Sonic Universe: Issue 18

Sonic Universe: Issue 18
Publication Date: July 2010

Boy, that cover is super dramatic, isn't it? I don't want to say it's inaccurate. Technically, the cover does depict events that do happen in this comic book. Tails and Speedy do indeed fight through a wall of flames. However, that happens in the first few pages. The rest of “Sonic Universe: Issue 18” is devoted to other things. And it's not as if this comic lacks dramatic events. There's an underwater submarine fight! That would've made a cool cover! But I guess Archie wanted to spotlight Speedy, a new character.

The second part of “Trouble in Paradise,” “The Honeymoon's Over,” begins with Tails escaping Speedy, after some more battle banter. After sleeping the night away under a rock, the fox sets out on locating his friends and getting to the bottom of things. Meanwhile, Bunnie and Antoine cook up a scheme, tricking the Battle Bird Armada's leader into thinking that she's a spy for Robotnik and that Antoine is an unwilling dope.

Ian Flynn has a decent grip on Tails' personality. He may be a genius who can fly at super speeds but he's still just a kid. After besting Speedy in a race, Tails fantasizes about how Sonic would've handled this situation. Later, he compares himself to his mentor/hetero-life partner again, while blasting Battle Bird Armada submarines. After a busy day of running from bad guys, Tails has to catch a nap. And then he proceeds to oversleep. All of these are nice reminders that Tails, brilliant though he may be, is still only 10 years old.

Ian Flynn does lean on Tails' hyper-confidence pretty hard though. In fact, Tails comes a little too close to becoming a cocky asshole. After T-Pup gets the drop on Speedy, Tails flies off, the villain chasing after him. It only last for a few panels but Tails does lob some mockery in Speedy's direction. For some reason, it's fine when Sonic does that but makes Tails look like a jerk. Then again, I guess Tails does have the right to be a little cocky. He cooks up knock-out gas bombs, putting four Battle Bird Armada stooges to sleep without breaking a sweat. After jumping in the Sea Fox, he decimates the Armada's entire underwater army with a few well placed laser shots. It's almost as if Flynn is making up for Tails spending most of his own mini-series unconscious, turning the fox into a huge bad ass here. Which might be overcompensating but, eh, it's still fun.

But not as much fun as the stuff involving Bunnie and Antoine. If the Battle Bird Armada being bested by a ten year old wasn't proof enough of their incompetence, Bunnie and Antoine seem awfully relaxed in captivity. The two are scheming how to get out the moment they wake up in their prison cells. They just assume Bunnie is a Legionnaire, due to her cybernetic parts. Shit, doesn't the Dark Egg Legion have membership cards or something? A henchmen guild badge the Armada could've asked for? The script is a little shaky but watching Bunnie pretend to be a villain is fun. She feeds the Armada's leader – more on him in a minute – a line of bullshit about being a double agent and he totally buys it.

Antoine is having some fun too. In an especially amusing series of panels, he's discussing cooking with his guard. This affords Antoine a chance to escape. He quickly runs into Speedy, forcing Bunnie to intervene. What follows is a really funny moment. Antoine acts appalled that his wife is a double agent. Bunnie seems genuinely upset. Antoine is so dismayed that he tosses himself from a door that leads to a steep cliff, a location so unlikely the coyote comments on it. Normally, a hero being betrayed by his wife and committing suicide would be as grim as a story can get. But we can tell Antoine doesn't mean it, mostly because he's acting so melodramatic. It's all part of the plan but watching it unfold is fun.

As I mentioned earlier, this issue introduces us to Battlekukku XV, the leader of the Battle Bird Armada. Design wise, he's pretty goofy looking. The green and red color scheme clashes. He wears a stereotypical pirate's hat, big goofy goggles over his eyes, and very feminine looking high heel boots. I can't blame the odd design on Archie, as it's a fairly direct adaptation of how the Battlekukku looked in “Tails' Adventure.” Personality wise, the Battlekukku strikes the reader as a bit of a foppish dandy. For example, he has polite conversation with Bunnie while sharing a glass of mineral water. This is a standard villain type but, amazingly, not one that has been featured in the Archie “Sonic” series before. So Battlekukku XV has that going for him which is nice.

Flynn also uses this moment to clarify a few other points. The Armada is allied with the Eggman Empire but not his servants. Their goal is to rediscover their forgotten home land. Also, the Babylon Rogues defected from the Armada. Weirdly, Flynn doesn't connect Bean to the Armada, despite the obvious resemblance he has to both Speedy and the Armada henchmen. (I think he would eventually, though. I can't remember for sure.) I'm not especially interested in any of this bullshit but it was nice of the writer to fill in some holes. People were curious, probably.

“Sonic Universe” isn't breaking any new ground with the “Tails' Adventure' arc but, thus far, it's pretty entertaining. Flynn is keeping this one light and goofy, action-oriented fun. After the fairly heavy Knuckles centric “Echoes of the Past” and “Journey to the East,” which was loaded down with political hand wringing, a story line like this is probably what “Sonic Universe” needed. [7/10]