Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 289

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 289
Publication Date: November 2016

Here we are at the penultimate issue of Archie’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” comic series. The book is racing forward with no idea that its two-and-a-half-decade long legacy is about to crash into a brick wall. Once again, I have so many thoughts and this isn’t really the time to share them. In November of 2016, neither me nor any of the writers and artists working on the series knew that The End was so very Nigh. This makes a goofy and light-hearted classic game adaptation unwillingly tragic in hindsight. Issue 289 of “Sonic” is the equivalent of a puppy happily playing in the road, blissfully unaware of the eighteen-wheeler barreling towards it.

But let’s put the grim metaphors aside for a minute. “Genesis of a Hero” continues to adapt specific moments from the original Sega Genesis “Sonic” games. “Part Two: Coming Back for More” focuses on the end of “Sonic 2.” As in the Sky Chase Level, Sonic perches atop the wings of the Tornado as they chase after Robotnik’s Flying Fortress. After the Tornado is shot down, Sonic leaps aboard the war ship. Fighting his way through the massive air ship, Sonic eventually sneaks aboard Snively’s transport ship, finding his way onto the Death Egg, already in orbit around the planet. Eggman has prepared for this and deploys Silver Sonic, a giant robot modeled after the hedgehog.

Like issue 288, this is another comic book that closely adapts part of a video game. If you’ve ever played your way through “Sonic 2,” you will recognize how closely “Coming Back for More” copies the action beats of the game’s concluding segments. We see all the Badniks from Sky Chase. Tails is shot down in similar fashion as in the game. Individual hazards from the Flying Fortress Zone are replicated, like Sonic clinging to ports outside the airship as he’s blown through the air. The rather improbable way Sonic gets on the Death Egg — clinging to the outside of a transport shuttle as it flies through the upper atmosphere and into outer space? — is maintained. Even though it raises many questions and it would’ve been easy to just depict Sonic sneaking inside a safe part of the same ship.

However, “Coming Back for More” is an improvement over the last issue. As close as Flynn’s script is, at least he’s actually adapting some elements of the game and not merely replicating them. He does not subject us to the repetition of the boss battles and actually shows more logical resolutions to these fights. The sub-boss battle on the Flying Fortress, where Sonic is trapped by two force fields and has to contend with a giant laser cannon and floating spiked platforms, ends when Sonic shoves on of the platforms into the cannon. Instead of Silver Sonic racing back and forth while Sonic wacks him, Sonic quickly assesses his enemy and uses his advantage — his speed — against the machine. And Flynn smartly cuts it off there, as Sonic’s battle with the Death Egg Robot final boss was already covered in “Genesis.”

The issue also earns some points for investing some emotion, no matter how brief and minor, into the proceedings. Infamously in “Sonic 2,” Sonic just leaps off the Tornado and runs away after Tails is shot down, seemingly not showing any concern for his friend’s well being. Flynn at least pauses a moment so Sonic can shout to his foxy friend as he plummets out of the sky. Believing his closest buddy may be dead, Sonic is extra determined to wreck Robotnik’s shit. We don’t really get a sense that he’s motivated by anger or loss, as he’s still cracking jokes and smirking throughout. And Tails, of course, isn’t dead, as he reappears before the issue’s end. But at least some attempt was made to make this adventure more personal.

Part two of “Genesis of a Hero” still shares a major flaw with Part One. Victory still comes much too easily to Sonic. He treats Eggman’s airborne Badniks as a joke that he easily dismisses. He blows through the Flying Fortress’ defenses with ease. He navigates the sub-boss without much trouble, mocking Snively as he goes and undoes the device in minutes. Even the boss battle with Silver Sonic only inconveniences him briefly, as Sonic quickly deduces what he needs to do and then dismantles the machine. It’s thrilling to run through this stuff if you’re playing it as a video game. Watching the hero so effortlessly defeat theses challenges in a comic is much less exciting.

However, this issue is less reliant on intrusive comic relief than the last one, another way it’s an improvement. Aside from Sonic’s snarking his way through his various encounters with hazards and bad guys, most of the humor comes from Snively being a lovably pathetic loser. Robotnik’s former nephew seems utterly terrified and exasperated by the hedgehog’s determination. We see this when he sweats as Sonic breaks into the cockpit and as he panics — shrieking “Flee! Flee!” As he escapes — after Sonic overcomes his trap. He similarly freaks out, and we get an inevitable “Twilight Zone” reference, when he discovers Sonic is clinging to his shuttle. Laughing at Snively’s incompetence is always a wholesome pastime so I’m glad Flynn including this, instead of relying on more aggressively wacky comic relief.

So 289 is another middling issue to beholden to the game its adapting, with Sonic succeeding far too easily against his enemies. (That ease becomes even more frustrating when you realize this is, in-continuity, only the second time Sonic has fought Eggman. He’s not even an experienced robot smasher yet!) Tracy Yardley’s artwork is also a little too loose and cartoony for my taste. However, at least Flynn expended a little more effort in adapting these game stages than he did last time. We’ve only got one more regular issue of the main book left to go, guys, so get ready to be let down. [6/10]