Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 123

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 123
Publication Date: May 2003

Here we go, kids. The Sonic/Sally/Mina love triangle is finally about to be buried. Bollers has been stretching this plot point out for nearly two years. Occasionally, it produced one or two interesting moments but, too often, it was a source of melodrama. The story line's obnoxiousness peaked with issue 99's kiss, definitely one of the book's most asinine moments. But let's stop dwelling on the past and get on with the future.

In the second half of “Heart Held Hostage,” Sonic speeds off without assistance to retrieve Sally from Nack's gang. He's not alone though, as Mina sneaks up behind him. The mongoose has tagged along, in hopes of further impressing her crush. Inside Nack's spooky mansion, Sally makes an escape attempt that almost works. When it doesn't, Sonic saves the day. As the two lovebirds are reunited, Mina's heart is broken. As an extra kick in the ass, Nack shoots the mongoose in the back.

I have some continued qualms with Karl Bollers' treatment of Princess Sally. In this issue, she gets a bad-ass moment to herself. She successfully outsmarts Nack before nailing the weasel in the balls. That's pretty cool. The bummer comes when she immediately fucks up, emptying the gun she stole and wandering into a dead-end. It's hard to believe that the hyper-confident military leader seen in the “Princess Sally” mini-series would ever make a mistake like that. Maybe that year stuck in the castle really drained her strategic abilities.

As an action story, “Heart Held Hostage” does feature some pretty cool moments. The panels devoted to Sally's escape attempt, that has the princess dodging gun fire and running down a hall while shooting her own gun, is really exciting. Jay Axer's ability for action is on display here. Not to mention his incredible attention to detail, as the mansion setting looks awesome. His character work is awesome too. His detailed designs give more personality to Nack's gang members than the script does. Axer's Sally, meanwhile, looks incredibly powerful and sexy. I really wish Archie had utilized Axer this well more often.

Maybe Sally's weaker characterization is a natural side effect of the story focusing on Mina. We continue to be privy to her thoughts, her love-struck ideas filling her word bubbles. Yet hard reality comes crashing down on the mongoose in this issue. After Sonic rescues his Princess, Sally leaps in his arms. She declares her love, tears streaming from their eyes, and the two lock lips. This leads to one of the most memorable panels in the book's entire run. Upon seeing this sight, Mina's heart shatters. The panel breaks along with her. She stumbles to her knees, feeling sick. It's a surprisingly visceral, powerful portrayal of heart-break. Yet Mina proves her love by taking the bullet meant for Sally. The story then concludes there, ending things on an effective downbeat moment. It kind of looks like Mina dies after telling Sonic she loves him but she's alive well in the back-up story. I guess she got better?

“Afterlife – Part Three” fills the book's second slot. Aurora continues to recap Knuckles' life for him. He sees his childhood, spent with Sally and Vector, before his dad abandoned him. For some dumb reason, Aurora and Knuckles then briefly describe most of the echidna's subsequent adventures.

So why the hell did Ken decide to use the “Afterlife” arc as an excuse tor regurgitate Knuckles' history? Other then presumably being out of ideas, I'll take a guess. The book's 125th issue was coming up soon. Archie seemed to think that the book's anniversary issues always drew in more readers. I don't have the sale records in front of me so, I don't know, maybe they did. While expecting this new influx of readers, maybe Penders figured he'd recount the echidna's previous adventures. Or maybe he was just taking the whole “Life flashes before your eyes” thing way too literally.

Once again, the flashback heavy structure is frustrating. The early scenes are promising. We see another childhood encounter between Knuckles and Sally, both youths bemoaning their responsibilities. Later, we see another encounter between the Guardian and Vector. The two roughhouse, presumably as foreshadowing of the musky, homoerotic rage the crocodile would feel towards Knuckles one day. This stuff is promising, especially the panel devoting to Knuckles' crying after his dad dropped him like a bag of hammers. Which makes the story's then devolution into a systematic recap of Knuckles' adventures, as portrayed in these very comics, all the more disappointing.

Issue 123 concludes with “The Last Robian.” Once again, Sonic's parents have vanished. Seemingly every Robian in the village have disappeared. The hedgehog initially blames this on Robotnik but the villain claims no responsibility. Just as soon as they're gone, they come back. Only now, the formally robotic citizens are organic once more. All except for one. Sonic's father Jules is still robotic. While this alienates the hedgehog for some time, he eventually gets over himself and stops moping, just being happy that his loved ones have returned to normal.

It's a good idea. Considering the Freedom Fighters have been fighting for years to restore their loved ones' humanity, their family becoming fleshy again permanently concludes that plot point. Jules being stuck as a machine provides some pathos. His decision not to let his mechanic state hold him back adds a nicely emotional resolution. The problem lies in the execution. Most of “The Last Robian” is narrated, without dialogue. It's a really odd decision, making the story seem very didactic and unnatural. Maybe a more fleshed-out version of the story wouldn't fit within the six page restraint? It's a bummer. This could've been something special.

Art Mawhinney draws the latter two stories. As always, he does good work. His handle of emotion really helps the second story, even if Muttski looks a little too cute to be believable. (A coloring error also paints Lupe as brown, though this isn't Art's fault.) The cover story makes up for its characterization issues with some great moments. The “Afterlife” arc remains irritating while the final story is almost interesting. Seemed to be business as usual at the time. Fuck it, I'm feeling generous and the artwork is pretty. Here's a [7/10.]