Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 40

 
Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 40
Publication Date: August 1996

I’m a fan of the two-part “Mecha Madness” story arc. It pushed the book in a new direction, creating a story with high stakes, where characters actually seemed in danger. For a book like “Sonic” though, the status quo can only be denied for so long. Sonic might have been turned into a soulless robot, who wrecked his own home and tried to kill his friends, but soon things will be back to normal. Issue 40’s “Court Martial” is devoted to reestablishing that normalcy. It also, unfortunately, features a really dumb plot revolving around Sonic proving his innocence.

At the end of “Mecha Madness,” Sonic had a pair of handcuffs slap on his wrists. Antoine leads with the theory that Sonic intentionally disobeyed Sally’s orders and allowed himself to be robotocized. Despite insisting that this theory is a bunch of baloney, the hedgehog is still tossed into the slammer and accused of high treason. After being convicted by a literal kangaroo court, Sonic talks Sally into giving him twenty-four hours to clear his name. With that time limit in place, Sonic races off to find Nack the Weasel and clue everybody into the real story.

If you’re just judging a story but how it flows and how much action there is, “Court Martial” actually isn’t bad. Yet the entire comic hangs upon an incredibly dumb concept. Why does everyone immediately assume that Sonic willingly allowed himself to be robotocized? Shouldn’t they have at least, you know, asked him first? Sonic may be brash but he’s never disobeyed a direct order before. The real reason Sonic is being railroaded is because of an overzealous Antoine. Look, Antoine may be a weenie and a coward (though he would develop out of both aspects soon) but him intentionally throwing Sonic in jail is just senselessly evil. This is most apparent in the sequence where he needlessly badgers witnesses on the stand. The Freedom Fighters are fighting Robotnik so it doesn’t make much sense for them to be fighting among themselves.

What makes this even dumber is that all of the Freedom Fighters turn on Sonic. Naturally, he did just spend the last two issues wrecking everyone’s shit. However, that wasn’t his fault! He had no control over his actions! I’d understand if Bunnie resented him a little, for beating the crap out of her. She directly threatens him a few time in this story. Still, I’d think Bunnie would have enough empathy to realize Sonic didn’t intentionally smack her around. Why does Sally treat Sonic so roughly? Considering she obviously loves him, you’d think she be more willing to accept his side of the story. Basically, the plot forces Sonic into an unlikely situation and has all his friends act like assholes to him for no reason.

Of course, all of this is in favor of a standard comic book storyline: The hero forced to clear his own name. This results in the action segment of the book. Determined to hunt down Nack the Weasel, Sonic heads to “the Robo Hobo Jungle,” a place where all of Robotnik’s decommissioned badniks hang out. This leads to a pretty fun sequence of the badniks ganging up on Sonic and him successfully thrashing all of them. Considering Caterkiller, Motobug, and the rest haven’t appeared in a while, it’s fun to see them again. This leads Sonic to the Bottom of the Barrel Bar ‘n’ Grill. The book becomes less fun at this point, as Sonic easily bests the gorilla bouncer. The resulting scuffle between Sonic and Nack isn’t worth too much, as the weaselly bounty hunter is easily out-smarted.

“Mecha Madness” was written by Mike Gallagher, a writer who usually wrote goofy, pun-filled comedy stories. “Mecha Madness” was surprisingly serious and grim. “Court Martial” returns Gallagher to his jokey roots. Antoine reads a book by “Martha Shreward.” Amy Rose, apparently Sonic’s sole defender, shouts “Shawshank!” outside his jail cell, which is probably a more relevant pop culture reference then “Attica!” Hip and Hop, the kangaroos from “Sonic Spinball,” become Sonic’s literal kangaroo court. When badgering people on the stand, Antoine removes a literal badger. The badniks deliver some seriously strangled dialogue as they introduce themselves. Sonic decrees the “monkeying around” is over while wailing on the gorilla. It’s all extremely goofy stuff, removing any sense of seriousness the story might have had. Dave Manak contributes artwork which is typically loose, angular, and overly comical.

Of course, Sonic successfully clears his name. He captures Nack, gets the weasel to confess, and all is right in Knothole again. (Well, except for all the destruction still left over from Mecha-Sonic’s rampage.) “Court Martial” could’ve been saved with some honest emotion. Sonic could’ve grappled with his friend’s treating him so callously. The Freedom Fighters could’ve dealt with their guilt from falsely accusing their hero. Instead, we get three panels devoted to Sonic and Sally making up, with some more flirting. What a wasted opportunity.

Or maybe not. Maybe “Court Martial” was kind of doomed with such a dumb concept. If the writers wanted to do the “falsely accused” plotline with Sonic, maybe they should’ve cooked up a more sensible reason why. An overly jokey script and goofy artwork doesn’t help matters either. Mostly, issue 40 is a weak coda to the fairly strong “Mecha Madness” two-parter. [5/10]

Sonic & Knuckles: Mecha Madness

 
Sonic & Knuckles: Mecha Madness
Publication Date: July 1996

When you’re a kid, you’re pretty easy to please. As a child, about the only thing I demanded from my comic books where bad ass dudes being bad asses. By the same accord, kids can also be very discerning. Even as a child, the superhero anti-heroes of Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld struck me as trying-too-hard. When I first entered the on-line world of Archic Sonic fandom, I was very surprised to see some people dismissed “Sonic & Knuckles: Mecha Madness” as an “all-action, no heart” spectacle. I fucking loved this comic book as a kid. Re-reading it as an adult, I still think it’s a pretty good book. Yeah, the emphasis is on action but sometimes, there’s nothing wrong with that, maaaaan!

“Mecha Madness” picks up right where Issue 39 left off. Mecha Sonic continues his rampage through Knothole, leveling the tiny village. As a last-ditch effort to save their community, Sally feeds the still dazed Knuckles through the portable Robotocizers the Freedom Fighters confiscated all the way back in issue 2. With some help from one of Rotor’s neuro-overriders, emerges Mecha Knuckles! He proves an even match for Mecha Sonic. Even after Robotnik threatens the Freedom Fighters with nuclear weapons, the echidna emerges victorious. Afterwards though, their remains a question: Can Sonic still be saved?

In retrospect, it’s impressive that Archie kept thinking up ways to keep the Sonic/Knuckles rivalry going strong. Knux was fully established as a hero at this point, after starring in his own mini-series. Even as of “Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles,” their rivalry was becoming more playful then anything else. So you couldn’t have the two just get into a misunderstanding. The “Mecha Madness” story arc successfully uped the fucking ante: Turn ‘em both into goddamn robots. Unlike those previous scuffles, the fight here between Sonic and Knuckles is serious business. Mecha Sonic is attempting to destroy the heroes. Mecha Knuckles is all that stands in the way. The actual fight only lasts about eight pages. Yet it’s still so satisfying to see these two, in super powerful robotic forms, wail on each other. After seeing Sonic going over to the dark side in a big way last issue, it’s also satisfying to watch him taken down a notch.

Once again, Patrick Spazanate’s artwork is on a whole other level. Even from the title page, which shows Mecha-Sonic casting a shadow of an agonized organic Sonic, the book is packed full of detail, dynamic action, and emotional expression. Just the characters standing around and talking is gifted with a sense of motion and movement. Look at when Sally chastises Antoine for being a dick. Or when she makes a big speech, detailing her plan. Of course, Spaz’ action sequences are beyond compare. The page when Knuckles freaks out, punches Rotor, and then receives a spinning back kick from Sally is something I want framed on my damn wall. I adore the design for Mecha-Knuckles, the way his knuckle-spikes can retract, the block rocket jets in his feet. It’s such a flowing, natural design. It looks exactly like what you’d expect a robotic version of Knuckles to look like.

The battle between the two is best displayed in a two page splash page, where Knuckles deflects Sonic’s lasers with his claws. There’s spinning, throwing, punching. When Knuckles is tossed through the air by a powerful uppercut from Mecha-Sonic, the sense of movement is overwhelming. This is a really good looking story, is the point I’m making.

Interestingly, the last third of “Mecha Madness” isn’t devoted to action at all. Despite what grumpy gus Dan Drazen might say, this story is full of emotions. When Robotnik demands Mecha-Sonic just send him the coordinates for Knothole Village – something he probably should’ve done immediately – Sonic pauses. Some humanity is starting to leak through his robotic exterior. I was never a huge fan of Sally and Knuckles’ flirting. But it really flows naturally and nicely here. That Knuckles and Sally are always so happy to see each other is actually kind of cute. After Mecha-Sonic is defeated, our hero is actually on death’s door. When Sally and Tails think Sonic may be a goner, both choke back tears. This is a book that grapples with the possibility that its hero may die and how his friends loved ones response. Not exactly light material.

Of course, “Mecha Madness” does have a pretty big flaw. In order to get the series back on track, Sonic and Knuckles have to be returned to normal by the book’s end. The answer to this question that Mike Gallagher cooked up is slightly inelegant. Knuckles can just be passed through the mobile roboticzer in reverse. Since this is the same device that transform Bunnie, how come they never tried that on her? For Sonic, the writer cooked up some real mystical mumbo jumbo. See, when Sonic gathered his one billionth Power Ring, he was surrounded with a “Protective Mystical Aura.” That’s how his soul was kept intact, if buried, while he was transformed. Nicole essentially plugs into Mecha-Sonic, interacts with this weird power ring aura thing, and zaps him back to being organic. It’s awkward and not well explained, to say the least.

I’ll address this more when I get to Issue #40 but I’m also not a big fan of the cliffhanger, where Sonic is arrested for treason for his action. Actions, you’ll notice, he had no control over. But we’ll talk about that more later…

Since “Mecha Madness” is a double-sized special, there are two back stories. The first of which is the verbosely entitled “Don’t Let the Island Hit You on the Way Down.” Since Knuckles is off fighting Mecha-Sonic, the Chaotix are left alone on the Floating Island. A group of villains called the Fearsome Foursome appear and whoop their asses. They're led by a mysterious, powerful villain called Mammoth Mogul. Despite his declaration of power, and an earlier defeat, the Chaotix still scare this new gang of bad guys off.

Listen, kids: I like Mammoth Mogul. I’m always for expanding on the Sonic universe’s rogue galleries. Mogul is essentially Archie’s version of Vandal Savage, an immortal wizard who has lived for centuries. Disappointingly, Mogul was rarely used well. In his debut story, he shows up, announces his back story, and declares himself all-power. The Chaotix then beat him back in one panel, after which he flees in a rocket car. Really makes him sound like all bark, no bite, doesn’t it? I like the Fearsome Foursome too, if only because it’s neat to see an essentially evil version of the Chaotix. However, Sergent Simian, Predator Hawk, Lightening Lynx, and Flying Frog are barely developed in this story. “Don’t Let the Island Hit You on the Way Down” is a fairly thin story. It’s at least better then the last story Scott Fulop wrote. Likewise, Harvey Mercadoocasio’s artwork shows some major improvement as well. It’s still pretty stiff at times but he’s obviously been practicing. There’s a newly emerged anime-esque edge to his work that makes it move a whole lot better.

Perhaps sensing this was a comparatively heavy book, “Mecha Madness” ends on a joke story. “Eel of Fortune” stars the Forty Fathoms Freedom Fighters, the aquatic heroes last seen in the “Tails” mini-series. The local reef is being terrorized by a new villain calling himself Eel Capone. He has his army of hired mussels beat up P.B. Jellyfish. In response, Bottlenose the Dolphin dresses up as a ninja and beats the crap out of him. End of story.

As previously mentioned, I like the Forty Fathoms Freedom Fighters too. However, “Eel of Fortune” is basically five pages of the goofiest aquatic puns you can think of. How many puns are there? By my count, sixteen. Some of the biggest groaners include: “hired mussels,” “current events,” “finja,” “Aquatraz,” “Choral Reef.” Oh brother. There’s no conflict to the story, as Eel Capone is a total joke once he’s introduced. Bottlenose dispatches him with such ease and speed that it’s clear he was never a threat. Basically, it’s a dumb collection of aquatic puns. Dave Manak’s artwork is typically goofy and blocky. The story’s biggest value is that it shows the range Mike Gallagher had. “Mecha Madness” was a relatively serious story with high stakes. “Eel of Fortune” is total goofiness from beginning to end.

“Sonic & Knuckles: Mecha Madness” isn’t a perfect book. Yet it’s one I like a lot. If nothing else, it’s worth picking up for Spaz’ incredible artwork. I’ll always consider it an important, landmark book in the Archie “Sonic” line and I imagine many would agree with me. [8/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 39

 
Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 39
Publication Date: July 1996

As I’ve mentioned before, as a kid I was totally susceptible to Archie’s hype machine. Even though they published 48-page one-shots on a regular basis, they were always a big deal. Whenever they devoted a comic to Sonic and Knuckles beating the shit out of each other – even though they’ve done that plenty of times before – I always had to scoop it up. As the comic dawned on its 40th issue, Archie cooked up another special event: Sonic the Hedgehog was going to be Robotocized. The unthinkable had happened. The good guys lost, the bad guys won. You can bet your ass that Issue 39’s “Rage Against the Machine” and the corresponding special, “Mecha Madness,” were events for me. As a kid, I re-read both endlessly. But how do they stand up years later?

As “Rage Against the Machine” – the sole story in Issue 39 – starts, Sonic is trying to convince the Freedom Fighters that he should allow himself to get robotocized. His plan is that Rotor’s neuro-overrider will maintain his free will, allowing him to wreck Robotnik’s base from the inside. Remembering how wrong a similar plan went in Issue 29, Sally vetoes this. Annoyed, Sonic zooms off to the previously unmentioned gym in Knothole Village. Nack the Weasel, recently escaped from the also unmentioned prison in Knothole Village, gets the drop on the hedgehog. He takes his unconscious body back to Robotnik. Just killing his most hated enemy doesn’t satisfy Robotnik. Instead, he robotocizes him, turning Sonic against his friends and making him a mindless slave. The new Mecha-Sonic, more powerful then any other Robian before, flies back to Knothole and begins leveling it. Sally has two contingency plans in order: Calling in a newly upgraded Bunnie. When that doesn’t work, Knuckles the Echidna is recruited. Even that fails. Mecha-Sonic is seemingly unstoppable.

These stakes are high as fuck, you guys. A couple of stories have made light of it but the comic has made recent moves to try and reestablish robotocization as Robotnik’s greatest evil. Never has that threat been clearer then here. Sonic, the titular hero of the series, has his free will wrestles around from him and zapped into a mechanical body. And Mecha Sonic doesn’t fuck around. He’s faster and more powerful then any of Robotnik’s previous creations. He immediately begins to destroy Knothole Village. He sets his sights on killing the people who are his best friends.

 
It’s a pretty serious story but, unfortunately, it was also written by Mike Gallagher. Gallagher has done some good work in the past but goofy puns and sight-gags still tend to characterize his work. Despite being a fairly grim story, at least as far as “Sonic” comics are concerned, Gallagher still packs in some goofiness. Robotnik breaks the fourth wall by reading the issue’s script. He has Crabmeat grow to giant size, for some unexplained reason, and threaten Nack the Weasel. In the heat of combat, Bunnie cracks a few too many Civil War themed puns. Tails, during his brief role in this story, is still getting treated like an adorable little kid. Despite Mecha Sonic trashing Knothole, Sally, Antoine, and Rotor just stand around, instead of running for cover. Gallagher’s script has a few holes like: Why does Sonic think being robotocized is a good idea in the first place? Where did the gym and the prison come from? Why doesn’t Robotnik scan Mecha Sonic’s brain for the location of Knothole? Why is Sally acting like such a bitch in the beginning? All questions without answer.

Still, as an action story, “Rage Against the Machine” is top-notch. This is mostly thanks to the artwork. Patrick Spazinate had gotten into the habit of contributing fantastic covers to this series. Whenever he did interior pencils, it was always an event. The artwork in Issue 39 is top-of-the-line. After some shaky art in the last two issues, Spaz’ work is truly a breath of fresh air. Spaz brings a dynamism to everything he draws. Even the early scenes of the Freedom Fighters merely sitting and talking are full of dynamic, energetic poses. The amount of detail Spaz brings makes every panel pop. For a series that sometimes has flat or empty backgrounds, Spaz makes the world of Sonic truly come to life. (I even like his tendency to sneak in Sega in-jokes. Watch for background cameos from Visual On, Bug, and one of the Virtua Fighter guys.) Even when drawing jokey panels – like a moment where Sonic and Bunnie are given cartoonish shocks – Spaz’ work impresses. This is best emphasized in Spaz’ design for Mecha Sonic. While still recognizable Sonic, the design is stream-lined and threatening. Half of the reason this story works is because Mecha Sonic is just damn scary looking.

The action scenes are the obvious attraction here and they’re excellent. The battle between Sonic and Bunnie really shows everything the rabbit is capable of. Rotor apparently gave her some upgrades off-page. Now, Bunnie has rocket-propelled flight, a shield in her wrist, and a blaster in her arm. She enters the battle scene by back-handing Sonic away, a truly impressive panel. Her telescoping legs have him smashing into a tree. When she turns that plasma cannon on the robotic hedgehog, it results in a gorgeous one-page spread. Truthfully, this is the best kind of story Spaz could have drawn, as it makes great use of his incredible skill for action and detail. I also like that Gallagher gives Bunnie, a frequently overlooked member of the team, so much to do. She really is the most powerful Freedom Fighter.

And even that isn’t enough to stop Mecha Sonic, which brings us back to the original point. Issue 39 ends on one hell of a cliffhanger. Knuckles, who apparently teleported from the Floating Island, zips in to save the day. Though, considering normal Sonic and Knuckles always fight to a stand-still, I’m not sure why Sally thought Knuckles could defeat a ruthless, robotic Sonic. By the end of the story, all of their emergency plans have failed. Mecha Sonic is rolling in to destroy Knothole and everyone in it. On the last page, Sally announces one last, crazy plan. In TV Troupes parlance, we’ve crossed the Godzilla Threshold. Of course, what that plan is remains unseen. Basically, if Archie wanted to make sure people bought the “Mecha Madness” one shot, they did a hell of a good job convincing us all.

Despite a script with some holes in it, a story with high stakes and some phenomenal artwork makes Issue 39 a classic. [8/10]