Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 116

 
Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 116
Publication Date: October 2002

Rouge the Bat is nowhere as controversial a character as Shadow the Hedgehog but her introduction still generated some debate. Some questioned why a kid-centric franchise like “Sonic the Hedgehog” would introduce a blatantly fan service character like Rouge the Bat. Was her cleavage too generous for a children’s series? Was Sega blatantly targeting furries? Of course, Archie had been introducing potentially inappropriate sexy female characters in their comic book for years. So Rouge’s curvy proportions were less controversial on these pages. With issue 116, Rouge the Bat would graduate from cameo to full-blown character, a fact trumpeted on the cover.

The comic considered Rouge’s re-introduciton such a big deal that they gave her the cover over the issue’s first story. “Operation: Off-Switch,” instead, finds Sonic and Bunnie in the employ of Station Square again. The president has spotted Robotnik operating out of a near-by abandoned city, following the recent destruction of Robotropolis. Rouge was sent to investigate but vanished. The two Freedom Fighters swoop in, ostensibly to find the bat and stop Robotnik’s latest plan.

The official reveal that Mobius is a post-apocalyptic Earth wouldn’t come for a while longer. However, the book had been hinting at this truth for some time. Another big clue comes in “Operation: Off-Switch.” The abandoned city Robotnik has taken up residence in is obviously New York City. Among the skyline, one can spot a dismembered Statue of Liberty and a damaged Empire State Building. This raises some pretty big questions. Why is New York abandoned, if many of the buildings are still standing? How are the buildings standing, when we would later learn that the Xorda would devastate the entire planet? How come the Freedom Fighters have never noticed this place before? Benny Lee’s script provides no answers to these queries.

Maybe I’m a nerd who over-analyzes shit. (That’s fair.) Maybe we aren’t suppose to think this much about it. So how does “Operation: Off-Switch” function as a regular story? Weakly. I’m not sure why the writers brought in the Station Square president, when King Acorn could’ve just as easily filled this role. Pairing Sonic and Bunnie is an interesting idea but the story quickly separates them. The action is underwhelming, with Sonic quickly dodging some missiles. He’s quibbing even more than usual, draining any tension the story might have had.

His confrontation with Robotnik – who has taken up residence in a new, ridiculous body – is very short lived. He bounces around the villain’s robot arms, shoves a stick of dynamite into his mouth, and flees before the disproportionately huge explosion follows. It certainly makes Eggman – who, we must remember, is suppose to be more ruthless than the original Robotnik – seem like a total joke. That the fight is over so quickly, and so underwhelmingly, makes this whole story seem like a pointless stop gap on the way to Sonic’s next, more serious struggle with his arch-enemy.

Story number two covers the Bunnie/Rouge fight portrayed on the cover. After parting ways from Sonic, Bunnie searches for Rouge. The bat has already escaped Robotnik’s prison, the power failing following the explosion. The femme fatale mistakes Bunnie for one of the doctor’s robotic minions. Apparently Bunnie is in a grouchy mood. Instead of explaining the misunderstanding, she strikes back. The bat and the rabbit wail on each other for a few pages before Sonic arrives, telling them to break it up.

“Bat Fight” – yes, the story is really called that – exists mostly because its premise is too salacious to resist. No, there’s no real reason for the secret agent bat and super-strong cyborg to fight each other. As Sonic points out at the end, the two are on the same team. The mix-up that results in the fight should’ve been explained away quickly. There’s no plot reason for the two to scuffle. Instead, the sexy bat girl battling the sexy bunny girl is an amusing idea, playing with the “who would win in a fight?” fan boy discussion. I’m certainly not above such things. Occasionally, that kind of nerdery is fun to indulge. Devoting all five pages to the fight certainly leaves plenty of room for combat.

If the inherit appeal of the idea wasn’t the reason this story got the greenlight, Jay Axer’s artwork justifies its existence. Rouge and Bunnie certainly look irresistible in his style. (Rouge’s bustline was diminished in her first appearance but Axer brings the boobies back.) His command of action is perfectly suited to this one. Bunnie gets tossed through a window, delivering a clenched fist to Rouge’s face in retaliation. Kicks and punches are traded in vivid ways. When Rouge is kicked into a stone pillar, which seems to win Bunnie the fight, you can feel the impact. Karl Bollers’ dialogue is utterly inane but Axer’s awesome artwork makes the whole thing worth it.

The last story in the issue continues Ken Penders’ Green Knuckles saga. With “Ultimate Power – Mid-Logue: The Lesson,” he tries to trick us into thinking “mid-logue” is a word. Also, while watching Mammoth Mogul’s broadcast, Knuckles has a spontaneous flashback. He reflects on a time his dad spotted a team of Robians, sent by Robotnik, to abduct the Master Emerald. And what did Knuckles do during this adventure? Repeatedly get beaten up by different things, including a tree branch and one of the robots.

I’m not sure what the point of this “mid-logue” was. It breaks up the flow of the on-going plot, the resolution to last month’s cliffhanger being interrupted by a random flashback. Usually, you’d expect the flashback to reflect on the current story in some way. But this one doesn’t seem to. If anything, it emphasizes how Knuckles has always been at the whims of greater powers around him. As a kid, his dad bossed him around. As a teenager, his life is directed by his strange chaos powers and Dimitri’s interests.

I can only speculate why Ken wrote this “mid-logue.” I suspect he did it as another excuse to boost Locke, his favorite character. While Knuckles stumbles into things like a drunken ox, Locke uses his chaos powers to completely destroy the robots attempting to steal the Master Emerald. Keep in mind, these aren’t SWATBots or any of Robotnik’s other mindless drones. Instead, these are Robians. The comic has established repeatedly that Robians are normal Mobians, robotocized and enslaved by the mad doctor’s machines. So, in other words, Locke just murdered three innocent people who had no control over their actions. Because, once again, Penders’ heroes act more like villains.

Ron Lim illustrates both the first and last stories. The action scenes and backgrounds in “Operation: Off-Switch” are totally lifeless. In the back-up story, he draws child Knuckles as being far too small, making the adult Knuckles look like a giant. The Robians, meanwhile, look pretty good, making me wonder if someone else didn’t draw them. The cover story is a fun bit of pointless fluff but the stories bordering it are weak sauce, making for an uneven issue. [5/10]