Sonic X: Issue 10

Sonic X: Issue 10
Publication Date: June 2006

The original “Sonic the Hedgehog” video game was released on June 23, 1991. This was one day before my third birthday. Yes, I think this is an interesting coincidence. That made 2006 the fifteenth anniversary of the entire franchise. Archie had been marking their comics with a fifteenth anniversary logo for a few months. Issue 10 of “Sonic X” happily announces the occasion by sticking a big birthday cake on the cover. It's sort of weird that Archie's secondary Sonic book would make a bigger deal out of this. The interior content of the book pays homage to the anniversary as well.

“No Thanks for the Memories!” is a two-parter that begins here. Following some fall-out from previous events, Chris notices that his furry friends have disappeared. Sonic is as confused by this as the boy. Eggman's latest scheme has zapped the hedgehog and his friends into a pocket dimension that looks an awfully lot like the first three levels of the original “Sonic the Hedgehog” video game. While Chris and Grandpa Chuck try to figure out what's going on, Sonic and the gang try to survive.

I feel both foolish and dissatisfied. You know all that shit I've mentioned about the space shuttle and Emerl in the last few issues? That I assumed Joe Edkin was building up towards some big story line? Turns out the writer was building up to events that happened on the “Sonic X” cartoon show. Apparently the events of “Sonic Adventure 2” has happened between issues 9 and 10. Emerl got smashed somewhere throughout this. It's hugely disappointing that stuff that happened in the last two issues got resolved outside the book. Archie never did that with SatAM in the main book. It definitely seems like bad planning to do that with “Sonic X.”

Emerl's death and Shadow becoming a player is not the only thing that happened in the space between issues. “No Thanks for the Memories!” begins with Sonic introducing the Chaotix and Vanilla the Rabbit to Chris and the gang. This is handwaved away with a brief dialogue balloon about how the barrier between Sonic's dimension and Earth has weakened, allowing other people to come through. I don't know if this is just cheap writing or something else that happened on the cartoon show. Considering Cream missing her mom was her major motivation, it's also a bummer that they were reunited outside the book. Presumably Joe Edkin has some plans for the Chaotix, as their appearance at the start of this issue are just cameos.

Bringing in new characters and resolving others are not the main points for issue 10. Instead, this is meant to be an extended throwback to the original game. About half the book is devoted to Sonic running through the Green Hill Zone, the Marble Zone, and the Spring Garden Zone. The biggest difference is that Amy and Knuckles showed up, popping up as Sonic enters a new stage. For an old school Sonic nerd like myself, I do get a certain thrill seeing Moto-Bug, the spinning spiked bridge, and the various traps and perils brought to life. Edkin's script includes some clever element. Sonic can't escape the boss battles because a force field appears. He comments on surviving a dip in lava because of his rings. He's baffled after grabbing a shield.

It's fun and what makes it even more entertaining is Tracy Yardley's artwork. Yardley cleverly alternates between vertical angled shots that directly replicate the original game levels and more dynamic, action-y shots. Such as Moto-Bug's skidding wheels, Sonic getting struck by a wrecking ball, freeing animals from the prison unit, or peering over a pool of lava. The facial expressions are vivid and emotive. It's probably the best work Yardley has contributed to Archie thus far.

So what's Chris up to throughout this? Not a lot. He mopes on the field after Sonic misses his soccer game. It's a cute panel but doesn't change the perception that Thorndyke is a whiny little bitch. After he takes a trip to Angel Island with his Grandpa, it's apparent that the Thorndykes will get Sonic out of the pickle he's in right now. Is that a better way to involve Chris in the plot then just having Sonic rescue him? I'm not sure. Maybe Edkin will really make it work next time.

Interestingly, Ian Flynn would employ a similar tactic tactic a few years later during the “Genesis” story arc, when Sonic and the Freedom Fighters would get dropped into a recreation of the first video game. I'm sure Flynn was aware of what Edkin did here. I guess just making the original game zones an alternate universe is the easiest solution to that problem? While I'm annoyed that issue 10 of “Sonic X” left some stuff to the cartoon show, the video game elements, along with Yardley's awesome pencils, are fleet-footed enough to entertain me. [6/10]