Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 234

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 234
Publication Date: February 2012

Antoine is prominently placed on the cover of issue 234 and there's good reason for that. “Unthinkable,” 234's cover story, begins with Elias and his family preparing to be escorted out of Mobotropolis. Following Naugus' rise to the family, the royal family no longer feels welcomed. As they pile into the Mobo-Cruiser – first time in a while we've seen that – the Freedom Fighters gather around as their personal bodyguards. But Eggman is ready, his Death Egg looming in the sky above. He sends a small army of Egg-Swats, led by Mecha Sally and a Metal Sonic, to ambush the motorcade. Elias and his family get to safety but the Freedom Fighters pay a horrible cost.

As far as “Sonic the Hedgehog” comics go, “Unthinkable” is a very tense action story. The stakes seem higher than ever, with the future of the monarchy and our four-color friends hanging in the balance. There's actually something ominous about the way the Death Egg appears in the sky, dropping enemy shoulders. Maybe things feel so serious because the Freedom Fighters get their asses kick. The newly weaponized and even more powerful Mecha Sally completely catches them off-guard. The Tornado is destroyed, yet again. Bunnie is still adapting to her newly wholly organic state, which means the Freedom Fighter is down one of their strongest members. Things escalate as more and more enemy robots converge on the location, the hero's feeling genuinely overwhelmed.

Another reason this conflict feels more weighty than usual might be due to the extra emotional weight. The Freedom Fighters are still not use to their beloved Princess being a killer robot enslaved by their greatest enemy. Mecha Sally is cruel and efficient, slicing through enemies with wrist-mounted laser swords. (An addition Flynn would keep after the reboot undid everything else.) As Mecha Sonic did, she also retains just enough of her normal personality to make her robotic state even more shocking. Such as when, in a nice touch, Flynn has her quote SatAM classic “Sonic's Nightmare,” by asking Sonic where he was when the brain's where passed out. At this point, Mecha Sally is still a shocking development and the book is using her excellently.

Usually, the comics open with a brief narration box, introducing readers to the comic's world. This issue is a little different. It opens with an excerpt from Antoine's journal, talking about the days' events. This is a memorable approach, giving us a look into the mind of one of the most complex Freedom Fighters. He continues to express annoyance at the direction the kingdom and his wife's current state has taken but remains optimistic about his friends. About how besides them is always an honor. This is especially poignant considering what happens near the end of the issue.

Because this is the issue where Antoine dies. I mean, sort of. When Robotnik orders an about-to-self-destruct Metal Sonic to attach itself to Elias' Mobo-Cruiser, Antoine races over on a hover board, grabs the robot, pulls him away, and receives the full brunt of the explosion. In a shocking series of panels, he's tossed to the ground in a heap. Bunnie cradles his body and begins screaming wildly. Sonic is stunned and silenced, forced to do a very rare thing: Stand still. It's a shocking, powerful event. As originally planned, it was meant to be Antoine's death. Flynn ultimately just put him in a coma instead, realizing fans would be royally pissed if he killed one of the book's most beloved character. (And the whole ordeal ended up being unresolved because of the reboot.) If Antoine really had died here, it's a heroic and weighty death, one worthy of him.

Helping sell this serious moment is some excellent artwork from Steven Butler. His more humanoid features on the furries look a little odd, especially Mecha Sally's weirdly shapely robo-hips. But when the book needs serious mood and grit, Butler can provide it. Eggman looks especially intimidating aboard the Death Egg. The panels devoted to Antoine's sacrifice are obviously the most important. You feel the impact of the blast leap off the page, before Butler pulls back, showing Antoine's lifeless body bouncing across the battlefield, his sword landing in the ground. Which leads to a panel of Bunnie, watching horrified, the panel around her crumbling as she watches her love be fatally wounded. It's great stuff. Butler even manages to make the somewhat silly Egg-Swat design – a combination of Robotnik's old SWATBots and the sillier Egg Pawns from the Sega games – actually kind of intimidating.

Next up in the back pages is “Dark Hearts.” The story takes place slightly before the cover story. Naugus uses his staff to contact Eggman. He promises to give the doctor some intel in exchange for further information. Naugus realizes that this Robotnik is not technically the same one he knew and asks to hear the former Robo-Robotnik's previous encounters with the presumably identical version of Naugus that existed in his dimension. Eggman happily tells him, describing a brief adventure in the Zone of Silence. Naugus, in return, informs him about Elias' caravan leaving that day.

“Dark Hearts” mostly exists to inform us of two things. First off, no, despite what he's said, Naugus is not putting his villainous past behind him now that he's king. He's colluding with the enemy to help assassinate the former ruler, and apparently doing so behind St. John's back. The story is also here to inform new readers of Eggman's convoluted origins. Beyond that, “Dark Hearts” is devoted to a mildly amusing encounter between the classic SatAM version of Robotnik and all of Naugus' various weirdos. And there is a certain degree of novelty in seeing that Robotnik again after so many years. Mostly, it's worth reading for Ben Bates' artwork. Bates has fun with the Zone's fantastical world and Naugus' bitching crystal throne.

I remember having pretty mixed thoughts about this issue and the surrounding story arcs when it was new. I mostly remember feeling like my heart was being jerked around, watching these characters I love get tortured by fate. In hindsight, and mostly because the reboot I didn't know about then is just around the corner, this issue plays a lot better. Yes, it's an emotional gut punch but it's not done cheaply or simply for shock value. In fact, the emotional weight of this story makes it one of the best in a while and an early contender for best of 2012. [8/10]