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“Home, New Home” Eggman Empire III - Sonic the Hedgehog #177

This issue is something of a “cool down” story. It resolves the arc but it also functions as a slow character piece almost like a bookend to “Union”. The story hints at future plot points, reiterates where certain characters are in their development, while also establishing the new stat quo and where characters will progress from here. 

Sally is one of these characters. She makes a resolve to take back control of her life and Bunnie and Antoine help her along on this road to recovery. 

It’s no “telling Max to shove it where the sun don’t shine” moment. (Sadly we’ll never get to see that) But it is still an important step forward, one that’s been building up since Antoine’s return. 

It’s pretty significant that Sally comes to this revelation with both Bunnie and Ant present and not just because they’re two of her best friends. As Antoine states himself here, he’s made no shortage of mistakes in the past. But not only has he overcome his previous shortcomings and is now a respected hero in his own right, his love ones have always supported him and believed in him even before that. Bunnie for her part, has faced no shortage of hardship and trauma and yet has still found happiness and purpose in her life. They’re inspirational, and if they can do all that then Sally can do it to.  

So after everyone gets together to kick Eggman’s ass. 

Sally shows off her new ‘do to signify her return to her roots, letting the audience know of Ian’s plans to progress Sally beyond her submissive abusive relationship with her dad. 

also let’s end this awesome arc with a awesome panel because I love the artwork from this era. 

Next we’ll tackle House of Cards….sort of. 

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“Cracking the Empire”Eggman Empire II - Sonic the Hedgehog #176

We start right where we left off last issue. Eggman has destroyed Knothole and captured everyone. Sonic’s been beaten to a pulp but fortunately Tails, Amy, Knux, and Nicole manged to escape and they formulate a plan. 

While Eggman is gloating they bust in and free everyone while Nicole reprograms the transporter. Which takes them all to New Mobotropolis, rebuilt useing ADAM’s old nanite tech. 

Like last issue this story is important to everyone and the over all story, however Bunnie and Ant themselves get very little to do. Fortunately this will change in the next part. 

But before I close out for this week I wanted to point out just a few things. 

Nicole now can keep her Mobian form within the city making her a fully fledged member of the cast and not just a fancy tool. 

Charmy Bee is injured by the egg grapes, (a plot device that’s been simmering in the background since the Return to Angel Island arc two era’s ago) He’s been permanently disabled since then. 

On the one hand consequences and showing that Eggman’s plan is dangerous is a good thing. On the other hand this tragic development is treated to comedic effect as an excuse to bring the character closer to his game’s counterpart, who isn’t nero-divergent but just a literal child in that continuity. It feels off and unintentionally insulting. Like the comic doesn’t even bother to give a name to his disorder. I think they’re going for something similar to dementia, but instead of showcasing serious symptoms they just make him sillier and slightly dumber to mirror his cloud-cuckoo-lander personality from the games. 

Originally posted by onlydisney

oh and the art work is gorgeous. I love all the little details thrown in, like Bunnie’s and Mighty’s shells being cracked cause they both tried to bust out or Elias grasping his wife and child as they escape. 

It’s little background touches like that that make this comic sing. 

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The 25 Recap - 7th Era

The 7th era includes….

• Sonic the Hedgehog 151-175 
• Sonic Free Comic Book Day 2007 
• Sonic X 1-20 (not actually covered in the retrospective, but it’s there) 

A lot of changes happen during this era, both behind the scenes and on the page. A lot of long running plot points come to fruition, a lot of fundamental alterations to the world happen, and a lot of character deaths occur. Nearly every issue is important setting up these big and bold transitions. In fact “transition” is perhaps the best word to describe this era, as we make switch from Penders/Bollers to Ian Flynn.     

Major events of the era are….

(There’s probably too many to name but let’s give it a try)

• Nicole constructs her mobian form for the first time - StH 151
• The nanites are introduced and Snively joins the FFs - StH 152 
• Armand and Max get sick - StH 153
• Tommy Turtle is infected by the Nanites - StH 154
• Patch is outed and Antoine is returned home - StH 155 & 156
• Elias becomes king - StH 156
• The nanites infect other citizens of Knothole - StH 159
• Sonic’s birthday - StH 160 & 161
• Bean and Bark are introduced - StH 160
• Scourge gets an upgrade - StH 160 & 161
• Blaze shows up - StH 160 & StH 161
• Snively betrays the FFs and tricks Hope into leaving Knothole - StH 162
• The Babylon Rogues appear - StH 163
• The Sword and Crown of Acorns is destroyed for good, Sir Connrey dies, the Ancient Walkers die, Eggman’s “daughter” Mecha dies, and Natagus returns - StH 162 - 164
• Mobius 25YL comes back - StH 166 & 167 
• Flashback to another birthday - StH 167
• Armand dies - StH 168
• A.D.A.M. uses the infected nanites to try in conquer the universe, merges all the chaos emeralds into seven super emeralds, and Tommy Turtle dies to stop him StH 168 - 169
• The seven super emeralds wind up in the zone of silence transforming it into the special zone and Tails’ parents return - StH 170
• Fiona pulls a face heel turn - StH 172
• Chao are introduced - StH 172
• Bunnie and Ant get engaged - StH 173
• Bunnie and Antoine get married - StH 174 
• Knothole is destroyed - StH 175 
• Rotor brakes his back - StH 175

Favorite thing about the era: Closure

Not only do we wrap up a whole lot of lingering sub-plots and villain schemes, but we also get a lot of character resolvement as well. Bunnie and Ant are reunited and move forward in their relationship. Elias accepts the responsibly he’s denied for so long. Antoine finds closure in his father’s passing. Shadow makes peace with his past. Snively shows some humanity and comes to care for his sister. Fiona gives into temptation. Tails is reunited with his family. Sally admits that she’s was acting out and takes steps to mend her relationships and take control of her life more. Even Eggman loses his “children”, making him even colder and harder then he was before. There’s just a lot of satisfying character beats that hold everything together. 

Least favorite thing about the era: Stories aren’t allowed to breathe 

So much happens in this era at such a break neck pace. No less then five characters die in story arc that spans only two issues, and those parts don’t even take up the whole book. Major plot revelations are sometimes compressed into a handful of exposition heavy panels. Pages are wasted on nothing “stories” like extended off-panel parodies or unnecessary backstories on irrelevant secondary characters. Frankly it’s a minor miracle that we get any meaningful character reflection or insight at all. 

Favorite Antoine Story:  “Courage and Honor” - StH 168 by Ian Flynn

This is the accumulation of Antoine’s character arc thus far. The point where he comes to terms with himself and who he is and what he once was. It’s beautiful. 

Favorite Bunnie Story:  “Sonic’s Angels” - StH 152 by Ken Penders

Wait! Here me out.

 Are there better stories in this era featuring Bunnie? Yes, absolutely. But merely featuring isn’t the same thing as focusing. Every other story this era that brings Bunnie to the fore doesn’t give her any individualist focus. She is presented either as a background supporting character or as half of greater whole, with equal if not more focus given to Antoine. “Sonic’s Angels” is the only story that gives Bunnie a unique personal dilemma to overcome and puts focus on it. Now it could have better handled and nothing of worth came from it but I’ll still give credit where it’s due. Bunnie versus the nanaties plot is her story, not Antoine’s, not hers and Ant’s together, not Sonic’s (though the comic tries to make it that) but hers alone. 

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Favorite Buntwan Story or Moment: Their engagement and wedding in both  “Round-Up” and “Union” - StH 173 & 174 by Ian Flynn

Both these stories are equally important and so interconnect that there isn’t any reason not to include both. The ultimate Buntwan moments. 

Favorite Single Story: “Union” - StH 174  by Ian Flynn 

Yeah, I know I don’t like to repeat stories when handing out these “awards” but honestly it’s “Union”. This isn’t just my favorite story for the era it’s my favorite single story out of the entire comic period. Not just because my OTP gets married either. This is the best of the those slow down and focus on the characters stories that love so much. Everyone gets a moment and it’s perfect. 

Favorite Story Arc:Line of Succession - StH 155 & 156

Look this is a favorite list not a best of. I’ll be the first to concede that this is the most flawed arc during the 7th era. I won’t deny that it has problems or that numerous other arcs are technically better written. But they’re not as fun to read. Not to me at least. Patch is a delight to through out. Seeing Sonic take him other down is a punch the air moment.The thrill of seeing Buns and Ant united is only out  matched by their engagement and wedding. And all of the romantic melodrama is actually more memorable then most of A.D.A.M.’s  Machiavellian’s scheme’s that all start to blend together after a time. 

But if it makes you feel better Birthday Bash was a close second. 

Favorite Artist: Tracy Yardley

Fan favorite Tracy Yardley makes his debut during this era and he knocks it right out of the park. Now given that he’s replacing the likes of Ron Lim there’s not a whole lot of competition right now but with Yardley comes a turning point in the art direction of the book. One that’s more consistent and of higher quality then what’s came before. And I honestly think we have him to thank for that. 

Next week we start in on what is quite possibly my favorite era. 

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“Eggman Empire” Eggman Empire I - Sonic the Hedgehog #175

So for this event issue Eggman finally attacks Knothole and blows it to kingdom come. Kicking off a story arc that would irreparably change the course of the comic. 

So what purpose does Bunnie and Ant serve to this story? 

Not much. Other then to get capture the same as everyone else. 

The whole point of this first act to the story arc is to isolate Sonic from, well literally everyone, so that Eggman can not only beat on him physically but psychologically and emotionally as well. It’s one of those “bring the hero to his lowest breaking point and then build him back up” types of stories, only it doesn’t fully work because well Sonic never quits or even considers it, he’s too much a fundamental optimist. Also, because the book can’t go too far and actually kill everyone off.    

I’m not saying this a determent to the story but rather a cleaver subversion of the usual tropes. Eggman’s failing here is that he arrogantly assumes Sonic would behave in this conventional manner. 

However all of this does beg one question. Why are Bunnie and Ant hanging out at Freedom HQ instead of going on they’re honeymoon? The wedding was just like a day ago. Even if they didn’t have any travel plans wouldn’t they at least want some alone time with one another and spend the next few days at home? 

Originally posted by welcometoyouredoom

My best guess was that they did have plans to leave on a romantic trip and was there packing for it. 

That pretty much concludes this era and we’ll come back for a recap soon. However before closing out I wanted to note a few quick things. 

One, it turns out that I misremembered and that the Rouge/Knuckles/Julie-Su triangle isn’t quite dead and buried yet. 

Please let this die soon. I’m so tired of love triangles. 

And two, Rotor breaks his back while saving Tails. 

It’s a plot point that, for better or worse, comes to affect the character all the way up until the reboot. 

Finally three, Eggman knew the location of Knothole since before the lost in space arc. Why has it taken this long to attack in force? What line of defense was there besides the FFs?