Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 103

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 103
Publication Date: October 2001

Archie has done it before. Their “Sonic the Hedgehog” series was heavily serialized by this point. Occasionally, Archie would interrupt the on-going plot with some ridiculous story outside of continuity. Usually, these concepts were things that had clearly been sitting on a shelf for some time, put aside for when a deadline quickly needed filling. It’s quite apparent to me that such a situation led to the two-parter that filled issues 103 and 104. Both the cover story and back-up were created by Mike Gallagher, who hasn’t written for the book for a while. Both stories hearken back to the comic’s early days, when “Sonic” was filled with silly parodies, slapstick, and sight gags.

Issue 103’s cover story is, specifically, a parody of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. When people hear that name today, they think of lovable characters like Rocket Racoon, Groot, and Starlord. They think of the hugely successful film adaptations from James Gunn. Archie wasn’t paying homage to that version of the Guardians, which wouldn’t come into existence until years later. Instead, they were goofing on the version of the team that existed in the early nineties. This particular incarnation of the Guardians has a cult following but it still pretty obscure. Even huge nerds are unlikely to be familiar with characters like Nikki or Aleta Ogord.

Why would Archie build an entire two-parter around referencing such an overlooked group of characters? The “Sonic” editors were obviously friendly with Jim Valentino, since the artists previously worked on “Sonic Super Special” and “Knuckles the Echidna.” Valentino would come to fame for his 29 issue run as writer and artist on “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which was mildly popular. And who followed Valentino as the writer of that series? None other then Mike Gallagher, who not coincidentally wrote these two issues. In other words, this dumb story is basically an in-joke between friends, inflicted on Sega’s blue hedgehog for some reason.

So, anyway, what the hell is this damn thing about? Zonic the Zone Cop presents the tale as taking place in an alternate zone. Sonic returns to Mobius, after spending a thousand years drifting in space. While he was up there, oyster-headed aliens built him a super suit that transferred his super speed into psychic, kinetic energy. Upon touching down, he sees that the planet has been transformed into a hellish wasteland. After fighting a series of robotic Knuckles, he meets a group of galactic superheroes, descendants of the Freedom Fighters he knew.

In order to find a parody amusing, one must be at least somewhat familiar with the source material being parodied. While it’s not necessary to enjoy them, “Young Frankenstein” and “Airplane!” are way funnier if you’ve seen a few Universal Frankenstein flicks or the “Airport” movies. Like the majority of people, I’ve never read Valentino’s run on “Guardians of the Galaxy.” So I don’t really get the gag. Even if I did, I suspect “Freedom Fighters of the Galaxy” isn’t the best parody. The jokes mostly extend to creating mash-ups between the Marvel and Sonic characters, with punny names like Tailon or Twan-Du.

In truth, quite a bit of the comic is devoted to painful exposition. Zonic talks about this zone. Sonic explains how he got tossed in space, how he got his new powers. Tailon explains how Robotnik destroyed Mobius during a War of the World. (Yes, they call it that.) The Freedom Fighters of the Galaxy explain their individual powers. After the fight is over, the members of the team provide their back stories, involving the Freedom Fighters traveling to other worlds and adapting to the new environments in different ways. Gallagher even indulges in some exposition of his own, by explaining that an evil race of aliens called the Sharks grew out of the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters. (In another throwback to the book’s old days, Gallagher directly asks the reader if they want to see more of the Sharks. Considering this is their only appearance, the answer was presumably “no.”) If there are jokes here, they’re buried under the weight of countless info-dumps.

Presumably, Gallagher and Valentino’s work on the actual “Guardians of the Galaxy” was less strangled by explaining who the characters are. When not expounding on everyone’s personality, this issue features some mildly captivating action. Sonic and Tailon smash some Brass Knuckles. The Freedom Fighters of the Galaxy shoot laser beams, leap around, and display super strength. It would be more diverting if the characters didn’t have to stop and give us their life stories every other panel.

During his previous go-arounds at Archie’s various “Sonic” titles, Valentino’s artwork has been iffy. His illustrations for the Image crossover were incredibly flat. His “Knuckles” pencils were hideous. He does somewhat better here. The character designs are fairly unappealing, especially Hawkhawk, a new character that is a spoof of Starhawk. But nobody bends in horrifyingly ugly ways. Sally and Bunnie even look quite fetching, poured into their superhero suits. Valentino experiments with the page lay-out in mildly interesting ways. It’s not a great looking book but it doesn’t cause my eyes to melt out of my sockets.

Issue 103 is a Mike Gallagher two-fer. “Myth Taken Identity” revolves around Gallagher’s beloved Downunda Freedom Fighters. After Wombat Stu left the island to join King Acorn’s Secret Service, the team holds auditions for a new fifth member. The disappointing turn-out causes them to reminisce over how the team came together in the first place. Afterwards, one of the applicants is brutalized by the Bunyip, a fearsome creature from Australian mythology.

Much like the cover story, “Myth Taken Identity” is front-loaded with exposition. But at least, this time, it concerns characters we have some investment in. Most of the back story revolves around an origin story for the Downunda Freedom Fighters, something I might have wondered about in the past. It’s a bit underwhelming. Walt Wallaby literally stumbled into Guru Emu. In quick succession, the two met up with Duck Bill, Wombat Stu, and Barby Koala. Disgusted with Crocbot’s burgeoning take-over of the continent, they united to fight against him. I would’ve preferred the team coming together in a more natural way. But it is sort of neat to learn their origin.

It’s a shame that “Myth Taken Identity” is mostly devoted to goofy jokes. The first two pages focus on the applicants for the team, all of whom are goofy joke characters. Such as a kookaburra who sings badly, a mildly racist immigrant rabbit, and Ram Marino, a ram football player. Since one Marvel reference wasn’t enough for Gallagher, one of the applicants is Dare-Dingo, a dingo version of Daredevil. Befitting the jokey tone, Dave Manak draws the story. It’s clear Manak hasn’t drawn these characters in a while, as they are quite off-model.

Issue 103 isn’t very good but, you know, it doesn’t offend me. It’s a harmless joke, too dumb to be annoying. And it’s not as if the current storyline was super involving, so I don’t mind it being interrupted too much. The back-up is also very dumb but mildly interesting. Speaking of stupid in-jokes, come back next time not for the second part of this story but something entirely different instead! [5/10]