Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 135

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 135
Publication Date: April 2004

Last time, I pointed out Sally's infamous slap as a real turning point in Archie's “Sonic the Hedgehog” series. The comic's quality had already been wildly flagging for several years now, as it never quite found its footing following the Sega-mandated “Sonic Adventure” adaptation and the return of Robotnik. Over the next two years, the quality of the book would nosedive even further. Sonic and Sally's break-up was one reason for this. Another one was the book forcing Tommy the Turtle down reader's throat, which began the very next month. Though the cover and first few pages attempt to build up a mystery around the cloaked figure's identity, the frontispiece makes this much clear: Tommy the Turtle is back. And we're stuck with him.

Concealing himself with an easily discarded cloak, Sonic enters the Forbidden Zone, that uninhabitable zone between the Great Forest and the nuked remains of Robotropolis. Inside the bar, he meets an old friend, thought deceased. Tommy the Turtle has been hiding out for a few months, having survived the explosion that seemingly claimed his life in issue 117. Their reunion is interrupted when the robotocized Fearsome Four attack them.

The regretful return of Tommy the Turtle is clearly representative of what was wrong with the comic book at this time. Archie didn't understand what fans wanted. Issue 117's “The Tortoise and the Hedgehog” was a popular story because it was well written, not because Tommy the Turtle was in it. Returning Tommy to life not only invalidated his sacrifice at the end of the story, it also completely missed his point as a character. Tommy was always kind of lame, right down to his obvious alliterative name, a goody-goody with a lack of personality. He was created to die. Moreover, how Tommy survived is an especially lame reveal. The blast that should've killed him apparently tossed him to safety, which has to be the laziest retcon Archie's writers could've thought up.

Aside from this egregious mistake, “Agent of K.N.O.T.H.O.L.E.” is a fairly uneventful action story. Sonic insists on maintaining a secret agent style inner monologue at first, for no particular reason. Tommy drops some nonsense on the reader about Robotnik rediscovering the ability to robotocize Mobians, even those that had been rendered un-robotcizable by the Bem. Any significance this circular development might have had is interrupted when the robotic Fearsome Foursome, plus Sleuth Dawg and Drago, pounce on Sonic and Tommy. (How the villains survived the same seemingly fatal blast that should've killed Tommy isn't explained. I guess they were tossed to safety too?) What follows is an uninspired fight scene, where the hedgehog easily bests the bad guys while cracking puns that are lame even by Sonic's standards. Ron Lim illustrates the story so you know it looks crappy too.

That plot point concerning robotocizion is expounded on in the second story, “Anonymous.” A.D.A.M. informs his dad that Sgt. Simian's gang, presumably rendered organic again by the Bem, have since been turned back into robots. The mad scientist search the machine's memories to discover how. A.D.A.M. presents a video from Drago's perspective but it's been censored, to concealed the identity of whoever is responsible. Checking the meta-data reveals only the name “Anonymous” inside the robot's memories. (This was years before internet hacktivists/trolls adopted that same name but it's sort of funny to read in a modern context.)

This Anonymous story line is one the book would intermittently drag out for the next two years, as an unknown, outside force who would occasionally muck up Robotnik's plans while clearly being an enemy of the Freedom Fighters. Anonymous' originally intended identity was as easy to guess as the person inside those satellites post-”Endgame.” Chacon clearly intended Anonymous to be the original Dr. Robotnik, somehow returned to life, plotting against his fully mechanical replacement. In one of his best saving throws, Ian Flynn would dismiss this plot point and reveal A.D.A.M. as Anonymous. While brilliant, that eventual reveal makes this story kind of useless. It's build-up to a reveal – Romy was already hinting at this, with Eggman pointing out that the obscured villain is roughly the same size as him – that isn't coming. The interaction between Eggman and his computerized offspring is sort of cute and Art Mawhinney's pencils are solid but the story doesn't present much else worth reading.

Lastly, we have “Dealing with the Devil,” the latest entry in the “Mobius: 20 Years Later” arc. It's devoted entirely to Lien-Da grilling her son, Rutan, about why he was in the park in the middle of the night. The teenage boy is afraid to reveal that he was having some heavy petting with his girlfriend, Espio's daughter Salma. When the truth comes out, Lien-Da's wrath is momentarily sated when Rutan reveals that he also overheard Knuckles and Rotor discussing the incoming cataclysm.

The strength of “20 Years Later,” up to this point, has been its focus on low-key character moments. “Dealing with the Devil” has Penders falling back on bad habits. Namely, a reliance on exposition. When Dimitri's floating head interrupts Lien-Da's interrogation of her son, it leads to a detailed flashback. At some point, a faltering Robotnik came to Dimitri for assistance. Being an asshole, the doctor would betray Dimitri and reduce him to a head in a jar. While the writer probably should have addressed this change at some point, now wasn't the best time. (This also doesn't explain why the Dark Legion were peacefully integrated with Angel island's populace, a more enticing query.)

Having said that, there is still some stuff here to like. Rutan's increased nervousness that his mom will find out about his horny shenanigans is awfully charming. Even though she's a domesticated single mom now, Lien-Da is still capable of villainous act, something her son is all too aware of. Steven Butler's increasingly awesome artwork helps. There's a wonderful panel where Lien-Da's rage at her boy is depicted as the echidna literally breathing fire. For the record, Butler draws Lien-Da as almost distressingly sexy, her ample curves squeezed into that skin-tight leather catsuit. I bet Rutan had a lot of “friends” over for play dates just so they could look at his mom's cleavage.

The separation of quality between the cover story and the back-up isn't too vast but, for once, Ken is doing better than his cohorts. I'm sure he'll screw it up in the near future. For now, issue 135 evens out to a [6/10.]