Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 249

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 249
Publication Date: June 2013

Welcome to part six of “Worlds Collide!” That means we are halfway through this crossover. Which also means we are only six issues away from nearly everything I love about the comic’s original continuity vanishing out of the book. Oh boy, I can’t wait to start bitching about that! But I digress. Let’s talk about Sonic and some robots playing smash-smashy some more first.

Part six of “When Worlds Collide” is subtitled “Friends or Foes” because Flynn was seriously not even trying to come up with good titles anymore. Anyway, the fight in the Skull-Egg Zone goes on. Our heroes face off against the new batch of Roboticized Masters. Once they remember that the combination of Sonic’s spin dash and Mega Man’s mega-buster are enough to disable the robots, and that Mega Man taking their abilities reverts them to normal, the tide of the fight starts to turn. Meanwhile, Protoman sneaks aboard Eggman and Wily’s base, in order to rescue Dr. Light.

As a huge nerd, I’ve known plenty of other huge nerds in my time. When it comes to superheroes, video games, anime and the like, a lot of the dorks I’ve associated with have been most preoccupied with characters’ superpowers or special abilities. I’ve always thought a character being interesting or well-rounded was more important but many share this “But what can they do?” mindset. And it would seem Ian Flynn is one of them. Part six of “Worlds Collide” primarily deals with the new Roboticized Masters, what they can do, and Mega Man’s ability to steal these powers from them.

Of course, most of these abilities boil down to different types of projectiles. Vector Man shoots big green sound waves shaped like musical notes, Charmy Man shoots metal stingers. So the individual powers are not especially unique or intriguing. Once the good guys remember what the Roboticized Masters’ weakness is, the story quickly becomes repetitive. (And why do they have such obvious weaknesses? Mega Man dismisses this blatant plot hole as a subconscious compulsion on Wily’s behalf.) The heroes struggle a little at the start but it still seems like they win too easily. There’s little consequences, personal or bodily, to Sonic’s friends undergoing their transformations. Once again, this self-declared epic crossover is seriously lacking in high stakes.

Having said all that, there is some entertainment value to be gleamed from the action scenes. A lot of the Roboticized Masters look pretty dorky but the Wilyized version of the Chaotix are sort of neat looking. Except for Charmy Man’s weird puppet mouth. The robotic bee does provide a high speed enemy for Tails, which is more than canon Charmy has contributed recently. Espio Man’s cloaking ability gets the drop on Sonic once, the only time he actually seems threatened in this fight. So at least the smashing and punching is, occasionally, mildly diverting.

My favorite moment in this issue deals with one of Mega Man’s supporting players. Protoman continues to be surprisingly awesome. After grappling with Shadow Man for a minute, he decides there’s no point in participating in the mindless fighting. He jumps on his shield, surfs away, and focuses his energy on saving his dad. In other words, Protoman is the only character here thinking like the reader, wanting to see the plot progress, instead of just punching everybody. He does this while saying little, being a silent and stern man of action. Shit, does this guy have his own comic book? Because I’d be interested in reading that.

I’ll give Flynn some kudos for including some funny moments too. Tails describing Vector’s attributes as being big, annoying, and “owing money” made me laugh. See? Even the other Sonic characters know he’s useless! After realizing the “Sonic” world and “Mega Man” world both have robots named Shadow Man, Eggman and Wily decide to send them on a mission together. Another cute detail is Eggman and Wily drinking out of mugs that share their skulls and yellow-stripes-on-chrome aesthetics. Less funny is the blatant way Flynn points out this Vector Man sharing a name with a cult favorite Sega Genesis shooter. (I would have preferred it if Flynn just included that Vectorman in the next mega-crossover but Sega likes to pretend that series doesn’t exist for some reason.)

By the way, Tracy Yardley’s artwork is improving. The Mega Man cast look a little less awkward here. Many of the problems I’ve had with “Worlds Collide” continue with this issue. Prioritizing action over plot, reducing characters to multi-colored action figures, and a general lack of tension continue to plague the crossover. However, there’s one or two amusing moment here that makes me give this issue a very light recommendation. [6/10]