Sonic The Hedgehog #132 Review by True Red
Back in June 2001, Sega released Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast and Archie ended up with a special Sonic Adventure 2 issue the same month (Sonic #98) to acknowledge the game despite it totally messing up the current plot of the comic at the time. In January 2004, Sega released Sonic Heroes for Gamecube, Playstation 2, and X-Box. This time, Archie only acknowledges the game's existence with the cover. Ah, thank goodness for being able to leave continuity alone for a bit. ;) Nice cover overall, even if Mighty and Fiona make the cover without doing anything at all in the story though if it weren't for character development, the same could be said for Knuckles. My only problems with it are Knuckles being miscolored and Fiona not having her vest. Now the other reason Sally ended up with longer hair: take away Fiona's tail, give her 4 fingers, change the colors slightly and that's Sally. ;) I didn't mind the addition of the chain on Vector considering he gets one in his Sonic Heroes design. Too bad it seems Archie didn't have the exact chain design, but since when is Archie 100% faithful to Sega anyway? ^_^
The frontpiece is in a similar style to last issue--yay! As usual, it's pretty good, though I don't like it as much as last issue--mostly due to the way Sonic looks. The pose is actually interesting, but Sonic seems off and some of the inking seems to be much too thick. Still, the heart near Amy, the music note near Vector, the smilie face by Tails, the sweat drop by Julie-Su, and the exclamation point by Knuckles are very nice touches.
"Home, Part 3: A.D.A.M. & Evil"
Writer: Karl Bollers
Penciler: Dave Manak
Inker: Michael Higgins
Tails starts shooting at Robotnik, who still can't believe that the duo reached him so quickly. M mentions that a power ring was most likely used. Sonic jumps off Tornado and tackles Robotnik. Taking out hand-cuffs, Sonic comments that he hopes Robotnik is still broadcasting to Knothole so that his great-grandchildren can see this event. Robotnik says that it doesn't matter since the Autonomous Digital Assault Microbe (aka A.D.A.M.) began the countdown. When Sonic mentions that Tails & Rotor will handle it, Robotnik (who has somehow managed to get away from Sonic a little bit now--neat trick) informs us all that A.D.A.M. is a "sentient computer virus" that infects and takes over any computer system that connects to it. That means A.D.A.M. is now in control of Tornado, which isn't good news for Tails.
Meanwhile at Fort Acorn, Julie-Su is telling Knuckles that he should stay out of the fight because he doesn't have his powers anymore. Julie-Su ends up punching Knuckles when he does his usual smart reply. While I love the sentiment here, the only thing that bugged me right away was it implying that obviously she wasn't going to be fighting either--and if they weren't going to fight, what was the point of being sent? Anyway, Knuckles says that he isn't since they've got "the muscle" to take care of everything. Knuckles points out Amy Rose, who's got her hammer and is meditating with a bunch of energy surrounding her. General D'Coolette comes saying that the enemy has arrived. So, they all go to take their positions. Everyone is wearing headphones as instead of fighting the robots, they're currently leaving it up to Vector to stop the robots with his sound system. The robots start walking right up toward the huge speakers and DJ Vector starts the music, which successfully blows back the robots.
At Castle Acorn, the royals and Sonic's family are watching what's going on with Sonic and Tails. Sally asks what are they going to do to help, while Uncle Chuck mentions that A.D.A.M. being split in a few ways might be a good thing. Well, A.D.A.M. has decided to get rid of one thing that's occupying his attention as he tells Tails that he doesn't see a reason for Tails to live and begins to try to crash Tornado. Sonic tells Robotnik to make A.D.A.M. stop, which Robotnik says he can't--as if he would anyway. Before A.D.A.M. can crash Tornado, Tails asks A.D.A.M. "Why did the chicken cross the road?" By asking the question, Tails saves his own life because A.D.A.M. doesn't know the answer and is curious. Tails tells A.D.A.M. "To get to the other side" is the answer, which A.D.A.M. finds "interesting." While Tails starts the riddle game with A.D.A.M., Sonic meets Mecha (aka M), who comes from behind and kicks Sonic away from Robotnik and then punches him into a plane on the ship because "No one hurts father."
Back at Fort Acorn, the robots finally manage to blow up Vector's speakers, which upsets Vector. Knuckles tells him not to worry about it, particularly since he gave time for Amy Rose to finish powering up. Amy charges at the robots and with a swing of her hammer destroys a lot of them.
At Megaopolis, Tails is still doing the joke thing, but A.D.A.M. and Antoine barely miss hitting each other with the Tornado and Freedom Fighter Special. Bunnie wonders why Tails is flying in such a crazy manner, and Antoine says he wouldn't know in a harsh tone (someone needs to tone down--yeah, I want to know what's up with Antoine). M is still beating up Sonic, as Robotnik introduces her to Sonic and says that she wasn't an accident like A.D.A.M. As Robotnik continues talking (including a software/hardware joke), M ends up throwing Sonic into the water. Watching it all at the Castle, Sally & Bernie get the most upset and Sally decides that she's going to Megaopolis now (quick question girl--how are you getting there? ^_^). But, the royal guard is blocking the exit and Sally orders them to move. However, both King Max & Queen Alicia say that she can't go fighting anymore since she's the princess (and currently the only possible successor to the throne & could end up dead if she fought--those two things aren't specifically said, but that's the point obviously being made). Sally obviously isn't happy, but agrees to stay.
At Fort Acorn, Amy is recovering from her assault on the robots, which Knuckles tells her destroyed nearly half of all the robots. Amy says that she's ready to power up again, when suddenly a helicopter and Rouge arrive. Rouge tells Knuckles that the Pres sent them to help.
Back at Megaopolis, Robotnik wants proof that Sonic is dead, so M dives into the water. After she's gone, Robotnik is surprised by Shadow who says that Robotnik can't do his own "dirty work" (where'd Shadow come from?). At the pier, Sonic climbs up a ladder and is basically saying to himself that he should've known better (ah, but Sonic, it's not your nature to be careful without someone there to make you). M appears behind Sonic again and while reaching for her shades says "Father said he wants to see a body." Sonic starts his smart reply but cuts it short as her eyes reveal an energy build-up that's about to head his way.
Rating:  1/2 Rings
I've never been much of a Dave Manak fan and well, he just proved why with his artwork for the issue. Though I think Crazy Penguin said it in the most humorous and concise way at the message board with this: "RE: Dave Manak - Come back Ron Lim, we miss you." I can give him credit for getting emotions to be relatively on point with the the script, but the cartoony style doesn't fit well. M was pretty much the blatant exception in terms of looks, and while Shadow's quills in particular were off, no one looked as bad as Rouge.
The story though was pretty nice overall. I'm hoping for an explanation for Shadow's sudden appearance next issue. Oh, and I love M. She is extremely cool, particularly for a robot. I hope she ends up sticking around for awhile. Seeing Sonic actually get beat up...when was the last time THAT happened. ^_^ As for Amy, it's about time they touched on her abilities. I still want to see Knux, Julie, Mighty, and Vec doing some actual fighting though (and hopefully since Rouge is there now, that'll happen). It's been awhile and #125 doesn't count. ;)
"Mobius 25 Years Later: The Unveiling"
Writer & Inker: Ken Penders
Penciler: Steven Butler
At the party, Mace (Knuckles' brother and most likely the child Lara-Le was pregnant with back in Sonic #108 based on the implied age) is welcomed by Julie-Su as he enters with a gift for Lara-Su. In the background of Knuckles and Lara-Su on the dance floor, we notably see Espio with a female chameleon, who I figure is his wife, and a young girl, who I figure is Juanita. While semi-implying that Knuckles hates parties, Julie-Su asks about someone named Demi-Na that Mace explains is just a friend while waving at some woman echidna at the party. Julie-Su reminds Mace that most people are married so don't do anything stupid. Mace says that he knows better (sounds like someone likes to date around).
On the dance floor, Lara-Su tells Knuckles that she hates her dress (I wouldn't want to wear that dress either). Knuckles says she should be glad if that's her "biggest problem in life" (actually, I believe her biggest problem in life is the fact that you won't let her be a Guardian--but that's a different story). Knuckles' eye starts twitching, which causes Lara-Su to ask if something is bothering him. He says that "everything's fine" as someone cuts in to dance with Lara-Su. Knuckles goes outside on the balcony and Julie-Su follows telling him that "the party's inside." Knuckles & Julie-Su share the customary "aww, our child is all grown-up now" thing while some major "bolts of lightning" light up the sky nearby.
Meanwhile, in some lab, Cobar is looking at those "bolts of lightning" saying that "this is only the beginning." Rotor is with Cobar and explains the situation that could be wrong with .0000321% of error. Seemingly, the zone jumping of the past centuries is causing the time/space continuum to collapse, which will cause the end of existence. They're wondering what to do about it, but Rotor has an appointment to make so he leaves considering that the problem they have won't be going away anytime soon anyway.
Back at the ceremony, Vector has arrived with his son, Argyle. They've come late since Vector believes in "fashionably late arrivals." After Vector tells Argyle to show everyone how to dance, Vector tells Knuckles that he's not sure if Argyle can because Argyle's "a homebody." Anyway, Argyle chooses that moment to shock everyone with his ability to dance with Lara-Su (and Knux comments that Argyle can probably give Vector some tips). Harry takes this moment to enter the party with a message for Knuckles about scheduling an appointment. Knuckles tells Harry to tell Rotor that they'll meet in 2 hours at "Locke's Park" (interesting name for a park).
Rating: 1/2 Rings
I liked this story a lot and unlike the main story, the art here was good. Not much happened, but it had it's bit of humor (Vector is always being played in some way) and it answered some questions without creating too many. I like the zone jumping thing, BUT the only thing that slightly bothers me about it is Zonic. One of the reasons it took me awhile to like Zonic is that if "zone jumping" is actually mainly maintained by someone, they should know to avoid things that would cause the end of time, which is supposedly the situation here. Of course, there is an error given so the reality may not be exactly what Rotor and Cobar think. |
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