Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 93

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 93
Publication Date: January 2001

Sometimes, it’s just a matter of focus. Archie’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” has been floundering for a few issues, a number of lame subplots bouncing off of each other, the reader having difficulty caring. With issue 93, Karl Bollers decides to turn away form stuff for a minute. Instead, he builds a story about Sonic and how he feels about the last few issues’ events.

After racing back to Knothole, Sonic is immediately apprehended by Geoffrey St. John’s secret police. He pleads with Prince Elias, who agrees not to punish him too severely. Royal bureaucracy keeps him from seeing Sally. It takes a heart-to-heart with Nate Morgan, Antoine, and Bunnie for Sonic to forgive himself for his mistakes. Meanwhile, Mina, Elias, St. John, Antoine, and Bunnie have events going on in their own lives.

After several lame issues, the book finds a little more emotional footing in an unexpected place. Sonic, as the titular speedster, isn’t usually the one for self-reflection. In “Crime N’ Punishment,” the hedgehog hero finds himself feeling guilty for his actions. He feels partially responsible for King Acorn’s injury. He feels like an asshole for loosing the Sword of Acorn. Moreover, he feels isolated from Sally. This is fantastically illustrated in a great panel, where Sonic’s imagined reunion with Sally is cut short by reality. In other words, Sonic is surrounded by problems he can’t run away from. Realizing this, he accepts responsibility for his actions at the end. Considering we’re more use to seeing Sonic crack wise and smash robots, it’s a surprising – and surprisingly touching – turn of events.

This dovetails with another simmering plot point. While wandering around, feeling bad for himself, Sonic and Mina literally run into each other. She’s so excited to see him that she barrels towards him, super speed activated. As the two sit on the ground together, they have a sweet moment. They share a laugh followed by a meaningful glance. I’ve never really bought the Sonic/Mina romance but it sort of makes sense here. The hedgehog is in a vulnerable place, feeling rejected by his friends and love ones. When a cute mongoose is the only one happy to see him, who could blame the guy for noticing? (Then again, I’m not sure Karl needed to introduce a new character to accomplish this. I can’t believe I’m saying this but Amy Rose could have just as easily, and maybe more naturally, filled this role.)

By re-focusing on Sonic, Karl manages to rediscover the story’s heart. Yet he still feels the need to check in on the other subplots. Antoine and Bunnie are back in town, Antoine’s robot dad in tow. This only takes up a few panels though. Nate Morgan stops in to fill a mentor role that would’ve otherwise been occupied by Uncle Chuck. Sally is shocked to learn of Sonic’s thievery. In a very lame move, instead of letting her react, her mom insists on taking her clothing shopping instead. The crown continues to weigh heavily on Elias’ head while Geoffrey St. John attempts to grab more power for himself. The least interesting of all of these points involves Kodos. While he’s napping, Uma Arachnus snatches the Sword of Acorn for herself. It’s only been going on for three months but I’m already sick of this MacGuffin getting passed around.

Which brings us to the business in Robotropolis. For all the elements worth liking about issue 93, Karl struggles to justify the role of Eggman’s human relatives. The tyrant welcomes them with warm arms. Colin Kintobor is initially impressed with the set-up, still pissed about Sonic and Monkey Khan’s theatrics last time. However, he quickly notices how odd Robotnik acts. Truthfully, the purpose of these scenes is to clarify who these people are. Colin is Snively’s dad, Julian Kintobor’s brother. The old woman is Colin’s mother-in-law and the little girl, Hope, is his stepdaughter from a second marriage. This explains who they are but doesn’t get the reader to care.

In the back pages, Knuckles’ story continues in “Bagging the Big One.” With all the other Chaotix zapped into a pocket dimension, Knuckles seeks out the last member still on the Floating Island. That would be Charmy Bee, who is enjoying wedded bliss with Saffron. The reunion between green glowing Knuckles and his buzzing pal is interrupted when Nack and Nic the Weasel crash the party. The mercenaries talk the echidna into being taken prisoner by the echidnas of Albion.

As the cover story cut through the bullshit to an emotional center we care about, Penders is attempting something similar. Knuckles is finally back on track towards the goal of saving his friends. Seeing Charmy again, whom he hasn’t seen since the early days of his own title, should’ve been touching. Instead, Knuckles simply informs Charmy of his latest objective. Before they can go any further, Nack marches in, awkwardly talks Knuckles into coming with him. Far too much time is devoted to these negotiations, making the reunion with Charmy seem totally superfluous in the grand scheme of things.

A weak script is still the story’s least offensive mistake. Ken, sadly, draws as well as writes this one. His character art is as weak as usual. Saffron looks completely different from the last time we saw her. Nack and Nic are also off-model. Knuckles is weirdly muscular. Everybody’s mouths lob open in ugly ways while their eyes stare ahead blankly.

As mediocre as the art is, what’s far worst is Ken’s decision to use nature photographs instead of drawn background. So the character stand in front of pictures of trees, skies, or the ocean. It’s a frankly lazy decision that is greatly distracting and visually displeasing. Jesus, Ken, we know your artwork sucks but you really couldn’t be bothered to draw some waves or trees?

It’s a step back in the right direction, though it remains to be seen if this is a long term correction or merely a temporary upswing. James Fry coming back to draw the issue, letting Ron Lim rest his doodling hand for a month, is surely a contributing factor. It’s a decent story, albeit one still surrounded by the problems plaguing the book lately. The back-up is pretty lame but at least Knuckles’ story line is starting to move again. You take what you can get, you know? [7/10]