Sonic Universe: Issue 8

Sonic Universe: Issue 8
Publication Date: September 2009

I hope you like Argyle hanging out on the cover like that, because that's the most interaction he has with the actual team throughout this whole comic book. Anyway, “Mobius: 30 Years Later” wraps up with “The Freedom Fighters of the Future.” As Tikhaos rampages through the city of Portal, Sonic officially dubs the team of teenagers the new Freedom Fighters. While the youngsters hope to hold off the giant monster, Sonic runs off to rescue his family. Lastly, Silver is also doing stuff.

The giant water monster rampaging through a major city supersedes all other crises, it would seem. I wish Ian Flynn had given Lien-Da's quest of vengeance against King Sonic a little more room to breathe, before killing her off last issue. It would've been nice if we could've gotten a panel of Rutan reacting to Tikhaos' appearance or something. Instead, Flynn more-or-less cans all the other arc's story lines in favor of heroes-vs-monster theatrics. In the face of Tikhaos' rampage, the Dark Presence even form a temporary truce with the Kingdom, freeing Tails and Mina. I sorta feel like I signed up for one arc and got a different one instead.

King Shadow doesn't even get much to do in this issue. He gets a whole page devoted to a monologue, where he explains his motivation for unleashing a hyper-destructive kaiju. And it's actually fairly impressive, as he apologizes to Maria for failing to bring peace to the world. It helps crystallize Shadow's thought process. He has a very literal interpretation of “peace.” Disappointingly, this is King Shadow's only appearance in this comic book. You'd think after unleashing a watery destructive god, the royalty would be interested in tracking him down. Instead, Sonic and the new Freedom Fighters conclude this issue by posing.

If it wasn't clear already, from the title on down to everything else I've said about this issue, Flynn is using Universe 8 to establish the Future Freedom Fighters. On one hand, this does lead to some decent moments. Lara-Su taking on a leadership role, successfully containing a giant monster, is a logical conclusion to her path towards being a guardian. Manik and Sonia saving the day, delivering the killing blow to Tikhaos, is a nice touch. However, most of the characters remain pretty underdeveloped. Jacques and Belle are mostly defined by their various abilities. Skye and Melody have a handful of personality treats. Skye is shy, Melody loves her super speed. But that's about it. That action scenes are neat, which involves our heroes weaving around plenty of lashing tentacles, but there's not very many reasons for us to care about these new characters yet.

You might have notice above, how I mentioned two toddlers take out Tikhaos. That's not really what makes the conclusion so underwhelming. It's just that things are wrap up so quickly. It seems like Tikhaos reeks havoc for a few minutes before being defeated. The script constantly reminds the reader that Tikhaos isn't as powerful or stable as Perfect Chaos. Yet just a single tap to the brain finishing the beast off doesn't make for the most dramatic conclusion. Shadow was really counting on this monster decimating the world, or at least the Floating Island. That it fails so easily undermines his villainous scheming abilities quite a bit. Once again, it seems to me Flynn was shoving two different story arcs into one.

During all the action, the most likable moments emerged between the parents and their kids. After Sonic swoops into the castle to rescue Sally and his children, Manak and Sonia get super excited by the prospect of running down the side of the building. It's amusing to see an older, wiser Sonic react to his son and daughter's enthusiasm for adventuring. Later, Mina is reunited with Skye and Melody and seems deeply grateful that they are unharmed. Again, the genuine love she has for her kids shine through, even if those kids aren't the most developed. The book needed a little more stuff like that.

As further proof that this story got a little bloated near the end, Flynn still has to give Silver something to do. He finally awakes from his stupor early on and then holds Tikhaos back for a few minutes with his psychic powers. During that sequence, Silver promises not to fail again, which brings some maturity to his bumbling personality. Sadly, as with Shadow, Silver doesn't have too many other appearances in this issue. In fact, I'm not quite sure his inclusion in this story line was warranted, considering he spent most of it unconscious. Still, what's there of Silver is decent. I just wish he was given a little more to do.

As far as I can remember, this was the only appearance of the Future Freedom Fighters, as well as the last story set in the 30 Years Later setting. Considering Sega didn't like Sonic to be seen aging, a corporate mandate might've put the kibosh on further stories in this timeline. Which is something of a shame. This storyline was just overcrowded. I would've liked to have seen more adventures revolving around these new characters, seeing how the next generation of Freedom Fighters settle into their row. Alas. As it is, the second “Sonic Universe” arc had a strong start but tried to do too much in its second half, weakening the overall story. That's how it goes sometimes, I guess. [6/10]