Sonic The Hedgehog #78 Review by Rolland Therrien
Changes
Well the title says it all, people! And we start this story with a really big change: Sonic gets knighted by King Acorn himself, in a public ceremony with all the pomp and circumstance allowable, complete with a nice medal given by Princess Sally (and a kiss from her. ^^) King Acorn then makes a public speech, announcing the creation of the new Kingdom of Acorn, made as a haven for all those who wish to escape Robotnik's tyranny (In other words, just about everyone), and proclaims the reinstatement of the Freedom Fighters to fight Robotnik. (And the crowd cheers). Astounding. In three moves, King Acorn makes up for all his past mistakes and finally becomes a decent guy (In my opinion.)
Meanwhile, at Dr Robotnik's base in Robotropolis, the Doctor has finally recovered from his infection and has cleansed his computer clean of most corrupted files (Including Knothole's location.) He's not really happy about it, and blames Sonic and the FFs for it. But he's got plans for payback, that apparantly involve the various Robians, and especially Sonic's Uncle Chuck. (I guess this is where Chuck gets reprogrammed into Robotnik's lieutenant, as seen in SSS#11.)
Speaking of Sonic's family, we cut to his place, with Sonic in "Sad mode". He's been packing up Chuck's stuff so Nate could move into the room. He likes Nate, but Nate isn't his Uncle. He gets a bit of moral confort from his parents, along with the "He'll be back some day" speech, and we cut to the Royal family, who are gathered before the queencicle... I mean Queen Acorn. They know she's alive and healthy again, but not why she can't leave the cryotube yet. King Acorn gives them reassurance and moral confort (and the "She'll be back some day" speech as well). Nate, looking for Sonic's place, drops by and leaves the Super-Emerald, before he and the Royal family leave. We then see some feint movement from the Queen before we cut away...
To deep space, where the two ships we saw last issue are contnuing there journey through space. We close in a bit and see "Mobius or Bust" graffitoed into the hull of one ship, which means that ship really is going there. More on that next issue, I guess.
Back in Knothole, Mina, the female Mobian Sonic saved back in #76, walks away from the other refugees (which include the return of the mobian tenchi cameos... Fry's been putting them in every issue since he started... Looks like they're gonna be regular Background chars now), and muses about how she's lost everyone in her life and is all alone. Just as she ponders this, Rosie shows up and asks her to watch a few kid who lost their parents when Robotnik took over while she runs errands. Mina accepts, and now becomes Rosie's assistant nanny, I guess.
But for now we go to Antoine and Bunnie, who are walking together, chatting about Antoine's troubles. If you recall, he found out in Sonic #69 that his dad was alive, but was now the robian sub-boss of Mercia. He reminisces of his childhood with his father, and vows to bring him back.
Just then, Sonic and the other FFs arrive, and Bunnie and Antoine congratulate him on his promotion. Of course, no title will make Antoine call Sonic "Sir", but I'm sure that's just those two playing around. Then Geoffery (In the cliched "Bond look") and the Secret Service (With the error of Valdez' appearance in one panel, despite the fact he was captured following #75) show up, show they can give Sonic their own respects. Heck, Geoff even agrees to bury the hatchet.
As the two groups discuss the association the King wants them to have against Robotnik, Prince Elias watches from afar. Apparently, the team-up was his idea, which he told to his dad. He then walks off, unaware of the attention of his many female admirers (The kid has a "Tenchi - Babe magnet" thing going, dont'cha think?), and wishing he could live a life of adventure, rather then be the crown prince. While he walks near the hut where his mother's in cold storage, he overhears his father and Doc Quack talk: Queen Alicia's body is healed, but she now needs the cold temperature of the cryotube to survive. Those are the bad news. The worst news is: that cryotube's only going to last another week...
While Elias ponders the tragic consequences of these news, we cut back to Dr Robotnik's lair, where he's attempting yet another computer search, this time looking for a way to destroy Sonic (He's deleated the infected files, so there's no risk for him). He finds a file indeed. One which will not only give him the means to destroy Sonic, but the means to conquer Mobius as well, not to mention lead into the Sonic Adventure adaptation, which starts next issue! And so we leave this issue, as Robotnik prepares to go seek Chaos!
Well, this was a good issue. Aside from a few glitches (Like Valdez' cameo, and the now old "Tenchi gang cameo" routine), Fry is still doing a good job of the art. The story is well written and all the characters get decent air time, with focus on those witty sub-plots going on. A good job, in my opinion. Karl has also done a good job of leading into the Sonic Adventure adaptation, which will be the new creative team's big challenge. Can they pull off a good Sonic game adaptation? That is the question, isn't it? I'm looking forward to finding out the answer.
Rating:  Rings
Tales of the Great War, Part 6: What Really Happened
Well, we're back at the campfire from last issue, and Sonic's parents are continuing last issue's story where they left off last issue: Jules is wounded, in bed, and doesn't stand much chance of making it. Charles has one last desperate plan to save his life, however.
Okay, most of this story just rehashes the story of how Chuck roboticized his brother, how Robotnik's sabotage turned Jules into a mindless drone, and how Chuck quit his job as minister of science because of it. If you've followed the series so far, you should already know this story by now. If you're a new reader, here it is, for your information.
About the only new bit of story that's new here is how Warlord Julian tricked King Acorn and the leader of the Overlanders into a duel to determine the outcome of the war (Of course, no matter who dies, Julian wins, one way or the other.) As he watches the duel's beginning, you'll be sure to notice the half-finished Monkey Khan on the table behind him. (Some projects should never be finished...) The duel between Acorn and the Overlander doesn't last too long, and (Despite attempted interference from the Overlander side, blocked by Amadeus) finishes with King Acorn winning, but letting the Overlander live. Julian decides to take matters into his own hands from now on, before Chuck drops by to announce his retirement and to drop off the Roboticizer, hoping Julian can make it work right (A move henceforth known as mistake #2).
The story ends with Bernie and Chuck arguing about why Chuck gave up, and what Bernie will tell Sonic about his father... it should be a sad ending, but at this point, I don't really care...
This story is mostly all "been there, done that, got the T-shirt" to me. It may be new to some readers, but you can get it all in past flashbacks, and you're likely to get it all in future flashbacks, as well. The art is nice, but nothing can save that boring story.
Rating: Ring
Overall Rating: Rings |
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