THE 2015 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG COMIC BEST/WORST LIST

2015 marked the second complete year of the Post-Genesis Wave continuity, the Shattered World Crisis rolling on. Opinion continued to be sharply divided on whether the reboot. It found passionate fans of their own, was accepted by some long-time readers, but other life-long fans continued to bitch and grouse about all the differences. Even if we expand beyond “Reboot sux/preboot was never good” rhetoric, it seems to me that the book was still being torn in different directions. Flynn was using this on-going plot as a way to set up the new world, which had the effect of dragging the on-going plot out for way too long. At the same time, he was showing us how the comic was now a mixture of game elements, stuff from the old DiC cartoons, and new/old comic stuff.

And then there was another massive “Mega Man” crossover in the middle of the year, disrupting the flow of whatever was happening otherwise. Even if you are a fan of the reboot, I think you can agree that this was not an ideal set-up for a comic book recovering from having its entire continuity wiped clean. None of us knew it either but the book was barreling towards canceltation too, the first signs of which would appear in 2015 if you were paying attention.

Nevertheless, it’s my job to look back on the year and declared the best and worst stories, art, and new characters for the year. Let’s get to it. The issues covered in this retrospective are:

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 268-278
Sonic Universe: Issue 72-81
Sonic Boom: Issue 3-11
Sonic Super Digest: Issue 11-12
Mega Man: Issue 50-52
Mega Man: Worlds Unite - Battles: Issue 1
Sonic the Hedeghog: Worlds Unite - Battles: Issue 1
Sonic/Mega Man Free Comic Book Day 2015

BEST COVER STORY:
Ian Flynn, "Worlds Unite! Part Six: Fire in the Sky" (Sonic Boom: Issue 9)

Is “Fire in the Sky” truly the best “Sonic” story that was published in 2015? Is it the most dramatically sound? The most emotionally resonant? The most satisfying narrative? Well, probably not. However, the sixth part of “Worlds Unite!” is by far the most fun I had reading a “Sonic” comic in 2015. An entire issue devoted to a huge action sequence between Sonic’s gang, the two “Mega Man” crews, the Deadly Six and Sigma’s army, it’s a series of delightfully fun escalating fight scenes, the book utilizing the various crazy superpowers of its mixed cast in a creative way. It was somehow the highlight of a crossover that also featured Chun-Li and Princess Sally sharing page-space together.

WORST COVER STORY:
Evan Stanley, "The Silver Age: Part One" (Sonic Universe: Issue 79)

Though Evan Stanley is a perfectly cromulent “Sonic” artist, as a writer she was still getting over her metaphorical sea legs with “The Silver Age.” The first part grapples unsuccessfully with a number of problems. It introduces the immensely unappealing Professor von Schelemer, who immediately proceeds to do uncomfortable things. Stanley fails to make her future setting distinct or interesting in any meaningful way. Worst, the plot relies overly on coincidence and contrivance, with a portal opening up under the characters’ feet just when the story needs Silver to show off what he can do with portals. Sadly, it’s not just the first part that has this problem but the entire story line.

BEST BACK STORY:
Aleah Baker, "Hidden Costs: Part Two" (Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 278)

There weren’t a lot of back stories published in 2015, leaving the pickings pretty slim for this category. However, Aleah Baker continued to show her strength for emotionally driven narrative and interaction between female characters with the second half of “Hidden Costs.” What might’ve been a senseless fight between Bunnie and Cassea in her husband’s hands becomes a story about empathy and finding common ground with your enemy. It’s nice to see these themes acknowledged, especially in a year that was overwhelmingly characterized by characters punching their ways out of problems.

WORST BACK STORY:
Joel Enos, "Sonic vs. Three of the Armored Deadly Six!" (Sonic the Hedgehog: Worlds Unite - Battles: Issue 1)

Since it’s a compilation devoted to side stories, really every story contained in the “Battles” one-shots are back stories. And, by far, the worst of the lot was Joel Enos’ oh-so-elegantly entitled “Sonic vs. Three of the Armored Deadly Six!” In Enos’ first and last contribution to Archie “Sonic” lore, he shows no ability to see these cast members are actual characters. Instead, he reduces everyone to their thinnest personality traits and has them barf up dialogue so bad, that it sounds like pre-canned Sega advertising lines. Stories like this represent the worst of what a “Sonic” book can be, when the series functioned as nothing more than facile advertisements for corporate product.

BEST STORY ARC:
Aleah Baker, "Spark of Life" (Sonic Universe: Issue 72-74)

Technically a cheat, as the first installment was published in 2014, but “Spark of Life” is the sole universally agreed upon classic of the post-reboot continuity. Strengthening Sally and Nicole’s relationship like never before, Aleah Baker makes the connection between the two more meaningful than half of the preboot romances. It’s this bond that makes the story truly special, as it’s not free of the typical last minute power-ups and cheesy plot reveals that have characterized the series too much here of late. But, damn, those flashbacks and little meaningful moments are so good, you guys.

WORST STORY ARC:
Ian Flynn, "Champions" (Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 268-271)

“Champions” is by no means a bad story arc. There’s actually a number of things about it I really liked. However, I found myself unable to get over the central contrivance of this one. That the world would gather around for a celebrity fighting tournament when the planet was literally being torn into pieces. Not to mention that the fight scenes are often the least interesting thing about this series and here’s an arc completely devoted to them. Really, shit like this is why the Shattered World Crisis felt so damn long. Instead of actually working towards resolving the problem, Flynn would take months to screw around on nonsense like a fighting tournament arc. The characters and the readers have better things to do, man.

BEST COVER ART:
Mega Man: Issue 51 - Spaz

The cover game was super strong all throughout 2015, with the “Worlds Unite” event in particular bringing with it a number of neat images. However, Spaz’ cover for issue 51 of “Mega Man – that would’ve been part eight of the story – emerged as my favorite. Honestly, whoever the colorist was deserves a lot of points for that. The moody colors, mixing night blues and spacey purples, really draw the eye. Painting Chun-Li and Ryu in that shade almost causes them to fade into the background, which makes their appearance feel like something of a surprise.

WORST COVER ART:
Sonic Universe: Issue 73 (Extreme BFFs Variant) - Agnes Garbowska

While the regular cover to issue 73 of “Sonic Universe” featured a totally fine image of Nicole being menaced by Phage, the variant cover was handed over to another artist who has never worked on Archie's “Sonic” titles before or after this. Agnes Garbowska's cover could only be described as extremely awkward. Sally poses uncomfortably on a hoverboard, while Nicole punches forward in such a way that it looks like her fist is eat her face. The crowd of villains in front of them are overly static, each one wearing the same facial expressions and several being quite off-model. The colors are flat and weirdly splotchy, as if they were done with colored pencil. Top it off with that embarrassingly “LOOK AT HOW HETEROSEXUAL WE ARE!” “Extreme BFFs” logo and we've got a stinker of a cover.

BEST STORY ART:
“Worlds Unite! Part Six: Fire in the Sky” – Edwin Huang (Sonic Boom: Issue 9)

“Worlds Unite” was a real well-spring for the book's artwork. Several sort-of big names were invited to contributed to the crossover and they all did excellent work. Tyson Hesse's illustrations in the back third of the event and Ben Bates' work on the “Mega Man: Battles” book were all highly recommendable. However, Edwin Huang provided my favorite artwork in the crossover. The epic action scenes he got to illustrate in part six were especially well done. Yet, as impressive as Huang's action work is, I think his character work is just as strong. Everyone always looks so alive, so sharp and energetic, when Huang draws them. Really fantastic stuff. 

WORST STORY ART:
“Sonic the Hedgehog vs. Three of the Armored Deadly Six” – Tracy Yardley (Sonic the Hedgehog: Worlds Unite – Battles: Issue 1)

Just as the Best Cover Story winner also snagged Best Story Art, the Worst Story Art category also lines up with the Worst Cover Story “winner.” Tracy Yardley contributes some of the worst pencils I’ve ever seen from him here. The characters look weirdly blocky and undefined. The Zetis’ facial expressions are utterly lifeless. The action is routine and lacks energy. Not that I can blame the guy for phoning it in so hard on this one, considering how deeply lackluster the writing was. Either way, it’s some truly disappointing work.

BEST NEW CHARACTER:
Breezie the Hedgehog

Here's another category this time were I'm technically cheating. Breezie the Hedgehog made her first appearance – at least as far as the Archie books are concerned – on the very last page of issue 267, which was published in December of 2014. If we are to truly count this and Breezie becomes a 2014 character, I am forced to give this award to Gemerl, Cream and Vanilla's delightfully suburban-dad-like robot who first appeared in issue 273, from June of 2015.

But, come on, one panel cameos don't really count, do they? Breezie would actually be introduced and developed throughout the first half of 2015. While I wasn't a fan of the “Champions” arc over all, Breezie was a delightful addition to the book. She's a villain but not the usual world-conquering type. Instead, as a brutal capitalist that only cares about her own bank account and position in the world, she can almost convince people she's not a bad person. Yet there is something charming and stylish about her, an older woman who knows what she wants and is determined to get it at all costs... A charm that can turn into viciousness that minute she thinks you've crossed her. She was cool, is what I am saying.

WORST NEW CHARACTER: 
Professor Von Schlemmer

Y'all probably saw this one coming. From the minute I laid eyes on Professor Von Schlemmer – ironically, another rescue from the “adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” cartoon – I had a viscerally negative reaction to him. There's something deeply unappealing about his design. That green skin, the orange hair with the yellow lightning bolt running through, the weird bolt-like additions to his flesh... He looks like an unnaturally revived corpse of some sort. And my problems with the character do not end there. From his obnoxiously loud German accent, to his tendency to spout nonsensical exposition, to his complete disregard for Silver's personal space, everything about this creep rubs me the wrong way.


BEST IDEA: 
Outsourced Casting

With most of the comic exclusive characters rendered unusable, Ian Flynn had to get creative when it came to re-populating the book's world. While this brought with it a ton of new comic exclusive characters, it also meant the series started drawing from unexpected sources. As I mentioned above, Breezie was a re-utilized version of an obscure “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” character. 2015 would also see the book re-introducing Lupe, a cast-off from “SatAM” that was a regular supporting player in the original continuity. (And the characters that did come from the games, like Gemerl or Honey the Cat, were pretty damn obscure.) And I would say “Worlds Unite!” eventually rolling other Sega and Capcom games – including the totally unexpected and greatly welcomed “Street Fighter” cast – was a part of this as well. 2015 was the year of deep cut character introductions and I loved it.


WORST IDEA:
Corporate Mismanagement

And the end begins here. While it seems like we'll never know why exactly Sega and Archie parted ways, bringing the comic to an unexpected end, it's clear Archie's inability to run a comic company without massive amounts of bullshit was a contributor. 2015 saw the abrupt cancellation of “Sonic Boom,” easily the most promising of the “Sonic” titles at the time, because the company simply didn't have the funds to relaunch the “Archie” books and publish this fun comedy spin-off. The year would end with several long delays, the comic not being seen again for several months. This was supposedly due to Archie switching printing facilities but come on. Turns out, 2015 was the year the writing was put on the walls, though we didn't truly see it at the time.