Sonic The Hedgehog #54 Review by Zifei Wu
"Running To Stand Still"
Karl Bollers(W)
Nelson Ortega And John Hebert(A)
The Cover: Very nicely drawn by Spazainte and Harvo, too bad Heroic Age didn't do their part in coloring it. I have noticed some- thing and you might have, too...the Knuckles comic has way better covers than the Sonic comic, both art and coloring. Oh well...at least there's no more Manak covers. The Text Page: A well drawn picture by John Hebert and Harvo of Sonic running on water. Too bad it's covered by useless text again. What happened to those classical Splash pages anyway?
I was surprised by how well Nelson illustrated this issue (better than his previous works). John Hebert did a nice job, too even if it was really detailed.
Pages 1-3: On the first page, the writer informed us that Knothole Village is now a ghost town because everyone's moved to Mobotropolis...blah blah blah...one former villager still embraces the familiar surroundings...and on and on...ok, here come the important part and I quote "One who has became so accustomed to the way of the warrior, that leaving his city behind was the only real alternative." Now, this is the first clue that hints the soon to come break up of the Freedom Fighters I've seen. On with the story...Uncle Chuck and Tails were measuring Sonic's "air" speed. But Sonic wasn't in the mood, he accelerated too quickly and wrecked Uncle Chuck's equipment... evidently his still mad at Sir Charles for not telling him that his parents were still alive.
Pages 4-7: Later that day, Sally held a meeting with all the Mobians and selected a new council for the city of Mobotropolis. Dr. Quack, Rotor, St.John, and Sonic were the members selected in to the council. Sonic was bored to sleep...we then jump 1500 miles to Devil's Gulag. Lieutenant Smiley and Commander Fleming were delivering the crystallized Warlord Kodos and Uma to the prison complex...then we jump back to the meeting. Now everyone's gone, and Tails woke Sonic from his sleep. Time to measure Sonic's "ground" speed. Now, I might be wrong, but isn't the Great Plains about 500 miles from Mobotropolis? I know that Sonic and Tails can travel that distance in half an hour, but how did Sir Charles keep up? Anywayz, Uncle Chuck gave Sonic a set of headphones and Sonic started the test.
Pages 8-10: As Sonic was running the test, he had a flash back of the not-too-distant-past: "Uncle Chuck came up with the idea that all the roboticized mobians move to Knothole. Sally agreed with the idea and was going to okay the move with King Acorn. After a while, Sonic arrived at Castle Acorn and saw in his uncle's face that the king's said no." After the flash back we again jump to Devil's Gulag, where Snively overheard the MP's conversation about Naugus escaping from the Zone of Silence.
Now we stop for some fan art and The Find Your Name In Print Page. Hmmm, I wonder how old the fan arts are, I mean it's gotta be at least 8-9 month ago when everyone still thought Sonic Jam would be a basketball game.
Pages 11-14: Sonic, Tails, and Uncle Chuck arrived at the beach of the Mobian Sea to measure Sonic's "water" speed...so, Sonic can run on water. As he ran, Sonic had another flash back of a few days past: "Rotor wanted to go search for his parents but Sally said no, so Sonic decided to help Rotor out and go talk to Sally. Sonic found Sally and told her that she should know what it's like to want to find her parents, Sally's response: "We need Rotor's technological skills now more than ever if we're ever going to get back on track." Well, Sonic agreed to that and left." Then we jump to Devil's Gulag again, by this time Snively have heard the whole story and decide to go find the wizard. So, he pushed something on his thumb...
Pages 15-19: Sonic, Tails, and Uncle Chuck were back at Knothole Village. This time to measure Sonic's speed in artificial environment. Sonic again blamed Uncle Chuck for not telling him that his parents were alive, even Tails knew that it was not cool. But before anything else can happen Sonic started the test. As he was running, Sonic had yet another flash back of just a few hours ago: "Sonic was walking through Mobotropolis and saw Rosie, he talked to her about his problem, that he wasn't able to make a difference now that Robotnik's gone. Rosie told him that the only difference is the one he makes...." Then we jump ship again to somewhere near the Devil's Gulag. Snively's radio signal set off the metallic eggs, and they all cracked. Out came the Eggbots, their mission: Find the wizard Ixis Naugus.
Pages 20-22: On page 20, panel one was drawn by Spazainte, now you know...Sonic, Tails, and Uncle Chuck walked out of Knothole and entered the Great Forest. Tails went off chasing a dragonfly(?) while Sir Charles and Sonic stay behind to have a hedgehog to hedgehog talk. Sir Charles said that if he told Sonic that his parents were alive, Sonic would stop thinking clearly until they're freed. Robotnik could've used Sonic's emotions against the Freedom Fighters. Here comes the most emotional picture I've ever seen SONIC in (Sonic hugging his uncle), with pretty powerful words, too (Uncle Chuck: "Please believe me." Sonic: "I do...I do. It's all part of making a difference."--You wouldn't expect this coming from Sonic.). Suddenly a strong breeze started to blow, and the three look up and see the Eggbots. Just then, Sally called and told Sonic to get back to Mobotropolis right away...........NEXT ISSUE: KHAN! As in Monkey Khan.
Rating:  1/2 Rings
This issue was REALLY GOOD. Karl hasn't seemed to grasp the "Sonic style" of writing though - but that doesnt make this issue not good! Character development is one of the major things lacking in the books right now, and that page with Uncle Chuck hit the spot. Its obvious Karl works MUCH BETTER with a longer story. Lets see just how well the new guy will do next issue?
Sonic-Grams: Nothing new here, except that you get to find out #55 would come out in December, not November. Ok, Archie, what's going on here? Did some artist take a vacation? Anywayz, the next issue would be chronicled by Frank Storm (new guy?), and inked by Ken Penders. If you want to see the preview, go to the preview page. |
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