Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 257

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 257
Publication Date: February 2014

Can we talk about Rafa Knight’s cover art? Knight was another fan artist who got recruited to work on “Sonic” in an official capacity. Knight’s digital renders of the Sonic cast was popular and he would bring this approach to several covers in Archie’s post-reboot line-up. I have no problem with Knight’s artwork in theory. Taken on its own, it’s perfectly acceptable. It’s even sort of cool seeing the comic’s cast done in the Dreamcast style. But, I don’t know, isn’t that digital style a little jarring when put alongside the usual pencil-and-ink look of the covers? Just me? Okay, moving on.

The Shattered Earth Crisis begins in earnest with “Damage Control.” The Sky Patrol happens to be near Station Square. The city has the misfortune of being on a fault line. The Freedom Fighters rush into action, working to save as many people as possible as the city is ravaged by flooding and earthquakes. Meanwhile, Eggman watches the planet break apart and realizes a dead world is not worth ruling over. He makes moves to control the crisis.

“Damage Control” is satisfying on one level. It’s nice to see the Freedom Fighters working together to help people and stop a problem. Everyone’s unique abilities are put to use. Bunnie lifts wreckage with her super-limbs. Rotor swims underwater, doing what he can to redirect the flooding. Big pulls people to safety with his fishing rod. Sonic rushes into buildings, grabs people, and leaps to a dryer location. Sally oversees the operation from above and Tails does machines. Antoine, uh, cuts a rope with his sword. Considering the Freedom Fighters are still being reestablished following the reboot, it’s nice to see everyone get a moment in the spotlight.

“Damage Control” also makes it clear that even a book as frivolous as “Sonic the Hedgehog” isn’t unaffected by post-9/11 anxieties, by the millennial feeling the world is tearing itself apart. Compare this issue to number 83, the last time we saw Station Square flooded. That issue devoted one page to the flooding and one panel to rescuing people, two events this entire comic book focuses on. The cause of the difference is clear. That book came out in the more naive time of 2000. This one came out after September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, and a dozen other major disasters. Thanks to the internet and international news coverage, by 2014, we were all far too familiar with how a major city looks when devastated by disaster. So even a goofy kids book has to consider the loss of life and massive destructive seriously. (This is further emphasized by the issue’s variant cover, which shows the Freedom Fighters pulling ash-covered people from the rubble.)

This issue depicts Station Square as a city inhabited by both humans and Mobians, or whatever we’re calling the anthromorphized cartoon animals now. The day is partially saved when G.U.N. flies in on its bootleg Hellicarrier, giving the refugees shelter. (Considering Flynn’s tendency to rip off the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it looks like he predicted a similar event in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” over a year before that movie came out.) Seeing Sonic and the other Mobians interact with regular humans so casually irritates the shit out of me. With the preboot history of Overlanders and Station Square ripped away, we just have to assume humanity has always co-existed with Mobians in this timeline. Which raises way more questions than I have time to get into now. This is just another example of how sloppy the reboot was, how it could totally changed the balance of the world and never explained to us how the hell that was supposed to work.

But let’s zoom in on more personal matters. One thing I do really like about this issue is Sally struggling with her personal responsibilities as leader. She feels overwhelmed by the death and destruction laid out before her. She’s directing the Freedom Fighters as they try to solve a problem way bigger than they are. She’s also still haunted by her memories of what she did as Mecha-Sally, which she feels she has to make up for by being really good. It’s a lot for one chipmunk to handle. So it’s no wonder she’s cracking up a little and needs two separate pep talks from Nicole and Cream. I’m glad some of old Sally’s complexity is still present in new Sally.

Even this character beat is tinged by annoyance. During the aforementioned pep talk, Cream instructs Sally to just forget about her old traumas. Later, Tails and Sonic discuss how their old memories are fading. How they’ll be completely forgotten soon. And maybe it’s better that they’re forgetting. This pisses me off for two reasons. First off, Flynn just wrapped up a story line about returning those old memories, seemingly invalidating his own work. Secondly, these lines really feel like mean-spirited jabs at longtime readers. It’s like the comic is saying: “Listen, nerds, the old continuity is gone forever and it’s never coming back. Get over it because the new ‘verse will probably be much better.” Mocking your most faithful readers, saying the thing they were invested in for twenty years was bad and we’re all better off that it’s gone now, is not a good way to endear us to the new continuity.

One more thing: Evan Stanley draws this one. Stanley’s pencils are occasionally rather sharp. Her use of motion and action is captivating. Individual panels, devoted to the Freedom Fighters’ heroic efforts are eye-catching. However, her character work is a little off. Antoine looks seriously off-model a few times. Her human characters are kind of ugly, especially new G.U.N. leader Amanda Tower and her weird pug nose. Eggman looks a little loose too. Even Sonic seems slightly more angular than usual. Stanley is a talented artist but I guess she had gotten a little rusty since her last time drawing the book.

So I have a lot of mixed feelings about issue 257. The heroic sequences are well done and it feels like we’re getting some of the character development that’s been sorely lacking around here lately. The issue’s serious, real world context is interesting too. At the same time, Flynn continues to handle the facts of the reboot in a sloppy and irritating fashion. That’s another [6/10] for you.