Sonic Universe: Issue 57

Sonic Universe: Issue 57
Publication Date: October 2013

I’m not going to talk about the standard cover for issue 57 of “Sonic Universe,” which is a decently foreboding pic of a giant robot squid attack from Yardley. Instead, let’s look at the variant. The “Titanic” reference and Sonic breaking the fourth wall are pretty corny. But consider the art work. For long time “Sonic” readers, it should look familiar. Dawn Best provides the cover art, the first time she’s worked for Archie since 2005. Considering she was the first fan artist to be hired to work on the comic, it’s fitting she should return during an era when the comic was primarily handled by former fan artists. It’s clear Best is a little rusty but her style is still immediately recognizable. Sadly, this did not prompt a big comeback, as it’s also the last time Best worked for Archie.

Part three of “Pirate Plunder Panic!” quickly dismisses part two’s cliffhanger. Blaze escapes her cage and the Kraken’s tentacles. A third party immediately enters and snatched the Sol Emerald away from Bean. It’s Johnny, the speedy rocket bot that works for Captain Whiskers, a character that asks “what if Eggman was both a robot and a pirate?” Blaze, Amy, Cream, and Marine quickly camaraderie Captain Metal’s ship and go after the Emerald. Metal has other plans.

My big problem with the second part of “Pirate Plunder Panic!” was Yardley’s overuse of obnoxious humor. Part three reels that in considerably. There’s only one random pop culture reference, when Metal commands his men to “release the Kraken.” (I probably wouldn’t be able to resist making that one myself.) Captain Whiskers has two really annoying, smart mouth, floating henchmen but they’re easy to ignore. Otherwise, the jokes are a little more character oriented this time. Even Bean manages to be genuinely amusing, when he launches into a soliloquy about his beloved shiny jewel or cast up a bomb so big, even he can't throw it.

Using the characters’ pre-existing traits to get laughs is much preferable to totz randum references and poo-poo and pee-pee jokes. When done right, character based humor is funny and also tells us more about who these people are. Take, for example, a moment here where Blaze insists she’s not afraid of heights while showing an obvious fear of heights. It’s something we didn’t know about her before hand and it’s pretty ironic that a character who can fly would experience occasional vertigo. Cream’s sheepish reaction to this is both cute and funny. So is everyone’s continued confusion with Marine’s incomprehensible blabbering.

The comic dropping yet another party into a story is usually a disaster. The need to add more made “Hedgehog Havoc” and “Treasure Team Tango” into messes. (Boy, this comic is really fond of alliteration in its titles.) Captain Whiskers and his team, cast-offs from the same forgotten handheld title that brought us Marine, are not the most memorable bunch. It’s not like the book needed yet another alternate universe version of Robotnik. Aside from maintaining brand consistency, I don’t really know why Whiskers is another Eggman expy, as pirates have nothing to do with Sonic’s primary antagonist. Johnny, meanwhile, doesn’t even have a pirate gimmick. He’s just a flying, rocket powered robot. Even his name is non-descriptive.

Despite their generic qualities, adding Captain Whiskers’ crew to the story actually energizes it. It keeps Blaze and the other heroes moving, in pursuit of the gem. It allows Marine a chance to get her ship back, maintaining the story’s maritime gimmick. (Marine is also much more fun when she has a baffled crew to order around.) It also keeps the narrative from falling into a “villains chase heroes” slump. Against all odds, throwing a bunch of lame Sega created characters into the mix actually keeps this plot afloat after the weak second part.

Still, this issue could’ve used more Captain Metal. After having the Sol Emerald stolen from him twice, his appearance as an unshakable bad-ass is starting to loosen. The comic also goes too far with his tendency to attack his own crew, turning it into a weird running gag. His late reappearance is effective though. The Kraken sequence is a decent action scene. Metal reappearing with a modified, crab-like body makes for a decent cliffhanger.

Yardley successfully recovers after his fumble last time. You know a comic is good when Bean the Duck actually manages to be funny, rather than annoying. Against all odds, I’m finding myself weirdly invested in Blaze and Marine this time, two Sega characters I’m usually indifferent too. Then again, I might be overrating this story because the main book is really sucking at this moment. Whatever, a [7/10] it is!