Sonic Universe: Issue 7

Sonic Universe: Issue 7
Publication Date: August 2009

During my previous “Sonic Universe” review, I expressed some concern over whether King Shadow re-entering this story would derail it. Up until his release at the end of last issue, the “30 Years Later” arc had been about the Dark Presence trying to sabotage the peace King Sonic has established over the planet. Shadow butting back into the plot changed the arc's priority. Now, it's another story about the evil future version of Shadow and his tendency to rule the world with an iron fist. Which is fine but Flynn already told that story, during the last future set arc. Well, turns out the writer's entire objective for this story was different from what I was expecting.

In “What's Old is New Again,” Lara-Su and King Sonic seek out Vector's son, Argyle. Skye and Melody, Mina and Tails' kids, tag along. Afterwards, Argyle introduces Jacques and Belle, the cyborg children of Antoine and Bunnie. Sonic immediately christens the group the Freedom Fighters. They race off to the Castle, sneaking inside and successfully beating up some Dark Presence's agents. Meanwhile, in the castle's depths, King Shadow unleashes a terrible threat that totally derails Lien-Da's plot and endangers the entire world.

Yep, turns out this story arc wasn't about how peace is hard to keep in the long term, how the past is never really done with the present. Instead, “30 Years Later” is about forming the Future Freedom Fighters. Yes, there's something irresistible about the kids of the current Freedom Fighters forming a new team. I mean, “Sonic the Hedgehog: The Next Generation” is a fan fiction just begging to be written. I guess, in my elderly dotage, blatant fan-baiting like this is less interesting to me than exploring the sociopolitical ramifications of the good guys actually winning.

Sadly, the introduction to this new team is very rushed. We're just getting to know Melody and Skye at this point, though both seem promising. We already know Argyle but, like too many of Ken Penders' creations, he wasn't developed much during his last appearance. Here, Ian Flynn turns Argyle into the Smart Guy of the group, a computer hacker and an expert in surveillance. The writer than dumps Belle and Jacques on us. No, he doesn't explain why Bunnie's children would also be cyborgs. (Or how Bunnie, whose reproductive organs have presumably been replaced with machinery, can even have children.) From the little we've seen of Jacques and Belle, they're basically clones of their parents. I just wish Ian would've introduced these two sooner, instead of dropping them in the last third of an already busy story arc.

Really, the only character development of the Future Freedom Fighters we get are romantic in nature. It's already been hinted that Lara-Su and Argyle have feeling for each other, an idea Flynn runs with. Flynn hints at a potential love-square or something when Jacques makes goo-goo eyes at Lara-Su and Belle suggestively rubs Argyle's chest, making the others jealous. Later, Jacques swoops in and rescues Melody Prower, making the mongoose swoon. And least we forget that it's already been established that Skye has a little crush on Lara-Su, a point Flynn can barely bother to include this time. I've got no problem with shipping but let's actually develop the characters before we give them a half-dozen potential pairings, please.

Future, pissed-off Lien-Da made for a strong villain for this arc. Reintroducing King Shadow essentially removes Lien-Da's purpose from the story. Then Flynn has Shadow literally remove Lien-Da from the story. He crunches the special bracelet that keeps Lien-Da in this time line or something, wiping her from existence. I'm going to miss Lien-Da with extra evil but this move is so ruthless, so sudden, that it reestablishes Shadow as a hardened, threatening villain. It's rare that we see a character outright murder another person in this comic, so the scene certainly makes an impression on the reader.

The horrible, world-threatening monstrosity that Shadow unleashes in the castle's basement is also a new character... Kind of. In an amusing panel, Queen Sally references dangerous objects Sonic and the gang encountered at some point in the future. Such as an Anarchy Beryl Bomb and E-107 Theta. But the most dangerous artifact is Tikhaos. Yeah, at some point, Tikal and Chaos were merged into a drippy villain that hungers for Chaos energy and turns into a giant monster when it gets too much. No, this doesn't make too much sense. However, I'm a sucker for stuff like this, obscure references to long past stories. The idea that Sonic and the others have trophies or artifacts from previous, unseen adventures – like Batman with his giant penny and robot dinosaur – is irresistible. And Tikhaos, with a body half-way between a liquid and a solid, is a memorably grotesque enemy.

If you're just reading this story for action scenes, “Sonic Universe: Issue 7” does satisfy. There's a pretty cool bit where Skye, still trying to control his tails, is unleashed on some Dark Presence soldiers. He spins around the room, like the Tasmanian Devil, and knocks everyone unconscious. There's also some neat panels, displaying the Future Freedom Fighters' various super powers. Yes, Jacques and Belle can fly. And have a sword and blaster hand, for some reason. Melody has super speed, obviously inherited from her mother. I guess Mobian genetics, which obviously make no damn sense anyway, work that way.

I guess I should be happy that Flynn manages to juggle so many characters and not totally loose the reader. In addition to the multiple villains and new heroes, Sally, the kids, and Silver are still floating around the plot. Sadly, this quartet spend the entire issue hiding in a panic room beneath the castle. This obviously serves two purposes. To get the really young kids out of danger, so Flynn doesn't have to write the uncomfortable inevitability of toddlers being shot at. The other purpose is to remove Silver from the main story for a while, since the time traveling hedgehog's psychic powers could probably resolve the plot in a few minutes. This is awkward but it does lead to one good moment. While Sally is getting the kids the panic room, she uses special language so her children don't get too scared. That's nice parenting.

I was mostly with the “30 Years Later” story arc up to this point but Flynn starts to slip a bit with this one. I like a couple of the individual scenes, especially that shocking moment when Shadow callously exterminates Lien-Da. However, the script is just trying to do too many things. Flynn is shoving a story into four issues that probably should've been told over six or eight. That would've given us time to get to know Belle and Jacques more, at the very least. [6/10]