Sonic Universe: Issue 88

Sonic Universe: Issue 88
Publication Date: August 2016

I’ve got a lot of thoughts so let’s jump right into the plot synopsis this time. “Shattered: Part Two — Lies and Half-Truths” continues with Knuckles, Amy, and Team Dark exploring the crystalline Hidden Palace Zone, closing in on the remaining Master Emerald shards. Amy and Rouge are quickly captured by attacked crystal spires, forcing a precarious escape. Afterwards, they are attacked by Omega, who has been corrupted by crystalline magic, forced to attack his teammates. Meanwhile, Knuckles journeys off with Nixus, who appears to be another echidna. However, he soon discovers it's Naugus in disguise, who plans to use the soon-to-be reassembled Master Emerald to recharge his own magic.

When the preview images for “Sonic Universe: Issue 88” came out, fans were very intrigued. The cover showed Knuckles walking up to what appeared to be another echidna, much like himself. By this point, Archie fans were well aware that one of Sega’s corporate mandates was that Knuckles is the last surviving echidna. So how could another echidna be in the comic? Some people wondered if the shadowy figure on the cover was beefy “Sonic Boom” Knuckles, which it does resemble to a degree. My personal hope and theory was that Flynn subverted Sega’s own rule without breaking it, by bringing one of the Knuckles Clan echidnas out of the past and into the present.

Imagine the story potential in those ideas! Knuckles encountering his ancestors’ crimes but also his own loneliness as the last surviving echidna. Since the Knuckles Clan were war-like assholes, it’s easy to assume that Knuckles’ potential friend quickly becomes an enemy. That would’ve been a juicy dramatic arc! Even a “Boom” crossover had potential for some multi-verse spanning fun. (After all, Archie did say that they weren’t done with the “Boom” cast after that book’s cancellation.)

Of course, neither of these ideas turned out to be true. By the end of “Sonic Universe: Issue 87,” it was already apparent who this mysterious Nixus character actually was. The last issue featured a ton of foreshadowing that the second echidna was simply Naugus in disguise. Which is, without a doubt, the least interesting way Flynn could’ve resolved that particular idea. Not just because it wastes a pretty decent character design — Nixus is like Thrash the Devil reincarnated as a echidna — but because it takes a new idea and just makes it a variation on another old idea. It’s like that time Elon Musk promised us crazy new travel technology and just presented a worst version of metro trains instead.

The disappointment surrounding Nixus’ true identity certainly isn’t helped by how Flynn handles it. Aside from the gratuitous foreshadowing already making it obvious Nixus is simply Naugus in disguise, the character’s “introduction” derails the story in a real way. Suddenly, a story about Knux, Amy, and Team Dark fighting a boring old wizard is awash in the possibility of Knuckles discovering he’s not alone. Yet half of Nixus’ page time is spent assuring the heroes he’s not a fink... But he is, which makes the good guys eventually look like dumb-asses. And only a few pages after that, Nixus reveals himself and everything suddenly interesting about this idea is over. It just harshes my mellow in so many ways.

The one interesting thing about the Nixus sequence is how it allows Flynn to expand the rebooted comic’s history and lore more. As Nixus takes Knuckles deeper into the cave, he pontificates on the great troll society that existed on Mobius “Sonic’s world” long ago. The country was called Pancardia and the trolls fancied themselves scholars and scientists, even though their casual use of mind-control and slavery suggests some pretty ugly things about their society. (There’s something clever about that, Naugus/Nixus’ words presenting one view of this lost world while the actual images presents another.) In those flashbacks, we also see a mysterious but massively powerful figure bringing that civilization to an end.

This scene also further suggests Ixis, the mysterious source of Naugus’ power, is some sort of Lovecraftian elder god that was locked away eons ago. All of these are really interesting ides and I wish Flynn would’ve had a chance to expand on them more. See, that’s the sort of world-building that’s actually interesting. I also wonder what the story was behind whoever destroyed the troll civilization. Were the trolls an Always Chaotic Evil race of assholes who deserved that smashing? Or was the responsible party an equally dangerous force, one that might still exist in some form? It kind of feels like Flynn was possibly setting up something like Enerjak but without the Penders baggage. But knowing Ian, it would’ve taken him another three years to get back around to this stuff.

Aside from all the interesting stuff in this issue that was squandered or cut short, I don’t have too many thoughts about “Shattered Part Two.” I wish we got more out of the scenes of Amy and Rouge working together. Rouge describes the opening scene - restrained by crystals as more crystals close in - as something she’s dreamed about in a more pleasant context. This was probably meant to reference Rouge’s all-abiding love of shinny rocks but instead seems to confirm she’s as kinky as we all think she is. Omega turning into a crystal minion for Naugus is less interesting, as it’s just leading into another mindless fight fest. The usually reliable Adam Bryce Thomas’ art is also slightly off, as the characters’ faces look kind of weird in a few panels.

I guess I’m rating this issue more on what it is than what it isn’t. It’s not the comic’s fault that all of the fans came up with more interesting ideas than the actual writer did. But, come on, Flynn, you’re spinning your wheels. Don’t tease cool stuff and then just do the same old shit all over again. Here, take a look at Diana Skelly’s really cute variant cover that has nothing to do with the actual issue. [5/10]