Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 156

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 156
Publication Date: November 2005

How many times has Archie's “Sonic the Hedgehog” series threatened to marry Sally off? Issue 18 is the first example that comes to mind for me, where Sonic and Sally were drawn as husband and wife on the cover. Even that wasn't the first time, as the two were married in a fantasy sequence in issue 16. Considering alternate futures and that period where King Acorn was demanding Sally marry Antoine, the comic has constantly dangled the idea of marriage in front of our faces. Issue 156, despite its non-indicative cover, is doing yet another matrimonial fake-out. Probably not the last either.

Before the ink is even dry on the paperwork, Sally and Antoine are marching down the aisle. Sonic is seriously upset, certain something funny is going on. He crashes the ceremony. Some help from Elias keeps him from getting thrown out, the Prince accepting his right as King. Simultaneously, Anti-Antoine plans to kill King Acorn, completing his evil plan. Luckily, Sonic can see through the impostor Antoine's treachery.

Despite working on the book for over a decade, in this story, Ken is showing a total inability to grasp these characters. Even though they've been separated for a while, Sonic declares that Sally “should be with him.” Which paints our hero as possessive and entitled. Further misunderstanding Sonic, at the end he happily walks off with Fiona, a character he still has no connection with. (I also doubt that Sonic would willfully hurt his best friend, as Tails is clearly bothered by this relationship.) Sally, meanwhile, treats Sonic very coldly, even though she's also opposed to the wedding. It's just bad writing, you guys.

Once again, in a year as shitty as 2005, even a story arc as bad as “Line of Succession” presents some positive attributes. Evil Antoine emerges as a surprisingly ruthless villain. He revels in his villainy. During his wedding reception, he leaves just so he can deliver the killing blow to the king. He delights in throwing Sonic in the dungeon. When Elias appears to take the crown, he schemes to kill him in front of everyone. It's an old fashion style of villainy, very over-the-top, only missing the twirled mustache to be complete. But it entertains. Considering before this arc, he was just another generic member of Evil Sonic's gang, he proves a compelling nasty foe.

Perhaps more importantly, “Line of Succession” wraps up the entire impostor story line, almost as an afterthought. In the final pages, quickly, Sonic punches out Evil Antoine. He quickly surmises, somehow, that Antoine was replaced by his villainous double quite some time ago. Using the device Rotor built for him a few issues back, Sonic smoothly and easily returns the Bad Antoine to his world and the Good Antoine to Mobius. It's rushed and pretty sloppy but, considering the book had been stretching out this dumb story for a while now, nevertheless satisfying. Watching Evil Antoine get punched in the gut is also pretty satisfying.

Oh yeah, Prince Elias is back too. It's another example of how poor Penders' grasp on these characters is. (Which is especially ridiculous, considering he created Elias.) Elias' previous defining characteristic has been his unwillingness to rule. How many panels did he spend whining about not wanting to be king? I really didn't mind Elias hanging out on that farm, staying out of everyone's way and out of the comic's ongoing plot. Yet in this story, he rushes back to Knothole and, within a few minute, assumes the throne. I know he does it to save his sister but it still comes off as a rash decision, one at odds with his previously established personality.

In the back pages, Dulcy's solo story “The Price of Flames' continues. Even though the underground dragon city of Vesuvio is under attack by Robotnik's roboticized dragons, the community's leader still has time to punish Dulcy for returning. She's thrown in a lava bound pit, chained by her nose ring. One of the robot dragons collide with, breaking the chain and removing the nose ring. Her fire breathing ability renewed, Dulcy leads the attack against the robots, saving the day and being accepted back into the community.

“The Price of Flames” features some serious writing problems, which I'll address momentarily, but it remains a satisfying story. After spending all of last month on set-up, Mike Gallagher gets to the point here. Within a few pages, Dulcy faces the people who rejected her, regains her fire breathing abilities, saves the day, and redeems herself in her enemy's eyes. It doesn't leave much room for character development. The other dragons in Vesuvio are loose sketches, at best. But it is satisfying to see these events play out in such a neat fashion.

I'd probably give the story high marks if it wasn't for one serious problem. After regaining her fire breath, Dulcy incinerates the Robian dragons. She tearfully points out that these Robians were once normal dragons, brain-washed and roboticized by Robotnik. In other words, Dulcy just murdered her Mom, among other innocents. But don't worry! Mike Gallagher has an ass-pull that absolves Dulcy of the crime. See, dragons have souls that live forever. They'll just be reborn in new bodies. This presumably means Dulcy's reincarnated mother will remember that time her daughter burned her to death. It's a really dumb, last minute plot turn that ruins an otherwise decent story. It feels like Gallagher forgot what Robians were exactly until the last minute, throwing in the immortal soul business to cover his ass.

Aside from making Dulcy a cold-blooded killer, “The Price of Flame” is notable for another reason. It would be Art Mawhinney's final credit on the book. I've written a lot about Mawhinney's art since beginning this retrospective. So it should be known that he's one of my favorite “Sonic” artist. As far as final bows goes, “The Price of Flame” is a decent one. The characters are expressive, the lines are crisp, and the action is dynamic. I just wish the script was up to Art's standards. As far as I can tell, Mawhinney has mostly retired from working on comics, with his most recent work being on kid's Look-N-Find books. (James Fry draws the cover story and does a decent job, by the way.)

I can't really give issue 156 a good review, considering the obvious problems both the cover story and back-up has. Mike Gallagher's work has always been full of sloppy elements while Ken's skills seriously atrophied near the end of his run. But at least that dumb Evil Antoine business is finally resolved. Just when he was beginning to become a decent bad guy too! All and all, it's another middling issue in a series clearly running out of steam. For those who own the print edition, I hope you enjoyed that five page long HeroScape ad in the middle of the book. [5/10]