Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 154

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 154
Publication Date: October 2005

I didn't mention it last time, as I was too busy discussing Karl Bollers' in-coming retirement from “Sonic,” but Archie has drafted a new artist to work on their covers. Sanford Greene would draw a few covers for the book before gracefully disappearing. Greene's brief tenure as cover artist is probably due to his underwhelming – some would say garish or “ass ugly” - artwork. Patrick Spaziante would quickly return before soon-to-appear regular artist Tracey Yardley would mostly take over cover duties, with Spaz occasionally putting in an appearance. Anyway, on with the show.

The second part of “Songoose” begins with Mina being informed that Sonic and the Freedom Fighters will be acting as her bodyguards. This does not sit well with Ash, Mina's boyfriend/manager. He quickly butts heads with Sonic, believing that his girlfriend still has feelings for the speedy hedgehog. He's not entirely wrong. Personal matters are put aside when Robotnik sends new versions of Heavy and Bomb to attack the concert, endangering everyone's lives.

Ash's doubts aren't without good reasons. As I've pointed out, it's obvious that Mina still has a thing for Sonic. Of course, the problem is that Ash expresses these concerns in the worst way imaginable. Upon hearing that Sonic is going to be Mina's bodyguard, he immediately jumps down the guy's throat. He then confronts Mina in a passive-aggressive fashion, breaking up with her afterwards. As if that wasn't bad enough, he then picks a fight with Sonic. Keep in mind, this happens after the robots attack the concert. When Mina expresses her annoyance with Ash's antics, he starts dropping the love bomb. None of this changes my earlier impression of Ash Mongoose. He's an overly macho, emotionally manipulative asshole.

Of course, Ash just being left an asshole wouldn't be enough for Karl. He has to give the guy a redemptive moment. He ends up saving Mina's life. After an individual Bomb appears in her dressing room, he leaps on the explosion. This seems to prove to Mina that Ash really does loves her. They reconcile in the hospital. (Too bad for Mina that Ash will still be an asshole when he wakes up. That's what abusive boyfriends are like.) Sonic looks on sadly. If you're keeping count, this is roughly the ten thousandth time the comic has buried the Sonic/Mina romance. I think it does stick this time though, thank Christ.

As an action story, “Mongoose” is pretty underwhelming. The army of Bombs are mostly dealt with off-panel by Bunnie, Amy, and Tails. This doesn't make the collection of robotic suicide bombers seem very effective, do they? Heavy doesn't do much better. The bell-shaped 'bot tangos with Sonic briefly. The hedgehog dodges all the attacks easily, further undermining any tension. Sonic utilizes an old trick to defeat Heavy. He spins around, drilling a hole into the ground, dropping the robot into what appears to be well water. It's a move we've seen before, against one of the more uninspired enemies we've seen recently.

The conclusion of “Songoose” makes it clear that the assassination attempts were never the main point of the story. After his second attack is deflected, Robotnik simply gives up on this particular mission. Karl tries to wring some humor out of this, with Robotnik dismissing Mina's second album songs as inferior. It still comes off as a cheap, lazy conclusion. I can gleam the truth. This two-parter was more about squeezing more drama out of the Sonic/Mina romance, not about Eggman trying to kill the pop princess.

In the back pages, we greeted to a Ken Penders' joint named “More Than Meets the Eye.” The Knothole Brain Trust – Tommy, Rotor, Tails, Uncle Chuck, Snively, Fiona for some reason – are studying a sample of nanites. Tommy ponders on the meaning of life before taunting the nanites into attacking him. The microscopic machines then bond with the back of the turtle's shell. Somehow, he forms a neurological connection with the nanites. Tommy discovers that, just by thinking something, the machines will make it, allowing him to sprout wings or a jet pack from his shell or some such bullshit.

By this point, the fandom remained hostile to Tommy Turtle's return. The simple fact was the character had no reason to be in the book. Instead of just killing him off again, Archie's own brain trust insisted on keeping Tommy around. First, they tried to turn him into Rotor's neat freak partner. When that failed to make him interesting, Penders touched upon a far dumber idea: Turn the Turtle into a fucking Transformer. It's a bad idea, as Tommy's problem wasn't his lack of superpowers. Giving him new abilities does nothing to resolve the character's biggest issue. That he has no business being in the book in the first place. Setting up this new ability – in a very awkward, borderline nonsensical manner – is all “More Than Meets the Eye” accomplishes.

Art wise, all of issue 154 looks pretty shitty. I said Ron Lim was getting better last time. Any ground he gained previously, he looses once more. “Songoose: Part 2” is probably Lim's worst pencils in quite some time. His crowd shots are embarrassing, as the collection of Mobians look totally blank-eyed. Sonic, Sally, and Mina seemingly spend the entire story with static, “annoyed” expressions on their faces. The action is incredibly sloppy, with Sonic and Heavy bending off-model several times. Penders draws “More Than Meets the Eye” himself. As usual, his pencils are stiff, disproportionate, and blank faced. Ken really doesn't know how to draw turtles, as Tommy's appearance changes from panel to panel. The late in the story action is as lifeless as always.

It's fitting that Karl Bollers' final contribution to the book would revolve around Mina, by far his most enduring addition to the “Sonic” cast. I guess he wanted the final word on a character that clearly meant something to him. Karl's legacy on the book is a mixed one. He wrote some of my favorite stories and some of my most hated. At his best, he was probably the most ambitious, insightful writer “Sonic” ever had. At his worst, he wrote pointless plot twists and frustrating romantic melodrama. Either way, I am sad to see him go.

(Though the story has a happy ending. Unlike some former Sonic writers, Karl would go on to bigger and better things, eventually earning an Eisner Award nomination for “Watson & Holmes,” his modern update of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detectives. He has also, thus far, not sued Archie for anything.) [5/10]