The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 140

“Hedgehog Day” - Sonic the Hedgehog #167

So this story is an obvious parody of Groundhog Day and it’s also another birthday story. 

Wait! What? Why?!

We just had a birthday story seven issues ago. You can’t tell me that another year has passed since then. And if not, then where do we place this story in the timeline and how would that effect everybody’s ages? 

Well there’s three options. 

First, this is just a late celebration to make up for his last party being crashed by bad guys. The announcer on the radio even suggests as much in the opening scene. 

However the radio announcer doesn’t specify which attack it was and between the two b-day stories we’ve had a couple of weeks of various attacks. It makes little sense for everybody throw a second party so late afterwards especially when another attack could happen at any time. Besides Sonic had a blast at the first party and told Rotor and the others not worry about it. 

The second option is that this is a flash back to a previous birthday. We have one missing from the early years as I pointed out back in my review of #68. You could place this story right before Mecha Madness and the timeline and ages wouldn’t change. 

Unfortunately there’s some continuity nods that interfere with that placement. Primarily the mention of Mina, Sonic’s green eyes, and Sally’s long hair. Now I can ignore the new designs given the widely varied artwork in this series but Mina existing before issue 76 not so much. 

That leads us into the third option. This took place some time during the 100s before Sonic went into space. It makes the most sense. Mina is around and singing while Sonic and Sally started to sport their newer designs. Plus there’s an awful lot of stories that even with the time skip suggests more then just two years passed.    

Even the Archie Continuity on the Sonic Wiki places it between #120 and #121. Now I would personally move that up a bit to right after Heart Held Hostage. But the point still stands. Acknowledging that Sonic had a birthday before going into space that would place everyone a year ahead of there “official” ages. 

• Sonic - 18 (because of the time skip)
• Sally & Rotor - 19
• Bunnie -20
• Antoine - 21
• Tails & Amy - 13

Only Tails just said he was a eleven a few issues ago so maybe he’s younger then Amy? 

Originally posted by gameraboy

I don’t know but I’m sticking with option number three anyways. What do you guys think? 

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 139

“Giving and Receiving” & “Birthday Boys” Birthday Bash I & II - Sonic the Hedgehog #160 & #161  

We have a couple of notable issues today. This is the first story ever written by Ian Flynn and the first story to be drawn by fan favorite Tracy Yardley, but most importantly it’s another birthday episode. 

According to Rotor Sonic missed a birthday while traveling through space and it’s been two years since issue 68. This puts everyone at…

• Sonic - 17 (because of the time skip)
• Sally & Rotor - 18 
• Bunnie - 19 
• Antoine - 20 
• Tails & Amy - 12 

Though Tails did say he was eleven just a few issues ago so his birthday must come after Sonic’s. 

 However there is one story that we’ll cover in the near future that could possibly throw a monkey wrench into the works, but more on that later. 

In the meantime here are some highlights to take note of….

This is the first appearance of Bean the Dynamite and Bark the Polar Bear. Bark is the silent strong man type and Bean is basically a G rated version of Deadpool. 

I fucking love Bean! But unfortunately his interaction with Bunnie and Antoine is practically nonexistent so we won’t see him often in this retrospective. 

Fiona is finally given a personality and a story purpose beyond just “the love interest”. As stupid and forced as the whole Sally/Sonic/Fiona/Tails love triangle is, at least Flynn manages to give the characters life and unique dynamics.     

Scourge gets a recolor and a permanent boost in power from the Master Emerald. 

And Antoine is the one to defeat Bark. 

That’s it for this retrospective, be sure to tune in next week! 

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 138

“System Reboot” Shadow Returns III  &  “The Despicable Dr. Robotnik: "Insidious" - Sonic the Hedgehog #159

We have a very short review for today. I just wanted to point out a few things. 

In the first story Knothole is attacked by a whole horde of Metal Sonics where we find out that Antoine has kept his title of Commander despite his evil counterpart earning that rank for him. 

While it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, I’m actually fine with this revelation. For starters Antoine has been head of the royal guard for years anyways during the first Robotnik war and he’s more than proved himself responsible at leading several times before this. Plus it’s just nice to see that everyone trusts him in spite of the mess Patch caused. 

PS. Why on earth is Bunnie carrying a bow and arrow when she has a laser cannon?   

  

In the second story Robotnik hits upon the idea of infecting individuals with nanites, specifically individuals with robot components. These people are Jules, Nicole, Tommy Turtle, and Bunnie. 

This is a direct follow up from the “Bunnie captured by the nanties” plot back in issue 152. All in all it’s an interesting idea that takes advantage of some unique characters who don’t come together often despite having so much in common. Unfortunately this is all setup for a future story, one that won’t fully explore the ramifications of this action and one that doesn’t lend itself to character development. Shame because this this set up would have been perfect for exploring this characters more. 

However I’m going to blame the lack of follow up on the changing of the guard as this is Penders last story. Next issue will start in on Ian Flynn’s run on the comic. So until then viewers.