Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 256

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 256
Publication Date: January 2014

I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this yet! Over the course of this retrospective, I’ve waxed nostalgically about Archie’s old habit of creating a series of covers that, when out side-by-side, make one long image. It’s been a while since the book has done one of these. “The Gathering Storm” was the last one, I believe. The four covers of “Countdown to Chaos” is one such image. While Ben Bates’ art is not quite as graphically intense as Spaz’s, it’s still a pretty cool image.

The final part of “Countdown to Chaos” is subtitled “The Princess and the Hammer,” which sounds like some sort of Communist fairy tale. Anyway, we pick up where “Pirates Plunder Panic” ended, with Amy, Cream, Bean and Bark being teleported back to Mobotropolis. Within in minutes of arriving, Sally crash-lands an escape pod right next to them. Metal Sonic is in pursuit but, luckily, Sonic and Tails arrive in time. After scrapping the robot, the gang gathers on the Sky Patrol. After restoring Sally and Amy’s memories, Nicole is able to generate her hologram form again. She then delivers some very grave news: the world is in peril.

“Countdown to Chaos” was always less of a proper story arc and more of a long prologue to the rebooted ‘verse. Each issue focused on reintroducing one of the main Freedom Fighters. Along the way, it established many of the new changes that have effected the world. Now, all the pieces are in place. Our heroes have gathered on their new airborne base. We can get on with the actual story. I don’t feel cheated exactly by this structure but I have my qualms. I wish Flynn had given us more time to get to know everyone again. A series of slower, character-based stories would have been preferable to an escalating series of action set pieces.

With this issue, we are truly reintroduced to Princess Sally. I’ve already talked about her new appearances - I think it’s pretty meh - but that’s not the only change. To me, post-reboot Sally really feels like an entirely different character. She’s still the field leader and tactician but she’s brainier than before. Such as in the scene where she effortlessly rattled off facts about alternate dimensions. She’s also more of an action hero. I guess because a back-kick wasn’t bad-ass enough anymore, Flynn gave her energy swords that she stores in the cuffs of her gloves. That feels like a somewhat desperate gimmick attached to a character that didn’t need it. This Sally just feels less complicated, less conflicted about her role. The Princess is back but she’s not as alive as before.

Most distressing, due to the new editorial insistence that Sega characters can no longer have romances, Sonic and Sally aren’t dating anymore. They don’t even have much in the way of sexual tension. The entire basis of their relationship has changed. When Sonic picks her up, crying with joy, he immediately puts her back down. Sonic and Sally are just friends now. I’d argue that this changes the entire emotional core of the comic as well. We’ve been rooting for these kids to get together for over twenty years. Now, the possibility of that ever happening is completely gone. If the reboot ever feels somewhat hollow to me, that’s probably why.

Truthfully, Flynn is so focused on plot in this issue that he barely has time for emotions. Sally being reunited with her dad and the blowback from getting her old (and especially traumatizing) memories back get one panel each. This issue is more about setting up the plot point our heroes will be grappling with for the next three years. The Super Genesis Wave wiped out the entire multi-verse, another confirmation that the old universe is deader than dead. This put so much stress on the planet that it’s tearing itself apart. Thus, the Shattered World Crisis  - and an exceedingly long-winded adaptation of “Sonic Unleashed” - begins. I’ve got a lot of thoughts about this, mostly negative, but I will say that it’s a hell of a cliffhanger to end the issue on.

Flynn probably could’ve taken more time to show the Freedom Fighters reuniting. To let the reader decide how they should feel about the new incarnations of these old characters. But he had to shove an action scene into the issue, least the precious seven year old boy readers get bored and leave. So there’s an utterly unnecessary fight scene between Sonic and Metal Sonic. There’s nothing especially memorable about these fight. Save for one panel were a destroyed Metal Sonic leaps out of an explosion, like a horror movie villain getting in one last scare before the credits. Other than establishing Sally’s new combat abilities, this sequence has no reason to be in the book.

It’s yet another issue weighed down by the baggage of rebooting the entire comic. There’s one moment I really like. When Bean and Bark refuse to help fight Metal Sonic, being money-grubbing mercenaries, Cream’s exasperated yelling at them is pretty funny. By the way, we also see Nicole’s redesign in this issue. She pretty much looks the same except she’s now wearing a spiffy outfit that looks like something out of a sci-fi anime. I hope you don’t mind me bitching so much in this review, because there’s going to be a lot of that going forward. [5/10]