Dr. K's Waiting Room

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Sonic the Hedgehog was first introduced to gamers worldwide on June 23 1991 and, since then, has become not only SEGA’s most enduring and popular character but also a beloved videogame icon. Thus, in keeping with tradition, I’m dedicating some time to celebrate SEGA’s supersonic mascot.

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Quick Facts:
SEGA quickly capitalised on Sonic’s mainstream popularity by commissioning two concurrent cartoons for their famous mascot. Sonic the Hedgehog (1993 to 1994), or “SatAM”, was the clear favourite compared to ita slapstick counterpart, though Archie Comics awkwardly mashed both together for a four-part miniseries. Unfortunately, the longest-running videogame comic book hit a road block when a former writer filed a ridiculous lawsuit that eventually saw the license acquired by IDW. Before then, Archie Comics scrambled to retool their continuity to bring it closer to the source material for Sonic’s 20^th anniversary.

The Review:
This back-to-basics celebration of Sonic’s history arguably echoes the videogames closer than Archie’s previous efforts, which were always an odd amalgamation of the cartoons, videogames, and convoluted original lore. Accordingly, the event is kick-started by the startling revelation that Doctor Ivo Robotnik (initially a semi-cybernetic dictator but now a flesh-and-blood “Overlander” referred to as and physically resembling Doctor Eggman) has rebuilt his horrifying space station, the Death Egg. This leads to a temporary truce between the Knothole Freedom Fighters and bizarre mage Ixis Naugus and a desperate assault against the heavily fortified space station, which saw Sonic and fearless leader Princess Sally infiltrate the Death Egg. Unfortunately, Sonic gets distracted fighting a bigger, fiercer version of Silver Sonic and is both unable to save Sally from being gunned down or stop Dr. Eggman activating the “Genesis Wave”, a Chaos Emerald-powered, reality altering shockwave that creates a new timeline. Thus, Sonic finds himself racing through Green Hill Zone with no memory of his friends or previous complicated dramas and simply investigating recent disappearances. Accordingly, Sonic is surprised to find Green Hill Zone populated by Motobugs, bug-themed Badniks powered by the missing woodland critters. Sonic commandeers a nearby Newtron and orders it to take him to its leader, meeting not Dr. Eggman but his nephew, Snively, who’s fiercely loyal to his uncle’s dream of conquering the planet with machinery and technology. Snively attacks in the Egg Wrecker, succeeding only in damaging the natural environment with his giant wrecking ball as Sonic is too fast to hit. A couple of hits to Snively’s craft sends the little weasel packing and Sonic rescues a bunch of animals from the capsule Snively was defending, three of whom are well known to Archie’s readers but are just meeting Sonic for the first time.

Sally Acorn, Boomer Walrus, and Antoine Depardieu reveal they’ve been actively investigating both the mysterious earthquakes ravaging the land and Dr. Eggman, and have even pinpointed a direct route to his stronghold, convincing Sonic to join their efforts. Their first stop is the ruins of the Marble Zone, where Sonic is surprised when the name “Caterkiller” mysteriously comes to mind upon seeing the Badnik. Although Boomer trashes it, Antoine is so terrified that he disturbs a flock of Batbrains, leading Sonic to scoff when Sally praises Antoine for alerting them to an ambush. Boomer reprograms a smashed Buzz Bomber and Sally convinces a passing Flicky to power it, giving them some additional firepower as they traverse the hazardous ruins, which are wracked by an earthquake. Thanks to Sonic’s speed and the friendly Buzz Bomber, the group avoids falling into boiling hot magma, only to be confronted by Dr. Eggman (in his classic attire, no less). Eager to test his speed against this new foe, Sonic races off, deftly dodging fireballs from the Egg Scorcher and giving Sally the strangest sense of déjà vu. Distracted by breaking his turncoat Badnik, Dr. Eggman gets wrecked by Sonic and flees to prepare his master plan, though even he is unsure of what that is due to memory lapses. Victorious, Sonic leads the group into the flooded, cavernous Labyrinth Zone, where Sonic’s concerns about Sally’s relationship with Antoine are quickly superseded by his fear of water. Encouraged by Sally, Sonic dives in and even blasts them clear of an Orbinaut swarm, though an earthquake seemingly spells doom for Antoine. As they emerge in the Starlight Zone, Sonic’s amazed at how nonplussed his new friends are about Antoine’s death but agrees that something’s definitely not right as they keep sharing the same thoughts and feeling the same things. Determined to avenge Antoine, they quickly push past the Zone’s Badniks and hazards to reach the Scrap Brain Zone, though Sonic thinks “Robotropolis” sounds far better.

Zapped by electricity, Sonic is almost too slow to save Boomer from also plummeting to his death and the three stumble into another confrontation with Dr. Eggman, who states his hatred of that nickname and traps Sonic in a forcefield. Dr. Eggman then tries to fry and crush Sonic with the piston-like Egg Crusher, only to be surprised when Antoine comes flushing down his pipe and frantically swats Dr. Eggman, giving Sonic the opening to trash his machine. Sonic then busts Dr. Eggman’s craft and sends him packing, sure to return. Sonic then introduces his new friends to his little buddy, Miles “Tails” Prower, who immediately hits it off with the equally scientific and mechanically minded Boomer. Although Sally’s sceptical about Tails due to his age, Sonic vouches for him and the three set off to tackle Dr. Eggman’s Westside Island facilities, unaware that Dr. Eggman has already launched his Death Egg. Although neither Dr. Eggman or Snively remember firing the Genesis Wave, they console themselves with the knowledge that the seven Chaos Emeralds will soon recharge the Death Egg to robotize Mobius in one shot. While Snively thinks his uncle should focus more on the interdimensional disturbances ravaging Mobius, Dr. Eggman is obsessed with destroying his newfound foe, whose unpredictability represents a significant risk. Disgusted by the pollution pumped out by the maze-like Chemical Plant Zone, Sonic and Tails still find time to have fun racing around and through the pipes, though the threat of drowning in toxic mega muck sees them air lift their friends to safety. After flirting with Sally, Sonic’s hit by a distorted memory of her death while debating their next move and opts to split from the group with Tails to tackle the source of the problem while they shut down the facility.

Sonic and Tails take the Tornado biplane to Metropolis Zone, where Sonic immediately regrets his decision when he sees how heavily guarded the mechanical hellhole is. Sally expresses similar regrets over not trying harder to convince Sonic to stick around as they’re attacked in the hazardous Oil Ocean Zone, where a near-death experience suddenly triggers brief memories of the old world, where her and Sonic were an item, before the trio successfully shut down the facility. After besting Dr. Eggman’s traps, Sonic faces the rotund madman in his Egg Bouncer craft. Sonic also experiences déjà vu when Dr. Eggman calls him “rodent”, though he easily bounces past the villain and hitches a ride on the Tornado, bypassing the Wing Fortress Zone to leap to Dr. Eggman’s shuttle and reach the Death Egg. There, Sonic sees the devastating extent of the earthquakes and learns they’re caused by reality trying to force itself back together. When Dr. Eggman boasts that his roboticizer will cement the dimensional shift and ensure his victory, Sonic’s again bombarded by vague memories of their past conflicts and rushes to stop him, only to be attacked by the gigantic Death Egg Robot. As Sonic desperately dodges the mech’s detachable, spiked arms and stomps, Dr. Eggman reveals that he’s remembered enough to know that he reshaped reality to try and keep Sonic from interfering with his plans and lets slip that the Chaos Emeralds power the battle station. This allows Sonic to power-up into Super Sonic, much to Dr. Eggman’s disbelief, and he easily overpowers the mech. After overhearing from Snively that their battle is making the situation worse for Mobius, Sonic desperately initiates Chaos Control, another reality-altering shockwave that restores the world and everyone’s memories. However, while this allows Sonic to rescue Sally and bring down the Death Egg, it does result in Sally being roboticized.

Final Thoughts: 
Despite part three this arc featuring a beautiful recreation of the North American box art of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (SEGA, 1994), no elements from this videogame or its add-on are featured here and Knuckles the Echidna is entirely absent. Instead, “Genesis” is more of a homage to and recreation of the first two games and does what I’ve longed hoped for from Archie Comics, which is to stick closer to the action-packed adventure of the source material rather than short-changing recognisable locations and elements. “Genesis” also impresses by featuring gorgeous artwork from Spaz and Tracy Yardley, Archie’s best artists by a country mile, whose work shines in this much more focused, back-to-basics story. While I admit sticking closely to the plot of the videogames isn’t sustainable for hundreds of issues, there’s something to be said about the simplicity of avoiding all the interpersonal drama, slapstick, and dark and gritty atmosphere for a fun, action-packed story. “Genesis” still includes humorous moments, mainly involving Antoine or Sonic and Tails having fun, and has reasonably high stakes as Dr. Eggman is polluting the world, enslaving its inhabitants, and threatens to cement his rule once more with the Death Egg. There’s also the greater concern of the earthquakes rocking Mobius, which split apart the Marble Zone and almost kill Antoine. These are the direct result of Dr. Eggman’s Genesis Wave, which alters reality to create an all-new world much closer to the videogames but one that’s unstable and desperately trying to return to normal. This also alters everyone’s memories and even returns Rotor to his original name, causing even Dr. Eggman to have no idea what he did to the world, just that he must fire the Death Egg again to be victorious.

I really enjoyed seeing Sonic bashing Badniks, rescuing critters, and racing through recognisable Zones from the first two games. In many ways, “Genesis” reminds me of the Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic (Unknown, 1991) in how it quickly blasts through the hazards, Badniks, and bosses of the first game, uniquely replacing Dr. Eggman with Snively for the Egg Wrecker encounter and having Sally and the others accompany Sonic to Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone, where various pitfalls await. Boomer’s side plot where he reprograms a Buzz Bomber was a fun way to show his mechanical prowess, though it didn’t really lead to much beyond this and showing that Sally can speak “Flicky”. Antoine doesn’t get much to do either and is reduced back to being a snivelling little coward and French stereotype, but I did like him having a much closer relationship with Sally, to the point where Sonic’s jealous of their connection and she must clarify that they’re just “close friends”. More of a nuisance than anything, Antoine is the butt of Sonic’s pranks and ridicule but his apparent death hits Sonic so hard that he’s baffled that his newfound friends aren’t more upset. This was an odd moment. I think the implication was supposed to be that Sally and Boomer sensed the death wasn’t real or permanent, implying that Antoine would come back if the world returned to normal, or perhaps it was a metacommentary on how characters never (or rarely) die. Either way, it was a strange moment rendered completely moot as Antoine shows up alive anyway. It was fun seeing the characters be confused by their déjà vu and remembering events from past issues, though it might’ve been nice to see these solidified across the story to more explicitly change their interactions. Sure, Boomer and Tails immediately click and Sonic and Sally naturally flirt and Dr. Eggman is immediately incensed by Sonic, but they’re all largely acting on blind instinct rather than piecing their true personalities together across the four issues.

Still, the artwork is impeccable here and it was fun seeing this alternative first meeting between Sonic and the Freedom Fighters. I liked that Sonic just goes where he pleases and rescues the critters because it’s the right thing to do, but was convinced to team with Sally and the others since they’ve already made headway in tracking Dr. Eggman and because he feels he knows them. The relationship between Sonic and Tails was also super adorable, with Tails being closer to how he appears in the videogames while still being a capable pilot and avid mechanic. I loved seeing Dr. Eggman in his classic outfit and the classic Egg-O-Matics being put to use, and watching Sonic and the others deal with familiar hazards like spikes, pits, and crumbling platforms in locations lifted directly from the games to fit this world rather than being magically created, temporary Zones that make little narrative sense. I really enjoyed seeing how the Zones fitted together in a coherent way and that they group split up to tackle Oil Ocean Zone and Metropolis Zone separately, with each lamenting the decision since it feels right for them to be together. It’s a shame that Wing Fortress Zone got shafted but it was a neat touch bookending the arc with battles against Silver Sonic and finally seeing Sonic battle the Death Egg Robot (which I don’t think had appeared in Archie’s comics). I also liked the twist that the battle between Super Sonic and the Death Egg Robot was exacerbating the threat to Mobius and that Sonic took a gamble on Chaos Control to set things right, though it might’ve been nice to spread this arc out over a few more issues just to help usher in the new era. Overall, though, “Genesis” was a perfect soft reset to attract new readers and a fun way to reset Archie’s convoluted lore into a narrative that is closer to the videogames, recontextualising characters and elements to make them accessible while also being a fitting homage to the Blue Blur’s storied career.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy the “Genesis” arc? Were you happy to see a more back-to-basics approach for a change or did you enjoy all the drama of Archie’s comics? Do you think Archie should’ve gone all-in and just rebooted the comics here? Which of Archie’s original characters was your favourite and what did you think to their award-winning run? How are you celebrating Sonic the Hedgehog this year? Share your memories of Archie’s Sonic comics below and donate to my Ko-Fi and suggest more Archie Sonic stories for me to review.