Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 232

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 232
Publication Date: December 2011

As Archie's flagship “Sonic” title wrapped up in 2011, the book was going in all sorts of new directions. Issue 232's cover story, “Dark Tidings,” begins with Naugus happily accepting love from the populace of Mobotropolis. This greatly annoys Sonic but he has a lot of other things on his mind. He races around, informing others of Sally being roboticized and trying to set things right. Meanwhile, Bunnie faces a new discovery of her own.

I have no idea if Ian planned it this way. Honestly, considering he's complained about “Genesis” being a rushed development, I suspect things were originally suppose to go differently. Either way, it seems “Dark Tidings” is here to set up an entire year worth of story arcs. The citizens of Mobotropolis are crying out for Naugus to become their new king, giving Elias a headache. Sonic is trying to consolidate the Freedom Fighter forces in the face of their latest loss, eventually heading to the Floating Island to get Knuckles' help. Geoffrey St. John ends up getting arrested for treason. Bunnie has been resorted back to a fully organic state. It's a lot to take in and, to Flynn's credit, he balances it pretty well.

Ultimately though, this is not the most important development. Sonic, in a moment of anger, reveals to Elias what happened to his sister. Elias responds in abject shock. When Sonic explains the circumstances to Knuckles, the echidna's reaction is hot-headed anger. The conversation gets so heated that Sonic and Knuckles nearly come to blows. Sonic is processing his grief in his own way. His drive to solve the problem, to push through his pain and anger to a viable solution, is certainly in character. By far, the most touching sequence comes when Sonic attempts to talk to Nicole. The A.I. responds with a simple text screen, explaining that she watched her closest friend sacrifice herself. It's a powerful moment and the kind of raw emotion this issue needed a little more of.

As for the continuing intrigue of Mobian politics, I'm not sure how to feel. The citizens of Mobotropolis come off incredibly badly here. Their willingness to turn so completely on the heroes they've known and supported for decades, in favor of a clearly shifty motherfucker who has previously been a villain, makes them look like idiots. This may be intentional on Flynn's behalf. At one point, someone in the crowd with a clearly uninformed grip on what a monarchy is asks why the city can't pick their own kings. Yet it's mostly another month of a pretty shaky plot point being pushed through. Flynn was determined to follow this “Naugus is the true king” plot point out until its logical conclusion the reboot.

Ben Bates is still on penciling duty and his work looks notably different from the last issue. The artwork is a little looser and more cartoony than Bates' previous work. The character's facial expressions are more exaggerated and comical. Usually this works pretty well, especially when focused on everyone's highly emotional states. However, when the focus turns to Naugus' villainous proclamations, his threat level is underminded a little by looking so goofy. Bates' work is energetic and, I guess in a story low on action like this one, that kinetic focus went to the looks and appearances of the cast. It works all right.

One of the many plot points introduced in “Dark Tidings” is the reveal that Naugus' magic has inadvertently returned Bunnie to an organic state. “Fragile” focuses on Bunnie's reaction to this change. Antoine notices his wife sulking in a corner. Antoine is happy that Bunnie has finally been returned to normal, a goal they've been running towards for years. Bunnie, however, is feeling uncertain. She no longer has her super powers. She can no longer be the team's muscles. She feels newly fragile and weak.

The emotional core that only showed up a little in the cover story blossoms in a serious way with “Fragile.” Bunnie's reaction to her changing state is totally natural. At this point in her life, she's been a cyborg longer than she hasn't been. So suddenly loosing her powers and abilities is a big shock. Mostly, “Fragile” is focused on Bunnie's doubts and Antoine showing her love and reassurance. And that's why these two are maybe the book's best couple, due to how much they clearly love and support each other. Jamal Peppers' artwork is really strong. He smartly contrasts Bunnie's superpowered past with her currently weakened present. His grasp of facial expressions and body language further roots this story in emotion and meaning. The story was written by entities calling themselves Scott and David Tipton, who were not seen before or after, but the duo clearly knows these characters extremely well.

So there you go. You've got a cover story that's not too bad. There's a lot of plot going on and not all of it is horribly interesting. However, when the emotional core shows itself, it's pretty good. That same element is what makes the back-up story probably the year's best. So I guess that even outs to about a [7/10]. About a third of that positive score is thanks to “Fragile,” though I liked “Dark Tidings” okay as well. Sometimes, that's how it goes.