Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 125

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 125
Publication Date: July 2003

Archie's “Sonic the Hedgehog” making it to 125 issues was definitely worth celebrating. When Archie began publishing the series, they probably didn't expect it to run for more then a year or two, much less for ten. Yet issue 125 presents another reason worth celebrating. The book would, after seven issues, finally ditch the lame brain magazine cover gimmick. Spaz's artwork would no longer be contained to a simple template and the cover would no longer be peppered with lame puns. Issue 125 definitely has a crowded cover, as Spaz tries to squeeze in as many characters as possible. But it's still preferable to two cast members posing in front of a white screen.

“Sonic Adventure 2.5: Omega,” as the story is rather grandiosely called, picks up where we left off. Some books from the royal library and the Brotherhood of Guardians confirm what the Xorda's announcement. Yes, Mobius really was Earth millions of years ago. Sally then attempts to peacefully negotiate with the alien invaders but the space squids aren't having it. Instead, fearful of being wiped out, Robotnik makes an uneasy truce with the Knothole Freedom Fighters. He provides Sonic and Sally with a giant murder-robot, which seemingly beats back the Xorda battleship. Before leaving orbit, the aliens drop a doomday device at the planet's pole, forcing everyone on Mobius to come together to literally save the world.

The comic has had Sonic and Robotnik team up once or twice before but the circumstances have rarely been this serious. The robotic dictator seems genuinely desperate and King Max nicely plays hardball, demanding the villain give up half of his territory before agreeing to help him. He needs Sonic's super speed to peddle the doom-bot that badly. Naturally, it's not a huge surprise when we discover that Robotnik has added a trap to the deal. Once Sonic is strapped in, he can't get out. Eggman plans to force Sonic to destroy his own city. Which is pretty fucked up, mildly clever, and the first time the new Robotnik has seemed as ruthless as he's suppose to be.

Karl is juggling a lot of balls in this story and does a decent job of catching them. Except for one point. Issue 125 also features Knuckles the Echidna's frequently foreshadowed return to the land of the living. He essentially tells Aurora to get bent, he's using his god like power to do what he wants, and zaps himself back to Mobius. Which is mildly disappointing but, considering how unhelpful the goddess was, Knuckles' solution is satisfyingly straight forward. It does lead to one touching moment, when Knuckles and Julie-Su are reunited. However, Knuckles' resurrection is otherwise an awkward plot device. He stops one death trap from killing Sonic and Sally, stranding them inside another. Knuckles then looses his superpowers, making him useless for the rest of the issue.

Luckily, “Sonic Adventure 2.5: Omega” is satisfying more often then not. Archie was apparently eager to get everything single character who has ever appeared in the book back for this two-parter. I don't think they succeeded. Horizont-Al, the Nerbs, and Spawnmower are nowhere to be seen. However, a metric shit ton of furries do appear in this issue. And not without a good reason. On Angel Island, we see the Dark Legion and the dingoes working together. At the polar icecaps, an army of hundreds of characters come together, all eager to help out. The huge cast makes the story feel properly epic. It also shows disaster uniting everyone, all types putting aside their differences for the greater good. It's hard to imagine humans working together that amicably, even in the face of total annihilation.

The story also feels suitably epic in scope. Dropping Sonic inside a giant robot to punch a space ship is certainly a big moment. So is the doomsday device dropped at the Arctic. The Quantum Dial works rather improbably, clicking down by the minutes before a black hole is created. Any machine stepping near the dial immediately disassembles. Which is why Station Square's nuclear missiles and Robotnik's giant mecha can't be used to scrap the thing. It's convoluted, for sure. The  Quantum Device exist to get Sonic alone with the doomsday device, forcing the hedgehog to sacrifice himself. But it's convoluted in a fun, comic-book-y way.

That's right, I said “sacrifice.” For reason that probably made sense to Karl when he wrote it, Sonic has to pull a Barry Allen. He runs really fast around the Quantum Dial, which somehow changes its affects, and creates a reverse time wedgie. Sonic vanishes in the resulting blast and everyone assumes he's dead. Except, of course, he's not. You know, after qoute-unqoute killing off Knuckles just six issues ago, you'd think the book would be resistant to perform another death cheat. But at least Sonic isn't headed for a tedious journey into the afterlife. He's simply teleported across space, as the comic's final pages reveal.

It's not graceful writing but Karl at least handles Sonic's “death” with a little more dignity then Ken handled Knuckles'. Bollers' narration, about how Sonic's passing will be felt among his friends, is heavy-handed but effective. He also makes room for honest emotion. A statue is erected in Sonic's memory. Sally looks longingly out a window, haunted by her lover's death. Hundreds gather for a memorial service. On the battlefield, in the immediate aftermath, everyone weeps in agony. This is the most touching moment. Bunnie cradles Sally. Mina collapses. Tails silently cries. Huge, cartoon tear drops explode from Amy's eyes. Though less protracted than the raw treatment of Sally's death back in “Endgame,” it's still a well done moment.

“Sonic Adventure 2.5: Omega” has something else in common with “Endgame.” As with issue 50, multiple artist were called on to work on this one. Fewer names were involved so it's not quite as visually schizophrenic as that issue. The art is a little more consistent too. Dave Manak draws the opening pages. While his work is as angular as ever, the artist actually makes an attempt to adapt to the character's then designs. He even makes the Xorda look appropriately squidy and gross. Dawn Best mostly sticks to the Knuckles interludes, where her stylistic pencils are well utilized.

Art Mawhinney draws most of the book, bringing his expressive faces to the panels devoted to tense conversation. Steven Butler draws most of the second half. So he handles the big action beats and the huge crowds, which play to his strengths for detail and action. Jay Axer handles the climax and the resolution, so the most important emotional scenes are granted his detailed, excellent work. Instead of just sticking artists on random pages, Archie actually seemed to be hand-picking them for specific moments. (Which may be why Ron Lim gets only a few pages, mostly devoted to landscapes.)

It's not a perfect story but “Sonic Adventure 2.5” is a satisfying pay-off to the last few issues, bringing together a lot of characters and plot points without fouling them all up. It's a solid action/adventure story and that's some times all I ask of this book. (It's sort of funny that Archie was reluctant to just call the story “Sonic Adventure 3,” considering Sega still refuses to make a game actually called that.) At the very least, it's a better anniversary issue then number 100 was. [7/10]