Sonic Boom: Issue 11

Sonic Boom: Issue 11
Publication Date: September 2015

The fallout of “Worlds Collide” was massive, the entire “Sonic” comic continuity being scrapped and started anew. At first, it seemed like “Worlds Unite” would not result in as huge an upheaval. Yet, following the crossover’s conclusion, Archie would cancel two of the participating titles. “Sonic Boom” would end immediately while “Mega Man” would run for a few more issues before being canned as well. When pressed, Ian Flynn would confirm that “Boom’s” cancellation had nothing to do with low sales but would not reveal the exact reason why.

It was soon apparent that things were not all well at Archie. Earlier in 2015, the company would attempt to Kickstart a modernized reboot of the “Archie” titles. When people complained about a major comic publisher asking for handouts from its fans, Archie would cancel the Kickstarter and go ahead with the series on their own. But it seems Archie really did need those handouts. In addition to the unexpected cancellations, all Archie titles would be mysteriously delayed the next year. One can assume that a general lack of funds was behind all of this. The company simply didn’t have enough money to relaunch their flagship titles and keep everything else running and on-time.

Of course, all of this proceeded more mysterious cancellations at the end of 2016, the remaining “Sonic” books only being the most prominent. (The new “Jughead” book, which Flynn also worked on, ended suddenly as well.) Once again, the publisher would remain mum on why the books ended. It’s hard not to assume the earlier mix-up and the later one weren’t related. Thus, autumn of 2015 was the beginning of the end for Archie’s “Sonic” titles. This was the point when it became clear to fans that this comic company was not run very well. And that Archie would sacrifice its licensed titles to preserve its mascot characters.

But all of that has very little to do with the final issue of “Sonic Boom!” So let’s actually start reviewing it. “Eggman Gets a Gorilla” begins with the mad scientist’s latest giant robot, the anime inspired MeBot, being easily destroyed by Sonic. Eggman decides a naturally occurring brute might serve him better. When the gorilla arrives, he immediately attacks Eggman and squats in his base. Soon, Sonic meets the otherwise laid-back gorilla, named Kyle, and lets the accident prone simian move in with him. This proceeds Kyle searching for a job, which also does not go well.

“Eggman Gets a Gorilla” was written by Sam Sandak Freiberger. If that last name looks familiar, it’s because Sam is the son of Bill Freiberger, one of “Sonic Boom’s” head writers who also contributed to the comic a little. Sam proves to be even funnier than his old man. There are a number of good, absurd gags here. Such as the gorilla switching from fearsome to a couch potato within a few pages. Or that opening bit, where Eggman includes an anime-esque backdrop for his bad ass robot. My favorite gag involves Kyle’s job search, where he fails through various occupations in quick succession. One of his short-lived gigs involves washing windows on a skyscraper, leading to a delightfully unexpected shout-out to “King Kong.”

Just like his dad, Sam is also fond of fourth wall breaking jokes. Some of these are a little sweaty, like Sonic getting an idea and then utilizing the suddenly appeared lightbulb. Or the sudden appearance of a Twitter hashtag. Most of them are better though. Eggman consults his past self during a brainstorming session. Later, Eggman advises Sonic to read an issue of this very comic book, a silly gag that is saved by Sonic’s deadpan response. I also like the comic cast continuing to interact with their own word balloons. Sam even managed to spruce up the thoroughly depleted ker-sound effect running gag, by having the onomatopoeia form into ever more complex algebra equations.

Surprisingly, the last issue of “Sonic Boom” also includes a back-up story. “True Stories,” sadly, does not involve the “Sonic” gang singing Talking Heads songs. Instead, it begins with Eggman loosing his ear piece. Bored and annoyed, he decides to actually use those spy cameras he installed around Sonic’s village. What he sees is not especially informative, to say the least. He then finds his earpiece in the worst way but, don’t worry, it ends up all right.

“True Stories” is a series of mostly wonderful gags. Most of these are pretty broad. Like Tails building a top secret dance instructor robot. Or Kyle reappearing to give Sonic a pie in the face and Knuckles buying a silly hat. Broad is okay though, as these moments are also pretty funny. I especially like the finale, where Eggman and Sticks realize they are spying in each other. It helps that smaller gags are sneaked in there. Like the dance instructor bot having goldfish in both his platform shoes and his wig. Or Knuckles describing himself as “afraid of commitment.” There’s also a gentle jab at anime Knuckles’ hat, which some interpreted as a stab at Ken Penders but was probably just a silly in-joke.

Though I’m sure the “Sonic Boom” staff was given little notice of the book’s cancellation, this does feel like a fitting farewell. “True Stories” gives us one more look at all the characters being silly. For one last time, at least on the printed page, we see Knuckles be dumb but overly eloquent. We see Sticks being paranoid, Amy overreacting to stuff, Comedy Chimp telling bad jokes, Sonic acting as a speedy straight man, and Tails inventing things. (Tails kind of got the shaft in this series, didn’t he?) More than any other, I’ll miss lovable loser Eggman. Watching him be deeply humiliated by his failures, repeat all his mistakes, and be placated by junk food was consistently hilarious.

Diana Skelly’s artwork, which fills up both stories, goes a long way towards selling many of this issue’s jokes. Her depiction of the Go Nagai style Eggman mech is pitch perfect. Skelly is especially good at facial expressions. Amy’s righteously angry face at a trolling Smile Bug makes an otherwise dumb joke work. Eggman declaring himself the angriest man in the world, before a pizza delivery changes his mind, is awesome. Yet Skelly’s loose, energetic, and cartoony style is composed enough to also sell the dry and bemused reactions people have to the insanity around them.

Good-bye, Archie’s “Sonic Boom.” You were a very amusing comedy series. When you consider the book’s brief run, it actually emerges as one of Archie’s most consistent “Sonic” series. I liked pretty much every issue of this book. The final issue promised that more “Sonic Boom” stories would appear in the Sonic Digest and Magazines. Aside from several reprints, this would not come to past. It’s hard to know if Flynn planned for more but just never realized it, due to Sega and Archie parting ways, or if the publisher was just feeding annoyed fans a line of bullshit. Considering Sega would abandon the spinoff franchise soon, more stories probably never would’ve happened anyway. Once again, the goofy but lovable sub-series got the short end of the stick. (Or Sticks, as it were.) Ker-farewell, “Sonic Boom.” I’m being utterly sincere when I say I’ll miss you. [7/10]