The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 153

“Duality” A Bold New Moebius II - Sonic the Hedgehog #190

Last time on the Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective, The Anti-Mobius gang invades freedom HQ while the Choaix is away fighting the Dark Egg Legion. 

We get some opening banter between Sonic and Scourge and then the big battle beings.    

Everyone pairs off, Antoine finally getting a crack at fighting Patch and Bunnie still going after Boomer. I’ll come back to the Patch vs Ant stuff in a minute but lets focus on Bunnie for now. 

She’s paired off with Boomer not only because of their similar power sets but also because the contrast in how they view said powers. Bunnie may have accepted herself for who she is, but she still resents the fact that her choice was taken away from her. And she can’t fathom why anyone would give up being what is to her mind “normal”. 

While Boomer’s reasoning is fairly shallow, he’s a bully who gets overlooked by the bigger bads and naturally craves validation same as all bullies do, it’s the seed of an an idea that will grow in future stories concerning Bunnie’s character: questioning the validity of cybernetics both her own and that of others. 

Sadly said stories are a ways off, as this is possibly the most development she gets during the entirety of the Eighth Era.     

During the skirmish Scourge almost gets sent back to his world. Angry at the thought of losing, he threatens his team and we see some hints as to how he came to power. 

I can’t remember if it is outright stated later, but it’s heavily implied here that Scourge actually did gouge Anti-Antoine’s eye out and gave him the moniker of “Patch” as an insult. 

The Suppression Squad now genuinely fear Scourge, unlike before, and follow his orders mainly out self preservation. 

You can’t feel too sorry for Patch though, because he’s also a lying abusive murdering psychopath. While I’m sad that we never saw Bunnie, Ant, and/or Sally thoroughly trounce his ass, it is nice to know that karma did it for them. 

More fighting ensues, more banter, and some more insights into Ali’s and Miles’s motivations occur, and then we reach what is perhaps the most important scene in the whole arc. 

I’ve talked about Antoine’s change in behavior since his capture several times before on this blog. We’ve also seen one or two hints that Bunnie herself has notice this change as well. This, however, is the first and sadly only time where we get an on panel confrontation revolving around it. 

Antoine claims that he only desires to protect Bunnie. That the reason he wishes to fight Patch is not for revenge but in order to keep everyone safe. 

It’s a sweet moment, but is it fully true?

Make no mistake, everyone’s safety comes first when Ant’s concerned. I have no doubt that he genuinely believes that what he does is for the greater good. But killing someone out of fear, even a reasonable fear, is still killing someone, and Antoine never says that he wouldn’t strike Patch down if given the chance. So does he really desire revenge and is using “protection” as a justification for his actions? Or can he no longer see the difference between the two when it concerns his family? 

We’ll never get an answer, but I personally believe that Ant is the only core Freedom Fight who would kill, and possibly already has.  And Patch is probably at the top of his hit list, if he ever went down a darker path. 

Especially when Patch continues to pull shit like this.   

Originally posted by theheirofberk

Originally posted by nobroken

Originally posted by find-a-reaction-gif

Guys, I can’t. I just can’t. There’s not enough words in my vocabulary to process everything that’s going on in those panels; the angst, the horror, the dread, the relief, the love, the devotion, the squees of a dying fangirl…. It’s too much. 

So I’ll let someone else do it for me! XD 

I found this fanfic a while back that relates Antoine’s point of view during these events. It’s by  VideoGameAddictsLtd and It’s just so good!   

A Second in Eternity

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Read it guys! You won’t regret it. 

So after this bit of drama the battle wages on with neither side gaining any ground. Sally therefore calls for a retreat and Bunnie provides cover for everyone. 

I think this a new power for her. She’s had shields before, yes but not ones that worked like that. She also hasn’t had once since before her upgrade. 

And we think we get our first hint that Bunnie’s powers can have a bit of wear and tear on her body. A plot point for a later arc. Though you  could also infer that Boomer just hit her really, really hard too. Either way,  Ant’s concerned for his wife and it’s uber precious as always. 

This issue technically concludes this “arc” but not the whole story. This would be Flynn’s first foray into multi-part epics that spans across more then one arc. For better or for worse. 

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 152

“Unwelcome Guests" A Bold New Moebius I - Sonic the Hedgehog #189

We’re finally here! This is my favorite story arc in the whole comic! 

Originally posted by usedpimpa

Let’s dig in shall we?

We start off with the anti-Freedom Fighters, now called the Suppression Squad, invading Freedom HQ. They get a quick reintroduction and new names. 

Most of the name changes make sense, Patch wears an eye Patch, Miles is Tails’ real name, Boomer is Rotor’s old nickname and a play on his new power set. But Alicia? I get that’s her mothers name, but, it’s her mother’s name. Her mom is alive and well in the main comic so having two characters with the same name defeats the purpose of why they changed their names in the first place. This is why I often call Anti-Sally, Ali instead. It’s a play on both names while still differentiating her. I also head cannon that the rest of her peers call her this for short. 

Moving on. 

Sonic and the Chaotix are off fighting the new Dark Egg Legion in the B-plot. It’s entertaining but I won’t be covering it because it doesn’t have anything to do with Buntwan and there’s too much to cover in the A plot. 

Amy is the first person to confront Patch since his return while Bunnie gets the jump on Ali. 

On the one hand it’s an amusing sequence. Who doesn’t love Patch getting beat up? But it is slightly disappointing that Amy is the one to do it as she was the one the least affected by his schemes. I mean one could argue that it’s showcasing how protective she is of her friends while the writer is merely teasing the bigger fight between him and Ant. But I’m not sure if it was needed. Especially as there isn’t a later scene involving Sally vs Patch, who also has a personal beef with him.    

As for why Bunnie isn’t the one to beat the crap out Patch instead. It’s because they wanted to set up her fight with Boomer. 

Once again I understand why they went with this set up, as they have similar skill sets and are more evenly matched, but Amy could have taken him on just as well. Not to mention Bunnie and Boomer fight more later so yeah missed opportunity to have Bunnie confront Patch. 

What isn’t a missed opportunity and winds up being a surprisingly interesting match up, is Antoine confronting Fiona.  

At first you might think, “why?” After all they’ve barely interacted before now and Fiona’s never personally hurt him. But then you realize, Fiona’s story is a subversion’s of Ant’s. Antoine became a better person over time, Fiona tried to and failed. Antoine found love and was inspired to be a hero by it, Fiona found love and it corrupted her. Antoine was forced to live on Anti-Mobius and made to play the villain against his will. Fiona chose to live in that hellscape and enjoys being evil.  Similar plot beats, different outcomes.  

And here’s the thing. Only Antoine knows what it’s truly like on Anti-Mobius. He’s the only one from the main world to understand just how shit that world is. Now here comes someone who not only went there willingly but even after staying there doesn’t appreciate how good the main Mobius is. Just how awful has life been to Fiona for her to think that living with Scourge, Antoine’s abusive tormentor, is the better option? He can’t wrap his brain around it. 

Though Fiona’s answer doesn’t make much sense either. The “lady in charge” is Sally and she knows full well that it was Patch trying to get close to her not Ant. I guess it’s meant to imply that Fiona is jealous of Sally? But that’s not her main motivation so why mention it?    

This is conversation is cut short by the B-plot and when we switch back things have progressed further. We get teases of some fights going on in the background while Sally strategizes and recalls Sonic back to HQ. 

Issue ends with both Sonic and Scourge arriving on the scene. 

This whole thing was more or less a teaser for the next issue where all the real juicy stuff goes down but we’ll get to that next week. 

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 151

“Beating the House" Sonic Versus Everyone II - Sonic the Hedgehog #188

So this is the second half of a story arc that involves Mammoth Mogul, who escaped prison two issues ago while also freeing Team Hooligan and Ixis Naugus. If you remember they were captured back during 173.

However we’re not concerned about the main story here but rather it’s cliffhanger. 

Remember Scourge and Fiona? They were kicking around on main Mobius for a while but left during the Enerjak Reborn arc. 

There’s not much about that arc that concerns Bunnie and Ant but for this scene. But if you’re interested; Locke is dead, all the echidna’s are now living in Albion except for the Dark Legion who have joined forces with Eggman, and oh warp rings are now available as a form of transport in the comic. 

  

The ending of this story shows where Scourge and Fiona went using their super charged warp ring.  

This is little more then a prologue for the upcoming story arc. Scourge is now the king of Anti-Mobius and the Suppression Squad doesn’t care for Fiona but puts up with her presumably because of him. 

Their dynamic and interpersonal problems will be further expanded upon later, but for now I like the little interplay between Patch, Ali, and Fiona. I ship Anti-Antoine and Anti-Sally and it’s little scenes like this as to why I do.

Now I don’t think they are in any way a healthy couple or that Patch even really  cares for her, but rather there’s an undercurrent of understanding between them. They both enjoy flirting, manipulating others for their own ends, and admire and crave power. In short I can totally see them teaming up and trying to take over their home world using shadowy politics and assignations with Patch being the brains of the outfit and Ali being the public face of the duo. Flirting all the while and planing on stabbing each other in the back. 

That’s it for this installment but be sure to tune in next week when we start on what is my favorite story arc proper.

The Antoine and Bunnie Retrospective - 150

House of Cards I & II  - Sonic the Hedgehog #178 & #179

So the 7th era of StH is very much like the 3rd era. After resolving many of the dangling plot threads in the previous eras, they both take on a new and fresh approach expanding upon the over all world and changing up the status quo. And while I love both eras, they also feature a server lack of Bunnie and Antoine. So while a lot is going on that will effect both of the characters later, they themselves don’t appear in many of the stories outside of like a cameo here and there. 

House of Cards is one such story. 

Tails’ parents, Rosemary and Amadeus, start up a revolution to over throw the king. Tails joins their side and comes to blows with Sonic ,while Sally is left to mediate between the two warring fractions. Eventually an agreement is made and an elected council is appointed, one whose decisions will come to effect Antoine and his wife on a personal level in the future.   

I mainly decided to include this story in the retrospective because I do deem the council to be extremely important to the characters’ ongoing plot and for those who haven’t read the old comics you’ll need to know where they came from. And really that’s all you don need to know regarding Antoine, but since we’re already here lets unpack this bad boy shall we? 

House of Cards is a point of contention among fans. Some absolutely despise it, I’ve seen a few praise it, while others just think Flynn did the best he could with a poor situation. Personally I’m an outlier. I don’t necessarily think the story is particularly bad, nor great, nor a merciful brief conclusion to the Fiona love triangle,

First lets get the main point of criticism out of the way. The Sonic and Tails fight. Most who hate this story do so for this reason. While it’s defenders will agree it’s is bad, but blame Penders for the actual idea and praise Ian for handling the proceedings with decorum. 

I honestly have zero problems with it. 

Friends fight, family fights, and good drama stems from conflict. The core idea of Sonic and Tails trading blows isn’t a bad one and it’s made all the more credible by having them arguing over multiple issues. There’s the surface level political stuff that Tails uses as an excuse more then anything, just like in real life when major arguments start over seemingly small stuff. Then there’s the lingering issues like resentment and abandonment from being the youngest that’s been hinted out throughout the comic’s run. These things propel the argument forward. Then finally the the main core issue comes out, is discussed, and resolves the the fight. That core issue being Fiona, which is why I suspect so many hate the idea. 

Guys lets be honest here. They aren’t fighting over Fiona, she’s gone, they’re fighting over a lack of communication and consideration that Fiona’s presence triggered and/or exasperated. That is a legitimate reason as to why arguments start. And it is seriously better then the games having Tails be randomly jealous of Eggman for no reason when they tried to pull it off there. Plus they resolve the conflict and grow from the experience. 

No the only real issue I have with the fight is that we don’t see enough of Tails with his parents before this story. It’s implied that he’s receiving some sort of validation and satisfying other emotional needs from them that he can’t get anywhere else. Which is why he trusts them so fully despite not knowing them very long….only we the audience aren’t actually shown them doing that. All their conversations are either shown off screen or involve other people and hints at plot type stuff rather then character development. 

So if the Sonic/Tails stuff doesn’t bother me then what problems could I possibly have?

The revolution stuff isn’t fleshed out enough. 

You need more then two people to have a revolution, and Ian Flynn does his damnest to write out any other character who could contribute to this vast sweeping change to the government besides the Prowers and the Acorns. 

The actual riot is all of one panel and features a bunch of no named BG characters. You’re telling me that no other named character in the book doesn’t have any problems with the monarchy at all? 

I kid, mostly, but the Prowers perspective is delegitimized somewhat by the fact they haven’t been in the book long and the more recent grievances that the kingdom might have aren’t given weight due to that. They can be a instigator for change sure, but they need more established public figures to lend them credence. And no Tails doesn’t count because he he has ulterior motives for joining their side and doesn’t actually care about the government as a whole. Which is a shame because they do bring up good points in their argument.  

But they’re not the only ones lacking a base. Elias and Max are the only ones advocating for the throne. Max is left absent for most of the story and Eilas’s heart is only half way in it. And Sonic is advocating for neither side and is simply caught in the middle. Once again Ian writes out an opportunity to have more characters involved when Elias sends all his guards home for the night in order to take on Amadeus man to man. 

To be fair the comic does condemn this action as stupid but Antoine should have been there. He would’ve been the ideal spokes person to defend the monarchy  in a debate and there’s no way he’d simply would have gone home if there was a known threat to the King. 

Originally posted by rejected-on-a-cosmic-level

This lack of nuance and other voices makes it all too easy for Sally to swoop in and resolve everything in a few panels. 

I like Sally. This retrospective has retroactively been a revelation as to just how much I do enjoy her character and this is actually one of her best scenes. Fulfilling her promise to better herself from the last story arc while also highlighting her strengths a character. But it’s unfortunately undermined by the lack of panel time and by being too neat and tidy a resolution.  

Oh and then there’s Max.

This is the story that made me hate Max. 

Now keep in mind I never actually liked the character but I was pretty ambivalent towards him until this point. Sure he was a jerk but he was intentionally written that way and I had, wrongly, assumed that eventually the authors would go somewhere with that.  This story pretty much buried that hope for good. 

The prefect chance to hold Max accountable and they go after his son instead. A son that he himself is abusing now that Sally’s no longer under his thumb. Oh and he’s also absent for most of the arc. 

Originally posted by dutchfruitjar

Yeah the story in-of-itself isn’t actually bad on any major technical level but is without a doubt the biggest missed opportunity in the old continuity.   

As for the next entry for the retrospective I’m debating over weather Ishould just skip to the Moebius arc or do a quick recap of events that happen between now and then. I guess we’ll find out next week what I decide.