Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 215

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 215
Publication Date: July 2010

Ian Flynn concluded issue 214 of Archie's “Sonic the Hedgehog” by dangling two potential stories in front of readers. The first of which was suggesting the Ancient Onyx the Wolf Pack and Felidae were fighting over had some greater significance, though it pointedly wasn't a Chaos Emerald. He pretty clearly meant it to be the same black jewel Chaos was kept inside of. Secondly, he concluded the comic by Hamlin giving Rotor some news about his herd.

Ah, yes, Rotor's herd, one of the book's longest dangling plot threads. Rotor's walrus-y family was introduced in issue 15 of “Sonic,” back in December of 1995. Over the next fifteen years, Rotor would occasionally swim off to rescue his family from Dr. Robotnik, who had brainwashed them into slavery. They were briefly freed, after “Endgame,” just for Eggman to come along and enslave them again. The book would periodically remind readers that Rotor's family was still out there, either enslaved or floating aimlessly on an iceberg, without ever resolving the story. Continuing his goal of exploring Mobius' more obscure areas, Flynn would finally return to this plot point in July of 2010.

“Family Matters” – presumably named after the sitcom “Family Matters,” which brought Sonic's Jaleel White to the world and ran for 215 episodes – begins with the Council of Knothole deliberating on the Arctic Freedom Fighter's message, which is also a chance to rescue Rotor's herd. The walrus insists he's staying behind in Mobotropolis but this is a deception. Instead, Rotor has Nicole build himself a suit of armor made from nanites, allowing him to fly up to the Frozen Tundra on his own. Meanwhile, Sonic races up north, meets with the Arctic Freedom Fighters, and scopes out the area.

“Sonic” fans, and Archie “Sonic” fans especially, tend to hold onto minor details other fandoms would overlook. The Arctic Freedom Fighters previously appeared only once before, way back in issue 26. This was presumably because they weren't especially memorable characters and there was little reason for Sonic to explore the colder corners of the globe. Despite that, fans didn't forget the Arctic Freedom Fighters, probably because of their catchy name.  So it's fitting that Flynn would reintroduce them eventually. He does what he can to expand on their nonexistent personalities. There's some sort of conflict between Gunther the Wolf and Erma the Ermine. Sealia greets Sonic with a big hug. He cracks some jokes with Flip the Penguin. Augustus the Polar Bear is still left out in the cold, as it were, but at least some effort is made to develop these guys.

Yet reintroducing the Arctic Freedom Fighters isn't even the main point of this comic. “Family Matters: Part One” is mostly about getting Rotor back out in the field. Which the book does by giving the walrus a bad-ass super-powered armor, made from the shape-shifting nanites. Flynn's inspiration for this story is obvious. “Iron Man” was released to theaters in 2008. The film did many things: Launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe, by far the most influential film series of the last decade. It also made Marvel a powerful brand, rebooted Robert Downey Jr.'s career, and made a perennial comic B-lister into one of the most popular superheroes in the world. Tony Stark hardly has the copyright on flying suits of powered armor but come on. The way Super Rotor flies and moves are obviously inspired by Iron Man.

This give the walrus, a pretty overlooked character for a long time, a defining gimmick. It also allows Flynn a chance to get inside his head. During the “Journey to the East” story, Flynn took the time to help re-rail Princess Sally's personality, after a few slips. In “Family Matters,” Flynn applies the similar treatment to Rotor. While flying toward the tundra, the walrus thinks about his life. How he used to make weapons of mass destruction but later changed his mind, following an incident that occurred while Sonic was in space. This seems to align Rotor's old habits of making BFGs with the entire Mobian race's distaste towards guns. Rotor pauses to call himself a hypocrite, specially pointing out that time he helped make an army of killer Metal Sonics. Since Flynn sidelined Rotor almost immediately after joining the book, it's nice of him to sort out the walrus' history.

Otherwise, part one of “Family Matters” is all about setting up part two of “Family Matters.” Sonic gets to the north and the Arctic Freedom Fighters tell him about their plan. About how Robotnik has a tower set up that broadcast the mind-controlling signals to the subservient walruses. Their plan, about attacking the tower from both above and below, is laid out. Just as the Freedom Fighters arrive at the tower, surrounded by mindless walruses, the comic book ends. Despite some nice character details here and there, this comic book is mostly fifteen pages of set-up.

Oh yeah, Silver the Hedgehog shows up too. That's another example of how this comic primarily exist to set-up the next part of the story. The psychic hedgehog ambushes Rotor during his flight and starts accusing him of being the traitor he's been looking for. Now, I don't dislike Silver the Hedgehog, at least not the comic version. I've enjoyed Flynn's characterization of Silver as a clueless bumbler, desperate to prove his worth but sorely lacking information. Yet I can't help but sigh with his sudden appearance. I fail to see how Silver will improve this story in any way.

Silver's sudden appearance in the cover story sets up the backstory, which is devoted to him. “Future Tense” begins in Silver's post-apocalyptic world. While consulting some old books, he comes upon an inconsistency. History references somebody named “Boomer” while Silver only remembers somebody named Rotor being among the Freedom Fighters. He begins to wonder if this Rotor is the traitor to the Freedom Fighters. The hedgehog wonders if this is enough to justify another journey to the past before deciding it's the only lead he's got.

Plot wise, “Future Tense” is thin gruel. Using Rotor's old nickname as an excuse for Silver to believe the walrus is the traitor is pretty dumb. However, two smaller details somewhat justify this one. First off, the series of panels devoted to Silver's self-doubt about his mission are nice. That fleshes out Silver's personality as a doofy would-be world saver. Mostly, what I like about this one is the bits of world building. In Silver's future, Angel Island has fallen, part of the island sticking out of the ocean. There's a huge, but crumbling, statue of Lara-Su. In the ruined library, we also see a picture of the Future Freedom Fighters. All of this hints at the cataclysm that happens 200 odd years into the future. And are pretty neat visuals too.

The artwork is nice too. Steven Butler's work on the cover story continues to be great. Jamal Pepper's work on the back-up is also quite nice. “Family Matters,” thus far, doesn't have the emotional in that Flynn's previous arc did. But my overall opinion on this one will largely depend on whether or not the writer can nail the landing in the second half. So we'll see. [6/10]