Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 188

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 188
Publication Date: May 2008

Issue 118 of “Sonic the Hedgehog” gets right to the action so I will too. “Beating the House” –  it's a fight story set in a casino so, of course, it's called that – begins where we last left off. Sonic has been captured by the Destructix, taken back to Mogul's lair, while Nack menaces Sally by Freedom HQ. After the Princess and Amy Rose make quick work of the weasel, they head after Sonic. At the casino, they are joined by Geoffrey St. John and Rouge the Bat, both of which are there on prior business. Everybody teams up to rescue Sonic and defeat Mogul but the mammoth has another ace up his sleeve. That's a gambling pun.

Despite what the misleading cover art may lead you to believe, Sonic spends most of “Beating the House” indisposed. For about half the comic, he's in shackles and being pestered by Bean the Duck or the old “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” robots. This allows two of the hedgehog's love interests – Sally and Amy – a chance to play hero. And that's pretty satisfying, not to mention a fun turnabout on who is usually rescuing who in this book. Moreover, Sally and Amy make a good team. Despite technically being romantic rivals, the two have always respected each other. As a duo, Sally is the brains and Amy is the brawn. I wish they got together on adventures together more often.

Last issue ended with Nack the Weasel threatening to murder Sally, as payback for the emasculating knee the Princess gave him all the way back in issue 123. In this brief moment, the weasel actually cuts the figure of an intimidating villain. Since Nack previously murdered his old cohorts in cold blood, we know he has no qualms about killing people. Nack's not much of a chance against Amy Rose but the brief series of panels devoted to Sally fleeing the assassin, barely avoiding being shot, are actually mildly suspenseful. That could've been a cover story onto itself – Sally being stalked through the woods by Nack – but Ian let's it slid to the wayside.

Last issue, we briefly caught sight of St. John and Rouge going undercover together in Mogul's casino. With Geoffrey in a suit and Rouge in a glamorous dress, I thought Ian was maybe aiming for some Bond-esque adventure. But I guess Flynn isn't a Fleming fan. There's no espionage or baccarat in this issue. Truthfully, I'm not sure why Flynn chose to include these two characters. There's a cute panel where Geoffrey references his history of adventure with Sally. There's a mild twist concerning Rouge that doesn't go much of anywhere. I would've loved to have seen a story surrounding these two characters but, again, it's just one intriguing element in this overstuffed story.

The action sequences are pretty cool though. Sally was walled up in Castle Acorn for so long that, even now, it's still a pleasant surprise to see her break loose and kick ass. She lays a bitchin' spin-kick on Drago the Wolf's head in one panel. (This is but one example of the abuse Drago takes in this issue, something Flynn obviously takes delight in.) There's some other solid action moments. Once Sonic is finally free, he slams Bean's head across the bar. Amusingly, the duck seems to enjoy this experiences. St. John gets to fire off his crossbow and Amy smashes shit with her hammer, leading to a comical aside where Grounder recalls the days where Amy was less violent. It's not sophisticated stuff but it'll satisfy.

After that triumphant moment, “Beating the House” ends on a bit of a down note. Our heroes are all ready to confront Mammoth Mogul when the casino owner backs away. He has Sleuth Dawg and the other Destructix arrested. He claims complete ignorance of Sonic's kidnapping, claiming that all of this was happening inside his establishment but under his nose. It's bullshit and obviously so. Disappointingly, Sonic and Sally just accept this line and walk away. You'd think they would investigate further.

Perhaps realizing the comic is running a little short, Ian tags on a few pages at the end setting up next month. On Moebius, we see Fiona the Fox foxing badgering that world's villainous version of the Freedom Fighters. The comic ends by showing Scourge on the throne. I remember most of 2008 being devoted to Flynn building Scourge up as a proper threat and I suppose that begins here. There's some bitchy fan to be had from watching Fiona boss the evil version of Sally around, I'll say that much.

Matt Herms continues to pencil this story line. I liked his work on last month's issue but his stuff here is a little too loose. The overly round quality he brings to the character's faces becomes too prominent. Everyone starts to look a little too similar. In the last few pages, Anti-Sally and Fiona practically look like twins. Nack and the “Adventures of” robots also appear slightly off-model in the handful of panels they appear in. Still, Herms' work isn't too bad. The action scenes are energetic and there's a nice comedic aspects to the way he draws the funny moments.

There's individual moments inside issue 188 I like. Sally's encounter with Nack is good. Amy's reaction to Sonic thanking her is really cute. Yet, over all, the script fails this story. Flynn has a number of good ideas but smashes them all together into an unsatisfying whole. [6/10]