Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 242

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 242
Publication Date: October 2012

Last time, I talked a bit about Sega and Nintendo’s rivalry in the nineties. By 2012, this was a completely moot point. Sega had been out of the console market for a while now. Sonic was no longer seen as a viable threat to Mario’s popularity. In fact, the hatchet was buried so deep, that the rivals started appearing in games together. Following Sonic’s much demanded appearance in “Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” the super-fast hedgehog and the regressive Italian stereotype began co-starring in a series of games where the two casts compete in various Olympic events, for reasons that have never been satisfyingly explained. A call came down from on high for Archie to promote this latest endeavor between the two companies, despite Archie’s complete lack of access to the Mario side of the equation. “No matter,” Ian Flynn said, “I’ll just do the same thing without the Mario characters!”

And so he did. Yes, the unimaginatively entitled “Olympic Trials” is another completely continuity free “Another Time, Another Place” story. In it, Sonic and friends have gathered in a coliseum to try out for the various Olympic competitions. I don’t think it works that way, but no matter. Naturally, Eggman is there, setting traps all over the field, all in an effort to ruin Sonic’s good day.

“Olympic Trials” really feels like a leftover “Sonic X” script. (I’m talking Archie’s tie-in comic, not the cartoon show from which it sprang, which I still haven’t seen.) It has a lot of the same hallmarks: Sonic and friends participating in an Earthly tradition that they really have no business being involved in; Eggman cooking up a stupid plot to thwart this activity; a sloppy deus ex machina ending. If it wasn’t for the absence of some characters and the presence of others, you wouldn’t even be able to tell. Really, just mentally edit out some of the later Sega characters and imagine Chris Thorndyke watching from the bleachers, contributing absolutely nothing to the story, and you’re pretty much there.

If “Olympic Trials” was a “Sonic X” issue, it would’ve been one of the better ones. Because it’s actually sort of funny. Eggman tying his mustache off into a little beard, as part of his facile referee disguise, is a mildly amusing sight-gag. Knuckles and Silver struggling with boobie-trapped hammer throws is kind of funny. So is Sonic and Shadow bickering before the long jump. The best gag occurs during a two page spread where Sonic and Metal Sonic are shown competing in various activity. Both of them gazing down at a swimming pool in fear or Metal Sonic gracefully twirling a ribbon around himself made me chuckle.

Not all the laughs are intentional either. The story wraps up with one of those positive message ass-pulls that the “Sonic X” comic was fond of. After a whole day of matching Metal Sonic in every activity, our hedgehog hero is feeling a little tried. That’s when he sees the five interconnected rings of the Olympic logo. Sonic is then empowered by the ideas the rings represents and easily bests his robotic double, saving his friends and winning the day. It’s super cheesy, a trite reminder of what the Olympics are suppose to mean and a half-pun about Sonic’s dependence on magical rings. But it made me laugh, so I guess that’s okay.

The back-up story actually does take place in the main continuity. “Unfriendly Skies” seems to retcon the end of 241's “Unraveling” slightly. Team Fighters is pursuing the Death Egg. They battle through some Egg-SWATS, riding on the flying turtles from “Sonic 2,” and then come upon the blasted out remains of Albion, the echidna home world. Meanwhile, Knuckles is doing some repairs in Haven II. He gets a distress signal from the destroyed Albians and decides to go on a rescue mission.

“Unfriendly Skies” is a prequel to the “Endangered Species” story arc, beginning in the next issue of the main “Sonic” book. That arc would have a lot of ramifications for the comic, most of which concern Ken Penders' lawsuit towards Archie. (This story rather cleverly gets around mentioning the names of any of Ken's characters.) I'll get more into it when we begin talking about the main story itself. As for “Unfriendly Skies,” it doesn't contribute much. The action scenes, of Sonic and Amy smashing more robots and stealing some turtles, are mildly entertaining. The scenes with Knuckles don't count for even that though. This story mostly seems to be here to remind the readers what's actually happening in the comics that matter after the completely disposable cover story.

The cover story is pretty lame, a completely pointless exercise in corporate obligations between Archie and Sega. But at least Flynn was having a little fun with the idea. Jamal Peppers’ artwork is excellent too, fluid, dynamic, and expressive. The back-up story is a mostly unnecessary prologue to the next story arc in the comic that also looks pretty nice. It’s a comic book that really has no reason to exist but, eeeeh, at least it’s better than the “Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed” tie-in that just stank up the pages of “Sonic Universe.” [5/10]