Sonic Universe: Issue 72

Sonic Universe: Issue 72
Publication Date: January 2015

Let’s open this review of “Sonic Universe: Issue 72” with some thoughts on Big the Cat, a character who is included in this arc for no particularly good reason. I’ve never liked Big the Cat, partially because his fishing levels in “Sonic Adventure” were fucking awful, but mostly because his personality is so one-note. He’s a character defined solely by his surface elements - large, likes fishing, has a pet frog - and seemingly lacks any inner life. Despite the character going from ironic in-joke to genuinely loved, I still dislike the huge dumbass. Having said that, Flynn makes him super protective of Sally in this issue and that’s kind of cute. It won’t stop me from making fun of him but it’s cute.

Alright, on to the important stuff. “Spark of Life: Part Two” begins with Sally and the team still on Dr. Ellidy’s island. The scientist explains to them that the Lake of Rings on the island has started producing Red Star Rings. Those are super powerful variants of the regular power rings. Sally and Big go to investigate the lake while Tails and Nicole stays behind to look for the outsider messing with Ellidy’s system.

I continue to admire “Spark of Life” for being a more character-oriented story than what we’ve been getting recently. There’s only one brief action sequence in this issue, when Sally and Big are attacked by the reprogrammed Badniks. Otherwise, this one is about the cast and their world. However, part two really feels like a middle chapter. The script is laying the mystery on thick. Ellidy’s connection to Nicole is still being hinted at and the last page suggests the doctor may be a sinister figure. The story’s true villain continues to move in the background.

The problem with this is the reader has already figured out both riddles. It’s already obvious that Ellidy based Nicole on his dead daughter. It was obvious as soon as we saw they were practically identical looking lynxes, that her physical appearance makes him so uncomfortable. The new villain hasn’t revealed herself to the characters but the readers already know about her, robbing that subplot of much suspense. We don’t know what Phage’s exact motivation is but it’s obvious she’s up to some bad shit. While there’s value in hanging out with the cast, I do wish the plot was moving a little faster. Or that Flynn and Baker hadn’t laid their cards down so early.

This issue also introduces the Red Star Rings, which were previously glimpsed in that “Sonic Rush” adaptation. In the video games, the Red Star Rings are usually objects to be gathered in order to unlock bonus content. Baker and Flynn changes it into a super powerful new type of Power Ring. I’m not really sure these things needed to be added to the comic continuity. In a world full of countless regular rings and far too many Chaos Emeralds, did we really need another exotic power source? As far as I can remember, the Red Star Rings mostly exist to give Nicole a super form later in the story. Which probably could’ve been accomplished with any number of other plot devices.

None of this is really what people remember about this story arc. Changing her back story, so Nicole’s original handheld form was Sally’s companion all throughout childhood, is significant. Now we get flashbacks of Rosie using Nicole to teach Sally about the pressures of being a tactician. Or an especially touching scene of a young Sally, after Robotnik’s takeover, confiding in Nicole. She talks about how hard it is to be a brave inspiration for the Freedom Fighters when she’s still a scared little girl who misses her dad. Sally and Nicole have always ostensibly been BFFs but the simple shift of Sally receiving her when she was a child changes everything. Now the A.I. has been Sally’s friend and closest confidant through the hardest years of her life.

Or, perhaps, more than just a friend. The “Spark of Life” arc became especially controversial when, after the “Sonic” books were canceled, Flynn announced on Twitter that he wrote Sally and Nicole as if they were lovers. The hints are blatant enough that I’m surprised more people didn’t pick up on it. Sally asks Big if he likes Nicole, even though she’s digital rather than organic. The extension of this question — Is everyone okay with an organic person dating a digital one? — is heavily implied. Earlier, Sally places her hand on Nicole’s shoulder in a way that seems a little more than casual.

Nerds being who they are, some people freaked out about this. Usually due to typical reactionary fears that those damn dirty liberals are inserting their gay agenda into the totally apolitical medium of comic books. (I don’t know how Sonic fans can think this way, considering Sonic is a socialist hero. But there’s also racist “Star Trek” fans, so some nerds are just fucking dumb.) I think the “Sonic” franchise badly needs LGBT representation. It reflects the world better, kids need to see that gay relationships are perfectly normal and, besides, there’s always been a huge queer component of the “Sonic” fandom anyway. It would’ve made sense for any number of “Sonic” characters to be gay. Old continuity Vector was always written as if he was deeply closeted. Tails has never had a satisfying relationship with a woman, has perpetually pined for Sonic, and is a total twink. The yet-to-be-introduced Jian and rebooted Dulcy sure would’ve made a cute couple as well.

I certainly do not mind Sally and Nicole being made lovers. But... As a lifelong Sonic/Sally shipper, this story choice fills me with complicated feelings. It absolutely makes sense for these versions of Sally and Nicole to have a more-than-platonic relationship. It’s also depicted well. And, because of Sega’s ridiculous mandates, Sonic can never have a romance with anyone ever again anyway. Yet I’m always going to long for the preboot days, when Sonic and Sally were officially an item. My head-canon justifies this by making reboot Sally bi and giving her an open relationship with Sonic and Nicole. Ya know, in case you were curious about my feelings towards the sex lives of cartoon animal video game characters.

But I digress. “Spark of Life” hits a bit of a bump in its second part. The emotional heart of the story remains strong but the plotting isn’t so certain in this one. Still, Aleah Baker’s mastery of these characters even makes a slightly off-paced story pretty damn good. [7/10]