Sonic the Hedgehog #165 [Oct 2006] Spaz cover: Sonic and Knuckles give Rouge the third degree. In case anyone doesn't know what that means, it refers to intense interrogation up to and including torture. Originally it referred to the interview given to candidates seeking to advance to the highest (third) degree in Masonic ritual. The phrase passed into more general use in the late 1800s, and was helped along by Warner Brothers gangster movies and detective pulp fiction. It doesn't look like anything too intense is happening on the comic cover, but I suppose the Comic Code Authority wouldn't let Archie show Rouge being waterboarded or undergoing any of the other tactics used at Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, or any of the CIA "black site" prisons sprinkled throughout Eastern Europe. Sorry to get political there, but to quote an old Spike Jones song, "The funnies just aren't funny anymore." "Leak" Story: Ian Flynn; Art: Tracy Yardley; Ink: Jim Amash; Color: Jason Jensen; Lettering: John E. Workman; Editor: Mike Pellerito; Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick; Editor-in-Chief: Richard Goldwater. We now join the interrogation of Rouge; with any luck this will be better than Geoffrey Sinjin's infamous Interrogation Scene from "The Messenger" (S96). It's Knuckles, Julie-Su and Vector ganging up on Rouge, who isn't exactly losing her cool. It falls to Vector to deliver the opening exposition: seems Rouge was taken into custody when she appeared "outside Freedom HQ" (aka, within Knothole) via a "warp ring" as featured in S161 (which I just skimmed; I still haven't had the heart to read it). But then I hit the wall with this issue's Moment of Zen: "Nack wouldn't loan me his marvelous queen." I have no idea what she's talking about; maybe it was something in S160 which I missed. Still sounds pretty stoned, though. Rouge plays these three like so many trout until Vector tells her that someone ratted her out. Cue the flashback to Fiona, with Sonic as her lawyer apparently, telling Ray, Mighty and Espio about her past run-ins with Rouge. Unfortunately, the first instance blows her credibility and that of the comic right up out of the water: "Fiona told us how you beat her in an illegal fighting tournament." The panel accompanying this text box shows Rouge having made short work of Bean and Bark and giving Fiona the "Bring it on" gesture from "The Matrix." This "illegal" tournament takes place in the middle of a packed coliseum. OK, this makes no sense. When you talk about an illegal bout I picture the venue as being someplace less conspicuous: a basement, a parking garage, or, in the case of "West Side Story," under the freeway. Bringing in scenery from "Gladiator," however, just undercuts the whole thing. Either Ian Flynn didn't have a clear idea where to stage his illegal fight or else Tracy Yardley dropped the conceptual ball big time. Either way, it compromised the whole flashback and made me wonder whether scowling, gritting her teeth, and clenching her fists is the extent of Fiona's fighting ability since she repeats this pose in the next panel. Anyway, Vector suggests that Rouge wasn't working on orders from the President of Station Square at the time. This goads Rouge into exposition mode. But now, it's time for another session of... CRAM SCHOOL! Yes, it's "Cram School!," the game show named after the private schools where students specialize in preparing for entrance exams to other institutions, as opposed to preparing for the real world. Most commonly associated with Japan, where they're called "juku," cram schools can also be found throughout South and East Asia and even in Ireland where they're popularly known as "grind schools." The rules for "Cram School!" are simple: our contestant, in this case Ian Flynn, is given one page of a comic book to write, and he has to cram in as many plot points as possible. There is no limit on how many dialogue balloons or text boxes he can use. And here is his entry; let's display the writing (in this case a Rouge monologue) while highlighting the various *plot points* he's managed to work in. Everybody ready? And: "Scourge and I escaped via warp ring. It was sent by a madman named *Dr. Finitevus*. He wanted our help in return for the rescue. We helped him break into *Robotnik's Egg Vinyard* [sic oooh, that spelling error is going to cost him some points there!]. It turns out *he had a lot of your enemies captured*. *Half of them were already dead*. Doctor Finitevus rescued what was left of *the Destructix*. Since the master *Mammoth Mogul* had deserted them, they joined us. Finitevus brought us back to a *base* guarded by *some ancient robot called Isaac*. He wanted to steal all of Isaac's data. But most of it was corrupt or erroneous. I mean, it was *guarding a frozen corpse*. Can a robot go insane? Anyway, Finitevus was looking to control *dozens of ancient missiles*. When I found out he planned on using them *I ruined all of them*. He didn't like that." And there's the buzzer ending the round. Let's add up the numbers.... And Ian Flynn has crammed ELEVEN DIFFERENT PLOT POINTS into one monologue! That means Ian will move on to the Lightning Round for the next story. Congratulations! As Rouge comes down off her exposition and asks Knuckles "So, was it good for you, too?", we cut to Sonic and Fiona encountering Tails. Turns out the little guy is playing Hostage with Sleuth Dawg of the Hapless Half-Dozen. Sonic, however, is cut off in mid-threat by the body-checking entrance of Scourge, aka the Antisonic 2.0. As Ian changes the setting of the plot from "Action" to "More Action." While Fiona and Dawg dialogue for a page about ... well, I think they were talking about Rouge before Dawg started getting personal ... Sonic and Scourge get into a two-page fist fight complete with some "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" treetop choreography. Mercifully, Fiona announces that she's done a deal with the dawg while Sonic and Scourge were comparing testosterone levels. Since the price of getting Scourge and Dawg out of this story is one warp ring, Sonic gladly pays it and the villains split. So does Tails, so he can go back to being emo. He doesn't even thank Fiona for saving his bacon, the little ingrate. But Ian's got one more plot point to throw down in the remaining two pages. After Knuckles and Vector leave the interrogation room (I won't comment on Knuckles's line "That was a waste of time;" too easy), Julie-Su belatedly remembers that she was supposed to play Bad Cop earlier on and gets all in Rouge's face about staying away from Knuckles. Rouge then basically asks "Are you through?" before telling Julie-Su that if she's supposed to be scared of the echidna lass it ain't happening. Exit Rouge. HEAD: The thing I've come to hate most of all when it comes to the writing in the Sonic comic is wasted potential; this comes in just ahead of characters who are dead behind the eyes. And if Ian had just decided to stretch his mind a little bit here, this story could have filled the entire issue, leaving the back story "Call To Duty" for another day. He certainly had enough material what with the continuation of having Scourge and Rouge pulled into the presence of Dr. Fin as featured in S161. I know Ian is still in the rehab phase, trying to sort out and discard plot points left over from Ken's stewardship of the book. I fully sympathize with his objective, don't get me wrong. It's just that in this little Show And Tell that the comic is exercising, it's all Tell and no Show. And Show is always more interesting. So I let my own mind wander across the plot points crammed onto Rouge's page of exposition. S161's "Birthday Bash, Part 2" ended before Rouge had a chance to form any kind of opinion of Dr. Fin; we're only told after the fact that she doesn't think too highly of him. But it could have been interesting to see her actually arrive at that conclusion because of Dr. Fin's words and deeds, including his keeping company with the Destructix. And then when the scene changes to the hideaway that was the setting for the Good/Bad/Unknown story arc, we're told simply that not only was there a considerable stockpile of nuclear missiles in the place, but that she "ruined" them all so they'd no longer figure in the continuity. I'm sorry, that's just plain bad writing. It's not that I wanted to see technical schematics on how to disarm a missile as part of the comic, but this was so off-hand it was ridiculous. Plus, we're left to pretty much guess at Rouge's motivation for doing so, not that it would be such a tough guess. What would have pulled it all together for me if I'd been writing it? How about the discovery by Rouge not just that half the egg grape prisoners had died (the delivery of which was so impersonal that it renders this plot point emotionally sterile as well as inoperative), but that one of them was a mere child? I'm thinking of Desi-Ca, the blind little girl echidna brought to Knuckles by her parents who think that as Avatar he could heal her. The discovery of Desi-Ca's lifeless body would have given the story the focus it needed. It would have established just how evil and uncaring Dr. Fin is. It would also have offered the chance to demonstrate a touch of tenderness on Rouge's part. She may be a complex character (and Ian works that complexity to good enough effect in this story), but having some feelings for Desi- Ca's fate would keep her from sliding into the one-dimensionality that tends to affect the characters in this book. It's not that impossible; the same thing happened to Ryoko toward the end of the Tenchi Universe continuity of the Tenchi Muyo! series when we caught a glimpse of her soft side. And I think the fans are ready for it if it's done well; one fan, Angela Engle, known as angelsunbomb over at DeviantArt, has done a charming drawing of Rouge in full-blown motherhood mode, and I had no trouble believing it. See for yourself at http://angelsunbomb.deviantart.com and browse her gallery. And it would also have given Rouge the motivation needed to screw up the arsenal. "How" is up for grabs; offhand I can think of a few ways that wouldn't involve nuking major portions of real estate: shredded book of launch codes, trashed guidance computers, stolen fuses (assuming she knows her way around a missile and can find them). Granted some of this would fall under the heading "Gee, what are the odds?" but it's way better than "There were a bunch of missiles and I trashed them. End of story." Beyond all that, it feels like we've got two pretty much unrelated stories here: Rouge's story, and the "kidnaping" of Tails which is basically an excuse for Sonic and Scourge to have a fistfight (which in this comic book has become the equivalent of a car chase in the movies). Don't even ask me what the repartee between Fiona and Sleuth portends or why I should even care. OK, Fiona was a naughty girl, we GET it. But even if you're not one of the newbies who got the message when Ken brought Fiona into the Knuckles comic, the Fiona/Dawg/Tails/Sonic/Scourge angle still could have been dropped out of sight and the Rouge story could have been expanded to fill the empty space. Might have been worthwhile. Head Score: 7. EYE: The only real gaff was Tracy Yardley's staging the "illegal" fight in a stadium. Sort of like Sally's stadium wedding in "Line of Succession," I guess. Beyond that, the style is good and the gestures and expressions (especially between Rouge and Julie-Su on the last two pages) are first rate. Eye Score: 9. HEART: In addition to the ongoing Sonic-Fiona-Tails triangle (which Ian is continuing to play out, Heaven only knows why), we now have the beginnings of a Knuckles-Julie-Su-Rouge triangle. Does the comic really need this much soap opera content? The Knuckles-Rouge angle at least has the advantage of being canonical. Since Julie-Su is under exclusive contract to Archie Comics, Sega is free to play around with Rad Red and the Bad Bat. And it actually has some angles worth exploring. Knuckles, after all, has pretty much been the straight arrow of the series, the workaholic, devoted beyond reason to watching over the Master Emerald (at least until events mentioned in the next story). Rouge ... well, anyone who hasn't got Rouge's number by this point hasn't been paying attention. Even for a total noob coming to this comic for the first time, her personality is pretty hard to miss. So of course there's potential for the straight arrow Knuckles and the crooked Rouge to generate sparks of some kind even apart from any romantic entanglements. Factor Julie-Su into things, however, and things begin to get sudsy. Julie-Su had been created by Ken Penders to be a bad girl in her own way, as a former Dark Legionnaire. So there may be more of an affinity between the two females than at first glance. The comics being the comics, though, this sort of thing can drag out literally for decades, as it did in the Lois Lane/Lana Lang rivalry for the love of Superman. For the moment, though, Rouge and Julie-Su appear to be on an equal footing. The danger is that this sideshow will overwhelm whatever main story comes along. Unless thoughtfully integrated into the continuity, their rivalry could have the effect of bringing any story to a screeching halt, as it pretty much does here where the last two pages are given to setting up their future confrontations. It's not a bad idea, but I'd like to see it used well; otherwise it shouldn't be a factor at all. Heart Score: 7. "Call Of Duty" Writer: Ian Flynn; Art: Steven Butler; Ink: Jim Amash; Color: Jason Jensen; Lettering: Teresa Davidson Knuckles takes a call from Locke, who's tapped into the Techno-Tree using the Master Emerald. Cutting to the chase, Locke is all "Get back to Angel Island!" and Knuckles is all "No way!" and at the bottom of the page Knuckles asks "Why do you think you need me up there so bad?" That kind of loaded question in the last panel of a page can mean only one thing: CRAM SCHOOL: THE LIGHTNING ROUND! Yes, Ian is back with another page chock full of plot points, this time in the form of a dialogue between Locke and Knuckles instead of a monologue. Everybody ready? Hang on: Locke: "I know you must return to Angel Island because your people are suffering." Knuckles: "Why? I thought *they were rebuilding Echidnaopolis*?" L: "Have you forgotten *General Kage and his army*? You all dealt them a small blow last time you bothered to return but they're still a constant threat." K: "What about *the Dark Legion*? I thought they were helping to fight them!" L: "The Dark Legion is caught in *their own civil war*. *Lien-Da commands the Flame Legion*, while *an unknown Echidna is now grandmaster if the Frost Legion*." K: "WHAT?!" And let's look at the score: only 6 plot points this time, but the civil war angle has such a heavy WHOA! factor that Ian's score doesn't suffer. But back to the story. There's a bit of confusion with the word balloons on this page; it should be Locke reporting that the Brotherhood is still AWOL. Knuckles doesn't help matters by accusing Locke of not caring about Charmy and his people, which brings Locke back to the subject of when is Knuckles going to get his hide back to Angel Island. Knuckles angrily launches into a monologue, explaining that his staying put and taking down Dr. Robotnik (Take note: NOT "Eggman") should be job one. Father and son compare dental work until Locke says he can't guarantee the safety of his ex or her relatives, whereupon Knuckles goes Elvis on the receiver. Tommy offers to clean up the mess, Knuckles storms off, Tails tries reasoning with him and calms him down a little, and Locke figures he now has nothing to look forward to except dying of cancer. HEAD: With 8 pages to work with, Ian tried to update Knuckles (and us) on the Angel Island situation, which again is a legitimate aim. Unfortunately, he once again prefers Tell to Show; this time it's Locke (still dressed up in his Ragnarok cosplay clothes) doing the telling and pretty much sending Knux over the edge. The Dark Legion's disintegration into warring factions is interesting enough, but only about as interesting as a hole in the ground. Digging said hole is the first step in laying a foundation, and one wonders what Ian is going to build on it. Like the signs say, "WATCH THIS SPACE." But the real theme of the story is the continuing Locke- Knuckles battle; I'll have more to say about that in the Heart section. Head Score: 7. EYE: For those who are relative newbies to the comic, it should be noted that Steve Butler first made an impression in the comic by doing the artwork for Sonic Special #6, aka "Endgame: The Director's Cut." He supplied linking pages of artwork missing from the first go-round, and it was his unenviable task to smooth over these transitions to accommodate Editorial's decision to change artists every 3 pages or so, a decision which left the original "Endgame" a visual mess. I mention this sorry history because Butler does a very good job of reflecting John Gray's style from the Return To Angel Island arc during the extended flashback sequence. If there's a flaw, it's the near-constant gnashing of teeth by father and son. I suppose it's unavoidable in a story where two characters talking to each other make up most of the story. Can't be helped. But the next-to-last panel with Locke brooding in the shadow of the Master Emerald more than makes up for it. Eye Score: 9. HEART: And I thought *I* had father-son issues! Again, noobs may not be aware that Locke and Lara-Le are divorced. That means Locke is talking not only about Knuckles's mom but his ex. And it says a lot about Locke that her welfare is not very high on his list. Then again, he may still be packing a load of resentment ever since Knuckles more or less forced him to come out of retirement and become Guardian again at the end of the Return To Angel Island arc. None of this back story comes across in "Call." If it had, and there's been less exposition and more reopening of old wounds, it might've been too intense for Archie Editorial. It might also have made a better story and filled in the new kids on Knuckles's background rather than loading us down with expositions that won't be relevant for another few months at least, until Ian gets his retooling of Mobius: 25 Years Later out of his system. Still, Ian is to be commended for tackling the Locke- Knuckles dynamic to the extent that he did. In a comic where the relationships between characters is handled either ineptly or superficially when they're handled at all, this was pretty powerful stuff. Except for Knux going Elvis on the screen, which was maybe a little over the top. Heart Score: 9.