Issue 11
After last issue did away with the stand-alone joke pages (Forgot to mention that! Whoops) this means there is now more space in the comics for stories. Will the comics makes the best use of it? Well…
Story 1: The Good, the Bad, and the Hedgehog
This story begins continuity proper in the comic. While elements from pervious stories would be mentioned down the line, that is much, MUCH further down the line, over 150 issues. Well, technically I’m getting ahead of myself, as the actual continuity won’t occur until the sequel to this story 13 issues from here. But the story is still interesting as it introduces a lot of recurring elements.
Hmm, I use the word ‘interesting’ way too much in these reviews. I better stop before it becomes my catchphrase!
So we open with another ‘pollution is bad’ poke with Robotnik’s new factory polluting a river. Sonic however is on the other side of Mobius, too far away even for him to make it back quickly, so takes a shortcut through (dun dun dunnnn!) the Cosmic Interstate. Basically a way to navigate through all the different dimensions. Most likely this is kinda like the Void/Limbo etc in most sci-fi worlds, i.e. the space between dimensions. Except this one has pathways you can follow.
Although it’s never said why Sonic never uses the Cosmic Interstates to move around Mobius after this story what happens next is probably the unstated reason for that. He gets lost and winds up in the wrong dimension. His attempts to find out what’s going on leads him to a Vet Clinic where Knothole should be run by… Dr Robotnik? Escaping from the angry animals there, Sonic them bumps into himself!
More accuracy, the EVVVVIL version of himself, who has an overly irradiating way of speaking, which thankfully only lasts a few panels. And he seems oddly well informed that he knows that he’s the EVIL version of Sonic, and that this Zone is the EVIL version of Mobius. He certainly doesn’t come across as the kinda person who’d have that sorta education or experience. But someone’s gotta explain what’s going on.
Sonic is more interested in getting home, but Evil Sonic just wants someone to race against. So Sonic leads him back to the Vet clinic where Evil Sonic is beaten up, and Sonic is able to explain the situation to the good Robotnik. Who gives him a device to deal with the pollution problem…. An oddly specific device considering Sally was very vague in her description of what was happening. But the device sooks up the gloop turning it into harmless bubbles. So fast that it beats the rate the factory is producing the gloop.
So fast… it causes the factory to explode? Er? How? If the devices was plugged into the factory maybe the stain would cause a breakdown. But it’s working on the river outside. It has no effect on the factory whatsoever. But we need to get rid of it somehow.
Then Sally kisses Sonic on the cheek, which is a step up in their relationship from ‘trying not to show the other that they care’.
Evil versions of good guys was an old trope even at the time this was first published. (The oldest I can think of is Star Trek’s ‘Mirror Mirror’ in the 60’s but there are likely even older ones) But they are still often a popular aspect. This one… well, by the time the story has explained what is going on, doesn’t have much to it. And while it introduces aspects that will be expanded later, they come out of nowhere. How Sonic knows about the Cosmic Interstate is never explained. It’s an interesting if overdone idea, coupled with a below average story that has a lot of plot holes for its short length.
Story 2: Beat the Clock
A short second story,, featuring Coconuts, who has captured some of the Freedom Fighters. Rather than handing them over to Robotnik, as would be sensible, he wants to be the badnik who beats the record for length of time survived fighting Sonic.
So… he wants a gold star from Robotnik for lasting the longest against Sonic….. rather than the reward for handing over three Freedom Fighters….. I think I know which Robotnik would prefer Coconuts! But then, this is Coconuts we’re talking about. Robotnik would just complain that he hadn’t captured Sonic and throw him in a trash compactor.
But looking at his plan. He’s captured the Freedom Fighters as bait. Okay, good. Perfect bait for Sonic. He’s put a ‘never-ending’ maze up for Sonic to get through. Well, it’s not never-ending or even that hard, but then it’s for kids to scribble over their comics and reduce the resale value when they’re collector’s items.
And he has the Freedom Fighters attached to a time bomb. Uh… Why? Just… WHY? You are trying to last as long as possible against Sonic. So why do you have a timer in the background that you’d need to stop in order to achieve your goal? I’m not getting your plan at all Coconuts.
Anyway, Sonic arrives at the last second, frees the Freedom Fighters and escapes with them ignoring Coconuts. Who then gets blown up by his own time bomb. Yeah, your ‘clever’ plan kinda backfired horribly there.
I… seriously don’t know what is going on with this story. The plan has SUCH a major flaw, and the fact Coconuts didn’t even try to fight Sonic just make the whole thing ridiculous.
Hopefully the next story will be better.
Story 3: Food for Thought
And… it’s a dream sequence… *facedesk* Seriously, you have extra space now, and you waste it on a dream sequence story rather than, say, giving the main story room to breath.
Sigh. Let’s get on with it then. After overeating before bed, Sonic dreams of the characters being walking, talking food. Except, they just look like they are wearing food based costumes. Except for Tails, who just looks creepy. Anyway, Robotnik kidnaps Tails, uses that to trap Sonic…. Then the dream ends. We get an unresolved dream sequence. And to cap it all Sonic doesn’t learn his lesson as upon waking he scoffs down more Chili-dogs.
This is here to take up space, noting more. It’s incomplete and pointless.
Overall
Read the first story for the elements it introduces to the comics, then skip the other stories. It doesn't take advantage of the extra space.
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