Sonic Universe: Issue 51

Sonic Universe: Issue 51
Publication Date: April 2013

Say what you will about “Worlds Collide” – and, believe me, I intend to – but the crossover did prompt some really nifty artwork. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been a fan of Capcom’s various fighting games for years. So, the first time I saw “Marvel vs. Capcom” in an arcade, it was a pretty big deal. Being the hedgehog-obsessed dork I am, I’ve often dreamed of the Sonic cast appearing in a similar game. Seeing a “Sonic” cover pay such a direct homage to that game is really exciting for me, even if it subs out Morrigan Aensland and the Incredible Hulk for Amy Rose and Dr. Wily.

“When Worlds Collide Part 2: Mistaken Identities” does not pick up where we left off. Instead, Flynn backtracks and shows Sonic and a Mega Man reacting to their Genesis Wave affected worlds. Mega Man, real name Rock, hears that Protoman is having some trouble with some pesky robots. When he goes to investigate, Mega Man follows the machines through a Warp Ring into the Green Hill Zone. Sonic, meanwhile, notices all his friends have vanished. The two blue heroes are manipulated into fighting by Metal Sonic and Copybot, an evil Mega Man lookalike built by Dr. Wily.

Remember how I complained that the first issue of “Worlds Collide” was just twenty pages of setup? Yeah, part two has that problem too. Instead of getting right to the fight that we’re all here to see, Flynn goes through the tedious process of showing every step involved in getting Sonic and Mega Man together. This leads to one whole page of Sonic looking for his friend, a repetitive process that could’ve been handled with a word balloon. Mega Man, meanwhile, tumbles with the Roboticized Masters, which just feels like a tease for the main event. Come on, get to the fight, Flynn. You’re giving me nerd blue balls.

The dumbest thing about this is that Flynn had the perfect excuse. He completely rewrote both characters’ realities. Why couldn’t the Genesis Wave have zapped a natural hostility between the two characters? Sonic and Rock could’ve woken up in Green Hill Zone and had some vague memory of the other being a creation of their enemy. It wouldn’t have been unbelievable for Sonic to just assume Mega Man was a new badnik, after all. Instead, Flynn uses the ol’ imposter dodge. Doubles of Sonic and Mega Man are sent to attack first, so the heroes are tricked into fighting each other. At least he has Metal Sonic only appear as a blue blur, so we don’t have to deal with the dumb-ass plot point of two very different looking characters being mistaken for each other

Though I’ll say this much: Mega Man is starting to grow on me. From my recollection of the first four issues of his series, I remembered Rock as being a sickenly wholesome goodie-goodie. And, yeah, that is still his primary trait. However, the kid does have a sense of humor, being amusingly baffled by the Roboticized Masters. Rock also has something of a short fuse, quickly getting frustrated by his new enemies. So it’s good to know there’s some humanity inside that blue helmet.

Still, a very distracting element of this crossover is the insistence on using a simplified version of both characters’ worlds. We meet the Chaotix in this one, who are depicted as the buffoonish private detectives Sega randomly made them in Sonic Heroes. A segment involving Charmy’s overwhelming need for ice cream – in the middle of a rain storm? – is especially embarrassing. It seems the Mega Man cast isn’t immune to this either. Last we saw Mega Man and Protoman, they were fighting each other. Here, their complicated relationship is tossed aside so they can both be on the same side.

Since the Sonic/Mega Man Death Battle keeps getting pushed back, the comic has to substitute other action beats. Protoman rumbles with with the Roboticized Master, allowing a chance to show off their abilities. They’re all really good at smashing and punching. Knuckles Man punches a bus apart in one panel, for an example. There’s plenty of Mega Buster blasts from Rock too. The easy way the Chaotix are outmaneuvered and captured by some lame Faker wannabe is just embarrassing though. One of them is a ninja, for fucks’ sake.

Oh yeah, Silver shows up too, for no reason other than Flynn wanted to turn him into a Roboticized Master too. Jamal Peppers continues to provide pencils, and his work still remains a little uncertain. His take on the Mega Man cast is hyper-cutesy. Though slightly less bullshitty than the first issue, “Worlds Collide” is still having some serious problems getting off the ground. [4/10]