Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 197

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 197
Publication Date: February 2009

In the past, I've noted Ian Flynn's strength for pacing out the big event storylines. The “Eggman Empire,” “Order from Chaos,” and “Enerjak: Reborn” stories were all followed up with slower paced issues. After finally putting Scourge away for a while, you'd think the author would do something similar. Issue 197 is a stopgap issue between the end of “Hedgehog Havoc” and the plot turns Flynn has planned for issue 200. But it's not a character based one.

Our cover story, “Consequences,” is essentially split in two. The first half is set on the Cosmic Interstate between zones. Sonic is escorting Scourge to the No Zone, the intermediate world policed by Zonic and the other Zone Cops. Naturally, Scourge escapes along the way. Upon arriving in the No Zone, Sonic is shocked to see it under fire by outside forces. Meanwhile, in Mobotropolis, Sally is on trial before the Council of Acorn. By allowing Sonic to drive Scourge back to Moebius, she broke a direct order from the Council, putting them at risk for treason.

In the No Zone sequences, Ian Flynn is essentially doing away with the Zone War concept Dan Slott introduced years ago. Sonic outright asks why Zonic never arrived to capture Scourge, considering both hedgehogs were leaping through zones all willy-nilly. Sonic also asks why Scourge has never tried to capture Eggman, since he's technically an escapee from another zone as well. Zonic answers the latter by explaining that Robo-Robotnik is basically the same as the old Robotnik and the universal balance something-or-other dictates that Sonic must fight a version of Robotnik. As for the first question, Zonic explains that the multiverse is under attack by some jack-ass named Dr. Nega, meaning the Zone Cops have been too busy to capture Scourge. These are technical plot holes I never even really thought about and I don't think Flynn really needed to waste page space addressing them.

You'd probably expect that business about Dr. Nega attacking the Zone Cops to be set-up for a future story line, right? Well, maybe Flynn planned it that way but Sega had other ideas. Dr. Nega is a more-evil alternate version of Robotnik, who first appeared in one of Sega's handheld Sonic games. For whatever reason, Sega's corporate stooges would forbade Flynn from using the character in the comic. In short, Dr. Nega is introduced in order to prevent Zonic and his Zone Cop friends from making future appearances in the book. It's an another attempt by Flynn to put a cap on a previous writer's overly ambitious plot lines. Considering I've also liked the multiverse idea, I'm a little annoyed that Flynn would throw this one in the trash can so wantonly.

The comic devoted half of 2008 to Sonic and Scourge beating each other up. You'd think that would be enough. Instead, “Consequences” sneaks in a little more hedgehog-on-hedgehog action. At the very least, Matt Herms and Tracy Yardley have some fun with this. The Cosmic Highway certainly makes a memorable background for a fight scene. Once in the No Zone, Sonic and Scourge are vertical due to the zones wacky gravity. The typical theatrics are provided as well. Your standard amount of kicking, dodging, and spin-dashing. The best part of this scene comes after Scourge is captured, when he continues to claim that he's Sonic at his full potential. Because some people never learn.

The political intrigue in Knothole is a little more interesting. If nothing else, I admire Ian for following through on Sonic and Sally going behind the Council's back. He could have just let that one past and I probably wouldn't have noticed. It's mostly a moment designed to show off Sally's strength once again. Only this time her argument is a little weak. It boils down to “Yeah, I broke the rules but I've spent my entire life saving everybody's ass, so trust my judgment.” Which probably wouldn't hold up in court.

When Ian brought most of Sally's Substitute Freedom Fighters back at Council members – except for Arlo who I guess fell down a fucking hole or something – I assumed it was mostly a callback to an obscure corner of the comic's lair. It might still be but Flynn at least maintains their original characterization. Hamlin the Pig is a still a prick for no reason. He's the guy on the Council interested in persecuting Sally. Sally asks the pig why he's such a prick, apparently having forgotten that he's always been this way. His response can be summed up as being bitter over being forgotten as a Freedom Fighter and wanting more influence in Knothole. You know, conflicts of interest like that usually got someone kicked out of politics once upon a time.

“Consequences” is a little too focused on narrative mechanics. However, Flynn does sneak in one or two of those little moments I like so much. Sometimes, it's all of a panel. Such as Sally looking hurt, hugging herself, as Hamlin walks away and Rotor touches her shoulder. After his adventure in the No Zone, Sonic returns home and bonds with his parents. This only occupies one page but it's a nice page. Bernie gives a big hug. Sonic reclines on the couch with both of them, admitting that he's still not used to coming home to a house with his mom and dad.

Speaking of emotional moments! Ian saves some space at the end of this story devoted to Snively's on-going e-romance with a mysterious character known as “Regina,” whose true identity would be revealed soon enough. In a nice touch, Herms/Yardley draws Snively bidding his girl adieu in a panel shaped like a heart. We get a few panels devoted to his interior monologue, bitching about how bad things are. Not only does this set up future storylines, including Robotnik's latest scheme, but it's just nice to see Snively in a better mood than usual. You know, the universe shits on the guy. Throw him a bone.

In the back pages, Flynn throws in another one of those contractually obligated Sega game adaptations. “Knight Time” adapts “Sonic and the Black Knight,” otherwise known as the “Sonic with a Sword” game. Some elf wizard or something summons Sonic out of the sky so he can fight some intimidating knight dude. When the villain wrecks Sonic's chili dog, he gets really annoyed. The bad guy then assembles a trio of warriors, which are obviously Knuckles, Shadow, and Blaze in some vaguely medieval looking armor. By that point, the story abruptly ends by informing the reader they should just buy the damn video game already.

By 2009, I wasn't following Sega's “Sonic” games very closely, having been burned too many times before. I was especially disinterested in the so-called “story book” series, which seemed to move the Sonic series even further away from the aspects that endeared it to me in the first place. So, no, I've never played “Sonic and the Black Knight.” This comic appears to be a fairly close adaptation of the game's inciting incident. Out of context, it comes off as incredibly bizarre. You have these random fantasy elements that are totally at odds with the Sonic universe we know. For some reason, Knuckles, Shadow, and Blaze are knights aligned with the bad guy. I suspect even Yardley was a bit baffled by this, as his artwork is slightly off-model. About the only thing that makes sense to me about “Knight Time” is Sonic's nonchalant response to getting summoned to some other world to help fight evil. He continues to munch on his chili dog and tells the wizard lady that this kind of shit happens to him all the time. That seems in character.

Flynn's scripts are still far from bad but the comic is still in a slight slump at the start of the new year. I seem to recall the next big event knocking the book back on its feet. Devoting an entire issue to wrapping up some plot holes and shifting the mythology around wasn't a terrible idea but it was not executed in the best manner. And just forget about that back-up story, which I can barely make heads or tails off. [6/10]