Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 169

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 169
Publication Date: November 2006

With issue 169 of Archie's “Sonic the Hedgehog,” it was confirmed that – like God – Ian Flynn is one of us. Goobble Gobble. I mean, that he wrote a fan comic before coming aboard as Archie's head writer probably should've been our first indication. The point I'm making is that, as his first year on the book made clear, Ian was just as frustrated with the mess the book had become as we were. He was tired of all the bullshit plot turns, out-of-character writing, and wasted potential. His biggest objection as the writer was to fix that. He was also sick of Tommy Turtle. One of his explicit objectives was to murder the turtle. See? That's how you knew he was a fan.

“Order from Chaos – Part 2: The Great Harmony” picks up with Sonic sneaking into A.D.A.M's nanite city, checking to see that his dad is okay. After determining that his father is fine, Sonic rushes over to rescue his friends, Tails and Tommy. (And Shadow too, I guess.) With Robotnik's aerial egg-fleet flying in to bomb the Nanite City to ashes, Sonic has to act quickly. A.D.A.M uses his homing rod, powered by Turbo Tails and Hyper Shadow, to draw different colored Chaos Emeralds from all over the galaxy, using the powers to make himself into an invincible super-form. Luckily, Sonic utilizes the same Emeralds to make himself Super Sonic. Ultimately, it's not the hedgehog that saves the day though.

By this point, Ian's task of cleaning up the mess Ken and Karl left behind was just about wrapped up. I mean, he would continue to tidy up remaining plot points and expand on neutered characters. Throughout his next year, he would really focus on making the comic his own. With “Order from Chaos” - again, I don't think that title was picked just because it was catchy – he was really sweeping the debris under the rug. By the end of this story arc, the Nanites and Tommy and Tails' prophecy as the Chosen One would all be gone for good.

I know I've talked shit about Tommy Turtle pretty much non-stop since he was brought back to life. Back when the comics were new, I remembered Tommy Turtle being shoved into everything, just interrupting the flow of the book and annoying the hell out of everyone. Re-reading these issues, the turtle was present a lot less then I remembered. Though still annoying, still a symptom of the book's worst year, Tommy was less of a tumor than I recalled. Still, after considering it (and notably leaving the reptile out of most of his issues), Ian decided that Tommy must die. And I still consider it one of his best decision. All Flynn did was right what was set wrong previously. Tommy was never suppose to survive past his initial appearance.

Most surprising of all, Flynn even manages to somehow redeem Tommy Turtle in his final appearance. Fans were annoyed by Tommy but he was still Sonic's childhood friend, making him reluctant to beat his face in. (This makes A.D.A.M a better villain, as he takes advantage of that.) Tommy's final act is to seize control of his body long enough to end his life, flying into the Egg Fleet's cannons, destroying A.D.A.M and saving the world. After he's gone, Sonic and Tails reflects on the courage, determination, and willingness to protect others that was needed to do that. It's... Poignant? Surprisingly so! That's some ace writing, taking one of the book's most despised characters and making us kind of sad to see him go.

Tails being the Chosen One was a plot point that was more-or-less resolved already, save for one point. Tails was supposed to bring about the Great Harmony. That, by all appearances, didn't seem to happen. I mean, it's not as if Tails could remove all the conflict from the book. So Ian changes the meaning of the Great Harmony. After Tommy drawls all the Chaos Emeralds from the galaxy to Mobius – a nice callback to the Tossed in Space arc – Tails spills the emeralds into the Zone of Silence. We'll soon discover that this'll fuse the thousands of Emeralds into seven, while transforming the Zone of Silence into the Special Zone. Which makes the comics a little bit more like the games while clipping away at some confusing aspects.

Another interesting aspects of “Order from Chaos” might have been unintended by the writer. The issue begins with Sonic discovering Jules inside the Nanite City. (A nice touch: A.D.A.M told the Robian to self-destruct but didn't specify a time. So Jules set his countdown clock for forty years.) Later, while fighting with A.D.A.M/Tommy, the computer program claims that all his chaotic antics were done to emulate and impress Robotnik, his quote-unquote father. All along, Anonymous was trying to stand up to Daddy. This draws a parallel between Jules and Robotnik as dads, the effect their parenting has had on their respective sons. It doesn't solidify into an actual point, which is why I don't think Ian did it on purpose. But it's certainly interesting.

If “Order from Chaos” can be said to have any problem, it's being a little too plot heavy. The first half was, indeed, a bit heavy on the exposition. This second half is so focused on resolving its point that it doesn't find time to return to Knothole, letting us know what happened with Bunnie. It would've been nice to get a follow-up on that. In truth, Tommy's death is the only time this issue pauses to feature some real emotion. Shadow doesn't have much any reason to be in the story, after A.D.A.M utilizes his abilities. These are the kinds of things Dan Drazen would complain about. The second half isn't as solid as the first but it's still pretty great.

Despite being pretty front-loaded, issue 169 still finds room for a back-up story. “...For a Friend” focuses on the Chaotix. While Knuckles and Julie-Su are on a double date with Charmy and Saffron, the others focuses in on the still-Robotnik-controlled Golden Hive Castle. Otherwise known as Charmy's childhood home. Espio sneaks inside, discovering that there's no chance on saving the hive, that it's been totally assimilated by Eggman. Determined to save his friend the grief, he blows the whole thing way the fuck up.

Plot wise, “...For a Friend” resolves a pretty minor previous point. I can't say I really cared about Charmy being a prince much. It was always a kind of pointless development. Thanks to this story, we don't have to worry about that any. What makes this story worth reading are the smaller, character-oriented moments. There's a cute character beat where Espio spies on an Egg Drone playing Solitaire on his computer. This leads to the chameleon talking with Nicole. She appears on a computer screen in her lynx form, a cute foreshadowing of that becoming her default appearance soon enough. Even by focusing on Ray's stuttering, Flynn finds some minor character developed for the often neglected squirrel. Of course, Espio blowing up the building to save his friends' grief is interesting too, playing into the chameleon's developing personality as a stoic ninja.

Interestingly, Ken Penders did the inking and lettering for this story. I wonder how that worked out, the guy returning briefly to the book following his not exactly mutual separation? Anyway, Steven Butler handles the pencils. While usually reliable, Butler is having a slightly off day. Espio's limbs appear a little too noodly and angular at times, almost as if Ron Lim did some uncredited clean-up on this. Luckily, Butler still packs in some memorable images, like Espio rushing into the castle.

The flaws of “Order from Chaos” are really just nitpicks. Honestly, my biggest problem with this comic book is the eleven page ad shoved in the middle, advertising some long defunct, kid-centric social network called SparkTop. They dragged the Teen Titans into it, which was just rude. Anyway, while “The Darkest Storm” was supposed to be Ian's first big event as a writer, this is his first really great story arc for the book. He managed to take a disorderly, messy world and reorganize it in such a natural way, that makes so much sense. The result is so very satisfying. Tracy Yardley's artwork is pretty solid too, it must be said. While the first half of the story was superior, “Order from Chaos” still wraps up on a pretty great point. [8/10]