I feel the need to preface this review with a few facts about me regarding the Sonic comics in general. In short, I am not a fan of them. I read a few of them back when I was twelve, and they were OK then, but trying to read them now is an exercise in WTF-ness for me. The storylines are very complex and I always felt that I needed a scorecard to know all the players. The irony is not lost on me that this is how a lot of people who try to get into Marvel or DC feel like. That being said, when I heard about the Sonic: Genesis storyline starting in Sonic #226, my interest was piqued. Not only did I think that I could enjoy it without a headache, I also have a young niece who is just learning to read and is crazy about Sonic. Does it pass our combined litmus test? Well, yes and no… Mostly yes.
Sonic knows things, and yet he doesn't. Strange things afoot...
As a jumping on point, the book is pitch-perfect. You can jump into the issue not knowing a lick about Sonic. Everything you need to know is laid out for you, and the various characters (re)introduced in the story appear naturally and the story flows well. Ian Flynn definitely knows his Sonic-lore. In fact, most everything in this issue has a basis in either the original Sonic the Hedgehog game for the Sega Genesis, or the much beloved Sonic SatAm animated series from the 90’s.
The art looks like it leaped off the screen an onto the comic page.
The story begins with Sonic trying to rescue some missing animals, just like the original 16-bit game. Along the way, he finds out their fate, and faces Snively, a lackey of Dr. Robotnik Eggman from the animated series. Eventually Sonic meets up with the Freedom Fighters for the first time, and they team up and in turn face Eggman for the first time. The story ends rather abruptly, with the Freedom Fighters continuing to take the fight to Eggman. Regardless of the negatives I’m about to point out, I’m eagerly awaiting part 2 of “Genesis” and that’s something I never suspected would happen.
Now for the negatives I just mentioned. Now, I am not well-steeped in Sonic lore, but I do have a rudimentary understanding. To me, it seems like this re-imagined world is cherry picking events from the previous one to be more streamlined, and that’s great. I mean, it’s kind of hard to work things into an ongoing story according to the edicts of a game company. Case in point, in the United States, The man who is now called Dr. Eggman was originally called Dr. Robotnik. When the Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure came out in 1999, Sega decided to use the Japanese name of Dr. Eggman in all territories with little to no explanation. The comics took a different tack involving clones, or alternate reality versions of the same mustachioed villain. It was all very confusing. It seems Flynn and company are taking this opportunity to just make things easier to understand. The negative aspects come in because while this is great for new readers, people who are well versed in the Sonic comics just had the rug unceremoniously pulled out from under them. It’s actually brings to mind fanboy fear of the upcoming DC Relaunch as to what from the past counts or not. While there are little seeds in the story that hint that all may not be as it seems (Sonic seems to know more than he should, Sonic and Sally are very familiar for people who’ve just met), it remains to be seen how everything is going to play out.
On the art side of things, the team of Patrick Spaziante, Tracy Yardley and Terry Austin(!) absolutely nail it! The character designs are a nice mix of the old and the new, everyone seems to be in proportion and it literally looks like the old Genesis graphics were translated into pencil and ink. From the environment to the characters, almost everything absolutely pops off the page. That’s in no small part to the colors by Matt Herms. It’s pleasing to the eye and never garish. The only oddity I could pick out is that, the characters seem to use their latter-day designs except for Dr. Eggman, who looks like he did in the Genesis days. I am not sure if this is for a future story reason or not, but it was noticeably jarring, at least for me.
Yes, Snively still snivels, and Sonic still has "attitude".
The real test of course was my niece’s reaction. To her, continuity, especially Sonic continuity doesn’t matter in the least bit. The various games, shows, and yes, comics she’s been exposed to have at least 6 different incarnations of Sonic & friends. All she wants is to be entertained. The comic fit the bill. Her favorite parts were those with Boomer Walrus. Whenever he’s show up on panel, she insisted I call him BOOMer, putting the emphasis on the boom. When I asked the kidlet if you had five of Sonic’s rings to give this comic based on how good it was, how many would you give it, she said 5 and a half. While I myself would give the issue a solid 4 rings, I can’t think of a better endorsement than that of a 5-year old enamored with all things Sonic.
The bottom line is if you were always intimidated by the Sonic comic-verse, this is the perfect time to jump in, and if you have younglings that you just want to share your love of comics with, you can’t go wrong with Sonic the Hedgehog #226. It’ll be out in comic shops this Wednesday, pick it up, won’t you?
My rating:
My niece’s rating:
