Sonic X: Issue 25

Sonic X: Issue 25
Publication Date: October 2007

With issue 25, “Sonic X” reaches its first anniversary issue. While a major creative shake-up made Archie's main “Sonic the Hedgehog” book readable again, “Sonic X' has quietly been rolling along. The comic wouldn't make it to another milestone issue, so we're past the halfway point. By now, it's clear that “Sonic X” is unlikely to rise above its roots as an occasionally entertaining, often forgettable kid's book. Still, the series was capable of tossing out a decent issue every once in a while, such as this one.

Sonic and his friends' peaceful relaxation is interrupted when some bad news breaks over the TV. A group of Sonic lookalikes, each a different color, have been reeking havoc in the city. Naturally, the hedgehog hero won't stand for this. He races out to fight the copies. He's surprised to discover that the evil clones aren't the result of an Eggman experiment. Instead, the mysterious S.O.N.I.C.X. organization is behind this latest wicked scheme. When Sonic takes the fight to their base, he uncovers an even creepier plan.

In October of 2006, “Sonic X” rolled out a fun issue containing a spooky story about ghosts and zombies. The series' second October edition doesn't celebrate Halloween, though this issue is mildly creepy. Instead, Ian Flynn takes aim at one of the Sonic fandom's most annoying attributes: Recolors. For those who somehow don't know, some “Sonic” fans have the bad habit of changing an established cast member's color, adding a few minor accessories, and calling it an original character. In “The Color Sonic,” the real Sonic has to fight a group of literal recolors, a band of lookalikes that are only distinguished from him by their colors. Amusingly, Sonic is unimpressed with these guys. The book doesn't make any deeper comments about the fandom but there's no way Flynn didn't do this on purpose.

They don't necessarily make for the most nuanced stories but there's something to be said for a good ol' comic book fight scene. Watching Sonic and friends battle a squad of clones is worth a chuckle or two. There's some cool visuals. Like the rainbow of evil Sonics rushing up a skyscraper at the real deal. A nice touch has Sonic dodging the attackers, causing them to hurt each other. There's also a fun series of panels where Knuckles, Tails, and Amy crash the party. Knux and Sonic casually bounce the orange copy back and forth, trading barbs at the same time.

A minor touch that ends up elevating “The Color Sonic” just slightly is the attention Flynn gives to the hedgehog's heroics. While fighting with the gang of rainbow Sonics, a lamppost gets knocked over, potentially injuring a passing motorist. Sonic has to pause to help this civilian out. When the bad guys interrupt his rescue mission, he gets super pissed. Sonic will not abide collateral damage and his enemies exploiting this especially irks him. Look at that, even Sonic the Hedgehog is a better Superman than the “Man of Steel” Superman.

Well, those two divergent characters do have one thing in common: Casually murdering their enemies. When Sonic realizes how dangerous the rainbow gang is in a populated area, he gets an idea. He gets the cloned hedgehogs to follow him to Eggman's base. There, the mad scientist – amusingly, clad in pajamas and bunny slippers – blast all the other Sonics to smithereens. Sonic pulls a similar scheme later on, when S.O.N.I.C.X. fires lasers into a cloud of smoke, eliminating their own copy instead of the real Sonic. Since this is a kid's book, we don't see the smoking, grisly remains. Instead, the clones just leave their shoes behind. And, yes, Sonic didn't personally murder his clones. But he manslaughtered them at the very least.

In their second mission, the potential S.O.N.I.C.X. has as villains is spoiled once again. Because they're like Andy from “Toy Story,” they put their organization's name on the bottom of the clones' shoes. Sonic easily tracks them down, where he's presented with their ultimate copy: A clone of the original Sega Sonic, with his big eyes and pudgy body. (Obviously, this predates “Sonic Generations.”) Sonic fighting an alternate version of himself, beloved by fans, should be a big deal. Instead, it's shoved into the back of the comic. What should've been an event fight is reduced to a rushed climax. Ian really should've ended this one on a cliffhanger of Classic Sonic leaping from his clonin' pod, saving the big fight for the next issue.

Despite my reservations, issue 25 of “Sonic X” is still a quick, fun little read. As I've said before, it's becoming increasingly clear that speedy, junky fight stories like this are the best “Sonic X” has to offer. But this is definitely one of the better ones that have come along during the series' lifespan, even if it had the potential to be so much more. [7/10]