Sonic Universe: Issue 92

Sonic Universe: Issue 92
Publication Date: November 2016

“The Case of the Pirate Princess” seems to be mixing its references some. As with the last issue, this one opens with Vector imagining himself as a cool, film noir detective embroiled in an exciting, sexy adventure. Which is actually a pretty funny idea, as it draws attention to how different Vector’s idea of himself and what he’s actually like are. Instead of running with that and making the entire arc a film noir parody, the rest of this comic book is about pirates, a totally separate genre of pulp adventure literature. It’s not a big problem or anything but I’m just sayin’, it’s a weird mixture.

Picking up where we left off, the Chaotix, Echo, and Razor are abducted into the ship of a fiendish pirate named Captain Shellbreaker. In order to avoid being stabbed to death, Vector talks Espio and Charmy into joining this band of merry pirates. Princess Undina is among their ranks but totally willingly. She was bored with royal life and her polyglot abilities were useful to the pirates. Echo ends up being taken captive though. As the Chaotix plot out how they are going to get out of this pickle and complete their assignment, Razor has more personal matters on his mind.

This issue is officially the work of both Flynn and Aleah Baker but it’s pretty clear who was captaining this particular ship, as it were. The inelegantly subtitled “The Princess Was Shanghaied!” is an issue with almost no action beats in it at all. Save for a brief scuffle between the Chaotix and the pirates when they are first brought aboard, there’s no fighting in this particular comic book. Instead, this is an issue devoted entirely to character interaction. And, holy cow, it actually works really well! Flynn isn’t incapable of doing this stuff well but, without Baker’s guiding hand, I’m betting there’d be more fighting and less hanging out.

Baker knows that letting the cast bounce off each other is compelling enough. Seeing Vector try to think his way out of this pickle, instead of just punching his way out, is pretty interesting. I know brains isn’t Vector’s strong suit but he cares enough about his friends to want a peaceful situation to this conflict. Espio’s reaction to being forced to be a pirate, which he has some sort of grudge against, is funny. Princess Undina is quickly established as a flighty teenager most concerned with having fun. (Peppering her dialogue with “likes” is a nice touch.) This seriously confuses Echo, who believes more in duty and honor. She doesn’t quite know how to process the person she’s been trying to rescue not wanting to be rescued.

The juiciest interpersonal conflict in this issue is between Razor and Blade, his — bum-bum-BAH-bum!!! — sister. See, Razor and his sister grew up among these pirates. When Razor got tired of stealing for a living — a particular incident where medicine was withheld from the sick until they paid up is mentioned, so Razor supports free healthcare — he abandoned his pirating family. It’s a betrayal Blade still hasn’t forgiven him for. Considering Meropolis hasn’t exactly greeted him with open hands (fins?), Razor clearly wonders if he made the right decision. The two sharks don’t settle this disagreement with their fists because they ultimately still love each other. Their issue is more complex than hitting can resolve. Again, this is clearly the work of Baker and her broken siblings fixation.

Most surprising about this issue is how immediately endearing Shellbreaker’s crew are. Throughout the Shattered World Crisis, a ton of new characters were introduced and, let’s face it, not all of them were that interesting. If “Eggman’s Dozen” was any indication, team settings bring out the best in Flynn’s character development skills. (Again, assuming we can’t give his wife all the credit...) Opal, the sexy and slightly gothy jellyfish lady, immediately strikes up a friendship with the child-like Charmy, which is a nice change-of-pace from what you expect from gothy characters. Mr. Bristles may be a large, intimidating yeti crab but he clearly has a softer side, as he’s a parental figure to Razor and Blade.

The captain himself and Dive the Lemming are clearly the least interesting of this lot. Shellbreaker cracks some otter jokes and acts with the finesse you’d expect of a pirate captain. Dive, meanwhile, is a space cadet with a weird fixation on the ocean. Still, I’m immediately interested in all these guys and want to know more about them, which is really the best reaction to new characters you can hope for.

Flynn is still laying the bricks for future stories he’ll never get to tell. We quickly learn that Abyss, Eggman’s treasure-hoarding giant squid sub-boss, was also a former member of Shellbreaker’s crew. In fact, apparently a lot of the pirates jumped ship to the Eggman Empire, suggesting some enmity exists between the two factions that would’ve been grist for a future story. A flashback also introduces a mysterious former member of the crew — judging from their silhouette, possibly a female lionfish — that we presumably would’ve learned more about at some point. Alas.

While the previous part of this story was good, it’s humor was its main attribute, by emphasizing the various strengths of the cast, part two of “The Case of the Pirate Princess” is a considerable improvement over the first. Ya know, it’s a bummer this comic is about to be canceled. It’s already apparent that being free of the Shattered World Crisis is a huge boost to its creative staff. [8/10]