Archie Sonic the Hedgehog # 108

 By Mark Rodriguez

While it currently has ended and been replaced by the current IDW run, the Archie Sonic run has been the longest running comic based on a video game. The Sonic comic lasted so long that you had the early game characters, the 90's cartoon characters, new characters during the lack of new Sonic games, and then all the new characters introduced during the Sonic Adventure games.

The comic ran so long that the original Dr Robotnik from the Sonic Saturday Morning cartoon show was defeated for good. Eventually they faced an alternate reality version named Robo-Robotnik that would become Eggman based on the Sonic Adventure games and onward. This issue has Eggman meet the original Dr. Robotnik. Let's see what happens. Also it seems at this time Dr. Eggman was still mostly called Robotnik, so to tell them apart I'll still call him Eggman and the classic one Robotnik.

 

"Robotnik X2 = Trouble!" opens with Eggman and Snively observing Knuckles, who currently has the power to alter reality. Eggman's research shows that a dramatic change has occurred due to the disruption of time and space. This time displacement brought back the original Doctor Robotnik.

 

Robotnik asks who Eggman is and commands his Swat-Bots to arrest him. The Swat-Bot don't respond since they now work for Eggman.

Meanwhile in Knothole, the crew is playing hide-and-seek. Tails flies around trying to find Sonic, Sally, Antoine and Bunnie. Tails sees some rustling in the bushes and thinks it's Sonic. Sonic is right behind him, which leads them to wonder who's hiding in the bushes.

Dr. Robotnik steps out, surprised to see Sonic and Tails again. Both of them are surprised, especially since their last epic battle, Robotnik was mostly wiped from existence. Sonic asks his old foe how he returned to life. Robotnik explains that another version of himself brought him back to take his memories. He says this new guy is ten times worse than he ever was and he barely managed to escape his Shadow-Bots. Sonic asks why they should care since they're both bad guys.

Robotnik is taken to the King and Queen to see what the think. Robotnik says all he asks for is protection. The King says he does look bruised and the Queen says maybe they can help. Sonic reminds everyone that Robotnik tried to turn them all into robot slaves, and might even be a robot himself. Doctor Quack checks him out and confirms that this is indeed the real Robotnik.

The days go on as Robotnik sits next to Sonic as they feast, Robotnik accidentally breaks Sonic's window while playing golf, splashes everyone as he does a cannonball in the pool, and pranks Sonic with a banana peel. After seven days, Robotnik tells the King and Queen that he is ready to return to Robotroplis and face himself. Sonic says it's about time.

As they fly towards Robotropolis, Robotnik tells Sally that they put the past behind them and become allies once he regains control away from Eggman. Sally doesn't seem too thrilled. Once the land, Robotnik says if he can access his computer hard drives, he can regain control. Sally will send Sonic, Tails, Antoine and Bunnie to handle the robots, while she will help Robotnik alongside Nicole and Rotor. Everyone heads out to their positions.

 

Sonic, Tails and Bunnie break past the Shadow-Bots. Once the coast is clear, Robotnik leads the crew to his computer, which looks more like a platform. This confuses the Freedom Fighters and Robotnik says they can have Nicole take some readings while he accesses the mainframe. He presses the button and the heroes are trapped within a green energy field

Sonic asks what's happening to them. Eggman and Snively step in as they reveal that their molecules are dissembling thanks to his Matter-Fluctuator. Robotnik commends him on the invention, showing he was in on the plan all along.

 

Sally activates something with Nicole (her sentient mobile computer, for those that don't remember), which causes the device to burn out. The two Robotniks are surprised. Sonic says they never fell for their plan for a second. Sally explains the real reason they came along was to destroy the machine that brought Robotnik back. Robotnik asks why and Rotor says he'll soon find out. Bunnie asks who's numbskull idea was it. The two Robotniks blame each other and then start to fight as Snively tries to stop them. The heroes make their exit.

As the Freedom Fighters return to their ship, Tails asks Sonic why came all this way just to wreck the machine. Sonic explains that when Doc Quack checked out Robotnik, he found that his molecules were unstable and he would eventually return. With the machine broken, Eggman will have no way to bring him back. As the mad doctors fight, Robotnik vanishes and Eggman punches Snively by mistake. Eggman says he hates that hedgehog.

 

"A Girl named Hope" Princess Sally approaches the King and Queen with a letter from an Overlander refugee, the niece of Doctor Robotnik. Overlanders are the human characters in the (Archie) Sonic series. The letter explains that several Overlanders tried to leave Mobius when she was two. Even when in cryo-sleep, the girl learned of the planet's history. The Overlanders and Mobians were always mortal enemies, which led to them leaving. However, with their ships losing power, they had no choice but to return.

The first time the girl saw Sonic she was terrified as she had never seen a Mobian before. Her step-uncle Robotnik convinced her and her family that Sonic was evil. She felt differently once she saw a roboticized Mobian. Sonic and the rest were there when the robo-Mobians were racing through the streets. Robotnik told her it was an attack, she felt Sonic was actually leading them to freedom. Then she found out that Robotnik was a robot that wanted to turn everyone into robots.

 

She'll never forget the day that Sonic and Sally fought against Robotnik and his forces. They managed to save everyone, except for her father and grandmother. After spending most of her life in a spaceship and Robotroplis, she felt that Knothole was the most beautiful place she ever seen. Even though she was related to Robotnik, she was treated with such kindness. She wants to thank them for helping find the Overlanders a new home and also showing her how they're not all that different. She saw how the Freedom Fighters treated each other. She wished she could stay. She signs the letter as Hope Kintober.

The King and Queen says it's a unique wish from a unique orphan, and they decide to grant it. Sally hugs Hope and welcomes her aboard. Hope thanks her.

 

"Knuckles the Echidna- Reunification Part 3" 

The issue opens with Knuckles' mom being shocked that he chose to support the Dark Legion. Knuckles talks back and his mother asks if he has any idea of the effect his ancestor had on their society. Knuckles says that the Mitres, Echidna spiritual guides, weren't completely innocent. She says they tried a hostile takeover like his ancestor did. Knuckles says she should hear what Dimitri has to say. She says he poses a threat to her children. Knuckles is confused as he's an only child. His mother announces that she's pregnant.

Elsewhere at the High Council Chamber, Dimitri says his proposed plan to restore the Floating Island back its original site was called too radical and dangerous. He says the situation will be even worse if the Echidna society continues to be separated. The High Councilor asks the Mitre if he agrees. The Mitre agrees that they should be united but asks if society would accept so much change so quickly. He points out that Dimitri is more metal than flesh and he says that Aurora herself never meant for Echidna to replace nature with the artificial. Dimitri argues that if Echidna were given the means to talk and think that they use those gifts for the greater good.

Outside, Jani-Ca is waiting for Knuckles, but as he leaves his home, he started heading downtown. As she follows him, she catches him hanging out with Lien-Da, someone her mother refused to talk about. Curious as to why Knuckles is hanging with Lien-Da as if they were good buddies, she follows them.

Elsewhere, Dimitri continues to plead his case. The High Councilor asks how they can trust him since he had try to overthrow the government by force. Knuckles arrives and he is recognized as the guardian that has stood against the Dark Legion. Knuckles says it's difficult for him to tell them to trust Dimitri but the fighting won't stop unless they're willing to take a chance.

Jani-Ca rushes into the council, but a guard holds her back. She uses her Chaos powers to send him flying into the ceiling. As she makes it to the door, she hears the constable yell out that they've been betrayed for the last time. He pulls out a gun and opens fire, as Jani-Ca dives toward him, thinking she is too late to stop him.

 

My Thoughts- 

So this was a read, though I feel something as big of a deal as bringing Robotnik back, especially since it's just for just an issue, should have taken up the whole book and have their top artists on the job. I mean, the art isn't the best, but worse of all, the character you're here to see, classic Robotnik isn't drawn that well either. With only 11 pages, everything was pretty rushed. I especially would have liked a few more panels devoted to Robotnik and Eggman's initial interaction.

Then Robotnik is just allowed to live in the palace while playing pranks on Sonic and whatnot. I guess it was part of Sonic and Sally's plan all along, but it's weird to see them even pretend to act nice to the same guy that tried to turn everyone into robots, or flat-out kill them on several occasions. I mean this is the deadlier Archie/Sonic SatAM Robotnik, not the Sonic Boom one that seems more like a nuisance. 

 

After reading the story, I realized that while current Robotnik now looked like modern-day Dr. Eggman and Sonic has his green eyes, none of the other Sonic Adventure characters made appearances. I guess at that time the only characters other than Sonic, Tails and Knuckles would have been Amy, Big the Cat and Tikal. I found out that Amy appeared in the comics here and there but gained her modern Sonic Adventure appearance in issue 80, so I don't know why she wasn't here. This new Eggman is still mostly called Robotnik and he even has a roboticized Snively around, so I guess things continued pretty much the same until Sonic Adventure 2 threw in more characters into the mix.

Like previously mentioned, Eggman is actually an alternate version of Robotnik called Robo-Robotnik who completely roboticized himself. The second story had a moment where he revealed his true robotic self to Hope. Speaking of that story, it goes into Mobius' backstory, explaining that the planet does indeed have humans, called Overlanders. This explains why Robotnik and Snively pretty much look human compared to the talking animals.

I didn't quite follow all the stuff going on in the third story, since it's part 3 of a 4-part story. Also Knuckles was turned green for a while, which confused me since that never happened to him in the games. At least Sonic's eyes somehow turned green in the Adventure games. I was a bit lost with all the characters and I had to look up to see that the un-named characters (un-named in the story) were Jani-Ca and Lien-Da. And yes, the story was written by everyone's Echidna-loving favorite, Ken Penders.

Either way, I feel the whole issue should have been devoted to the first story. I did like the second one since it goes into the history of the Overlanders and such. No real comment on the third one, though I understand it was part of a multi-parter and it would be weird to ask readers to hold off for an issue, maybe do this after the four-parter is done?

I do have to laugh at the purposely expositional dialogue between Sonic and Tails upon seeing Robotnik again. Tails says 'he used to be our worst enemy' as if either they weren't enemies anymore, or as if Sonic, who has fought him for 50 issues wouldn't know. Then they add he hasn't been seen in ages.... because he was wiped from existence. That's like seeing a guy that you saw die in a car crash come back somehow a few years down the line and then saying 'welp, that's someone we haven't seen in a while'. Yeah yeah, I know the comic is for kids, but I think once Robotnik has resorted to insane attempts to commit mass genocide, the comic has to start to grow up with the fanbase.

 

I doubt I'm going to visit any other comics from the Archie line, but this issue came at a good price. Shout out to Anthony's Comicbook Art & Collectibles for the opportunity to get this book.