Skye Prower

"You okay Hope?  You're quieter than usual," said Melody

And we’re back   Issue 19   Night of 1000 Sonics   Yep, just one story this issue.  Dimension travelling stories are usually ones I find interesting.  It allows for a ‘what if’ scenario, yet still involves (at least one of) our usual heroes to keep a connection going.  The Silver Saga is a great example of this.  A ‘what if’ story without that connection lacks a certain weight as none of the characters we’re seeing is the ‘real’ one, so we are less invested as a result.   The trouble is, many Dimension traveling stories in Sonic Comics don’t show ‘what ifs’ or other possible ideas.  Instead they are more… Sonic characters cos-playing other franchise.  Okay, sorry, that’s mean on cos-players.  But it was the quickest way to get the point across.  We’re not being shown new worlds or stories.  But existing ones where the characters have been reskinned.  It’s a waste of the potential at best, and just indulgences of the writers/artists at worst.   So how does Night of 1000 Sonic’s shape up?   I mentioned back in my review of Issue 11 that the Cosmic Interstate would reappear, and here it is, in all its portal-y glory.  Sonic, despite having run through several and seemingly able to create these things at will back in issue 11, is unsure what it is.  At least until a cyborg Sonic gets thrown through.  THEN he remembers.  Seriously Sonic, what happened that it took you that long to remember what the swirly portal does?  At this stage you haven’t encountered many of the darn things!  And come to think of it, why is Antoine lounging on the ground so close to the darn thing?   We then get two exposition dumps.  One a recap of Issue 11.  (You mean you never told anyone what happened Sonic?)  The other the cyborg explaining his backstory.  First that his Robotnik made all the Freedom Fighters into cyborgs, then lost control of them.  Okay, I’m inferring here.  From what Cyber-Sonic says its implied Robotnik had no control to being with, which is just dumb.   Facing defeat Robotnik robotized himself, and promptly kicked butt, leaving the only Freedom Fighter left as Cyber-Sonic.  (Darn it Skye, stop calling him Cyber-Sonic and imagining a Cyberman Sonic all the time.  Now is not the time for a Dr Who crossover!)  Cyber… er… borg-Sonic… darn it, that’s just worse thanks to Star Trek.  Okay, Cyborg-Sonic fled to this Zone as the now Robo-Robotnik threatens multiple universes.   I have to say at this point, even though I said I would tend not to comment on artwork, but the Cyborgs look horrible.  First, the white and over complex circuit design doesn’t look good and appears far too flat.  And having the exact split down the middle make it look more like one of those movie posters that split the good-guy and bad-guy faces down the middle.  He doesn’t look like a cyborg.  It looks like there is a rip in the page beneath which is a different character. Compare this to the version on the cover which, though similar, is gold, more 3D looking, and has a more natural split between the flesh and mechanical parts.  Plus, why the heck are Rotor’s hat and Sally’s hair half cybernetic???   Okay, artwork rant over, let’ move in, and try to ignore how this guy is a Terminator parody.  Which is hard to do, as the next two pages are ‘spot the influence’ as many different Sonic’s arrive, all in different fancy dress.  No, seriously… why would there be a mummy Sonic?  If it was an actual mummy it’d look a bit more desiccated!  Now the reason I’m bringing this up is, if these are all alternate universes, why aren’t there more closer in appearance to the original Sonic?  Maybe not identical, but like the differences between Classic, Modern, Boom, and Sonic X Sonics.  Or other minor changes, like different fur colours, or minor clothing alterations.  It just makes sense that there would be more Sonic’s closer to the original.  Or heck, why are there no female Sonics?  Given the roughly 50% chance of being born a boy or girl, some female Sonics are way more likely than the prominent ‘yer a wizard’ Sonic.  As none of the Sonic’s have any distinct personalities it’s not like they need to look so different, or like Batman or Wolverine.   Oh, yeah, and for some reason Cyborg-Sonic takes his coat off between frames.    But after gathering all the Sonic’s together and explaining the situation to them, (referring to it as a Crisis, insert your own DC joke here) Robo-Robotnik crashes the party with a floating head hologram and an army of Shadow Swat Bots.  Which… seriously… you expect to take down an army of Sonic’s with a few robots????  For a super-genius that’s pretty weak.   And on the subject of super-geniuses with bad judgement, we move to our own Robotnik, watching the events unfold.  Annoyed at someone stealing his thunder he sends his own Swat Bots to trash Robo-Robotniks.  And the originals wipe the floor with the invaders.  Seriously, Robo-Robotnik isn’t coming off as much of a treat here.    The Robo-Robotnik hologram vanishes, and then all the Sonics get ready to turn on the Prime Robotnik.   Of course, Robotnik talks his way out of it by suggesting an alliance, but it does raise a question.  Why DON’T the Sonic’s do a massive team up to take care of every single Robotnik.  1 Sonic is almost capable of taking out Robotnik alone.  Thousands of them working together…?  It’ll be over by lunchtime.  Now, later on we learn about the authorities who would prevent such things, but here it’s not even tried despite being brought up here.   After a page of foreshadowing with a group of mini sonic striping a giant (or possible Hulk given the purple pants) Sonic, Robotnik says he’s worked out Robo-Robotnik’s plan.  And boy, does it come out of nowhere.  There’s this super powerful weapon located in ‘the neutral zone’.   So…… HOW does Robotnik know about it, and WHY hasn’t he or Robo-Robotnik got it yet?  No, seriously, how could Robotnik possibly know about it?  At least there might be a possible reason why, if Robotnik can’t open portals to the Cosmic Interstate but Sonic can, therefore Robotnik is using this as a gamble to have Sonic pick up this ultimate weapon, The Giants Hand.  Okay, that’s probably a copy of the Infinity Gauntlet from Marvel, or if not some other all-powerful weapon from another comic franchise.  At this stage originality is NOT this story…. Correction, it’s not the COMICS strength at this time.   Robo-Robotnik is watching all this take place…. Somehow… And has acquired a Sonic of his own in a glowing sphere… Somehow.  So he opens the pokeball and out pops Evil Sonic…. Or maybe the glowing sphere is meant to be a teleporter effect ripping off Terminator.  For the second time this story.   After a bit of map reading and some black and white antics, and Sonic and the Sonics (now there’s a bad name for a band) find the Giants hand, only to be ambushed by Shadow Swat Bots and Evil Sonic, who grabs the Hand and runs for it.  Sonic catches up, but Robo-Robotnik is now able to teleport the hand away, though why he couldn’t before if left up to the reader.   So after all that Robo-Robotnic has the unstoppable weapon of the Giants Hand, which he activates to… turn it into a giant robot…. Somehow I was expecting something….. less mundane.  As one of the Sonic’s actually comments: ‘I’ve fought others who were even bigger’.   But before that the Sonic’s argue for a short while, then Sally suggests doing what the mini-Sonic’s did before, destroying what little subtly was left in this story.  So massed Sonic charge, giant robot goes off balance then gets bombarded with spin attacks, getting smashed apart in a ‘Where’s Wally’ (or Waldo) search for items spread.  For an Ultimate Weapon, it sure went down fast.   Robo-Robotnik was also smashed apart, and Cyborg-Sonic takes his head, the only intact part left, back to his own world with one last Terminator reference.  While this is happened Prime Robotnik is trying to gather up all the pieces despite the flock…er…swarm.. er… brood.. er..  hmm.. What DO you call a mass gathering of Sonics?  Needless to say the Sonic’s put a stop to that plan, but as I mentioned earlier, not a stop to Robotnik himself.  And in order to stop the glass-jaw-ultimate-weapon being reassembled, each Sonic takes one of the pieces back home.  Okay, that at least is a nice idea.  And with that, it’s over.   Overall   This is a VERY derivate story.  Almost everything is a shout-out, homage or parody to some other franchises, though which of those definitions it is will vary from person to person.  There are more than a few plot holes, like how the heck did Robotnik know of the existence of a superweapon hidden in (practically laterally) the middle of the nowhere.  However, despite this the story is still fun.  It’s just only fun on the surface, and doesn’t stand to any form of, well, thinking!

Anna giggled, then started tickling the back of Spark's neck.   -------   "Fancey that Miles, you of all people are the most normal!" laughed Melody, while Miles gave a slight smile.

"Uh... I... guess that's true," said Melody reluctantly.  "But he's still a magic wielder who tried to take over a kingdom," she added

"We... we're n-not fighting," said Melody.  "I'm just surprised."   ------------   "Sure," smiled Anna.  "Let's give it a go!"

"I wouldn't call him a normal child!" said Melody.   "Yes I am!" said Miles, causing Melody to gape.   ------------   "You're very welcome Spark," smiled Anna softly, still playing with his spines.

"He's crying?" asked Melody shocked.   "You... you mean it Zamy?" asked Miles in a shaky voice.   ---------   Anna didn't want to break away, lost in the moment.

Mine?  That would be Drax, on this very site.  Hmm *checks topic*       So a little over two years ago, and the day after I joined.

"Tsk tsk.  I thought you were supposed to behave Miles!" said Melody.  Miles turned away, starting to tear.

Yep, I'm here Seviper?

"Yeah, it will!  Naughty naughty Miles," teased Ziona.  "What did you do?  Try to take over Haven?"   ------------   Anna pressed forward, kissing Spark passionately.

"Uh... is something the matter?" asked Stacey through a mouthful of bread.   --------   "Please!  Try!" begged Zoe.   -----------   Anna moved closer to kiss Spark.   ----------   Melody burst into giggles while Miles blushed.

"Ewwwwww!" exclaimed Melody, before looking at Miles and Zamy surprised.  "Here?  Why not Haven?"   (Pretty sure Melody doesn't know Miles is grounded) ------------   "By itself, no.  But I can use a spell which will heal the tooth thanks to the paste," said Skye

Evening   Shinomi

"Yes silly!" said Anna with a slight giggle.  She moved her hands behind Spark's head, pulling him closer to her while playing with his spines.   ----------   "Then... what's the point of it?" asked Melody confused.  "A problem?  Is it flooding?" she asked turning to Zamy.  "Oh hey Miles, you here too?"   ----------   Skye added a few small ingredient from a selection of bottles and continued mixing.  "We'll use this to stick your tooth back on."

Missed this this morning!   The newcomer?  Shadowxx25

Skye grinned again.  "If you say so," he said, starting to mash some ingredients together in a bowl.   ------------   "What's an appendix?" asked Melody.  "Sounds like one of those squiggles you use when writing."  She caught a glimpse of movement from the door out of the corner of her eye  "Zamy?"   ------------   Anna giggled.  "Maybe I can help some more." she smiled, putting her hands round Spark.   -----------   Stacey ate a lot faster, clearly enjoying it.   -----------   "But I WANT him!" said Ziona, stamping her foot and running the bump on her head.   "You have to change her back!" said Zoe tearfully.

"You'd think we'd have out grown it by now," said Melody.   ----------   Miles followed behind.   ----------   "You were worried about that?" asked Skye.

"Thank you Seviper," grinned Skye.  "I'll be able to fix it good as new!"

"I have?" asked Anna, wide eyed but smiling back

"Yeah, you're right.  It's funny when you think of it," said Melody.   ------------   "Good idea," nodded Miles

"We do?  Huh.... I never thought about that before," said Melody.   ----------   "Yeah, that would be best.  Don;t want them thinking we're breaking in!"

Skye covered his mouth with his hand.  "I'm, s-sure we can fix that," he replied.

Good evening again Seviper?

"Are you sure?  Can I help?" asked Anna, taking Spark's hand and looking into his eyes.   ---------   "Some way to protect from danger?" asked Melody.   ---------   "It really doesn't sound nice.  At least we're safe here," said Miles.   ---------   "You're tooth?" asked Skye turning round.  "What happened to...WOW!  I see!"   ----------   "Great," grinned Stacey through a mouthful of bread.   --------   "DADDY!  DAAAAAAAADDY!" screamed Ziona, clutching her head.