Sonic X: Issue 19

Sonic X: Issue 19
Publication Date: May 2007

I've talked about this over and over again while reviewing “Sonic X.” If there's nothing else interesting about this comic, it's the way the Sonic characters are shoved into our world. In the past, Sonic and friends have experienced Earthly holidays and traditions. They have, from time to time, visited different famous cities around the world. While “Sonic X's” quality would also come off as somewhat compromised, at least the idea of the blue hedgehog speeding around Earth as we know it is sort of interesting. Issue 19 might as well be “Sonic Goes to Las Vegas.”

The Thorndyke family has its fingers in seemingly everything. I guess that's why they are so rich? The latest venture of Chris' dad is a casino in Vegas, bearing the family name. Even though Chris is too young to gambling, he still tags along with his dad to the grand opening. Naturally, Sonic, Tails, and Amy follow too. Coincidentally, Eggman and his minions are also in the city. He's built – what else? – a giant robot, with the intention of robbing the casinos. I guess its luck that Sonic happen to be there?

I'll give Joe Edkin this much. He often makes the most of what he's given. “Muerta! Las Vegas!” features several loosely disguised Vegas landmarks. Even though this is a kids' book, it's sort of surprising that most of the issue is set in a casino, places where kids aren't always allowed. Then again, this is modern day Vegas we're talking about. It's a candy colored theme park for the whole family. So naturally there's a video arcade in the Thorndyke casino. (And it's not as if “Sonic” is unfamiliar with random gambling references.) Still, Edkin includes pretty much everything the city is associated with except for the surrounding desert, Siegfried and Roy, and the call girl cards littering the sidewalk.

Sadly, Edkin doesn't mine very many laughs from contrasting Sonic and friends with the Vegas location. A large section of the story is devoted to the quartet hanging out in the arcade. Chris and Sonic play a racing game. Sonic is unenthusiastic and unfamiliar with the controls, Chris winning the race. Since he's such a sad, pathetic creature with so few victories in his life, Chris is overjoyed by this. Later, after beating Amy at the same game, Rose smashes the cabinet. Luckily, Eggman attacks the city before the four can get kicked out.

You'll notice I haven't mentioned Sonic much in this review. The blue hedgehog actually removes himself from a long portion of the book. You see, Sonic doesn't like the casino, as it remind him of a previous time when Eggman stuck him inside a giant pinball machine. Okay, fair enough. Yet Sonic turning into such a moody child is definitely surprising. He flees the city and hangs out in a field of flowers for a while. Plot wise, this happens so Sonic won't be around to immediately stop Eggman when he attacks the city. Which is pretty lazy writing, really.

I continue to object to how “Sonic X” characterizes Eggman. He's a big dumb ass, focused on stealing human money so he can build more weapons of mass destruction. That's pretty modest goals for a villain of his intellect. Way too often, this series has fallen back on him building a goofy giant robot that is easily thwarted by Sonic. It's a formula “Sonic X” has relied on pretty much since the beginning. Issue 19 isn't any different. This issue's giant robot is slot machine themed. Instead of getting cash when certain images line up, different forms of attacks are activated. And they're are pretty useless too. What's the combat advantage of shooting lemonade or cherries at someone?

“Sonic X's” writing might be pretty boring but at least the artwork has been consistently nice for the last few issues. Tracy Yardley comes back to draw this one. Out of all the book's regular artists, Yardley adds the most emotion to the stock “Sonic X” designs. Nutty Eggman, grouchy Sonic, and pissed Amy look especially good in Tracy's style. Chris making such a big deal about winning a video game is pretty annoying but Yardley draws his reaction with such energy, that it almost works.

You know, after a slow start, for a while there it seemed like the “Sonic X” comic might actually be getting kind of good. When the series was focused on doing high energy homages to classic genre cinema, it actually became pretty fun. When it falls back on this lazy formula, it's competent but quite boring. At least Ian Flynn's stories tend to be a little more character based. You can really tell when Joe Edkin is phoning it in. Here's hoping for a random “American Werewolf in London” homage. [5/10]