Sonic Boom, Episode 1.43: Fire in a Crowded Workshop

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.43: Fire in a Crowded Workshop

Original Air Date: September 12th, 2015

1950 saw the release of Japanese director Akita Kurosawa's film, "Rashomon," in its home country. Though popular at the native box office, Japanese critics were largely unimpressed with the movie. The following year, it played at the Venice Film Festival, where critics and other filmmakers were wowed by the movie. "Rashomon" would go on to become a critical hit with international audiences, becoming the first winner in the foreign language film category at the Oscars. Not only did the movie establish the global careers of Kurosawa and star Toshiro Mifune, it largely opened the gates for Japanese cinema to be taken seriously all around the world. Today, "Rashomon" is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. 

Perhaps the film owes its popularity and success to the universal theme present in its story: the inherent subjectivity of the truth. "Rashomon" is about the murder of a samurai and the assault of his wife, as recounted by three different people. Each person gives their own version of events, coming to different conclusions and presenting themselves as the real victim in each telling. The movie presents all three recollections, leaving it up for the viewer to decide what really happen. The film is a great testament to the malleability of human memory, how our own emotions and ego influence our perception of events. 

Why am I talking about classic Japanese cinema on my "Sonic the Hedgehog" blog? That's because "Rashomon's" structure – an event told from the perspective of different people, each recollecting different outcomes – has become a stock story type across all media. The same set-up has been used in countless TV episodes, comics, movies, and plays. There's even an understood sociological phenomenon called "The Rashomon Effect." It's especially common in sitcoms, who often tack a definitive telling of events on at the end. This isn't even the first time I've brought this up, as there's a classic Archie "Sonic" story that does the same thing. So it should come as no surprise that "Sonic Boom" would put their own spin on this classic structure, with typically irreverent result. 

Which brings us to the plot synopsis for "Fire in a Crowded Workshop." Tails arrives at his workshop to see Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and a new girl named Perci covered in soot and ash. The workshop is in disrepair from a fire. Each person presents their own version how they arrived at this point, their own egos served by each rendition. The general facts are: After leaving Meh Burger, the trio came across Perci, who had fallen off her bike and hurt her arm. The parts of the broken bike splattered into a puddle and splashed Perci's scarf with mud. They returned to Tails' workshop, where Sonic attempted to fix the bike with a blowtorch, while Knuckles washed the scarf and Amy tended to Perci's wounds. A pillow might have been involved. The fire was either caused by Knuckles putting the scarf in an industrial strength kiln, Amy dropping a heating pad onto some old newspapers, or Sonic leaving his torch unattended. Tails attempts to uncover the truth. 

What makes the "Rashomon" premise so mutable is that it allows a story with an ensemble cast to explore each character's perception of themselves and their perception of their friends. It's popular on sitcoms especially because each telling can usually be exaggerated for comedic effect. We see this keenly in "Fire in a Crowded Workshop." Sonic's tale – which the episode launches right into, so as to squeeze as much into its eleven minute runtime as possible – begins with Amy flying into an unreasonable rage at Meh Burger. Later, in one of the episode's funniest moments, she scolds Perci on proper bicycle safety. Perci is immediately impressed with Sonic. Knuckles is a total idiot who is entirely dependent on Sonic's care. 

This reflects Sonic's perception of himself as a super cool ladies' man who is there to protect his friends. Knuckles is too much of a simpleton – Sonic even calls him that – to function without him. Amy is an oppressive sourpuss without Sonic there to balance her out. Being a protector is admirable though it also causes Sonic to have an ego, which is why he remembers Perci catching the vapors upon meeting him. It's also pretty funny to see Knuckles as a subservient dum-dum and Amy as an overly emotional, perpetual buzzkill. Hearing the cast deliver such precise, absurd dialogue adds to the amusement. 

"Boom" has already established Knuckles as prone to exaggerated recounting of events, as a childish buffoon with a very strange perception of reality. This means his segment is when "Fire in a Crowded Workshop" gets nutty. It's surprising how much comedic value there is in Knuckles talking as a self-assured authority on everything. It's especially amusing when contrasted with Sonic as a whining, wimpy manlet who is always trying to be as impressive as his mentor, Knuckles. The script is very strong here and really bites into some goofy dialogue, Knuckles' version of what he thinks smart people sound like. The more deranged the recollection grows – the way the fire is put out is especially amusing – the better this version gets. 

Amy is alternatively depicted as a buzz kill or an idiot in the previous flashbacks but her own memory is equally unflattering. She imagines Perci as a floozy with a Southern Belle accent, who either intentionally seduces the brain-dead men in order to get them to complete tasks for her or lacks the initiative to do these things herself. This positions Amy as a woman with who perceive other women as inferior because they rely on men or as rivals for her romantic interests. She even calls Perci, who is a perfectly reasonable and nice person throughout, a "wicked siren" with a "damsel-in-distress act." Damn, Amy, maybe dial back the internalized misogyny a bit. 

And speaking of Perci! The episode seems to position her recollection of events as the objective truth. Yet even her telling seems to favor her as the hero of this story. The bike injury was just a minor scrape, not a big deal. She could've fixed it herself, if she had some tools. The guys rush around trying to impress her, which Perci seems totally neutral about, while Amy negs her as not a self-reliant woman. I guess the only reason we don't know whether this reflects the actual events or is Perci's own prejudices clouding her memory is because we don't know Perci at all. Aside from a few cameos, this is essentially her first appearance in the show. 

So that weakens the end of "Fire in a Crowded Workshop." Maybe some security camera footage that showed an unjudging eye of what happened would've been the best conclusion. (The aforementioned Archie story did something similar.) Especially since there's a clever little twist mere minutes before the end that removes all wrongdoing from everyone. I wouldn't expect a kids cartoon to do a Kurosawa style embracing of ambiguity but I still think the way it presents what I assume to be the "truth" could've been handled a little better. Having said that, I do think the very final scene of this episode is absolutely adorable. 

But let's talk about Perci a little more. Of the minor characters exclusive to the "Boom" setting, she's definitely the most popular. This might be because she was the most prominent NPC in "Rise of Lyric." Yet I think her likable design probably has more to do with. The oversized shit-kicking boots and patched-up blue jeans she wears gives the impression of a tomboy. Yet her bangs and the ribbon in her hair add an undeniable feminine quality too. Plus she has an exposed midriff and smoky eyes. Since Rouge was never in "Boom," that makes Perci the closest thing the show had to a "sexy" female character. And it doesn't hurt that she has certain superficial similarities to Julie-Su and Mina. (And she looks as much like a bandicoot as those two do an echidna and a mongoose.) I like her too and would've liked to have seen more of her. 

By the way, Sticks appears briefly in each segment, spouting off a different conspiracy theory just for one of her friends to say she's "actually very nice." In Perci's version of events, she just screams incoherently. It would've been funnier to me if Sticks' rant was the same in each memory, her craziness being the one event everyone can agree on. I mean, I guess that's still the intended message of this running gag. I suppose each changing ramble from Sticks also reflects the teller's persona, as Amy's memory puts some libertarian insanity in Sticks' mouth about our "tax dollars benefiting others." That made me chuckle. 

Nevertheless, this episode is quite funny. It's definitely the sharpest episode Natalys Raut-Sieuzac has written herself, full of the clever dialogue and keen understanding of the cast members that were lacking in her previous scripts. If nothing else, this one feels more fully formed than a lot of episodes. These eleven minutes are packed. It all adds up to a pretty good episode that would've been one of the series' all-time best with just a few minor adjustments. [8/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog: 5th Anniversary Special

Sonic the Hedgehog: 5th Anniversary Special 

Original Publication Date: April 5th, 2023

Time is a crazy fucking thing. It’s hard for me to believe that IDW “Sonic” is officially five years old now. It doesn’t seem like that long, especially since Archie “Sonic’s” road to this point felt like it took forever. Is that because Archie was utterly determined to launch a spin-off to the hedgehog book in its early years, putting out so many miniseries and “48-page specials?” Or simply because the days are longer and the summers seem to stretch on forever when you’re a child? I can figure out which of those solutions is more likely. I’m a middle-age man now with a bad back, who works twelve hour shifts, and takes medication for my debilitating mental illnesses. Five years isn’t nearly as much time as it used to be, ya know what I mean?

Either way, one thing hasn’t changed since the early nineties: Five years is still a really good run for a comic book, a licensed book especially. Even well-known superhero titles can’t go that long without being relaunched and renumbered. A hundred things are different since Archie reached this milestone but this is consistent: “Sonic” fans are loyal and will follow the blue hedgehog anywhere. IDW doesn’t have any plans to slow down either. Will this series someday surpass Archie “Sonic’s” five hundred issue-plus run? I mean, it seems unlikely. But so did any “Sonic” book reaching that point. Anything is possible with this franchise. I feel like there’s a decent chance I’ll still be reading about these characters in another twenty years, when I’m fifty-five goddamn years old, and publishing these reviews directly from my brain to the mass-consciousness psychlonet we’ll all be hooked up to 24/7. I bet Blogger’s interface will still be the same then too. 

Anyway, the point of this rambling review is this: IDW is more than entitled to celebrate their series running this long. Anniversary specials and gimmicky one-shots were common in the Archie day, so I’m glad IDW is keeping that tradition alive. The “5th Anniversary Special” is mostly just a reprint of issue 1’s “Fallout: Part One,” but it does include a short back-up story that’s new. In “Familiar Territory,” Sonic returns to the village of Vista View from that first issue. It’s under attack by Badniks yet again. Sonic runs into the same wispon wielding canine that he rescued back then. The guy seems more battle savvy now. He regales Sonic with what he’s been up to recently before the two fight back the enemy robots together. 

In the name of professionalism, I actually did re-read the first story here. Going back to the very first IDW “Sonic” story does highlight the ways this series has changed in the five years since its inception. I first reviewed “Fallout, Part One,” I give it a middling rating. My opinion hasn’t changed much since then. This story is still pretty thin broth. It reintroduces Sonic and Tails to readers while briskly establishing the new comic’s world, which followed directly in the path of “Sonic Forces.” Other than that, it’s basically a simple action sequence, devoted to Sonic and Tails smashing some Badniks and saving a town from invaders. 

Since then, the strengths of IDW’s title have become apparent. This series is at its best when exploring the relationships, and psychological baggage, between its characters. In the time since then, original characters like Tangle, Whisper, Belle, and Surge have become generally beloved for their rich characterization. In fact, the comic-exclusive characters have often proved more complex and nuanced than the Sega-created cast were ostensibly here to read about. While the Archie comics were celebrated for their expanded world and wide cast, IDW “Sonic” is at its best when showcasing detailed personalities and story arcs that foreground conflict and interpersonal struggle. 

You see little of that in the first story. Other than a brief moment of Tails being angsty over Sonic’s presumed fate in “Forces,” it’s mostly devoted to smashing and banter. I guess that’s what the average reader expects from a “Sonic” title anyway. At the time of that first review, I expressed concern that the new comic would just tow the Sega corporate line and not allowed the characters to expand beyond shallow mascots, designed to promote Sega’s new games. That’s still what this first story feels like, right down to its insistence that Sonic be a free agent roaming the globe and with few roots. It’s thanks to the work of the passionate writers and artists who run this series that IDW “Sonic” became more than that in time. 

Alright but enough about the reprint. What’s my thoughts on “Familiar Territory,” the primary reason I’m talking about this comic book in the first place? Well, it’s okay. There’s not much to it. This is primarily a story about how heroism inspires heroism. Sonic rescuing Hammer Guy at the beginning of the series pushed him to help other people. He masters his wispon – the “bootleg Mjolnir,” as I called it – and uses it to defend his fellow countrymen from the threat of robots and robot zombies. Well, that’s nice, I suppose. Though it doesn’t give us much in the way of insight into this guy’s life or personality. (We don’t even learn his name, which is why I’m still calling Hammer Guy.) The best moment is when Sonic allowing them to team-up makes tears prick up in Hammer Guy’s eyes. Aww, his hero is letting him tag along. 

The truth is, I halfway wonder if “Familiar Territory” isn’t meant to be an extremely abbreviated recap of sorts for potential new readers. Aside from die-hards like myself, this special is most likely to be picked up by people who are newly interested in “Sonic” comics. What better place to start than the first issue? That the back-up story provides a very brief run-through of the Metal Virus saga almost feels like IDW admitting that fans can skip that lengthy, divisive story arc if they want to. “Here, jump right into the story with Belle’s introduction, that’s when the series really found its footing anyway.” (Which is more-or-less true.) 

At only five pages long, this one ends just as it’s starting to get good too. After Hammer Guy runs through his history, it looks like Sonic and him are going to thrash some Badniks together. And that’s where things wrap up, which furthers my theory that this story is meant to function more as a recap than a stand-alone tale. I’ll give Ian Flynn’s script this much: I genuinely wanted to see Sonic and Hammer Guy team up together. Perhaps there’s some plans to bring the character back some day as a more experienced member of the Restoration, the way Lanolin evolved from literal background player to cover feature. Maybe Hammer Guy will even get a real name next time too. (The Sonic Wiki just calls him “a local” and doesn’t even have a page for him as of this writing.)

Reading the very beginning of IDW “Sonic” back-to-back with the latest tale highlights another evolution too: The quality of artwork has really gone up over the years. Not that this series has ever looked bad, especially not when compared to the Archie low points of Many Hands or Ron Lim. Yet Tracy Yardley's work early on definitely seemed a little exhausted. I got the impression that maybe he was a little burnt-out on “Sonic,” after being one of the primary artists during nearly Flynn's entire Archie run. His subsequent work on IDW has been better, more artistic and refreshed. His panels on the back-up story are much more expressive and fluid than the occasionally sketchy work on the reprint. It seems to me that Yardley only showing up every once in a while, as opposed to being the go-to “Sonic” artist, has allowed him to grow and evolve as an illustrator. 

IDW, with their love of variant covers, made sure this special came with a wide variety of options for collectors. There's three separate retail incentive covers, for example of that. The Evan Stanley cover, showing Sonic chilling with Blaze and Tangle, is probably my favorite. And at least Jon Gray resists temptation to pack his cover full of as many faces as possible, stopping at a reasonable (for him) collage of Sonic and friends. The main cover is a gate-fold of Tyson Hesse's four covers for the series' initial story arc. Which is pretty neat, if uncreative. I don't really love any of the regular covers, to be honest. Yardley's cover, of Sonic and Tails posing at sunrise, is dramatically lit but pretty generic otherwise. The same is true of Matt Herms' cover. Jen Hernandez at least puts a little personality into her cover of Sonic and Knuckles interacting with some wisps. I guess a little more eccentricity is what I hoped for from these covers, instead of just classic images of Sonic and the gang looking marketable. 

I definitely said way too much about a glorified reprint like this. I guess I can't help but get long-winded when going into retrospective mode. I don't know if the back-up story is notable enough to make this whole comic worth picking up, unless you're an absolute “Sonic” completest like me. I'm doubtful this story will be all that important going for. But it is an interesting walk down memory lane, to revisit the first issue and then read a brand new story. Really puts into sharp focus how far IDW has come since its launch. [6/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.42: Late Night Wars

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.42: Late Night Wars

Original Air Date: September 5th, 2015

In its forty-second episode, "Sonic Boom" would do the closest thing we'll ever get to a hedgehog version of "The Late Shift." In  "Late Night Wars," Comedy Chimp is mocked for his incredibly old head shots. He gets some new photos done but, during the shoot, Knuckles wanders in while wearing a trash can on his head. As soon as the images are published, the echidna becomes a celebrity overnight. While Comedy Chimp goes on vacation to get plastic surgery, he selects Knuckles to be his guest host, assuming the echidna's incompetence will lead him to bombing. Instead, the audience loves his slapstick antics. This forces Comedy Chimp to go to Eggman and utilize a little domestic terrorism so he can get his job back. 

"Late Night Wars" is probably the most cynical episode of "Sonic Boom" I've seen so far. In the first scene, the kids buying autographs from Comedy Chimp make a crack about his old headshots having "a sparkle of hope" in his eyes. When the photographer gets a look at Knuckles, she says he's "oblivious to the never-ending sea of despair." Comedy Chimp's subplot about aging revolves around a fear of failing and being forgotten. He never thinks twice about teaming up with Eggman, a notorious villain, to regain his fame. Meanwhile, people loving Knuckles' imbecilic antics paints the public as utterly moronic simpletons who will fall in love with the most dubious level of celebrity, a point that is even acknowledged in dialogue. Knuckles similarly has no problem selling out the minute a good deal comes along. The thesis to this episode really seems to be "life is misery, greed motivates people, and everyone is stupid." 

I don't mind such a dark outlook, though it's surprising to see in children's television. I do wish there was more of a concrete point to this story though. I really thought this episode was going to be about how fickle fame is. By plopping a trash can on his head, Knuckles becomes a celebrity overnight. Like any number of human beings who have become living memes, he goes from being an anonymous stranger to an internationally recognized star by accident. Yet walking around with a trash can hat is a gimmick with few avenues to exploit. By the time he's hosting Comedy Chimp's show, it's already evident that Knux's limited intelligence will cost him this new level of fame he's grabbed. 

I really expected the public to then turn on Knuckles, his fifteen minutes being up, and the echidna forced to increasingly desperate ends to hold into that fame. His ego, which has increasingly pushed his friends away, would make him reluctant to realize this. Maybe that's when Eggman should've entered the story, capitalizing on Knuckles hitting rock bottom. Eventually, Knux would realize his friends love him for who he is and that's more important than being admired by hundreds of strangers simply for your keen taste in headwear. It's a story arc we've see before but a lesson that always needs to be taught, especially in our modern, social media driven landscape. 

That's not what this episode does. Instead, it seems like Knuckles really could have ridden his wave of fame even further, simply because his slapstick buffoonery is so irresistible. At the end, after Eggman attacks, he goes back to his friends with only a moment's pause. He delivers a line about "getting carried away by his ego," which feels like it's referencing a version of this episode we didn't see. The episode then abruptly ends, Comedy Chimp getting some last minute comeuppance for his greed. Whatever conflict might have existed between Knuckles and his friends essentially wraps itself up on its own, leading a really unsatisfying ending. 

Reid Harrison probably didn't have time to fit in a fully developed story like what I outlined above, once again because this cartoon is so short. Yet I think the real issue with "Late Night Wars" is that it's about Comedy Chimp. C.C. is, by design, a one-note character. He's the hackiest of stand-up comics, a total corporate sell-out, and the thinnest parody of celebrity possible. As a background player, who shows up for a single gag or one-liner every couple of episodes, he serves his purpose. Building an entire episode around the guy strains credibility though. Comedy Chimp isn't likable. He's a self-absorbed dickwad. I do not especially enjoy spending time with him. (The comics got more mileage out of him when they dropped this cowardly guy into the middle of a massive crossover.) He has an annoying sidekick, who is even more desperate for fame than he is, that adds very little to the proceedings. I understand that he was a favorite character of the show writers, who probably find shallow show-biz satire like this a lot more entertaining than the kids watching at home would. But focusing a whole episode on him feels like an in-joke taken too far. 

I've been pretty critical of this episode but I did find it marginally funny. Travis Willingham more-or-less makes this episode. His delivery of Knuckles’ idiotic antics got me to laugh more than anything else. The confusion he displays when trying to get through a simple monologue, or negotiating about tie-ins, is funnier than pretty much every other joke in this episode. The montage devoted to showing Knuckles’ rising celebrity does feature a mildly amusing bit about paparazzi. The last act hammers the gag about Eggman sponsoring this act of supervillainy too hard though. It creates a small grin the first time and then nothing more every time it’s repeated. I did like the simplistic way the bad guy is defeated though. 

Oh, and one more thing before I go: In this episode, we see that photographs, for whatever reason, are depicted as 2D illustrations, as opposed to the CGI animation used to bring the rest of the show to life. I guess previous episodes established this but it’s repeatedly done here. And it’s distracting, especially since the drawings look a lot more appealing than the 3D models. Not to mention it raises the question of why in-universe photos look so markedly different than everything else. I’m definitely thinking too hard about this but it’s still distracting. Anyway, mid episode! Try harder next time, “Sonic Boom!” [6/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 59

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 59

Publication Date: April 19th, 2023

Looking at the number in this issue of IDW's "Sonic the Hedgehog" comic is filling me with some thoughts. Maybe it's just because I was truly obsessed with Archie's "Sonic the Hedgehog" comic as a kid but I can't help and compare where the two series where at these same points in time. By issue 60, Archie "Sonic" had already killed off its main antagonist, during its first status quo shattering event story arc. Hundreds of characters already filled its world, multiple different Freedom Fighter teams being introduced all over the globe. Back story, magical MacGuffins, and romantic melodrama had already occupied the series' pages multiple times by this point. 

In comparison, as IDW nears its sixtieth issue, the cast numbers a little over fifty by my off-the-top-of-my-head count. The world is desperately lacking in detail right now, with the name of Sonic's home country or even the general geographical layout remaining a mystery. The backstories of the characters and world remain frustratingly vague, with most of the main characters essentially having none at all. Romance exists only in subtext. 

I'm not saying these differences make Archie "Sonic" better than IDW "Sonic." In fact, I'd say that IDW "Sonic" is, by most measures, a better comic than its predecessor. (In terms of art and writing, it's certainly a more consistent comic.) Yet the differences can't help but stick out to me. Especially when discussing the thus far subpar "Urban Warfare" story arc, continuing in issue 59, which might've easily been improved by a more detailed world with more readily defined stakes. 

Maybe the staff were aware of the lack of stakes up to this point, as part three of "Urban Warfare" — which has Evan Stanley taking over for Ian Flynn — is devoted to ramping them way the fuck up. Team Dark arriving does not makes things any easier for Sonic and his pals, as they are there on a totally unrelated mission. That is when Eggman makes himself known and drops a horde of super-powerful Shadow Androids over the city. This forces a temporary truce between the teams but even that is a prelude to a hasty retreat. Meanwhile, the still invisible and intangible Diamond Cutters investigate Eggman's control center... And return back to the main field of existence at the most inconvenient time. 

Like I said, the Ian Flynn penned half of "Urban Warfare" seem to focused on various characters using their superpowers to rip through a horde of unchallenging enemies in a largely empty city. It felt like a video game in the worst way. One assumes it was always plotted like this but Evan Stanley coming aboard immediately solves that problem. Eggman shows up pages in, giving a story previously without a concrete antagonist an obvious bad guy to cheer against. The army of Shadow Androids falling from the sky add an active threat to the heroes that they can't spindash through without breaking a sweat. In fact, the Shadow Androids are so powerful that it forces the good guys to fall back within minutes. 

Obviously, in this "Sonic the Hedgehog" comic, Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends are never going to actually die. Yet the Shadow Androids prove such an overwhelming adversary that I actually found myself thinking "How are they going to make it out of this one?" Tails panics. Amy begs for an escape. Blaze is shocked that a wall of fire does little to slow down the goons. See, that's how you get your reader invested in an action story! Even when the heroes are superpowered demigods that have fought off far worst villains before, you still have to make it seem like this latest problem might be the one time they don't all make it back. 

In fact, Stanley is so determined to make the scenario seem dire that she makes sure even the victories the heroes get here are short-lived. As the Shadow Android close in, the actual Shadow is asked to utilize his Chaos Control powers to even the odds. He's told that the artificial Chaos Emeralds powering the city should provide just as much juice as the real deal. It works, in the sense that the so-called Ultimate Lifeform beats back the synthetic imitators. Yet, immediately afterwards, Shadow's powers have some crazy interaction with the fake emeralds. The crystals' growth goes into overdrive and Shadow is overwhelmed by a surge of energy. Constantly upping the stakes like this are a good way to keep the suspense elevating. 

Considering this is part three of five, things going from bad to worst serve another purpose too: They insure that this issue has a hell of a cliffhanger. Following the explosion, Shadow is missing. Now the Restoration and Team Dark have to work together to find their mutual friend. Meanwhile, the temporary blip in power brings Tangle, Whisper, and Lanolin back to standard reality... And right into Eggman's lap. Since we are super invested in their fate as well, this provides another exciting note to pause the story on. I was going to be back next month anyway but a strong cliffhanger like this makes sure I'll want to be back next month. 

A much stronger structure insures issue 59 is much more compelling than the narratively inert last two issues. Yet Stanley still makes time for glimpses at the characters' personalities, making them more than just action heroes running through a standard plot. Sonic and Shadow snipe at each in their rival-tastic way. Rouge is flirty as ever, especially when Amy questions her on her real motivations for coming here. Omega gets lots of amusingly dry and snide comments in at the expense of the various fleshipoids around him. Shadow is personally insulted by the robotic copies of him. Eggman's villainous monologue is delightfully hammy. 

Even a single panel, showing Metal Sonic's unyielding glare while Eggman talks about his other inventions feels like insight into that particular cast member. (Especially since Metal Sonic seemingly feeling underappreciated feels like a developing plot point lately.) These are actually living, breathing people in this story, with personalities and quirks. We can never forget that, no matter how action packed the events around them might be. 

This is especially true of the Diamond Cutters. They aren't in physical danger for most of this story but they remain the most emotionally vulnerable of the cast members. When Whisper sees the Shadow Androids, she has a flashback to watching her friends die. This is beautifully illustrated by a panel of darkness closing in around her... That is until Tangle reaches out from beyond the veil and pulls her back. She gives her a big hug which I mistook for a kiss on the cheek at first. The three silently walk off together, Tangle and Lanolin supporting their friend. It's just a few series of panels on a story that is otherwise preoccupied by other stuff. Yet it counts for a lot, for Stanley to pause long enough to acknowledge that Whisper is on a serious emotional journey here. (Tangle and Lanolin's interaction remains as adorable as ever too, such as when the lemur interacts with her surroundings while still intangible.)

This issue doesn't just benefit greatly for swapping out writers. Thomas Rothlishberg did great last time but Adam Bryce Thomas pencilling this issue really gives it the epic scope it needed. As I've noted in the past, ABT's artwork sometimes gets ahead of itself during the action scenes. A series of panels devoted to Blaze grabbing Sonic and Amy and tossing them into the fray takes a minute or two to scan. The artist is determined to squeeze in so much detail that sometimes the panels get awfully small and cramped. Yet, when he brings it, he fucking brings it. An entire page is devoted to Shadow unleashing his Chaos Control on the Androids and it has the impact of a old-school Spaziante cover. Nearly a whole page is devoted to the Androids falling out of the sky or Eggman making his grandiose announcements, while Badniks circle around the structure. It adds a grand feeling to these events, making sure the scale of what is happening is really felt. 

And Thomas is just as good at the smaller gestures too. Sonic's unimpressed blank stare in response to Eggman's villainous monologue or Blaze going wide-eyed at Shadow's display of power are easily missed moments that made me chuckle at inappropriate volumes. While the writing does the heavy lifting in the emotional scene with Whisper, Thomas' pencils further help sell what is definitely the highlight of the issue. In other words, Adam Bryce Thomas continues to show that he's probably the best artist regularly working on this book despite the fierce competition all around him. 

And while I'm praising the artwork, let me give a shoutout to Natalie Haine's work on Cover B. It's a hand-painted image of Shadow confronting the Shadow Androids as they crowd around him. The brush scrolls are detailed and bring an otherwise still image to life. Haine was apparently influenced by Renaissance painters like Alexandre Cabanel, whose painting of Lucifer called "The Fallen Angel" specifically inspired the look of consternation in Shadow's eyes. That's, uh, not a sentence I ever expected to type. Anyway, issue 59 is a leaps-and-bounds improvement over the last two issues. I don't want to say that you can tell when Ian Flynn is phoning it in and when Evan Stanley is putting her heart and soul into something... But, well, I just wrote it so I guess I do want to say it. [8/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.41: Bro-Down Showdown

(Sorry I died for two months. Here's a normal update. I'm going to try and get back on schedule now, though I can't make any promises. Thanks to anyone who stuck around during the unexpected hiatus.)

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.41: Bro-Down Showdown

Original Air Date: August 29th, 2015

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, American popular culture was suddenly fascinated with the idea of "bros." Guys had been calling each other bros since at least the early 20th century but apparently the term came into its modern usage – a word a guy calls another guy, usually a close friend -- in the seventies, Wikipedia tells me. The term really took root in the culture thanks to the popularity of surfer dude/metalhead lingo in the eighties and nineties. This is probably where the word gained its association with a certain type of guy: A bro is a man – almost always a young man – who mostly spends time with other men, usually doing activities widely enjoyed by young men. This is understood to include partying, drinking, playing video games, eating large amounts of unhealthy food, doing stupid stunts to impress each other, working out in the gym, and – in keeping with the sexism deeply entrenched within American culture – both excluding women and coveting them as objects of lust and conquest. 

This association, unsurprisingly, led "bro" to have largely negative connotations going into the new millennium. Bros were meat-headed dudes, reveling in their own bro-ness at the expense of everyone else. They thrived in male dominated spaces and were totally disinterested in examining the sexism inherent in those spaces. Yet something strange started to happen as the 2000s wore on. Firstly, peppering your speech with "bro," even using it as an all-purpose exclamation, became a meme. In 2007, a University of Florida student went viral for screaming "Don't tase me, bro!" before getting tased. Combining the word with literally any other word became a full-blown phenomenon by the end of the decade. There was also mystifyingly popular sitcom "How I Meet Your Mother," which featured a womanizing sociopath named Barry Stintson. He inexplicably became the show's breakout character and helped crystallize the idea of what a "bro" was in the public's mind. They even published a book about it.

As the term grew in popularity, so did its meaning. The concept of masculinity has evolved in the last twenty years. While this has meant a rise in reactionary attitudes, reaching its apotheosis in our modern incel problem, it also meant a wider range of ideas of what manhood – and thus man-on-man friendships – entailed. Phrases like "metrosexuals" and "manscaping" we're coined, showing there was room for personal hygiene, grooming, and fashion in the Bro world. Inevitably came the "bromance." This referred to an exceedingly close male friendship, the homoeroticism and borderline romantic underpinning of the bond being built right into the phrase. 

This went manly-hand-in-hand with an embracing of emotional needs. Guys were striving to better understand their feelings, to be emotionally open and vulnerable with each other. Manly tears and manly embraces were now socially accepted and cries of "no homo" faded on the wind. Suddenly, we were all gonna make it, brah. Having bros went from strictly the domain of crass frat boys to something... Cute. Wholesome, even. It was a real brorenaissance. (This led the way for the rise of the modern himbo, a vapidly bro-y bro who, nevertheless, respects the thoughts, feelings, and boundaries of other genders, cultures, and orientations.)

As with all things, the bro-surge of the mid-2000s was quickly commercialized. A bromantic comedy hit theaters in 2009. The idea popped up all over books, magazines, TV, and the internet. By 2016, bro-dom was so widely understood that Geico could build a whole annoying commercial around it. The spirit of the bromance era lives on in "kissing the homies goodnight" memes and the ironic integration of "bruh" into the internet lexicon. Mostly though, the New Age of Broness was largely an overexposed fad by 2015... And that's when the "Sonic Boom" writers, proving once again that they are about five years behind the cultural zeitgeist, decided to build a whole episode around the enduring bro bond between Sonic and Knuckles.

And that is how this rambling introduction finally comes around to the topic at hand: Episode 41 of "Sonic Boom," "Bro-Down Showdown." After winning a trip for her selflessness, Sonic and Knuckles talk a reluctant Amy Rose into house-sitting for her. The guys immediately make a mess of Amy's feminine space, despite her explicit warnings not to. After ruining her fancy coach, they see an advertisement for a game show called "Bro-Down Showdown," in which knowledges of one's best friend is pitted against other duos. The prize is, of course, a coach. Sonic and Knuckles seek to enter but the casting director decides Sonic has better chemistry with Eggman than Knuckles. This forces a wedge between Sonic and Knuckles' bro bond, which the villainous Eggman seeks to take advantage of. 

How bro-ish Sonic and Knuckles' relationship is depends on what “Sonic” media you're consuming. They always end up as allies but the degree to which their initial rivalry turns into a deep friendship varies wildly. In fact, that's even true of individual episodes of “Boom,” where they are sometimes best friends (as depicted here) and, other times, the hedgehog seems to barely tolerate the echidna. Yet even this sort of makes sense within the context of this episode. Brolationships are full of trials and tribulations. Here, Knuckles and Sonic's joyous activities are interrupted after spilling nacho cheese on Amy's couch. As they try and move it outside, things almost get heated. Similarly, once Sonic is placed on a team with Eggman (and does well enough), Knuckles starts to get jealous. Bros are not always great at feelings and, sometimes, emotions can get tangled up as two guys attempt to explore and define their friendships. 

Of course, two dudes being this clingy and emotionally dependent on each other is low-key gay. “Bro-Down Showdown” actually, in its own way, leans into the homoeroticism of dude-on-dude bonding in subtle, amusing ways. Sonic and Knuckles' weekend plans, initially, involve doing dumb-ass stunts in Amy's house. Once they are broken up into rival teams by the game show, Knuckles' actions grow increasingly petty. Yet the bro code is stronger than an engineered conflict on a television show. Eggman attacks with a giant killer robot and Knuckles attempts to fight it off. If Sonic helps him, that'll be interpreted as Sonic fighting his own teammate and disqualify him. While he tries to resist, eventually, Sonic has to come to his best dude's rescue. It's a triumphant reunion, as meaningful as if Sonic had rescued a love interest from the same peril... Assuming Knuckles isn't the love interest here, since Sonic clarifies vehemently that Amy is not his girlfriend mere minutes earlier. The show stops just shy of going even further with it, like a grown-up sitcom happily would have, but it's still funny to see Sonic and Knuckles' hyper-macho dudery go so far in the other direction that it just becomes borderline romantic. 

The idea of basing a whole episode around two males' bro-y bro-ness is a pretty typical sitcom story idea, especially in recent years. How many episodes of “Scrubs” or “Boy Meets World” ran with similar ideas? Similarly, the idea of two slovenly dude-bros house-sitting their prissy female friend's bungalow – so Sonic can enjoy a change of scenery and Knuckles can enjoy cable – is a similarly hacky set-up. Similarly, Amy's unhinged shouting in the first scene – a deliberate contrast to her winning the “Most Selfless” award – feels like a gag out of an underachieving sitcom. Honestly, I like how effortlessly this episode blends typical sitcom writing like this with scenarios that could only happen in a “Sonic” cartoon. Like Sonic spindashing a metal plate into another evil Eggman robot's face. Or the hedgehog surfing along the walls of Amy's hut. 

Stock-parts as some of these jokes and premises might be, “Bro-Down Showdown” still made me laugh a decent amount. There's a number of amusing meta gags in this script, like Knuckles bemoaning that this won't be a “Sonic and Knuckles episode.” Or Comedy Chimp referring to the coach as a “narratively convenient prize.” There's plenty of good ol' fashion silliness here too. Such as Lady Walrus and Dave the Intern being paired together, which results in a silly line about villainy and working in the fast food industry. Eggman and Sonic being forced to work together, another example of their weird friendship, also is a consistent source of laughs in the second half.

Probably among the episode's most unexpected gags is its surprisingly downbeat ending. Spoiler alert for a seven year old cartoon that, if you're reading this, you've probably seen already: Sonic and Knuckles do not win a replacement coach for Amy. With no other options, they... blow up the inside of Amy's house with a missile and blame it on Eggman? The final minute of the episode is devoted to the heroes deferring all responsibility for their actions, Amy being sad that her coach got destroyed, and that pathetic turtle guy falling to his feet and crying. Considering “Sonic Boom” usually reinforces some moral relativism in its story, I'm honestly surprised this cartoon went with a comic non-conclusion so bleak.

“Bro-Down Showdown” is not a top-tier “Boom” episode. Aside from Sonic and Knuckles' relationship, probably the most interesting narrative detail here is the reveal that Eggman wanted to be a traffic cop as a kid. Is that why he's such a control freak now? Yet I was still reasonably amused by this one. I imagine it honestly plays a little better in 2023 than it did in 2015, when jokes about “bros” had been run into the ground. By the way, if JD and I were to go on Bro-Down Showdown, we would absolutely dominate the competition. Collectively, come at us, bros. We can deadlift like 350 together, no problem. [6.5/10]