Sonicomics: "Sonic Rush"

"Did you know? Blaze the Cat makes her debut in Sonic Rush." No Shxt! So does the boost, if you recall. It, like most Sonic handheld games, is 2-D. Actally it was the first with 2-D.5 technology, and the first Sonic DS-game.

Sonic Rush is easily one of my favorite games. It's gameplay was fun, Blaze was unique, and it's story was interesting and sweet.

I'm less enthusiastic about this comic. Split in two parts, the adaptation is "loose" at best.

First off, the art is bad. it's not just the small details...like making Blaze's tail WHITE at the end...it's awkward. Both body proportions and expressions are off. It's not the worst I've seen from Archie, but definitely not the best. The colors are also awkward, but it's the backgrounds that really suffer from it.

This whole "dream plot" is something completely different from the games, but starts with an interesting premise I guess. Blaze's dialogue seems clunky and unnatural compared to the games.

Unlike most of these, this is not "in another time, another place," this is in the main comic where there's locations like Knothole and robots like Swatbots roaming around. Unfortuantly that's about it. No Blaze running into Sally or other Freedom Fighters.

Blaze has a brief, powerful moment...and then is knocked-out. Literally with a fist to the head. Uh...

While amusing to read the little bits from the bots and Sonic, I can't help wondering what's with the Swatbot base near Knothole. I'm not familiar with this age of the comics...it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Although the plot for part 1 is kind of interesting, it has nothing to do with the beloved game and it overall: awkward.

Part 2 kicks off with a fight--perhaps some version of the Sonic/Blaze fight in the game. The reason for the fight here is kind-of stupid. They keep thinking instead of talking, and the moves Blaze shows off are a bit of an exaggeration. Unlike the tie in the game, Sonic wins this fight. In the game, this was a big moment...Blaze admits how much she has on her shoulders. Sonic tries to convince her he can help. Here, not so much.

Blaze leaves without even listing her name, claiming she'll haunt Sonic's dreams...WTF? I'm not sure if some version of the game takes place after this, or if they don't meet again until SRA. It seems they don't meet until the comic version of SRA...

Final Ranking (S is best, E worst) : D   

The ending was very anti-climatic. The art was bad. The story wasn't accurate. Slightly humorous, but it doesn't do the game justice at all.
 

Sonicomics: "Sonic Lost World" Review

Lost World is one of the few Sonic games I've never played and know little about. So this comic adaption seemed mildly interesting.

I watched the first cutscene since then and was dismayed to find a lot of similarities. However, it's not a simple remake like some of the other "in another time/place" stories. It tries to give the game more background with some flashbacks for Sonic and Eggman, but it's nothing much. Another improvement was mentioning that the animal capsule was falling on the Lost Hex too--in the game they seem to completely forget it's existence.

Ryan Jampole manages to do a decent job with the pencils, but some of the "action" moments from that first cutscene are slower and clunky. Most impressive is his work with Eggman's expressions, even improving upon the game. The colors (Dustin Evans) are bright and lively.

Final Ranking (S is beset, E is worst): C

It's longer than most and it's art is nice. It tries to add more, but over all it's lackluster.

Sonicomics: The Games (Select #9)

I own one of the Archie Comic's "Sonic Select" books, in this case, # 9: The Games.

I thought it would be interesting to see how the comics adapted/tied-into some of the games. I know the comics tackled some of the games in bigger arcs such as Sonic Adventure (pre-reboot) and Sonic Unleashed (after Reboot).

I knew this would include the whole "In another time, in another place" thing which can either be annoying or liberating...but apparently mostly annoying.

"In another time, in another place" is a lame excuse that more or less means: "in the games' dimension." I'm not sure if it was a Sega requirement, or lazy writing.

I think the comics could have "filled in the blanks" for Sonic games. Like Blaze's appearance in Sonic 06, or how Rouge heard about "Eggman's secret treasure" before Sonic Heroes. But they never seemed to do that. And instead of adapting an interesting part of the game, it would only be the beginning. 

Occasionally the comics would adapt a game through flash-backs, like the Sonic Adventure 2 parts in Sonic Universe # 2 (...I think it was # 2), but often there were more flashbacks to in-comic history (in the original timeline especially).

I could understand not wanting to throw an adaptation in between important arcs, but this is a comic based on a video game character, not the other way around.

So, hoping it was not as bad as I feared, I gave "the games" a shot. Also, let's face it: that cover art is awesome. Although I was a little disappointed it did not include the "Olympics" one, it did feature the Secret Rings, which is hard to find.

Now I'm reviewing the 13 stories included...

Sonicomics: Crisis City Review Pt 2 (IDW # 20)

I got busy with other stuff, but when I created my review for "Crisis City Part 1" I intended to review the second part, too. Let's see if it seems any better...

"Crisis City Part 2"

How many Zombot-take over covers do we need? The dark-take over? It's already been done. How about something with a little more grunge for our metallic zombies?


As if the "Story So Far/Roll Call" wasn't enough, Sonic starts the issue with his own recap--even including the cruddy "I told you so" comment again.

The action through out the pages is interesting, but a little overwhelming. Once again, Jack Lawrence proves disappointing...I should wait until the end...

"You're too slow!" I'm guessing "Come on, step it up!" is not far behind.

Rouge's lines are still normal, but her role at the start is little disappointing. She can drive. Whoo. Where's that screw-kick move? Afraid of infection? Where's her heart-bombs? Or that cute little flying-explosive thing from Battle?

Omega's comments are also "normal" although between this and the Archie Comics I'm getting annoyed with the "Urge to maim--Rising" joke. However the Karate Kid reference ("No Mercy") is welcomed.

I'm not pleased with Shadow's Zombot design. It's lame, it's...cute? It's not threatening in any way. And really...why is he red? To see him easier, no doubt...but is he actually red and no one else is? WHY? Why wouldn't he be gray like the rest of them?

"Not so fast when you don't know how to work your rocket skates, are ya?" Oh great. Now the Wiki knows what to call Shadow's shoes, thank you Ian Flynn. UGH. Oh, there's another fast character here? We now have to demean them further by reminding everyone that SONIC is the fastest character. It's an annoyingly obvious statement. Something similar happened to Blaze in the Archie Comics...

This is one of those "Show, don't tell" moments. Maybe the audience needs to know that Zombot Shadow isn't as fast. This isn't the way to do it. Confirming the "Shadow's only fast because of his shoes" theory while also making Sonic visibly (/vocally?) faster is a slap-in the face to the character.

Speaking of slaps in the face...

Oh no, now Omega's caught the off-character infection. Omega would never openly acknowledge "caring" for Shadow or Rouge (maybe "tolerating"), but usually he uses his anger to show it. Declaring revenge on an enemy on the other's behalf, for example.

Now, which makes more sense?

Sonic: "Hold on! That's Shadow!"
Omega: "Negative. He is another Eggman robot. He will be destroyed."

OR

Sonic: "Hold on! That's Shadow!"
Omega: "Negative. Shadow is longer available. Target must be destroyed."

With simply changing a few words, the Omega's situation is seen differently. With the original he's a cold (dimwitted?) robot. As Mephiles would say, "This only proves you were created to stop Shadow the Hedgehog." In the rephrased version, it's easy to see that Omega thinks Shadow can not be saved and that he's destroying a zombot, not his "friend."

Blaming Sega? At the end of the day, Team Dark needs to be shown different from Team Heroes (as seen in: Team Sonic Racing Overdrive Part 2). But as I just demonstrated, Omega could prove he's different from the heroes (who always will try to save the un-save able) and go on to be a ruthless killing-machine without sacrificing his little character development.

For Shadow, I can appreciate the "You're too stubborn to be mind-controlled" comment from Sonic (is that a Shadow Fall reference?), but unfortunately the metal-Shadow doesn't snap out of it.

Things quickly fall apart for Sonic and the situation gets intense (Omega's comments return to their hilarious, destructive form). For a moment, it seems like Sonic might lose.

Aaand WTF? WTF????? Silver comes, grabs everyone, and saves the day. Wait, what?

First of all, I don;t think Silver can do that. Like with Blaze, Flynn seems to push these characters beyond their limits. If Silver can hold half a city's worth of people while hovering, why have Super Silver? How do these "big, bad, Sega Mandates" allow this?!

And I was really looking forward to seeing Sonic save himself. I can see it now: he almost gives up, gives into the infection--then snaps back into fighting action with a classic "I never give up" type of line. Then reinforcements could come. To make the situation worse, the group leaves. I thought "Sonic can't lose." It feels like a loss--not "I lost a friend" or "I can't believe I couldn't defeat them"--just a shabby, "Well, I guess we aren't good enough" type of loss.

At least between this disappointment we have a moment of comic relief with Tails and Omega.

Leaving the city's outbreak (which...kinda' makes the title worthless, now), we get some fresh updates with cutie Cream and humor with Gemerl. Rouge is shown to be affected by having to leave Shadow behind and Sonic checks in with the rest of our frazzled characters. The shift to Restoration HQ almost feels like a different story and it's a welcome change.

We get news that Omega might need a new body (insert Krane TMNT meme here). I'm guessing (hoping?) that he'll have a similar design that's easier to draw. For a reoccurring character, Omega is a very complex character to draw and just as time-consuming. This plot feels like a cheap move, but it could pay-off in the long run (and it is pretty funny).           

On to the ending! I used to like cliffhangers...Unfortunately I think it's been over played in the Metal Virus Saga. In an arc that's been mostly gloomy (in a fairly light-hearted series) it feels like a small victory is due. They didn't save the city. But Tails might have a way to save the day. It could just end there.

But no. Starline has to butt his way into this one and make allusions to the Deadly Six. The guy has officially not a threat. The Deadly Six?! Lame, disgusting excuse for an ending. Sonic X knew how to do a good cliffhanger! The type that I (or at least younger me) would wait a week for. I wouldn't wait a month (or a week) for the next issue. I might not read another IDW comic until the Zombot Story is over (which is obviously very SLOW GOING).

So about the art:

Don't lose your head.

Okay, I was to hard on Lawrence. Omega, Cream, Tails, Silver, and Rouge are all done well or relatively. Sonic's mostly better than before. Zombot Shadow's horrible, though, which makes him hard to take serious. There are still some heads barely connected to bodies and still lots of top teeth and no bottom, but overall it's better than the last issue. Still very expressive, but improvement is (still) wanted.

Summary:

• As expected, Zombot Shadow is lame. Sonic still acts a bit off as well as some of the other characters. 
• Silver saves the day (again). 
• Sonic catches up with how the others are handling the outbreak, slightly improving the plot. 
• Jack Lawrence's Shadow-Zombot art sucked but otherwise the newcomer did a detailed job. 

So the Final Ranking (S is highest, E lowest): C+ (High Average)

This issue is better than the previous, but it's unbalanced. The first half is grim and heavy despite well-timed lines from Omega, and while the second half is slower it's also much stronger. I think Sonic should have linked the two, or the second half should have been an "extra" story. Either way, the Zombot story is getting old fast and this issue did little to change that.

ShtH is better than Heroes (Intro)

Last year I defended the most hated Sonic game, Sonic 2006, against what should be the most hated Sonic game (but is instead overpraised)--Sonic Colors. I've been thinking about what to do this year...

This is one of the results.

Although it never received the same amount of hate 06 got, Shadow the Hedgehog was generally considered a disappointment and a "waste." Not for me, I had a blast (blast, ha-ha, Sonic-humor).

Instead of simply defending the game, I'm going to show how it's better than a fan-favorite, Sonic Heroes. This will defiantly be harder than 06 vs Colors, because I LIKE Sonic Heroes. A lot. BUT I LIKE SHADOWTHEHEDGEHOG MORE, DAMNIT! 

Underground is better than Sat-Am (Intro)

Last year I defended the most hated Sonic game, Sonic 2006, against what should be the most hated Sonic game (but is instead overpraised)--Sonic Colors. I've been thinking about what to do this year...

This is one of the results.

If I ranked all the Sonic cartoons, Sonic Underground, Sonic X, and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, would all be above AM and Boom. Now, I admit I grew up with those three, so I'm more attached to them. But it seems like most of the "Saturday Morning" fans have the same type of biased themselves. I've seen 97% of all Sonic episodes (of all the cartoons) at least once in my life time (yes that includes Boom), so at least I can say I've given (all) the series a chance (at some point).

I don't hate Sonic (Sat Am) at all, but I do think it's overrated. People always compare it to AoStH, saying how it was more "serious" and "darker themed." AoStH is adventure-comedy, so of course AM is going to "look" serious--it's a distopian series. Robotnik already took over! But does it live up to the hype? Sure, it got "2 Seasons," but it also had the least amount of episodes (compared to the other 4 shows).

Another reason for the show's lasting popularity is the Archie Comics, which featured many of the same main characters. This introduced some people to the show and vise-versa. However, many hard-core AM fans claim there's a difference and that the comics shouldn't be considered a continuation of the show. Yeah, there's a difference. The comics got years to develop their characters and plot. Seesh.

Really, I've always been annoyed with that type of comment because even if the story wasn't what was planned, they did get to see their favorite characters live on for years. Meanwhile, the characters of Sonic Underground were mostly abandoned except for one comic, one cameo, and fan art.   

Or, uh, cameo fan art. 

That's one of the reasons I've paired "Sat Am" up with "Underground." I could have shown how Sonic X stayed close to the games' universe while balancing a large cast or how "Adventures" portrayed Sonic nearly perfect through out and kept Tails in the spotlight, too. But I've always felt Sonic Underground was underrated.

Or over-hated. I never understood why so many people have it out for the series (except for Tails fans, I get that). Some of the songs could defiantly be annoying, but if it got to the point of anger, why not just hit the mute button?

Although the music didn't help their case, I feel like a lot of people don't like Undergound simply because they wanted a revival of Sat Am. It's something that seems silly to me since both series had been cancelled before I ever watched them.

It's even sillier considering how Underground kept AM's distopic themes. One would think due to the similarities, if SatAm fans liked any other cartoons, they'd like Undergound. Nope. Not with most of them, anyway. I don't think they're as stubborn or argumentative as some of the comic fans, but it seems like a close battle.

And to counter-act them, there's me. I truly believe that Sonic Underground was a better show than Sonic the Hedgehog (Sat Am), AND now I'm gonna' prove it!

"I'm better."

Hey...That's my line!

That's my line.

Sorry I couldn't help the references >:)
(Sonic Rivals and obviously Sonic Underground)

Quote of the Month

"I'm NOT a rat! I'm a hedgehog."
-Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic and the Secret Rings