“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.
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