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Sonic The Hedgehog #55 "Monkey Madness" Since I have been getting photocopies of the black-and-white
pages from Archie, I got to see the Maxwell/Harvo drawing of the
new primate on the block underneath the text. Just my luck -- no
biggie. The text deals with a plot point but otherwise doesn't
hint at what waits within.
Sonic, Sally, and Antoine are off to investigate the Eggbots.
Remember the Eggbots? Don't work too hard at it; you won't need to
soon enough. Sally travels first class in Sonic's ever-lovin'
arms, leaving Antoine to hoof it. They come upon the Eggbots doing
some serious drilling; if they're looking for Naugus maybe they
should think of looking ABOVE ground first. While Sonic and
Antoine watch the digging, Frank Strom demonstrates his knowledge
of Star Trek gadgetry by having Sally use Nicole like a tricorder.
She doesn't even CALL her hand held (pawheld?) computer "Nicole"
and Nicole doesn't have any lines. Frank may know Trek, but this
is a serious sign of Sonic ignorance. Still, this is NOT the most
serious breach of Sonic continuity; there's worse to come.
While scanning the area for energy signatures and any sign of
approaching Cardassians, Sally homes in on another energy signature
coming from a hidden structure. "If I didn't know any better,"
Sally observes, "I'd say it was some sort of crypt." And seeing as
how Sally was supposed to have died about 8 issues ago, I'd say
she's the expert! She opens the door and...hello, someone's inside
(another situation to which Sally can relate). At least he doesn't
say something along the lines of "Greetings, boys and ghouls!" so
we know it isn't the Cryptkeeper. The occupant has been sealed
inside for "over ten years" but credits Robotnik's craftsmanship
for the great shape he's in. Either that or he's been in one of
Quack's stasis units all this time. Ladies and gentlemen,
heeeeeeeeere's Monkey! Or, to be more formal, "Khan. MonkeyKhan".
Meanwhile, the Eggbots have gotten their instructions
scrambled: they weren't homed in on Naugus, but on a subterranean
power ring "of immense proportions" though it looks to be the same
size as any other power ring. Snively's been monitoring the dig on
his bionic thumbnail and he doesn't care for this development, but
before he can get his troops back in line the power ring flies up
and lands on Khan's cranium. So now he's got a power ring that he
wears like a crown, a long spear, a nifty vest with little yin-
yangs on the front, and now that he's supercharged he rides through
the sky on a cloud. People, we are in the presence of royalty.
One of the most endearing figures of Asian mythology is the
Monkey King. Known as Hanuman in India, he is the hero of numerous
legends. In one epic poem, the Ramayana, he is a sun hero who is
granted eternal life. According to one encyclopedia on mythology,
"The solar nature of the mythical monkey is repeatedly manifested
in the poem, as he travels through the air, enters into darkness
and emerges from it." "Emerging from darkness" -- well, I'd say
that Sally letting him out of the box certainly qualifies. Another
well-known story (in Asia, at any rate) is the Chinese-taoist epic
"Pilgrimage to India", also known as "The Monkey Who Went To The
West." It concerns the Monkey King being sent by the Buddha to
guide the monk Sanzang to India. An e-mail correspondent from
Singapore, Hee En Meng (aka "Fred"), who also helped me by
supplying some of the background information on the Monkey King,
informs me that the story was recently made into a spectacular
Chinese animated feature, "The King of the Monkeys Wreaks Havoc in
the Heavenly Palace." I'm sure the title is snappier in the
original Chinese. Even if you haven't seen this film (and given
relations between Beijing and Hollywood lately it's likely it'll
never be seen in the West), or even the 1961 turkey "Alakazam The
Great" which was a badly edited dub of an animated Monkey King
movie produced by Toei Films based on Osamu Tezuka's retelling of
the myth, you've probably been exposed to some influences of the
legend in..."Dragonball Z". Yes, the violence may be serious and
the pace may be unbearably slow, but why do you think Goku's son
has a monkey tail? Where do you think that the pig in the Mao
jacket comes from? These are both homages to elements of
"Pilgrimage to India." So we're up against a heavy-duty guest starhere.
And he proves it by trashing both the Eggbots and their
drilling rig. While Snively monitors all this, Sally fills in
Sonic and Antoine. Sonic automatically assumes that anything that
rolls off Robotnik's assembly line is guilty until proven harmless,
and he and Khan start to mix it up. Sally tries to tell Sonic that
Khan is on their side (which was news to me because the blathering
baboon has been talking about himself mostly). But Sally's got
bigger problems because at that moment Khan's monkey glands kick
in. Khan grabs Sally and flies away with her while saying: "Such
radiant beauty....I shall now devote my every waking hour to
basking in the heavenly glow of your loveliness." All together
now: "FANBOY!!" Didn't Sally have to put up with this kind of
treatment from another anthropoid android, King Gong, back in Sonic
#17? Sal, you gotta stop using that Eau de Chiquita cologne.
While Khan flies off with Sally and while Sonic and Antoine
banter, the cavalry shows up. Unfortunately for Sonic and Ant it's
Snively's cavalry: another carton of Eggbots. Sonic and Antoine
take them on while we take time to read the "Find Your Name...."
page. Guess who's name is in there about 3/4 of the way down the
first column? "Green Gibbon." I couldn't have planned it any
better myself! And Fan Art returns: including two anime-style
drawings of Sonic and Amy Rose, and two drawings of Sally -- too
bad the whole Acorn Crown angle collapsed on itself, because Branci
Epps has done a dynamite drawing inspired by the angle (though he
makes Sally look WAY too sexy--and yes, I DO believe such a thingis possible).
Enough about sex, let's get back to the violence. Sonic and
Antoine continue in fight-and-banter mode while we find out that
Sally's playing hard to get with Khan. Sonic and Ant are trapped
when...it's Khan to the rescue! He zaps most of the EggBots, and
Sonic gets to push a few off the cliff as a consolation prize.
Snively observes: "My EggBots have been eliminated. Those freedom
fighting weenies have destroyed my last cadre of EggBots!" Well,
THAT angle sure evaporated in a hurry -- it only got introduced
last month! And the story ends with good will all around and Khan
taking some R-and-R.
Rating: It's something of an impressive debut for Frank Strom. It
struck me that his art strongly resembled that of Ken Penders' work
in "Brave New World"...until I remembered who inked this one. As
for the story, it's perversely gratifying to someone like myself
(and NOT in the way you're thinking!). There are a lot of us who
engage in writing fanfic (and our name is Legion) who can't help
but derive a measure of satisfaction from the knowledge that our
stuff may be just as good as what Archie pays to publish. For
Frank Strom has committed THE UNPARDONABLE SIN OF FANFIC, that
which has given the genre a bad name.
When I began writing, I noticed that a lot of Sonic fanfic
stories featured characters who were faster or smarter or stronger
(or all of the above) than Sonic. These characters (who were
PROTAGONISTS, mind you) usually sprang from role playing or from
crossover stories based on films or TV shows or other video games.
But whatever their source these stories all had one thing in common
with each other and now with "Monkey Madness": THEY INTRODUCED
CHARACTERS WHO UPSTAGED SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!
Look at this story: Who trashes the EggBots and the drilling
rig? Khan. Who takes possession of the only power ring on
display? Khan. Who runs off with Princess Sally without facing
any challenge? Khan. Who trashes the second wave of EggBots?
Khan. "'SONIC THE HEDGEHOG': I think that's still the name of this
comic book!", as Sonic put it in the recently-reprinted "Lizard of
Odd". You wouldn't know it from THIS story. It should have
featured Sonic pulling Khan's prehensile tail out of the fire, not
the other way round! You expect the villains such as Mammoth Mogul
or Enerjak to put on a good show, but no other subsidiary good guy
or guest character has ever been so powerful -- not the Forty
Fathom or Downunda Freedom Fighters, not Geoffrey St. John, not
even *gag* Mobie! Maybe Knuckles counts, but now he's got his OWN
book to run around in. But for Khan this was a free ride!
I'm sure that few of Sonic's readers in this hemisphere know
very much about the Monkey King, which makes me feel like this
story was primarily put together to introduce Sonic comics to the
Asian market. If Archie wants to sell to the Pacific Rim that's
their business ("business" being the operative word if that is
indeed the case, because there was really no aesthetic reason for
this story), but here's a tip for Archie: tell Frank to keep the
Monkey King on a shorter leash from now on. Otherwise Archie's got
no right to diss us fanfic writers.
Backup Story: Remember the last issue, the part where Geoffrey talks about
not having the manpower to stop "mobs of crazed Mobians" from going
after their roboticized brethren? Ever wonder what happened to the
mobs? Well, here's one now, complete with torches; throw in some
pitchforks and you've got a group that could have come from "Beauty
and the Beast" or "Young Frankenstein": "A riot is a terrible
zing...und I zink it's about time ve HAD von!"
As the mob approaches the...well, here on earth it's the MALE
peafowl that has the impressive plumage, but the robot is too
bosomy to be anything but a female...victim, they suddenly see the
light. Several of them, in fact, courtesy of Uncle Chuck
detonating some "photon flash-pellets." The mob, however, isn't
surprised that Uncle Chuck is sticking up for "Fanny Dupin" [why do
I feel that there's a pun hidden in there somewhere?], and their
concern is voiced by the rabble-rousing "Tusk Luza" [a pun which
isn't hidden but which really wasn't worth finding]. The
pugnacious porker actually comes up with what seems like a
reasonable solution: let Princess Sally decide.
"I'm sorry, Princess Sally is unavailable at this time; please
wait, and the next available lead character will assist you."
Uncle Chuck lays out the situation for Geoffrey's benefit, who
explains that Princess Sally is away at the moment resisting the
advances of Monkey Khan. But just as Geoff is about to put the
case on indefinite hold, who should walk in but...King Acorn. He's
left his sickbed and has decided to judge the case himself, having
overheard the particulars. His less-than-Solomonic decision: to
dismantle all roboticized Mobians. Uncle Chuck's opposition and
Geoffrey's mild remonstrance only serve to get the king so worked
up that he collapses but not before Sonic, Sally and Antoine walk
in. They barely get to utter five lines total when Knuckles calls
them: "Excuse me, but you're needed for your cameo in Knuckles #9."
Rating: The artwork-by-committee looks basically good, though Geoffrey
is a little cartooney in his proportions. But the big draw here is
the story, which won't be culminated until the "Return of the King"
special. This HAS to be the most compelling premise to come down
the pike in quite some time. Both Sonic and Sally each have an
emotional stake in what happens: Sonic won't want to lose his Uncle
Chuck, and Sally is faced with either obeying her father or saving
"our family and friends" as she called them in "Brave New World."
So place your bets, folks: how will this story resolve itself?
One of the possible solutions, which is also rather cliched, would
be to have someone like Bunnie interpose herself between the two
constituencies. Another possibility would be to have Princess
Sally state her intention to step into the Roboticizer herself,
giving her father second thoughts about his dismantling order.
This is heavy stuff and an extremely dramatic premise, and my
deepest fear is not that Archie has hopelessly darkened the Sonic
continuum with talk of a Mobian civil war, but that Archie will
discover a way to trivialize a great premise. Hey, after what
happened to "Growing Pains" (Sonic #28 and #29), I can't take it
for granted that the Archie crew would know a great premise if it
jumped up off the drawing board and started gnawing at theirankles.
Overall Rating: |
