Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 263

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 263
Publication Date: August 2014

If you didn’t know Chaos was going to make a surprise appearance in issue 263 of Archie’s “Sonic” comic, the final part of the “Waves of Change” arc, the cover ruins that. Honestly, I have a lot of questions about Ben Bates’ otherwise very dynamic cover. Chaos seems to have generated a waterspout around Meropis, a really cool idea that absolutely does not happen in the actual comic book. That seems to have provided enough lift to levitate Amy and Rotor into the air, as they’re just posing blankly many feet above the ground. Sonic, meanwhile, is surfing on a gush of water from Chaos’ arm. This is despite his body language in no way correlating with an upward motion. It’s one of those covers that appears super cool until you actually take a long look at it and realize it makes no fucking sense.

So how about the plot of “Waves of Change: Part Four - Divine Waters?” Meropis is under siege from the Dark Gaia monsters. Razor and Amy try to protect the Temple, while Coral continues to try to manifest the magic bubble around the city. Meanwhile, Sonic and Rotor fumble on the ocean floor, as their air charms run out and a huge monster wails on them. Luckily, Coral is contacted by float-y spirit echidna Tikal. She summons Chaos to save Sonic and Rotor. And everything pretty much works out okay after that.

“Divine Waters” wraps up the “Waves of Changes” arc in ridiculously tidy fashion. Not a single plot point set up in the last three issues is left unresolved. Captain Striker forgives Coral, which he shows by sending Echo the Dolphin and a squad of soldiers to protect the temple. Queen Angelica and King Puff reappear just to apologize about being such assholes. The temple Chao re-emerges and the magical rites are performed, rising the shields and saving Meropis. The Freedom Fighters even get a farewell gift of a shit ton of Power Rings, which is apparently what fuels the Sky Patrol. Sonic and the gang didn’t find a Gaia Temple but Amy has now learned the Mystic Melody, which will help locate the temples quicker... Somehow. It’s like Flynn had a check list of things he had to do before finishing this one. It’s clean but comes awfully close to feeling contrived.

And no element is more contrived than the sudden appearance of Tikal and Chaos, a textbook and almost literal deus ex machina. They appear out of nowhere and resolve the heroes’ problems. Chaos saves Sonic and Rotor by zapping big air bubbles around them. You know this is a cheat because the heroes would have absolutely died if the soggy god hadn’t intervene. Ian painted himself into a corner and had to summon the god out of the machine to get out. There’s some bullshit about how the bad juju in the water, from Dark Gaia leaking its shit everywhere, kept Tikal from getting to the temple sooner. That’s Flynn’s sole attempt to justify this random ass plot solution. It’s sloppy, sloppy writing and Ian is better than that.

With such a contrived ending, the emotional state of the characters is all we’re left to cling to. There’s some cute banner between Sonic and Razor at the end, as well as an almost flirtatious exchange with Rotor. Mostly, it’s nice to see Coral – who has spent most of the arc as a nervous wreck – feeling better by the end. Tikal appears and gives her both a magical boost and a pep talk. I guess a goddess materializing in my house and assuring me I’m doing a good job would make me feel better too. Sonic leaves Meropis in a considerably better place than when he arrived. I just wish it felt more natural.

Aleah Baker continues her run in the back pages with “Consequences,” a direct follow-up to “A Light in the Dark.” The two Egg Bosses responsible for watching over the crystal cave mining job, deer sisters Clove and Cassia, arrive at the location. They find a bunch of wrecked robots, and a taunting message from the Freedom Fighters, but no Chaos Emerald. Clove has to inform Eggman of their failures, but he has more pressing concerns.

Story wise, there’s not much to “Consequences.” The main plot point is Eggman discovering Sally stole some pertinent documents when she was aboard the Death Egg. Instead, this story is about introducing Clove and Cassia. Continuing Flynn’s post-reboot goal of introducing more funny animal diversity, they’re two cool looking pronghorn deer. It’s immediately apparent they are not working for Robotnik because they like it. Little sister Cassia has robotic implants. It’s hinted that Eggman provided this upgrade in return for the sisters’ loyalty. So right out of the gate, Clove is more complex than most of this book’s villains. She is motivated by her concerns for her sibling, which is subtly hinted at here, while Cassia is eager to break loose following a long period of illness. It’s fascinating stuff. The only disappointing part of “Consequences” is that Flynn would not use Clove and Cassia nearly enough before the comic was canceled.

Let’s talk about the book’s artwork. Ryan Jampole, last seen during “Worlds Collide,” draws the cover story. As seen last time, Jampole’s artwork is a bit stiff. His action scenes frequently lack a sense of movement. His characters are a bit awkward, all of them looking a little too long-limbed. His backgrounds are often blank and uninteresting, usually composed of plain colors. But it’s serviceable. Evan Stanley draws “Consequences”and it’s much better. Stanley’s artwork is detailed and expressive, Clove and Cassia really coming to life. (I also suspect Stanley drew the last page of the cover story, which re-introduces two fan favorites, and looks nothing like Jampole’s work.)

But there is one piece of artwork from Stanley this month that I do not care for. Stanley provides this month’s alternate cover, which I don’t usually talk about. Against a searing cotton candy pink background, she has re-imagined the Freedom Fighters as Chao. And the results are deeply unpleasant to look at. Squeezing these recognizable features onto the spherical Chao bodies, with their huge eyes and weird stubby limbs, is not cute. The added detail of gaping mouths makes this more unnerving than cute. Thankfully, it’s just a little gag image and has nothing to do with the issue itself.

As for the comic itself, the cover story is a disappointing conclusion to an arc that had a promising start. The back-up is pretty good though. Let’s round it up to a [6/10.]