Sonic Universe: Issue 37

Sonic Universe: Issue 37
Publication Date: February 2012

The rivalry between Robotnik and Snively has been going on for years. It's built into the DNA of the series, inherited from SatAM, where Snively openly despised his uncle and would eventually attempt to usurp him. In the comics, I can't even recall all the different times Robotnik's nephew has betrayed him, attempted to kill him, and overtake his empire. It's fertile ground for a story and Ian Flynn would bring that relationship to the front with the “Scrambled” story arc, beginning issue 37 of “Sonic Universe.”

A normal day aboard the Death Egg is interrupted when Eggman gets locked out of his own computer system. The Death Egg is completely locked out and Snively makes a daring escape. Soon, the mad doctor discovers that Snively has broadcast a message to the Dark Egg Legion that the Death Egg is destroyed and Robotnik is dead. Furious, Eggman sets out to capture Snively but he's already escaped. He moves on to his next plan: Assembling the Grandmasters of the Legion and sending them on a quest, to find a missing Chaos Emerald. Meanwhile, the former Ivo Kintobor sets out to get some payback at his nephew.

It's sort of surprising that “Sonic Universe” has been running as long as it has without attempting an Eggman-centric arc before. Out of all the bad guys it could've focused on, it's odd that Scourge and the Babylon Rogues got that honor before Sonic's oldest enemy and supporting cast member. Flynn paints Eggman as an especially ruthless villain protagonist. After pulling all the Grandmasters together, he reiterates his complete control over them, reminding them of their explosive implants. Moreover, he emphasizes that they are enslaved to him, even beyond the circumstances of his death, even though he doesn't care about their individual lives at all. Pretty fucked up, dude. It's a stark reminder that the Eggman is not to be trifled with.

“Scrambled” also seems to be setting up a “men on a mission”-style story. You know what I'm talking about. Movies like “Ingloruious Basterds” or “Kelly's Heroes.” “The Dirty Dozen” and “Suicide Squad” – two movies this set-up vaguely resembles – have built stories around a band of unlikely guys, tossed together, usually against their wills, in order to achieve some sort of goal. What's especially neat about this is how we know some of the Grandmasters already while others are new characters. Lien-Da, Duck Bill, Conquering Storm, Uncle Beauregard, and Drago – who, in a very morbid touch, is zapped away by Eggman while seemingly sexually harnessing a female Legionnaire – are all familiar faces. (Then there's Hugo Brass, Ripklaw, and Akhlut, undefined characters who might as well be new additions.) New characters include a leather-bound snake named Mordred Hood and two riffs on especially obscure Archie “Sonic” lore. There's a nerb grandmaster, the Foreman, because Ian seems determined not to forget about those guys. There's also Diesel, a bear biker seemingly inspired by the bear biker gang Knuckles fought way back in the “Chaotix Caper” story arc.

It's a fairly dark story, as far as “Sonic” comics go, so I guess Flynn felt it necessary to throw in some comic relief. And I'm not sure how I feel about this. After getting locked out of his computer system, Robotnik calls on Orbot and Cubot, two Sega-approved robotic lackeys that only previously appeared in game tie-ins. When I was first reading these comics, I hated these guys, finding their shtick annoying and thinking they don't contribute anything to this book's universe that it didn't already have. Must Eggman have comic relief sidekicks? Did Sega demand these two appear, instead of, I don't know, Crabmeat or Scratch and Grounder or something? With age, I've softened a little on these two – their shenanigans, like making tea and cookies for the assembled Grandmasters, are mildly amusing – while still finding them a mostly unnecessary addition to the world.

And let's not forget Snively, Eggman's original comic relief lackey. What I've always found most endearing about Snively are his dueling qualities of ambition and incompetence. He's desperate to have power, having spent his entire life without any. Yet he lacks the cunning necessary to become a major leader like his uncle, which is why all his previous takeovers were doomed to fail. At the beginning of “Scrambled,” Snively shows off one of his best schemes yet. He fills the Death Egg with explosive robotic doubles of himself, cast-offs from the old Infiltrator/Auto-Automatons line-up, allowing himself to escape in the space capsule from “Sonic 2.” It certainly sets up the possibility that Snively might actually have a chance of success this time, even though we know he doesn't, opening this story with some nice dramatic tension.

Jamal Peppers is back on pencil duty. It's pretty good, in many ways. Peppers' attention to facial expressions are especially nice. Matilda's lack of a reaction to Beauregard vanishing into thin air, along with the somewhat disturbing blank stares of the Snively infiltrators, make both of those moments really pop. However, I'm a little disappointed to see that Peppers seems content to ape Yardley here. In truth, if the opening page didn't tell me as much, I would've assumed Yardley drew this one. This is why I've expressed misgivings about Yardley's style becoming the default look for the book, as it shackles artists like Peppers, who are talented in their own right.

It's a really fun issue that I only have one problem with. Eggman assembling the Grandmasters, just to send them on a mission to grab some random Chaos Emerald, seems like a misstep. They should all be pursuing Snively, since he's the adversary driving the plot. Flynn probably ties those two threads together, I'm thinking, along with the last page reveal that Mecha Sally is now leading a whole squad of Metal-series robots. I can't remember if he does or not. Beyond that, this is a really fantastic first issue, setting up an exciting scenario with big stakes and an interesting ensemble cast. [8/10]