Sonic Universe: Issue 47

Sonic Universe: Issue 47
Publication Date: December 2012

Archie wrapped up 2012 with omens of what was to come, looming in the air. You can easily find the original cover art Tracy Yardley conceived for issue 47 of “Sonic Universe.” Rob o' the Hedge is featured front and center. That's just one bit of evidence for the obvious rewrites this first story arc went through, the grim forebears of the impending reboot. Somewhat ironically, Rob is one of Ken Penders' few characters that he hasn't announced plans for yet. That might have something to do with Rob, once you take away the Robin Hood cosplay, being almost totally indistinguishable from Sonic.

Part two of “All for One” is concerned with the Chaotix sneaking into Lord Hood's fortress. They work with the Merican Freedom Fighters to distract the villainous forces and free the prisoners. Espio also looks through Hood's computers in order to dig up information on Mighty's current position. Of course, the reader already knows where Mighty is, thanks to the prologue that opens the book. He's taken up with the Sand Blast Freedom Fighters in the Oil Ocean Zone.

Last time, “All for One” tried to summon a fun sense of action and adventure, as the Chaotix started to raid the castle. Issue 47 continued with that. There's a lot of combat here, the heroes all using their unique abilities to fight off Hood's stooges. Espio cloaks himself, Charmy flies through the air, bopping baddies on the head. Vector is loud and bite-y. Alan Quill continues to weaponize his lute. There's a pretty neat action beat where Sparrow uses an exploding arrow on Hood. The problem is a serious lack of heart. We already know Mighty isn't in the castle, robbing the story of its suspense or emotional purpose.

Moreover, the Mercian Freedom Fighters still kind of suck. Quill still has the most obnoxious gimmick I've seen in the book since the days of Guru Emu. Flynn seems to compensate with this by playing up the bird's abilities as a brawler, which does not fix the problem. Everyone else, meanwhile, continues to lack much in the way of personality. Friar Buck and Thorn the Lop are just... There. It's revealed that Bow Sparrow's Ye Olde English accent is a put on, intended to honor Rob's absence. At least Munch Rat has some attitude. Otherwise, there's just nothing compelling around this group.

Another problem facing this issue is one Flynn himself creates. The Chaotix have a warp ring with them. Throughout the issue, they repeatedly use the device to get out of jams. In other words, our heroes have a way to straight-up teleport themselves out of danger. That's... Pretty fucking lazy. Yes, I know it wouldn't make sense if they didn't use the magical portal ring when they could. But it definitely seems like cheating, from a narrative perspective. Flynn tries to make this part of the plot, during a scene where the bad guys try to get their hands on the Warp Ring. However, the story probably would've been better without it all together.

Another thing that bothers me about this issue really is nit-picking. But it's my blog so I get to bitch about whatever I want. Issue 47 of “Sonic Universe” is a little heavy on the pop culture references. When a camouflaged Espio enters into a room, one of Hood's goons responds with “G-g-ghosts!,” a manner very familiar to anyone who watched a “Casper the Friendly Ghost” cartoon as a kid. Among the castle's prisoners are Yakko Warner from “Animaniacs.” Vector also makes repeated references to finding to the computer room. That's another cutesy shout-out to one of those internet memes Flynn likes so much. I don't mind this... Except Flynn repeats it over and over again. Okay, yeah, we get it. You've played “Shadow the Hedgehog.” Enough already.

As I said, Flynn spoils a lot of his own fun by revealing that Mighty is hanging out with the Sand Blasters on the comic's first page. All that does is drain the tension from the story's events. A character in this story we care about – maybe the only character we care the most about in this story – is already safe and sound. So we're just waiting around for this shitty Mercia business to resolve itself, so we can get to the stuff we actually care about. That's never a good feeling.

So the final preboot “Sonic Universe” arc is still puttering along. Hopefully, now that we'll be getting to Mighty next time, things will pick up. I have no idea if this story would've been better if Flynn had gotten his way, using Rob o' the Hedge. At the very least, it wouldn't have necessitated the introduction of several lame new characters. Yet I imagine the pacing and narrative problems still would've been present. [5/10]