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“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. 

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“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.

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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. 

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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?