Just a little side note, I'm normally very positive about the comic. I'm normally always searching for good while others are searching for bad. Unfortunately, I couldn't find much good in this issue.
Anyway, no reason not to do a review, Onward and Upward.
Cover: I must say, looking at the cover when I first got it, it was a delight. An assault on your eyes filled with vibrant colors and action, not to mention a neat perspective. Antoine's looking all bad@$$, what more could Crimson Kitty want.
Seriously though, open closer inspection I found some flaws. Like I always say, I refuse to critisize art's quality. But I found some inconsistincies. First of all, despite the fact that she's not in the issue, Bunnie is off to the side waving hello. Don't really have a problem with that except she seems to be planning on joining the circus, I've seen clowns with a whiter face. Why?? I guess because she loves us. Also, why the heck is there a plane in the top right and who the heck is that hanging from it?(I actually started a whole thread on that if you wanna discuss).
Overall, I'll give the cover 8 outta 10 chaos emeralds.
Main Story: Mistaken Identity Crisis
Summary: General D'Collete and Antoine are strollin along when who should fall outta da sky then your friendly neighborhood zone cop, Zonic, and he's out cold. Sonic is there to rush Zonic off to dr. Quack. While Zonic is recovering, General D'Collette takes time out of his busy schedule to compliment Sonic, which gets Antoine's panties in a bind. So Sonic and Antoine arange for a little demonstration of antoine's bravery. Then, while Sonic goes to tend to Zonic's woes, Antoine and General D'Collette finds the cause of Zonic's woes, Evil Sonic(remember him?). Ant, thinking its Sonic in disguise, knocks him out with a judo chop. Zonic then comes and disposes of Evil Sonic as Antoine does an anime fall when realizing he didn't knock out the real Sonic(Two sonics! We've never seen that before!).
Art: Yes, that's right, Art. Specifically Art Mawhinney. Usual spiel, no criticisms, and no quibbles. Just a comment. Considering the amount of control Sega's had on the comic recently, I don't think they will be too happy when they find out that Archie is regressing to pre-Sonic Adventure style drawings. But I personally found it a little refreshing. So long as it doesn't keep up forever.
Plot: Hoo boy, got a few days. I'm going to break this down into sections, dealing with what I feel is the severity of the plothole.
Nit picks -
Page 10 - Where the heck did Evil Sonic come from? pretty self explanitory. How did he oust Zonic, How did he cross into Zonic's zone in the first place, and how did he manage to force Zonic out, and why upon forcing Zonic out, did he decide to FOLLOW HIM to accost Antoine and his daddyoo for cash! Please by Benny Lee the book, "What motivates Characters." because I have NO idea what was motivating Evil Sonic.
Also, was Antoine planning on knocking Sonic unconscious, or does he just not know his own strength. Because that's what he did with Evil Sonic.
whole issue - No FF's other than Sonic and Ant. Not so much a nitpick as a dissapointment.
Page 11 - I'm sorry, but its very unbelievable that Antione would faint from seeing two Sonics. Like that's never happened before.
Huge gaping disturbances.
Get ready for a tirade.
This story suffers from what I like to call "Star Trek Voyager" syndrome. Anyone who watched the old show will be familiar with it. They spend so much time building up to a climax, with limited space that there is no room for an ending that can match the begggining. I mean, I was loving this Ish up until about page 9, then it falls to pieces. Really, this was such a great beggining. Seeing Zonic again, finally getting a chance to see General D'Collette do something besides get beat up by Knuckles and chill with Rob o', and I really thought, despite the AoSTH's of it all, the whole "Antoine saves the Day" would be enjoyable. The great cover instilled that in me. Then they wrapped the whole thing up in two pages. Benny Lee, after working all this time had only two pages so he decided to just throw evil Sonic there, have Antoine knock him out, then faint. The end. Pathetic. This comic was really looking good, but if Benny Lee doesn't recover from Star Trek Voyager syndrom, we could be in for some rough times ahead.
Score:
2 outta 10 Chaos Emeralds
Sega Data Files: If this is the reason the previous story was cut short, I'd be really mad. Otherwise, they're fun. Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and Amy plus the Brotherhood of Guardians. That one was a special treat with a pic of all the guardians in order.
Backup story: Forgiven
Summary: Uncle Chuck is doing some research when Sonic invites him to a party honoring Lupe's going away(remember her). Uncle CHuck says he's swamped, so Sonic, that sly devil, brings the party to Uncle Chuck. Uncle Chuck tries to sneak out, but Lupe catches him. After a little chat about guilt and whatnot, everybodies hapy and theres a little family hug.
Art: Wow, much better than the first issue. Yet both were by art. This one just had more detail. There was something else to it as well. Something that just made Sonic look....better than he did in the first one. I checked it out but I still can't put my finger on it.
I'l say this, Lupe didn't take roboticization very well. I spent half the story trying to figure out if that was really her. But kudos to Art for puttin a lot of emotion into her face.
Interesting side not, no one's seemed to tell Art that things have changed a bit around Knothole, on page 2, he draws Bunnie with her old hairstyle. One thing I REALLY liked is that he drew Tails with his old face, but they put the newer colors on him. It looks much nicer than when he was brown and drawn like that.
Also Tails doesn't have any Tails in that page, but that's a common mistake.
Uncle Chuck's lips are in the exact same position the entire issue. It looks like someone froze while he was going, "Whaaaa".
Some great backgrounds for Art, who I always remembered as being not to great on the backgrounds. On Page 5, in the middle panel, sally is doing her best impression of Lup as her nose is being stretched out like a wolf's. But below that, it is pure vintage Sally. Haven't seen something like that for a while.
Plot: Hey, you take these backup stories for what they are, fluff. I really think this is the wrong time to bring up Uncle Chuck's guilt personall, seeing how we've known about the robotisizer for about 100 issues or so, but like I said, its just fluff.
EASTER EGGS!!!!
Yes, Easter Eggs galore....two actually.
on Page 4, we see a shot of Uncle Chuck's lab. On the floor is a box with the label TRASH. Under neath it, you can make out the words, "Beastwars" Ouch, that's gotta hurt.
Also in the same panel of Page 4 is a clipboard with the words, "Armada Stinks" written on it......I don't get it either, but hopefully someone does.
Also, not really an easter egg, but Hope Kintobar finally puts in an appearence since moving in to stay since 109. She's in the background on two pages, just beaming her little smile.
GIVE HER A REAL ROLE DARNIT!
Score: 5 outta 10 Chaos Emeralds
Total Score 4 outta 10 Chaos Emeralds
PLEASE DO BETTER ARCHIE! |