“The Best of Times, The Worst of Times” - Sonic Super Special #14
So this story doesn’t feature Antoine nor Bunnie, but it is a prologue to the upcoming story arc that’ll feature them prominently.
Remember, that the Knuckles the Echidna book had been discontinued at the beginning of this era. The Sonic Adventure arc was to serve as a crossover between the two comics, in order to slowly ease Knuckles back into the main series. Well SSS #14 is used as something of a finale to the Knuckles’ series.
It tries to wrap up many of the books loose ends; The Brotherhood, the Dark Legion, The Dingos vs the Echidna Elite, Knuckles’ family issues, and the Chaotix. All by sending them into another dimension…… >_>
Suddenly issue #245 makes a lot more sense. What comes around goes around I guess.
It’s mainly done so Penders/Bollers can put the book’s on going plots on hold while they figure out how best to incorporate Knuckles back into the series, because franklySonic Adventure was over stuffed by trying to cram everyone into it.
Knuckles escapes the blast and is stranded in the middle of the ocean. Setting him up for the upcoming crossover, that isn’t really a crossover anymore because he’ll now stay with the main series, so….. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m not quite through with the story yet though. While I covered the basics that are necessary for you to understand the next couple of issues this retrospective will cover, there’s still a lot I have to say about the Knuckles series and I’ll probably never get another chance to so… here we go….
This is Knuckles mother, Lara-Le and his step dad, Wynmacher. Wyn is far more than just a good guy. Wyn is everything Locke could never be. He’s a supportive husband, a loving, caring, non-abusive father, and just an all around nice guy who gives respect to everyone. Even if the person in question clearly is not deserving of respect. (glares a Locke) And while he doesn’t possess super powers and goes around defeating bad guys all the time, he does his damnedest to protect those he loves, both psychically and emotionally.
In short, Wyn, is perhaps the most upstanding character to come out of the Knuckles book and he deserves far more recognition than he gets. Both within the comic itself and fandom. And while I can understand Knuckles’ feelings here, (your parents remarrying can be quite the adjustment for some children) it’s a damn shame that his relationship with Wyn never progresses beyond this. In fact Knuckles never developing a loving father/son relationship with his stepdad is perhaps the biggest missed opportunity of the old continuity. (That and no one ever calling Max out on his bullshit)
The Brotherhood are beyond pointless. They’ll eventually be fazed out of the comic completely and you’ll never notice their disappearance because they never did anything worth noticing. And here’s the problem, I don’t mind the idea behind them, a group of powerful beings who are ineffectual because their ideas and viewpoints are so out dated and drenched in useless traditions and hypocritical beliefs, but the execution of them suffers in the same way that King Max does. There’s no change.
There’s no one with in the group actively going, no this is wrong and actively changing their ways. They sometimes are questioned by Locke or Knuckles but no one is actively opposing them save the bad guys. Which just reinforces their good guy “we’re in the right” persona.
It also annoys me to no end that they are all Knuckles’ grandfathers and are all practically immortal with the exact same power-set as each other. It makes them all redundant and prevents them from standing out as individuals.
Basically in order to work, the group needed to be paired back down to just a small group of individuals. Keep Locke, Athair, that one that turned out be a traitor, and two more. It doesn’t matter which two, they’re all interchangeable. Give everyone different individual skill sets. Have Athair be the only grandfather Knuckles has, and the rest be like Locke’s cousins and uncle. This keeps the Guardians as family while providing other dynamics besides father/son/grandfather. All of this would have helped to further distinguish the characters and provide actual internal conflict.
This is Sir Remington and Harry.
Remi’s ok. He’s got that down to earth attitude back by experience and an actual willingness to help. He’s easily the most competent hero in the Knuckles series next to Knuckles himself and the Chaotix (and yes, for the record I count Julie-Su as a part of the Chaotix)
Harry is the best fucking character to ever be created by Penders, hands down!
Harry is us, guys. Harry is you’re average person who just wants to earn his pay, go home, and forget about the shit world he lives in. He’s a good person that cares, but is tired of getting involved in things that he has no real power to change. He watches from the sidelines while all of the big important power players like Knuckles, Sonic, the Brotherhood, The Dark Legion, or even the Freedom Fighters come in guns-a-blazing making decisions that’ll effect him and his life without his say so.
Harry offers the comic a fresh perspective that no other character can give. Because Harry is human. He’s normal. And he’s also the only Penders’ character that Ian Flynn screwed up rather than improved.
And… That’s pretty much it. I hold no real strong opinions on Julie-Su, the Dark Legion and it’s cast of villains, or the Dingo vs Echidna war. Just know that I do ship Knux and Julie-Su, and the Dingo conflict is arguably the most interesting thing Penders ever came up with.
The second story in the issues is yet another Zone Wars story. This time it’s a parody of Judge Dredd and every lawyer show ever made.
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