedes, and Locke manage to be simultaneously stiff and unpleasantly stretched out. Ken flat-out does not know how to draw guns, as Hunter’s firearms often look like weird tube devices. Lastly, Hunter, Monk, and Aryu-One-Two have deeply unappealing designs. Penders makes no attempt to adapt them to the Sega/Archie house style. They do not look like they belong to this world. Ken’s writing skills may be debatable but his drawing skills are undeniably lacking.

The back-up story to “Thrill of the Hunter” is equally uninspiring. “The Best of Friends” continues Espio’s conflict with the now robotocized Valdez. The mechanical chameleon explains how he became captured by Robotnik. The dictator has sent the Robian to the Floating Island to locate Knuckles and the Master Emerald. When Espio fails to cooperate, Valdez robotocizes Liza, the female chameleon that is both men’s object of desire.

If the subplot involving the Brotherhood strips the cover story of any forward momentum, the back-up story screeches to a halt because of Valdez’ lengthy flashback. Did we really need to see the extended scenes of Robotnik capturing him, robotocizing him, and further programming him? Couldn’t that have been handled in a few panels, instead of two pages? Liza’s fate could have grafted the story an emotional heart. We discover that Valdez and Espio are both rivals for Liza’s affections. That she was working with the now robotic lizard in hopes that Espio could reach him. However, we just met this character last month. We know nothing about her. I do not care that she’s being turned into a robot. Add in Colleen Doran’s lifeless, ugly illustrations and you’ve got another dud.

I continue to wish that “Knuckles” got the axe three issues earlier. “King of the Hill” remains an uninspired story arc with a mountain of problems. Somehow, I don’t expect things to turn around in the last volume. [4/10]