Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 138

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 138
Publication Date: July 2004

My memories of the year Archie's “Sonic the Hedgehog” series had in 2004 are not, shall we say, positive. I remember it being awfully shitty. This opinion extends to the “Return to Angel Island” story arc, which begins in issue 138 and would run through the next three installments. For reasons I can't elaborate on, certain sections of the Archie Sonic fandom actually like this story arc, considering it a highlight of the book's dark years. I'll be the judge of that!

King Acorn, Queen Alicia, and Uncle Chuck leave Knothole for a diplomatic tour around Mobius. This puts more pressure on Sally and Sonic, as the Princess assumes de-facto rule of the kingdom. Around the same time, a beaten and exhausted Charmy Bee and Saffron arrive in Knothole. After recuperating, they inform Sonic and Knuckles that Robotnik and the Dingoes have taken over Angel Island, turning it into a dystopia. The Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix, minus Sally and Bunnie, jump in a plane and head towards the Island, looking to liberate Knuckles' people.

What exactly has been happening with the Floating Island has been a mystery since Sonic has gotten back to Mobius. We knew Robotnik took over the Island but, beyond that, we haven't learned very much. At the very least, the first part of “Return to Angel Island” finally answers this question. Turns out, the Dingoes immediately aligned themselves with Robotnik and helped him take over the island. In exchange, the doctor outfitted the dingoes with high-tech weapons and suits. All the echidnas have been rounded up into interment camps. Except for Knuckles' dad, Locke, who is being imprisoned and tortured by Kage Von Stryker, Helmut von Stryker's cyborg son. This last point pisses Knuckles off, who loves his dad despite Locke being a massive tool.

A big problem with “Return to Angel Island” is that it has a huge cast. Sonic teams up with the Chaotix. With Charmy and Saffron rejoining the team, that brings the total number of heroes up to nine. Keep in mind, Saffron and Ray the Stuttering Squirrel have still received zero character development. Espio and Julie-Su are reduced to cameos, while Mighty and Vector are reduced to spouting one-liners. Instead, the focus is on the moving plot and the heavy action, with most of the pages devoted to Sonic and the Chaotix barging into the prison camp and fighting back the Dingoes.

A focus on action isn't exactly a problem, usually, as I enjoy some head-smashing as much as the next guy. However, there's something else preventing me from enjoying even that. Jon Gray has returned to pencil the issue. As last time, Gray's pencils are totally cartoonish. The expressions he draws for King Acorn and Sally when they're angry are hideous, the characters' jaws unhinging as they scream. All the expressions are exaggerated to extreme degrees, stretching far pass acceptability. The action suffers especially bad. It's hard to take the fight scenes seriously when Gray draws everything like a Loony Tunes cartoon. This is displayed when we see Espio strangle a Dingo with his tongue or the bees stinging another one in the ass.

There's no room for emotion in this story. Remington, traumatized by his time in the prison camp, has led a new religion hailing Knuckles as the savior, a prophesied avatar. Knuckles' reaction is pushed to the margins. Charmy's grim statement about what's happen on the island occupies one panel. As for the continuing turmoil between Sonic/Sally, I continue to hate how the book is handling this. The Princess continues to scream hatred at Sonic, demanding that he stop caring and that their relationship can never work, as long as Sonic insists on being a hero. Which is, as I've pointed out before, complete bullshit. The two fought on the battlefield together for years, for fuck's sake. Why are you toying with our emotions, Karl?

We stay on Angel Island for the second story, another “Mobius: 20 Years Later” installment entitled “My Dinner with Sonic.” Disappointingly, Wallace Shawn is a no show. Instead, the story focuses on the tension between Sonic and Knuckles. Despite being older and wiser, the two still don't get along. These tensions arise over the dinner table. The wives convince the two guys to put aside their differences long enough for Knuckles to explain how fucked the world is, unless immediate action is taken.

Ken Penders, let we never forget, sometimes writes his heroes as assholes. King Sonic gets the worst of it in this story. We learn that, for some reason, Sonic has isolated himself from his friends and loved ones. When Tails moved to Downunda – disappointingly, not to marry Barby Koala, as he's paired up with Mina now – Sonic didn't even bid him goodbye. Early on, he dunks his son's head under the pool water for hogging the volleyball net. (Not that I can blame him too much for that one, especially since Manik attempts to grope Lara-Su later.)

While Sonic and Knuckles are friendly in the current timeline, something has happened in the future to force them apart. The two argue cattily a few times. Sonic makes fun of Knuckles for learning about food. They argue about some past conflict, an Overlander uprising, that Knuckles didn't assist Sonic with. While I don't know why Ken is writing Sonic as such a jerk, I do like the two rivals sniping at each other. After all, there's a history of Sonic and the Guardian not exactly getting along swimmingly. Some of Penders' more natural dialogue is on display here. It leads up to a nice payoff, with Sally and Julie-Su insisting the two put aside their macho pissing contest and get along. That's funny.

While I have been enjoying “20 Years Later” more than the cover stories recently, I'll admit the story has been moving at a snail's pace. In this installment, the story finally circles back to the conflict at hand. Mainly that Mobius is on the verge of tearing itself apart, via some dimensional instability or something, which is manifesting as shitty weather. Knuckles grimly delivers this news over the dinner table, asking the Kingdom of Acorn for its assistance. From what I remember, this point still isn't resolved for quite some time, what with Penders being who he is. But it's nice to see some movement around these parts.

The beast that is 2004 continues to roll forward. The back-up is okay – Steven Butler's pencils are up to his usual excellent standards – though it has its problems. The cover story is another weak addition from Karl Bollers, who I once claimed was a good writer. [5/10]