Mega Man: Issue 52

Mega Man: Issue 52
Publication Date: August 2015

Here we are, at the final chapter of “Worlds Unite.” I know it only took me five weeks to get all these reviews out – less time than the four month period the story arc was originally published over – but it sure feels like we’ve been talking about this thing for a long time. I guess, compared to the Shattered World Crisis going on for about three years, or the decade it took to resolve the “Tails is the Chosen One” idea, twelve issues (plus two tie-ins) isn’t that much. Still, I’m ready to put the final crossover of the Archie era behind me for good.

By the way, did you notice that Flynn’s titles for this all sort together in alphabetical order? “Last Rights” picks up with Super Sonic and Super Mega Man facing off against Sigma’s most powerful form. The god-like heroes beat the megalomaniac reploid into submission quickly, before fucking killing him. The danger isn’t over yet though. The Unified World is deeply unstable, Sigma’s experiments pushing all the dimensions to their breaking points. While the heroes panic, Eggman and Dr. Wily are deep within Lost Hex. They are going to use the Master Engine to rewrite all of reality, to suit their needs. That’s when Xander Payne, who has lurked in the background for most of this thing, finally makes himself useful.

The final fight with Sigma is definitely anti-climatic. After eleven issues of Sigma boasting about what a bad-ass he is, we finally had a chance to see him in action. Yet watching him beat everyone up for a few pages last time, just for Sonic and Mega Man to defeat him in as many pages, is disappointing. Doesn’t Flynn know that these anime final boss battles are suppose to stretch on forever? I guess Super Sonic and Super Mega Man really are so OP, that they can dismantle a physical god within a few minutes. Granted, the way Sonic and Mega Man brutally execute Sigma –  blasting him from the front and back simultaneously –  is hilariously unexpected. (And deeply out-of-character but I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.) Still, I wish Flynn had organize things a little better, or gotten another issue for this plot, to allow the last battle between the heroes and the ultimate villain a little more breathing room.

There’s a reason Sonic and Rock roll over Sigma so quickly. This last issue isn’t really about the fight against Sigma. It’s actually about bringing “Worlds Unite” to a close. The climax of the story concerns the shared reality coming close to collapsing, presumably destroying all of existence when it does. This does lead to some effectively dour moments, when the guest characters realize none of their last ditch efforts will actually work. Billy Hatcher and his friends praying to their weird chicken god, who can not hear them, is probably the best example of that. I also like Vyse and Sir Arthur insisting on helping Sally and the Unified Army up until the end. Half of the script is devoted to the resolution, to getting everybody back home safe and sound.

During the last crossover, Flynn had Sonic and Mega Man Chaos Control everything back to normal. That doesn’t work this time, forcing another even crazier solution to things. Xander Payne has been following the whims of his visions, helping Eggman and Wiky escape and bringing them to the Master Engine. This would seem to contradict his anti-technology philosophy but it turns out destiny brought him here for a reason. Yes, the rambling zealot was right. He opens a portal through time with his magic eyeball, to right before Sigma transported himself to Sonic’s world. He then fires a gun into the space-time rift, eliminating Sigma, and ending “Worlds Unite” before it even began.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. Story lines that end by wiping themselves from continuity are usually reserved for plots so awful, even the writers realize they need to be tossed in the trash. (Such as “Sonic ‘06.”) “Worlds Unite” was actually pretty good. Considering the precarious nature of mass crossovers like this, I guess it’s best from a legal perspective if the “Sonic” and “Mega Man” comics can never speak of this again. But it’s too easy, too clean. One simple act ends up resolving everything, the heroes having nothing to do with it. What was stopping Payne from doing that sooner, other than his own inability to put the pieces together before now? And wouldn’t it have been more satisfying if the good guys found some way to solve things on their own?

It feels like Flynn painted himself into a corner and Payne un-fucking shit through time travel shenanigans was the only thing he could think of that would fix everything. But it doesn’t fix everything, does it? There’s at least one plot thread left dangling at the end of “Worlds Unite.” The Zetis sure haven’t been mentioned in a while, have they? Despite playing such a prominent role in the story’s beginning, they totally vanished after the fight aboard the Sky Patrol. After Payne paradoxes everything back to normal, Eggman is taken back to the point right before he conquered Lost Hex. He calls off the whole thing, assuming correctly that his latest plot with Wily must’ve failed. So the Deadly Six was still out there, waiting for the comic to find a use for them.

And let’s do some fan-wanking here. What if Sonic and Mega Man’s Chaos Control had worked? This would’ve been a good way to bring back the original continuity, if Archie had written up the correct contracts or Ken Penders had fallen into a hole. Maybe the original universe hadn’t been lost. Maybe it was merely shoved into a pocket dimension or something. The main “Sonic” book could’ve been devoted to the original continuity and “Sonic Universe” could have continued the rebooted worlds. Of course, this never could’ve happened for many reasons. But a nerd can dream.

Other than being kind of lazy, the ending to “Worlds Unite” does feel good. The “Sonic” and “Mega Man” cast are returned to their respective homes, with only the vague recollection of something unusual happening. The first thing Sonic does is call up Shadow, making sure he’s still alive. To be honest, I had totally forgotten that the so-called Ultimate Lifeform was seemingly killed when the worlds merged. If that was suppose to be a big emotional event, Flynn should have focused on it way more. Still, that scene –  along with its Mega Man equivalent, where Roll welcomes Rock back home – does add a little emotion to the ending.  (Though more scenes showing the other characters making their way home would’ve been nice.)

On the very last page, Sticks suggests there will be lingering aftereffects from this crossover. That Genesis Portals are probably still floating around out there. This scene is obviously meant to set-up potential future crossovers. Sadly, this sequel hook would hang forever, due to Sega and Archie ending their partnership for still unexplained reasons that are probably Archie’s fault. And how would Flynn have topped this anyway, a story with almost a hundred principal characters?

Maybe I’m just happy this crossover, as enjoyable as it was, is finally over. Tyson Hesse’s artwork is very strong here, by the way. Honestly, it’s impressive that Flynn juggled this insanely ambitious story as well as he did. He mashed together sixteen different worlds and, all things considered, the result was relatively coherent and mostly fun to read. There are many things I would have done differently, especially concerning the ending, the progress of the story, and the chosen guest characters. But, hey, it was certainly way better than “Worlds Collide” was. [7/10]