“Yesterday’s” Comic> Sonic Universe #1

Internet, stop saying “everything is going according to keikaku”. Just say “plan” if you’re speaking English!

Sonic Universe #1

Archie Comic Publications (April, 2009)

“Living Weapons”

WRITER: Ian Flynn

PENCILER: Tracy Yardley

INKER: Jim Amash

COLORIST: Jason Jensen

LETTERER: Teresa Davidson

COVER: Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante

EDITOR/MANAGING EDITOR: Mike Pellerito

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Victor Gorelick

[See the original review here]

Due to events in the regular Sonic The Hedgehog and Sonic X tie-in comics, Shadow and a Metal Sonic end up in the dimension of Blaze the Cat and Marine the seafaring raccoon. Saved from drowning by Blaze and Marine, Shadow seeks their help tracking down Metal Sonic and his dimension hopping engine. The trio find in a port town (I don’t know Sonic Rush Adventure‘s story or how it was adapted in the Archie comics) where Metal is searching for this reality’s Robotnik. Shadow tries to reason with him as fellow weapons, but Metal sees his function as serving Robotnik while Shadow’s is to protect. So Shadow, Blaze, and Marine work to take him out…but Marine ends up destroying his dimension engine by accident. Fortunately, when Sonic and Tails visited their world they left behind a Chaos Emerald so she could find the Sol Emeralds she needs to help her world, and there’s enough of those now that she doesn’t need the Chaos Emerald. Using Chaos Control, Shadow returns to Morbius and GUN headquarters, with a new mission coming his way.

What they got right: I haven’t read the Sonic comics mentioned, having dropped both comics before either character appeared, but the comic is nice enough to tell me what I need to know, and where to go if I’m curious about the full story. That’s how you do a shared universe, not making the reader have to read everything to know the important details. Marine is so fun she made the “best scene of the week” for that week’s comic reviews, back when I had that feature in the weekly reviews. Metal has a logical reason for not following Shadow in defying Robotnik.

What they got wrong: Tails. Hope. Marine (if you ask Marine, anyway). A lot of child prodigies making high-tech stuff in the Archie Sonicverse. The more you have the less special it is.

What I think overall: It would be weird for a best scene winner to not be a comic worth recommending, though I’m sure it’s happened at least once. I enjoyed this adventure. As a start to this anthology about the various Sonic side characters getting stories of their own without crowding the main book, it’s off to a good one.