The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective: September 2016

Friday, September 30, 2016

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 92

“Sonic Spin City” - Super Sonic Special #15

Why does no one talk about this story? When people list off the worst comics of the series why does no one mention this issue? Oh we’re all too happy to rant and rave about Penders’ Image crossover, Bollers’ bad art on issue 113, or Flynn’s take on the Mobuis XX Years Later arc, but if the shitty story in question is by Gallagher, we just collectively ignore it?

Let me explain why the entire concept for this story is so awful.

This is a Sonic version of Sin City. A popular (at the time) comic series written by the now infamous artist/writer Frank Miller. A noir comic series that’s controversial for it’s depiction of sex, gore, and Miller’s generally disgusting gender politics. The series is overly gritty and grim in tone and has little business being referenced in a kid friendly comic such as Sonic.

And it’s being written by Micheal Gallagher. The man who was head writer during Soinc’s most slapstick and goofy era. The man who’s work is filled to the brim with bad puns and forth wall breaking. Even at his most serious, ( i.e. Mecha Madness)Gallagher still can’t help throwing in silly nonsensical jokes. This is the man being tasked to write a dark film noir.

What’s worse is I can’t even tell if this is meant to be a parody or a serious homage. Mainly because it sticks too closely to the Sin City formula of narration texts, black-n-white coloring, and film noir inspired story telling; with nary a pun to be seen anywhere.

If you’ve ever read any of Frank Miller’s later work, this is legit what he would write like if he wrote for Sonic…..Its scary.

Sonic is on some sort of scouting mission, which takes him to a bar where Robotnik’s old badniks hang out.

Then this happens…

Uh, Gallagher you do know that this isn’t the place for your kinks, right? I’m not judging; you can find a dominatrix swatbot sexy if you want to, but 4chan is the appropriate place to share such interests. Not a kids comic.

I don’t know which is more disturbing, that Robotnik deliberately programmed his robots to feel sexual attraction, or that it’s Sonic that’s narrating this and he’s the one applying overt erotic descriptions to this character and her actions.

But’s it ok. It was only Bunnie all along. She was just play-acting, hahaha…. ha.. ha…

Look, I understand that Bunnie is a sexual character. She frequently flirts, has a confirmed physical relationship with her husband, and once described herself in her own words as a “sax-cymbal”. I also accept that people both within the comic itself and in real life find her attractive. These are all very good things. Bunnie deserves to be comfortable in her own skin, to have meaningful sexual relationships, and to be admired not just for her beauty but for her heart as well.

But this? I am not o.k. with this depiction of her. This takes something that was once a positive trait, a trait that was meant to counteract her insecurities with some healthy self-esteem, and then weaponize it. This story casts her into the role of the femme fatale solely based upon her physical attributes with no regard for her established personality. All for the sake of, what I am assuming is, a cheap joke. One that wasn’t even very funny to begin with.

And make no doubt, her actual personality has no effect on the story what-so-ever. Cause after the reveal , she and Sonic beat up the badniks, blow up the bar, and then leave. The End.

Even if we ignore the general awfulness of all this, the story is also confusing in another way as well. When precisely does this take place? Bunnie’s sporting her old design here (how she got them tiny boots on over her rather large feet, I’ll never know) so it’s before her upgrade, and there’s a combot amonst the badniks so it’s after issue #34 at least. Was she dating Antoine at this point? Cause I have trouble believing he’d approve his plan, if they were. If nothing else he’d want to be there to help protect her. (That bot that grabbed her leg would have been torn to scrap so fast)

Of course that’s even assuming that this does take place on Mobius Prime. The comic is coming to the end of the Zone Wars arc, where parodies like this ran rampant.

You know what, fuck it! I am officially placing this story in @nuttyrabbit ‘s extreme AU. All of the character’s moral aliments are the same but their personalities are taken to the extreme to where they’re darker twisted versions of themselves and the world is much more gritty and generally awful. I can imagine the Bunnie of his AU being more on board for this type of thing and that Sonic being more melodramatic and sleazy.

And this story, is like issue #52, where Prime Sonic temporarily fused with the alternate world rather than simply traveling to it.

The other story features the return of Naugus. It’s not bad technically, but it is hampered by horrible art work. I’m also not sure when it takes place either, cause it invokes Sonic traveling all the way down to the south pole to Eddie’s grave by himself, and I can’t think of point in the comic thus far where he would have had the time to do that.

Also this is the last issue of the Sonic Super Special series, from now on the Sonic will only have the one comic to wok with until Universe starts up. So we’ve kind of come full circle and the book is back where it started; minus the mini series.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 91

“Between a Rock and a Hard Place” Negative Relations III - Sonic the Hedgehog #90

~~Ok. lets try this again and see if the internet won’t crash on me this time….~~

Here’s a recap of what happened last issue

Basically, Knuckles showed up Antoine in what should have rightfully been his story, and then everything went boom.

The gang tries to investigate the disturbance, but Ant’s having trouble with the elevator.

Twan’s probably thinking “fuck stairs!” right now, not that I can blame him.

I know that everyone, including myself, has complained about Penders’ generic dialogue that makes everyone sound the same, but Antoine is one of the few examples of him getting it right. And this scene shows that. By saying “lift” instead of “elevator”, it gives a bit of flavor text to his words that indicates that he’s from Mercia; which is a proxy for for the UK where the word “lift” is more common. It’s just little details like that that help to give his character a distinctive voice outside of just merely having an accent.

Anyways, Rob figures out a way to get down there and a way to infiltrate the emergency area. Because he’s here and the story has to give him something to do. >_>

When I first read this arc I remember really enjoying it. And I still like it, but a second read through has only highlighted its flaws. The story is overstuffed with characters. Characters who either do nothing at all or vie for attention.

Like, why is Amy even here? Originally I was excited for her to come along because her interacting with Bunnie and Ant is such a rarity, but she’s done so little of that that her presence seems hardly worth it.

Same with Rob, who does to do actual plot stuff, but it is all things that could have been accomplished by Bunnie and Antoine on their own. Meaning he is only stealing the spotlight from those who we are more emotional invested with.

And speaking of spotlight stealing….

Ok, I’m going to try and be a fair as possible with this as I can. Knuckles turning green is actually a payoff for a longer plot thread that originated back in the Knuckles the Echidna book. A plot thread that, no doubt, was originally planned to have it’s own separate arc. But with the cancellation of the comic, Penders had to hastily rewrite it, put it on hold for other things (Sonic Adventure), and then rushed to get it out while squeezing it into the regular Sonic series.

And I get, even the best of writers ~~(to which Penders is not)~~ can struggle when they’re forced to rearrange things last minute while still having to meet deadlines. I also understand how hard it is to compromise your original vision and place your ideas on hold. However, there is a time and a place for everything and this was not the time nor the place.

Why? Because the audience is not invested in what’s going on here. There was no lead up to this within the story proper. No reminder of the previous arc. What’s going on here now had jack all to do with the original reason for Knuckles presence here. And for readers who didn’t follow the former Knuckles series, they are left confused as hell. The emergence of Knuckles’ chaos powers provides no emotional connection nor conflict.

Also, THIS IS ANTOINE’S STORY!!!! Antoine’s arc has the immediate emotional connection that’s need for the audience’s investment. Antoine’s story has actual conflict. The troubled father and son reunion is the heart of this story and yet it’s constantly side lined by extraneous characters, exposition, and pointless story arcs from other unrelated stories.

But when we do finally get to said reunion, it is as every bit as heartbreaking and moving as you would hope it to be.

While you could point out the parallels between this scene and the one between Sally and Max back in issue 36, this one is so much more heart wrenching. For starters, this one had a lot more build up to it. Due to the more comedic nature of the early comic, Sally wouldn’t mention her dad often, but Antoine and the effects of not having his father around haven been touched upon more thoroughly. We fully understand how much Armand means to Twan and unlike Sally, he lived for years without the hope of ever seeing him again. He’s now been given hope only to have it quite literally thrown back in his face.

Now add in the fact that Armand isn’t a dick like Max, and is fully acting against his will and you have a real tragedy. But Antoine, bless him, isn’t one to give up on people he cares about. Understanding that his dad has been brainwashed, he argues with the Echidna Elite to spare his father’s life.

So, in a way, the conflict I had suggested during the last review did come to fruition. And while it’s still compelling, it is also very rushed. With much of the meat cut out. These two pages are all we get and there’s no real dilemma for Knuckles himself. There’s no internal conflict within either group and only two sides are represented with no alternate view points to be had.

Had this plot point been allowed to breath a little and been spread out over the course of the story proper, we would probably have had a more balanced and better paced arc. But that’s the second problem with, Negative Relations. Not only is the story overstuffed with characters, but it doesn’t have enough time to tell all of it’s ideas efficiently. By being compressed into a format that can’t utilize the full comic, Penders doesn’t know how to readjust his usual pacing.

We open up on a prologue that introduces the characters to each other. It’s a pleasant enough read that wouldn’t be out of place in a longer arc, but in a shorter story it feels like a time waster. Then we move on to a middle act that’s nothing but a long exposition dump. Time that could have been spent furthering the characters and the story. Then all of the juicy conflict and action is squeezed into the final chapter and it feels haphazardly put together.

And nothing is more telling of this, then the ending. Which is the most confusing deus ex machina ever!

So….

Is no one going to express concern over the fact that they no longer know the whereabouts of a ten year old girl? A ten year old girl that they were originally responsible for.
How the heck is Amy even supposed to get back?
What the fuck even just happened?

Like I know Green Knuckles is supposed to be like god or whatever, but that’s not clearly stated within the story itself and this ending just comes right the fuck out of nowhere.

The cover story for this issue has Mina discovering her super speed, Eggman stealing the sword of acorns, Max being paralyzed (which will go nowhere, trust me), and “meteors” threatening to crash on Robopolis.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 90

“A Matter of Self Interest” Negative Relations II - Sonic the Hedgehog #89

Last we left off, Antoine, Bunnie, Knuckles, Amy Rose, and her cousin Rob O’the Hedge had met up in Mercia. All trying to find their missing families. Knuckles believes that answers can be found in the ancient home of the echidnas, Albion.

They all take a row boat out to the hidden island where the city can be found. However while they bring each other up to speed on past adventures, they’re being monitored by the echidna council. Who seem to know more than what they’re letting on. As is the way with echidnas.

Once more Ant is compared to his father. I’m guessing he didn’t get his good looks from his mom then.

Also, poor ‘Twan must be worried sick. He finds out his dad is really alive after years of thinking him dead, only to find out he’s an evil robot, only to then find out he might not be alive after all. Man, his stress levels must be through the roof right now.

They’re greeted by the head of the echidna council and are offered accommodations for the night. With promises that their questions will be answered upon the morrow. While everyone beds down for the night, Knuckles broods for a bit and has this rare insight.

No, Knuckles, yours isn’t the priority here, and that’s the main problem with this crossover (that’s not actually a crossover). With the Knuckles the Echidna book gone, Knuckles is no longer the star of the show, or at least he shouldn’t be. I get that the writers are trying to reincorporate him back into the main comic proper and that as a Sega character he still needs to be present, but Antoine’s story is the one that has the most pressing and immediate drama to it. He’s the one that needs to be center stage here. And that’s not just my inner fangirl talking either, that’s just basic storytelling 101.

And I honestly think Penders knows this. That’s why this scene is here. As if addressing the fact that he’s not following basic storytelling convictions somehow excuses him from not doing so. Just because you acknowledge what you’re doing is bullshit doesn’t make it any less crap, Penders. In fact it makes it worse when you go forwards with it anyways and never correct the problem. Which is why we get this scene.

Once again, Knuckles is right. This should be Antoine’s story. He should be the one here reacting to this. But nooooo, Kunckles is too much of Penders special baby to be left out of the loop so, Ant’s gotta get the shaft instead.

And here’s the thing. This plot point still could have worked. It could have presented a moral dilemma for Knuckles. Yannar, (the tribe leader) goes on to inform Knux that Armand is sentenced to be dismantled so that Eggman won’t be able to use him as a weapon against the people of Mercia.

You could have had Knuckles choose between the safety of his people versus the emotional well being of his friend. It would have provided conflict for both characters without having to sacrifice the core focus of the story. But nope! Armand wakes up and escapes his bonds, conveniently allowing Knuckles to ignore the questionable morality of his kind yet again.

And then everything explodes. The End.

Meanwhile, in the continuing chronicles of King Max the Douche, Sonic figures out that the Sword of Acorns has the ability to restore Robians minds, Mina starts to grow a crush on him, Queen Alicia is cured, and Sally finally, finally opens up to someone and talks about her shitty home life.

On the one hand it’s good that she’s opening up to her brother, since he’s going through the same abuse that she is, he can understand how she feels. On the other hand, because he is trapped in the same abusive relationship as she is , he therefore can’t give her the help she needs. In fact he should be seeking help as well.

This is slowly turning into “the many ways in which Max is awful and Sally is an abuse savior” retrospective isn’t it?

Sunday, September 18, 2016

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 89

“Picking Up The Pieces” Negative Relations I - Sonic the Hedgehog #88

So if you remember back in SSS #14, we left Knuckles floating out in the middle of the ocean. Well his mystical grandfather Athair finds him and tells Knux that he needs to go to Albion to find his missing friends and family. He gives Knuckles a “guiding star gem” to teleport there.

Honestly it just looks like a mini chaos emerald. In fact that’s probably what it is and Athair just gave it a fancy name to make it sound more impressive than it really is.

Meanwhile back in Mercia, we find that Rob O’the Hedge and Mari-An have married and now have a kid called Little John.

Except it couldn’t have been much more than four or five months since they met. Remember that we have a time frame between The Lost Tribe arc and The Back In Business arc because of the satellites, which activated approximately a week apart from each other. There were 8 satellites, so more less two to three months between the two arcs. Then figure in that only a couple of weeks would have past between Robotnik’s return and Sonic Adventure. A story arc that, despite its length, wouldn’t have taken more than a week in comic time.

So yeah, does this mean that Mobians don’t have a nine to ten month term? Honestly, there’s no real reason to assume that they would. They aren’t actually human after all. And from a narrative perspective it’s more convenient to have shorter pregnancies so you won’t have to sideline a character for what would undoubtedly take up years of real world time.

You know what, I’m all for Mobian’s only needing four to five months to develop before being born instead of the nine to ten that a human needs. Still, even with that factored in, both Rob and Mari must have wasted no time in getting busy. ;)

Anyways, Rob comes across Antoine, Bunnie, and Amy in the woods and attacks them thinking that they’re foes.

It’s still creepy that Amy’s obsessive crush is on a guy who is essentially a recolor of her older cousin. Especially when your remember that said cousin is more or less her legal guardian. Seriously, what the fuck writers?!

He doesn’t trust them because A) Bunnie’s part robot, B) Amy no longer looks like her old self, and C) Antoine is apparently the spitting image of his dad minus the whole being a robot thing. Fortunately, Knuckles shows up just then to verify who they are.

I really love this scene and it’s for the same reasons as to why I liked Antoine’s small appearance in Knuckles #19. Allowing the characters to interact with other characters who fall outside of their usual social circles helps to make the fictional world more believable and connected.

I also really like that it’s Knuckles who stands up for Antoine here. They’re not really friends, not yet. They don’t hang out together. They rarely hold conversations with one another. They’re essentially acquaintances who sometimes work together, that’s it.

But they both respect each other. They’ve worked together enough to know that the other is someone who’d be worth getting to know more. Basically the foundations for a closer friendship are being laid out during this era and I appreciate that.

Friday, September 16, 2016

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 88

“Family Matters” - Sonic the Hedgehog #88

So our heroes finally return home from the Sonic Adventure arc and the first thing they find is King Max raging open warfare on Eggman and Robopolis.

OK, so this stupid for many reasons. First off, if the mobians had the resources and man power to openly confront and overthrow Eggman, don’t you think they would have tried by now? There was a reason why the various FFs used guerrilla tactics to fight the original Robotnik. And specking of the Freedom Fighters, it’s also stupid to launch a full scale attack without your most experienced and powerful soldiers present.

But as we’ll discover Max isn’t thinking rationally here because of his concern for his son. Turns out Elias was kidnapped, and the best plan Max could think of to save him was to attack the super advanced city of robots with swords, staffs, and torches.

See, I told you nothing has changed since issue #77.

Anyways, it turns out that the forward attack is to be a distraction for the Secret Service; who is to infiltrate, find, and rescue Elias. (I still think its a dumb idea, but at least there’s now a rational behind it) Sonic and Tails are to join them while Sally stays with her dying mother. Amy’s deemed too inexperienced to fight and as for Antoine and Bunnie…

This is a perfect showcase of his character development guys. The man who would have looked for any excuse to avoid danger is now begging to join the fight and help others. A fight he can’t attend only because he’s already injured himself while saving others.

That said though, it makes little sense for Bunnie to voluntarily stay out of combat. She’s the only one with super strength here and would be a major asset to the up coming battle. I understand why she’s not joining from both a story and character standpoint (she wants to be there for Ant in the same way he was for her when she was sick), but it still feels a bit shortsighted.

But all this is leading into the crossover story with Knuckles. While everyone else is off rescuing Elias, Antoine asks a favor of Sally.

We’re finally, finally going to follow up on Antoine’s dad, guys! And I know that it feels like forever since we’ve discovered he was still alive, for Antoine it’s only been a few weeks. A little over a month at most and that month has been packed full of shit that’s he’s had to deal with first.
Amy is coming along, because she hasn’t heard from her cousin Rob in awhile. I’m excited because you don’t get to see Amy interact with the other FFs one on one very often. Allowing her to do so helps to integrate her more into the team. (I also kind of find her relationship with Antoine fascinating. You don’t see it touched upon often, but they kind of give off a big brother/little sister vibe.)
Of course Sally waits until nearly everybody has left to have her emotional break down. Because she can’t just open up and tell others that something is wrong, and that she’s not doing well. She knows that her friends are going off to do important things, but I feel like it wouldn’t be too much to ask Ant and Bunnie to stay through her mom’s surgery and lend her some emotional support. I mean it would have only delayed their trip by a few hours and they weren’t under any schedule. And both care deeply for Sally, and had she let them know about all the stress she was under, they would have gladly stayed. Sally’s a martyr of her own making really.
At least Rosie is there, and I sincerely hope that Sally talked to her about everything that’s been going on in her home as of late. Probably not, but Rosie is easily a better parent than Max could ever be.

Meanwhile Sonic, Tails, King Max, and the rest of the Secret Service find Elias but have to confront a brainwashed Uncle Chuck. Chuck temporarily overcomes his reprogramming only to be whisked away by Eggman before he can fully recover, Sonic goes ballistic, and Max is injured by a swatbot in the confusion. But, hey at least Elias is ok.

The second story in this issue is the crossover with Knuckles, and because it’s such an important part in Antoine’s character arc, I’m going to cover it in it’s own post. So stay tune for the next episode in the retrospective.