I’m not sure which image to make fun of.
Knuckles The Echidna #26
Archie Comic Publications (July, 1999)
WRITER: Ken Penders
INKER: Andrew Pepoy
LETTERER: Vickie Williams
EDITOR: J.F. Gabrie
Knuckles: “The First Date” part 1: “She Love You (And You Know That Can’t Be Bad)”
PENICLER: Chris Allan
COLORIST: Frank Gagliardo
Mighty The Armadillo: “Friend In Need”
PENCILER: Manny Galan
COLORIST: Barry Grossman
In our main story, Knuckles finally has a moment to confront his feelings for Julie-Su, which Locke blames on echidnas boosting their minds so much that nature gave them the “soultouch” as a way to find their mate. However, Julie-Su may be tired of waiting, and accepts a date from an echidna named Raynor. Meanwhile, after telling the other Chaotix about Charmy being engaged to Saffron, Espio challenges Vector to do more than talk and actually get a date with a woman…which is turning out to be tougher than Vector thought.
Yes, this is what the readers wanted: a romance comic in their action series. I’m not saying you can’t do a romance story, though I still don’t feel like Knuckles and Julie-Su ever really had an organic evolution to their relationship and this “soultouch” thing is kind of a cop-out. I just wasn’t interested in this one. I’m also curious when non-echidnas and dingos started living in Echidnaopolis, since the girl that grabs Vector’s…attention is a swan. He is the only reptile in a city full of mammals and apparently birds, both of which at least lay eggs in the echidna’s case. (Yes, I looked that up.) Otherwise, I just didn’t get into this story and there are two more chapters.
The back-up story has more potential for what this comic is normally about. Mighty is contacted by Nic The Weasel, short for Nicolette, to explore an island that used to be a Robotnik slave camp. Not willing to trust Nack’s sister at first, she shows him a color worn by his lost friend Ray The Squirrel, and he accepts the mission, remembering how he and Ray met along with a younger Sonic years ago. However, once Mighty and Nic get to the island, they come across…Fiona Fox?
Did someone not tell Ken that Fiona isn’t a real person but a robot created by Robotnik stories ago to mess with Tails? Why break her out? Otherwise, this appears to be starting out as an adaptation of Segasonic The Hedgehog, an arcade game that introduced the relatively obscure at the time Ray The Flying Squirrel, which is a nice nod to a character that wouldn’t make it to the US until years later in a different game. He’s almost a blank slate, with only a personality to work with. This does have potential, and makes up for the main story for the next few issues.
Overall this just wasn’t the issue for me, hence the format break. This romance will be useless eventually after Penders’ fit, things used to push it are out of nowhere, the back-up is the closest thing to an interesting story. It’s technically well done, but personally just doesn’t interest me.
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