Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 100

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 100
Publication Date: August 2001

As a kid getting into comics, a series hitting the triple digits was proof that it had made it. If a book could successfully run for that long, that meant it had carved out its niche on the comic shop’s racks. That it had reached a certain level of respectability and critical standing in the four-color world. As a youngster, I never imagined that Archie’s “Sonic” series – which I loved so much at one time – would ever reach that milestone. Kid-me would would probably loose his shit if he was told the series would still be running twenty years later, nearly exceeding 300 issues. It’s just a shame that the 100 issue milestone would come during a legendarily lame run.

Karl obviously planned to wrap up some of his lingering story lines in the 100th issue. The Freedom Fighters confront Kodos and the location of the Sword of Acorn is finally, blessedly, revealed. Magical sword in hand, the team heads towards Robotropolis with two objectives. The first of which is to rescue Nate Morgan, who has headed to Robotnik’s city for briefly defined reasons. Secondly, the group uses the sword’s powers to give a whole bunch of Robians their free will back.

Issue 100 does successfully clip away some of the bloat the series has been feeling lately, for now anyway. The Sword of Acorn arc seems to be resolved, at least for the moment. Uma Arachnis, who reveals the Sword location with her dying breath, hid it down some fucking hole in the forest.  The entire Freedom Fighter team temporarily come back together to kick the ever-loving shit out of Kodos. When was the last time the core five Freedom Fighters had a big action scene together? It’s been far too long, that’s for sure. Watching Bunnie, Antoine, and Tails curb stomp the Warlord into submission sure is satisfying.

Karl doesn’t exactly resolve the unresolved tension between Sonic and Sally but at least he addresses it. While the Princess runs to Uma’s hiding spot, Kodos attacks her. She slips and falls into the chasm. For a page, it seems like Princess Sally has bitten the dust. This leads to a surprisingly touching panel of Sonic admitting his failure – that he wasn’t fast enough – and the others looking into the pit, dismayed. Sonic even grimly realizes he has to retrieve the body, Bunnie insisting on going with him. It’s an effecting moment…

Which is immediately swept away by some mystic bullshit, which has now officially become the book’s worst tendency. Sally apparently grabbed the Sword of Acorn on the way down. This granted her temporary plot device status, as “the sword’s vessel is unbreakable.” She floats to the surface, zaps Kodos with a thunderbolt, and then returns to normal. It’s a cheap death cheat, the second such concept to befall Sally. A sweet reunion with Sonic and Sally could’ve followed but Mina zooms in, providing the book with its second worst tendency: Romantic melodrama. Two steps forward, one step back.

At least Karl wraps up another long developing plot. We finally discover what Robotnik has been up to. He’s transformed his whole body into a living Robotocizer, allowing him to transform organic material into machinery with a touch. Chuddermund, as set up two issues ago, is his first test subject. (But the issue introduces another plot point: Robotropolis is toxic and anything organic living there is slowly dying of poisoning.) Uncle Chuck and Sonic are reunited, in a cute if far too brief moment. Sally also frees a bunch of Roboians, a heroic action that seemingly changes the minds of the Overlanders living in the city.

Plot bloat isn’t the only thing being cut away. Karl also takes the time to kill off Nate Morgan, another victim of Eggman’s new abilities. The old man sacrifices himself, to make sure the Freedom Fighters escape the city. At least the old man gets a hero’s exit. Considering Nate was never popular and was always a poor fit for the Freedom Fighters – since the team already had two Smart Guys, with Tails and Rotor – his passing wasn’t exactly mourned by fans. But I still wonder if Karl could’ve turned the old guy into something interesting, if given some more room.

Ken’s Knuckles epic in the back pages doesn’t exactly resolve as many points. It is, however, finally starting to move. Knuckles finally gets some answers, discovering that the Dark Legion is responsible for zapping the Floating Island’s population into an alternate zone. Instead of using his newly acquired god like powers to force Dimitri into reversing this, the villain pettily blackmails the Guardian: Become a member of the Dark Legion and I’ll save your friends. For some reason, Knuckles agrees to this.

The plot machinations are pretty dumb. I know Knuckles is still mastering his abilities but I can’t imagine someone as strong-willed as he is would give up to the enemy so easily. Once again, Ken has his hero being pulled back and forth by the will of old guys. At least Knuckles and Julie-Su are finally reunited. That’s way overdue. Yeah, I also can’t imagine a tough bitch like Julie-Su letting Knuckles get pushed around by Dimitri. But at least somebody we actually care about is directly affected by this plot turn.

During all of this, Ken remembers to finally wrap up a story element he first introduced three years ago in issue 17 of “Knuckles” solo book. By transporting all of the Floating Island’s residents back, the Dark Legion unwittingly re-open the dimension Tobor and Kragok leaped into way back in September, 1998. The two rivals immediately fight to their deaths, smashing into the Dark Legion’s cannon and dying. It’s almost as if, gee I wonder, Ken completely forgot about this and, upon remembering it, decided to hastily wrap things up. I’m not too upset about Tobor’s death, as he was always a lame character. Kragok, a cool villain, deserves better then that though.

The artwork continues to be weak. Lim contributes one or two decent image in the main story, like Bunnie karate kicking Kodos or the Freedom Fighters reflecting on Sally’s death. This scenes are immediately undone by silly moments, like Uma’s shrug-worthy death or how goofy the Overlanders and Roboians continue to look. Ken’s illustrations for the back-up story are equally weak, as he simply does not know how to draw facial expressions. Issue 100 resolves some problems but leaves other problems intact. It’s not the issue 100 the series deserves though it is mildly better then the last few editions. [5/10]