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