Sonic X #5
Archie Comic Publications (April, 2008)
“I Never Promised You A Chao Garden”
WRITER; Joe Edkin
PENCILER: Tracey Yardly
INKER: Andrew Pepoy
COVER ART: Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante
COLORIST: Ben Hunzeker
EDITOR: Mike Pellerito
When Eggman had Cheese captive a couple of issues ago, he apparently took some clippings from her wings. Now he’s grown his own chao group and is selling them to Station Square. However, his chao turns into an army of little monsters, who attack the city.
What they got right: This certainly seems like a plan this version of Eggman would cook up. The art still resembles the show. Credit for actually tying events from the show into the story. Sometimes I wonder when this comic is supposed to take place in relation to the show but at least we know it’s some time after the Chaos and Tikal incident.
What they got wrong: It takes so long to get there though. So much of the comic is taken over by Chris talking about how things were before his friends showed up and how little his parents were around. There’s a nice bit of foreshadowing to other characters who appeared later in the show (the comic did not catch up to the Fox Box airings), including Cosmo, who if memory serves will never appear herself in the comic, but it doesn’t justify using up so much panel time. It just takes too long to reinforce Chris’s later overreaction to Sonic and company returning to their world, while also wasting time having Sonic save an owl, which will have no effect on the plot. And you’d think at some point Eggman would learn what money is but he’s still talking about “little green pieces of paper”…and why would Station Square by Chao from Eggman, knowing he’s trying to conquer them? Is this somewhere in a Marvel universe?
What I think overall: A nice idea but it takes way too long to get there.