Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 168

 
Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 168
Publication Date: November 2006

As the book reached the end of his first year as head writer, Ian Flynn really pulled out all the stops. Issue 168 is when it was explicitly clear to me that Archie's “Sonic the Hedgehog” book had entered a new era. And, for the first time in six years, that was a good thing. The waste of the old was being cleared away to make room for something new. Despite the goofy cover art, this is one very good comic book. Let's, as a blue cartoon hedgehog is fond of saying, do it to it.

In Robotropolis, Dr. Robotnik has finally put all the pieces together. He figures out that A.D.A.M, his sentient computer virus son, has been Anonymous, the malicious third party acting against both him and the Freedom Fighters, all along. Being a master planner, A.D.A.M foresaw this. Using the Nanites in his shell as a conduit, the virus takes over Tommy Turtle. He has the Nanites that infected Bunnie and Jules activate in Knothole, creating a distraction and grabbing Tails. He incapacitates Shadow the Hedgehog. Both Shadow and Tails are valuable parts of his plan. The villain's endgame falls into place and he's rearing to take both Eggman and Sonic out.

With the first part of the very appropriately named “Order from Chaos,” Ian Flynn pulled off practically a damn miracle. As their run on the book came to an end, Ken Penders and Karl Bollers threw out probably a dozen plot points that never went anywhere or did anything. Seems like both writers were just throwing lots of things against the wall, seeing what would stick. Or maybe they were out of ideas. Either way, the book had become a mess. Though he started his clean-up in “The Darkest Storm,” with “Order from Chaos,” Flynn takes nearly every point the previous writers sets up and ties them together into a coherent plan.

That lame attempt to make Tommy Turtle interesting by giving him Nanite-powered transforming abilities? Actually a plot by Anonymous to give himself a physical form. The Nanites being released and building a city? The city was a distraction, so the Nanites could pulled the homing rod A.D.A.M really needs for his plan. That business of Bunnie, Nicole, and Jules being infected by Nanites? That was so A.D.A.M has eyes in Knothole and perfect ways to distract the Freedom Fighters. Those robotic Destructix that appeared and reappeared a few times? Fakes, sent to make sure Robotnik watched the faked video of somehow talking to them. Shadow working for Eggman? Well, Shadow is needed for Anonymous' master plan too. That business of Tails being the Chosen One and bringing about the Great Harmony? The writer is going to get to that as well. It might seem convoluted but that it makes sense at all is fucking amazing.

Probably the greatest stroke of genius was turning Tommy Turtle into a villain. (Or, at least, the physical embodiment of one.) In the two-or-so years he had been a main member of the cast, Tommy had accomplished nothing but annoy the hell out of readers. Making him into a bad guy redirected all of that fan resentment in the right direction. Flynn even makes some of Tommy's previous incompetent antics intentional acts of sabotage carried out by Anonymous. The turtle gains a silvery redesign that is even somewhat intimidating, looking like what I imagine Mecha-Gamera would be. To prove he's a bad-ass, he has A.D.A.M./Tommy easily subdue Shadow. Which is probably an example of Shadow succumbing to the Worf Effect but, fuck it, I'll allow it.

Yeah, I guess another somewhat unsightly cliché is employed in this story. As Anonymous slots Shadow and Tails into his machine, he explains his master plan. That's right, he performs a villainous monologue, detailing every aspect of his evil scheme before crushing his opponent. You could even call this exposition, as A.D.A.M pauses to explain something about Chaos Emerald, the objects he seeks to gather. All of this is true. But I'm so impressed by the writers ability to make sense out of all this nonsense that I'm willing to let this stuff slide a little.

What elevates “Order from Chaos” from being a good story to a truly outstanding is that Flynn still finds room for some emotional content. When Bunnie marches into Rotor's lab, she is not under her own control. The Nanites are forcing her arms and legs, causing her to smash Nicole's monitor and attack Sonic. All the while, tears are streaming from her eyes. The Chaotix are called in to subdue her. Unlike the quasi-rape Bunnie suffered in “Sonic's Angels,” Ian makes sure that Bunnie keeps her agency during this ordeal. It's not just an action beat but a sequence of honest emotion. Sonic's interaction with his dad, also controlled by the villain, gets another almost tearful moment from our hero.

In the back pages, Ian Flynn picks up another plot point that a previous writer introduced and then seemingly forgot about. I'm referring to Antoine's father falling sick. “Courage and Honor” opens with Antoine in his hut, still in disarray from Anti-Antoine's time in Knothole. A touching moment between Bunnie and Antoine is interrupted when Sonic bursts into the room. He has bad news. General D'Coolette, who was also poisoned by Anti-Antoine, has taken a turn for the worst.  The coyote and his girlfriend gather around his sick father, having a heart-to-heart before Antoine's dad finally passes.

General D'Coolette becoming sick is a plot point that nobody has mentioned since Karl Bollers introduced it back in issue 153.  Even the clarification that Anti-Antoine poisoned the General is Flynn's invention. That's how little attention the previous staff paid attention to stuff. Flynn uses that dangling plot point to build a touching story. As Antoine and Bunnie sit around the General's hospital bed, Antoine apologizes for his past cowardice and rash actions. His father forgives him, insisting that he was always proud of his son, that he always loved him. He even finds time to bless Antoine and Bunnie's relationship. The elder D'Coolette was never much of a character but, in his last appearance, Flynn makes him a real living thing. He makes his loss felt. It's surprisingly heartfelt stuff. (I imagine Ian's feelings were genuine. He dedicates the story to his deceased mother.)

“Courage and Honor” is a really well written story. It's a shame that the artwork isn't up to that same standard. Someone named Gary Bedell does the pencil for this story. Bedell draws the Mobians with weirdly stretched out bodies. Bunnie, for one example, looks about seven feet tall. Everyone's limbs are too long, too skinny. The heads are too round, everyone's faces looking the same. Sonic's spines, meanwhile, drape all the way done his back in a really weird looking way. I will give Bedell this much. His facial expressions are good, so he still manages to express the emotion at the center of this story.

Tracy Yardley's pencils on the cover story, by the way, are up to his usual standard of quality. Flynn's script has to unpack a lot in this one, which is why I forgive him for one or two contrived move. Otherwise, the cover story moves super quickly and smoothly, cutting through about two years of bullshit in a way that looks easy. The back-up story, meanwhile, is a genuinely touching story about a father and son coming together just as one of them is about to die. I don't give out really high grades on this blog very often but, fuck it, this is a [9/10.]