“Yesterday’s” Comic> Sonic The Hedgehog #203

“That was MY piece of carrot cake!”

Sonic The Hedgehog #203

Archie Comics (October 2009)

WRITER: Ian Flynn

INKER: Terry Austin

COLORIST: Matt Herms

LETTERER: John Workman

COVER ART: Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Paul Kaminski

EDITOR: Mike Pellerito

“Heavy Is The Head” part 1: “Surprise Visit”

PENCILER: Steven Butler

CO-INKER: Jim Amash

“Friend In Deed” part 1

PENCILER: Jamal Peppers

Some of the local kids throw rocks at Monkey Khan because he disrupted the concert. Sonic “saves” him, but wonders why he semi-friend isn’t his usual anger-prone self. He doesn’t have time to be concerned, because the Iron Queen and Snively pay the village a visit. The Queen uses her technomage powers to take control of Bunny’s cybernetics and sicks her on the Freedom Fighters. Sonic get her to safety after a long battle (and some soul-searching on Khan’s part), just as the Queen takes control of Monkey Khan’s cybernetics—and Monkey Khan himself!

In the back-up story, the Queen has sent Espio to get the Master Emerald, which means he must fight his old compatriot, Knuckles.

What they got right: Unintentionally or not, this story is more about the Iron Queen’s powers than anything else. You get a real idea of just how powerful she is even in a post-Robotnik world. Technology still looms large on Mobius, and she can control technology almost by magic. I think the final page also gives us an idea as to just what happened to Monkey Khan’s village.

What they got wrong: As much as I’m enjoying the “30 Years Later” arc over at Sonic Universe, I would think Espio’s current situation would be better suited there than a few pages of the main story.

Updated thoughts: This is where we separate the critic from the reader. In my original review I praised this as a good time to have gotten back into the Sonic titles. Critically this is a good story. It sets up just how evil and powerful the new threat and what our heroes are going to have to deal with. Monkey Khan’s crisis was interesting to read and one hopes he shakes it off. On a personal level I want to shove a spike through this woman and these days I don’t like feeling that angry at a character. That’s the difference. She’s a great villain, which is why I personally hate her. It’s a case of moods and right now I’m just not in the mood for a villain this evil hurting characters I care about to this level. Making Bunnie attack her friends and her husband (she and Antoine are married at this point), making Monkey Khan suffer, forcing Espio to turn on his friends because of some clan rules, and if memory serves she’s not done yet. Robotnik has limits that she doesn’t, and the uber powerful villain just doesn’t jibe with my current vibe.

What I think overall: Critically, however, this is a good story. People who aren’t me enjoying seeing a threat this powerful for our heroes, and thinking about the story potential, is what we need. We don’t get purely evil villains, especially women, from today’s stories. I’m just not in the mindset personally to enjoy her part in the story. You don’t have to enjoy something simply because it’s good, and this is really good. I just don’t enjoy it right now.