The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 145

“Union” - Sonic the Hedgehog 174

It’s finally here! The big day has arrived! The wedding to culminate the greatest romance ever! 

Only one question remains…..

What music do you think Bunnie walked down the aisle with? 

I wanna say, something traditional and classical sounding like Mendelssohn’s Marchor Tchaikovsky’s Love Theme, but this is a post apocalyptic earth where such music may not have survived. Could be Mina composed something special for them as a wedding present or traditional music in Mobius could sound more ancient and folkish? As long as it’s not bloody “Here Comes the Bride” cause, fuck Wagner. 

Anyways enough semantics let’s get to the story proper.

We actually open with Sonic and Tails getting ready for the festivities first, but we come to our heroes soon enough and we find Antoine with cold feet. Not because he has doubts about marring Bunnie or anything, he’s just worried about tripping or fainting or doing something else embarrassing during the ceremony. Fortunately the Chaotix are there to cheer him up.

Oh how I love it when Ant interacts with Chaotix. It’s always hilarious. 

Next we check in on Bunnie. 

All of this is so fucking perfect! Bunnie and Sally just hanging out and interacting as actual best friends, something we haven’t seen in ages it feels like. Call backs to Bunnie’s other life goals, awesome. Sally acknowledging Antoine as good catch even he personally wasn’t the right one for her. Bunnie’s spot on description of her and Ant’s relationship. Rosie!!! Antoine’s adoptive mother is rightfully front and center during the proceedings and for once not completely forgotten about.  

After we check in on a few others, have some more sonally teasing, and see some ominous hints towards the future; we come to the cemony itself and it’s as wonderful as you could imagine. 

Originally posted by spongebobpics

Oh yeah and Espio is off having a solo adventure that ties into the next issue but who cares! LOOK AT MY BABIES GETTING MARRIED!!! 

Originally posted by myvividreams

Also fun fact, but from this point on Ant and Bunnie are always shown with those wedding rings. Barring the occasional coloring error or art mistake, they’re officially incorporated into their designs now. 

Originally posted by xthismeanswar

It’s been a wild ride; 15 years, over a 174 issues, and 145 reviews. From not even knowing each other, to allies in a war, to friends, to lovers, through heart ache, troubling trials, and personal character growth. This is perhaps the most satisfying thing to read ever. A near pitch perfect story, plenty of time spent on the titular protagonists while also delving deeper into the world and letting the character justexist. All while still setting up plot points and throwing in just a little bit of action but not enough to distract. It’s the perfect pay-off for what is perhaps the longest running sub-plot in the series, and best of all? It’s only the beginning for whole new story lines, not the end of one.  

Next week we’ll look into what Espio discovered….

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 144

“Round Up” - Sonic the Hedgehog 173

This is it! The beginning of the most important Buntione story ever!

They get engage! 

Originally posted by etudiant-en-ph3

Originally posted by darthvronton

Originally posted by ay-yuruyusu

Of course we’ve expected Antoine would propose since issue 168, but it took awhile for him to work up the courage to do it and he wanted Sonic and Amy to be present and provide support which is sweet. 

However celebrations are short as this a action comic and we have to shoehorn some fighting in somewhere. 

The Master Emerald has been stolen supposedly and Sally offers to track it down for Knuckles as he’s currently occupied elsewhere. She sets up a sting operation with Bunnie, Ant and Sonic in tow. 

I have to commend Flynn for finally getting both Sonic and Sally to open up and talk about their issues. It’s just a shame that, A. it’s cut short and B. for such an important development in their relationship Bunnie and Ant sure take the back seat in this story. But still it’s a step in the right direction and more then we’ve seen in the last, what 3 eras, now? Geesh!

Anyways Team Hooligan, (that’s Nack, Bean, and Bark) show up and a decent fight ensues, though it’s more comedic then anything exciting or ground breaking. However I am amused that once again it’s Antoine to defeat Bark just like he did the Birthday Bash arc. 

I’m liking their little semi-rivalry. I would totally have loved it if this was some running gag that popped up in the background from time to time but sadly I think this is the last time they face off against one another. 

Some more big bads show up and some more comedy commences. The villains are easily disposed of while Rouge is revealed to be the real culprit; only not really.  

Oh this dumb. 

Originally posted by desingyouruniverse

Lets step aside for a moment and forget Rouge’s obvious lapse in logic here and talk about the real problem. Rouge is by far the most ill served Sega character in the pre-reboot Archie comic. From her lame introduction to her ill conceived moral ambiguity the Archie version of Rouge is nothing like her game counterpart. Gone is the compassion, the empathy, and the insight that made the character stand out from other Femme Fatale stereotypes. And the lowest point for the her is the misjudged Knuckles/Julie-Su/Rouge triangle. 

Yeah that’s right, not even Ian Flynn can escape from the forced love triangle bullshit that has plagued this comic since it’s creation. But make no mistake this particular romantic drama is all of his own creation.  

I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but the Rouge and Knuckles pairing does not work the same in the pre-reboot comics as it does in other Sonic media. For starters the events of SA2 didn’t happen for Knuckles. He was too busy being green at the time, remember, and the Master Emerald along with Angel Island was sucked into another dimension. So therefore he and Rouge don’t even meet officially until the Home arc. All she does there is offer him a lift. Hardly the stuff to build off a relationship with. The only hint we get that Juile-Su looks annoyed by it but that could easily because she didn’t want Knuckles fighting in the battle without his powers. 

Which leads into the second issue with the pairing. Kunckles has been in a committed relationship for years by this point. In the very next issue we see that he and Julie-Su  consider themselves to be in a common law marriage. That’s how serious they are. Not only does the Rouge’s out of nowhere attraction cause a forced love triangle. But she knows it. Rouge flat out states to Julie-Su that she doesn’t care about being a homewrecker. That she’ll willing try to break them up just for the challenge. The whole thing is tasteless and tacky and even more insulting when you realize that the game Rouge had a little something called class. 

Which leads into into the third problem. By changing Rouge’s base motivations and making her the unrequited love interest you undermine the very dynamic that made the Rouge/Knuckles pairing appealing in the first place. They’re suppose to both mutually like each other but unwilling to admit it due to pride. Half the fun is meant to be their unspoken sexual tension, like with Cheers or Leia and Han before they got together.  

Oh and did I mention that she made out with his dad once. (eww) 

My only guess as to why Flynn would ever think of adding this ship in the first place is either he’s personally a fan of the pairing and/or Sonic X was running at the time and the ship is pretty obvious there. However since Archie was also currently handling the Sonic X comic at this time fans could have just gone there to get their fix. Making the inclusion into the main continuity all the more pointless; dragging an already much maligned character down ever further. 

Thankfully Flynn wises up and realizes this ship isn’t working drops the whole thing after this issue. At least until reboot.     

     

But enough talking about other pairings lets back to the real reason we’re here. 

This is pretty big. Sally being the maid of honor was always a given, but Sonic as the best man really showcases how far his and Antoine’s friendship has come over the years. They’re brothers, along with Tails and Rotor, and it’s important to remember that from time to time.  

Next time; the wedding proper.

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 143

“Truth of the Heart” - Sonic the Hedgehog 172

Here’s the official solicitation for this issue…. “ Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we ramp up the romantic intrigue… but don’t worry, as always the stakes are high in the world of Sonic! As more of Fiona Fox’s mysterious past is revealed, Sonic must face shocking secrets that will leave him torn between his new girlfriend and the friends he has loved and fought for all these years. Not only that, but one of her revelations sets off a series of events that will lead to one of the most senses-shattering cliffhangers in years! Which of Sonic’s allies will be pushed to the brink? This is one issue you won’t want to miss!”

Well it is Valentines Day so I can’t think of a better day to get back to this review series. However I think the solicitation over sells the story a bit. Most of the important stuff actually happens next issue. Heck, Bunnie’s not even in the story despite being on the cover. 

So what does happen actually? 

Well Fiona does a face heel turn and dumps Sonic for Scourge. This is quite possibility the best thing to ever happen to the character. It makes her stand out from other Sonic characters as she’s a good guy turned villain, solely because she enjoys it! Though there’s also enough going on beneath the surface to suggest there’s more facets to her beyond just that.  

It’s also leads to one of Scourge’s best scenes. 

This scene is the reason why I like Scourge. He’s not solely an “Evil Sonic” who does bad thing’s just cause. He’s a Sonic who makes poor choices. He decided to go down the wrong path. This element of free will means that not only could the main Sonic go down an equally dark path if pressed, but that there could be redemption for Scourge as well. 

Now I have no delusions that the comic would ever go in this direction; even if it hadn’t ended. Mandates for one thing and pathetic Scourge receiving comeuppance is too much fun for another, but it’s an element that adds layers to the characters. 

Not just to Sonic either. If all of the anti-mobians have free will and aren’t just “born bad” then it calls into question how much of a product of their environment are they. Last review, Antoine mentioned he pitied them. I also discussed how he himself has clanged due to being trapped in that environment.  

So is Patch completely irredeemable? If so, then what happened to him to stomp all of the good out of him? Could a similar fate drive our Antoine over the edge? Or has he already faced that trial and over came it? 

Questions to think about but sadly stuff that’ll be only explored in fan-fiction. 

As for what Antoine contributes to this story, he just shows up at the end to set up the cliff-hanger for the next issue. 

And we’ll discuss that issue next time on the retrospective!