Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 214

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 214
Publication Date: June 2010

I probably shouldn't open a review this way but, hey, it's my blog and I'll do things how I want. Let's give a hand of applause for Steven Butler. The guy's been working since the late eighties, drawing stuff for a variety of companies. DC and Marvel, of course, but also smaller companies like Malibu or Valiant. He's probably most famous for his work on Spider-Man and Silver Sable. He drew most of the latter character's 35 issue solo series.

Yet “Sonic” is the book he's done the most work on over the years. And, as I've done this retrospective, it's always been a good sign when Butler draws an issue. Issue 214 looks fantastic. Butler brings a humor to Sonic and Drago's facial expressions while also lending weight and seriousness to the book's more dramatic moments. Butler's style is wildly different from Sega's corporate look of these characters and that's one of the reasons why I like it. Butler's “Sonic” illustrations were more detailed, grittier, sexier, and overall more pleasing to the eye.

Anyway, the plot: “Reigning Cats and Dogs: Part Two” begins with the Wolf Pack and the Felidae about to go to war. Lupe accuses Queen Hathor of sabotage, while Hathor believes the wolves sent Sonic and Big as spies. That's when Sonic reasons out that Sally has gone missing in the Knuckles Clan ruins and that something must be up in that location. He's right, of course. Drago and Razorklaw, now Dark Egg Legion Grandmasters, have kidnapped the Princess and stolen the Ancient Onyx. This allows for a temporary truce, the two sides working together to reclaim the Onyx and rescue the Princess. Once she's free, Sally uses her famous way with words to barter something like peace between the warring tribes.

You know the Wolf Pack and Felidae have worked out some of their problems because, this being an action book for young boys, they team up to fight a mutual enemy. “First they fight, then they team up.” That is one of the golden rules of comic books. The fight scene that follows has both sides leading an attack on the Dark Legion hide-out. That's cool but smaller moments prove more fruitful. Like Leeta and Lyco, the twins in Lupe's clan, talking shit with wolf-turned-Dark-Legionnaire who was apparently attempting to two-time the twins.

In my previous review, in a rather lofty example of reading-too-much-into-it, I mentioned how the conflict between the Wolf Pack and the Felidae seems to parallel the never-ending Israel/Palestinian conflict. This is a comic book about two rival nations who both feel they have an inherent, ancestral right to a shared area of land. Which is a very simplistic reading of the real life war but I can't help but notice the similarities. In the time between me writing that review and this one, I flat out asked Ian Flynn on Twitter if this was intentional. He responded with bewilderment so I'm guessing it wasn't. However, the comparison seems obvious to me anyway. I mean, there's even a prominent, shiny black stone featured in this story! I guess derision from the comic's actual writer is what I get for taking this book too seriously.

All that aside, there's another unexpected, hidden joy in this issue. Drago, in his previous appearances, has been such a rotten scumbag that the audience has only wanted to see him get his comeuppance. The writers seem to share this opinion, as Drago usually ends up humiliated. Now that he's a Grandmaster, Drago's unwarranted sense of self-importance has grown even hotter, turning him into a delightfully amusing, clueless dumbass. He taunts the Princess and she sarcastically insults him but Drago is too dumb to recognize the sarcasm. Sally then tricks Drago into explaining his entire scheme to her, playing on his ego. He degrades his partner in crime and laughs manically, only to see his plan fall apart. Yet he's still a nasty enough villain to threaten to kill the Princess. Add it all up to make Drago a delightfully hammy bad guy, one we enjoy watching lose.

Yes, Sally spends most of this issue tied up, if you're into that kind of thing. Flynn, however, keeps the Princess fiery and strong even while at the mercy of her enemies. Like I said, Sally easily outsmarts Drago, All she has to do is bat her eyelashes and pay the villain a compliment for him to spill his guts entirely. Flynn is seemingly aware that Sally waiting for Sonic to rescue her is not the most empowering writing decision. So he essentially has her save the day. After being freed, Sally gives an affecting speech to the Wolf Pack and Felidae, suggesting they keep the Ancient Onyx in this abandoned ruins between the two clans. This way anyone can use it when they want but the relic doesn't truly belong to either party.

Big the Cat got a spot on both covers, probably to draw the attention of Sega fans who like that character for some reason. Big's role in the story is mostly superfluous. His brainless dialogue doesn't change my perception of the character as a mindless doofus. He doesn't understand simple phrases like “Take five.” Yet Big does get one or two amusing moment to himself. Such as when Sonic has him stand between Lupe and Queen Hathor, the cat's massive girth coming in handy for once. Or, in the back half, when he helps save Sally and punches Drago through a wall. I'm still not sure Big the Cat really needed to be in this story but Flynn at least found some funny stuff for him to do.

“Reigning Cats and Dogs” proved to be a pretty satisfying two-parter. Sonic and Sally were dropped into a situation they couldn't punch their way out of, forcing them to think of a more elegant solution. (“Journey to the East” was probably trying something similar but this works far better.) The Mysterious Cat Country developed into an actual culture. Drago has grown into an amusing villain and both sides got a few good moments. Add in some great art and I'm satisfied. [7/10]