Sonic Universe #35 (Feb 2012)

Yardley!/Herms cover: Look at any statue in any park and you’ll understand the significance of “Attack From Above!” But Sonic and Tails have more to worry about than a trio of dirty

birdies. It’s a good action cover … so long as the action means something.

“Babylon Rising Part 3: Retribution”

Story: Tracy Yardley!; Art: Tracy Yardley!; Ink: Jim Amash; Color: Steve Downer; Lettering: Jack Morelli; Editor: Paul Kaminski; Editor-in-Chief: Victor Gorelick; Cuckoo Clock Artisan: Mike Pellerito; Sega Licensing reps: Anthony Gacciona and Cindy Chau

As the Battle Bird Armada drifts into town, Rotor and Tails check in with the Department of Homeland Security, aka Nicole. She puts up the shield and speeds up the repairs on the Tornado, then asks if she can take a mental health day because between Sally’s being roboticized and the tide of public opinion turning against her she’s having trouble doing her job. I can relate.

At the Armada flagship, the XVth Battle Lord asks for a “sit rep,” which is Battle Bird for “exposition.” We’re told about the nanites, we’re told about the shield, and we’re told about Nicole. That’s about as much as he wants to know and, after making sure the repentance of the Rogues has been duly witnessed, launches “Operation Coo-Coo,” the initial phase of which involves Wave pressing the Big Red Button on some remote device which dissolves the shield. Like any good chief executive, Elias sizes up the situation and orders his people to “RUN AWAY!!” Well, it’s called an “evacuation” because it sounds nicer. To hammer home the point that Ian thinks Elias is pretty much worthless, his evacuation order isn’t even taken seriously.

But who then shows up to enforce the order, or at least get the locals to pay attention, but Stupid Flying Suit Rotor! You know things are going to pot in the kingdom when people ignore the king but listen to someone wearing a bad Wolverine suit knock-off and a jet-pack. Rotor flies alongside the Tornado, but Sonic bails and, using that human bullet move from “Point Break” catches up to the Rogues.

And here’s the first of several goofs in this story. After the ritual taunting, Wave tries a few roundhouse kicks at Sonic by causing her board to spin on its yaw axis, which is not so bad. What IS bad is that Sonic then spin-dashes into the Rogue members. And he was able to get traction … how exactly? This isn’t as bad as the infamous “dirt bridge” sequence from S49’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” but it’s close. Strike One.

Amy, meanwhile, is hammering on the Armada red shirts while Rotor resorts to the FV (fantasy violence) option with some kind of ray. All Tails brings to this party is a cup of exposition. Just then Naugus crashes the party, along with his imaginary posse and their “distracting chatter.” He’s also brought his “magick.” Good luck with that.

When last we saw Sonic, he’d effectively knocked the Rogues off their boards; in the intervening pages they’ve all managed to mount up again, but since they’re birds they had an advantage. So it’s not quite Strike Two. Inspired by Sally’s experience with diplomacy in Journey To The East (SU*), Sonic tries to get a line on why the three of them are back with the Armada especially with Naugus in town. For his trouble, Sonic is about to be on the receiving end of whatever Jet is going to do with the ring from the previous chapters. That ring, BTW, has somehow expanded in size so Jet can wear it on his wrist like a bracelet. THAT’S Strike Two.

Naugus then touches down on the Armada flagship and grows enough crystals to … well, it’s not enough to stop the ship or anything, but Rarity could use them to embellish one of her dress creations. At this point, the XVth Battle Lord arrives and introduces himself as … the XIVth Battle Lord.

Swing and a miss. Strike Three, I’m out.

Seriously, HOW did that one get past Paul Kaminski and Victor Gorelick? This is the kind of rookie mistake that used to show up in this comic on a regular basis in the bad old days when the creatives were certain the book would fold at any time and their lack of caring was all too obvious. I honestly thought that they’d gotten their act together, but this one really slipped past Security. But hey, it’s been a while since they pulled something this bad; I’ll let it go.

Anyway, after Naugus and the Battle Lord exchange the ritual trash talk, we learn that the same Naugus who turned Titan Metal Sonic into a Crystal Golem with his awesome magick is not immune to the effect of … a punch to the stomach.

OK, Tracy gets ALL the blame for this one. This effectively undoes Ian’s attempts in his stories in the main Sonic comic to make Naugus into a formidable villain. And no, I still don’t buy the Battle Lord Punching A Mountain sequence from the last issue. There’s simply no good reason for Tracy Yardley! to do such a clumsy, heavy-handed job of elevating the Battle Lord from mere villain to super-villain. And to lose track of his succession number in the process! I officially lost all hope in the story at this point, but let’s move on.

Speaking of moving on, that’s what the Mobians are doing as they head into the Great Forest (remember the Great Forest?). Bunnie, who got her bunny bod back in #232 thanks to the same Naugus who isn’t powerful enough to keep from getting sucker-punched, isn’t even joining the huddled masses on foot because Antoine insists that she’s still “ze delicate flower” and is carrying her around like a baby. This is supposed to look like an “Awwwww” moment but it also manages to look sexist. Geoff tries to switch sides again, but as far as Elias is concerned he’s burned through all his Get Out Of Jail Free cards. Elias then blows in a call to Nicole and asks if New Mobitropolis has been backed up off-site along with her own programs. When he tries to talk to her about Sally, she goes offline.

But this being a pre-ado boy’s book, Tracy can sense people asking “Where’s the fight?” So we get a heaping helping of it. The Battle Lord is still mixing it up with Naugus while Speedy pulls Tails out of the cockpit of the Tornado, the better to get in his fuzzy face. Naturally with nobody at the controls Amy can’t do her wing-walking act and is thrown off.

As for Sonic, he’s told by Jet “Thanks for letting us distract you,” after which Sonic is encased in a gravity bubble as the Rogues clear out. Clearly relishing his superiority thanks to Tracy Yardley!, the Battle Lord asks whether “mere chance or intelligent design” brought about this state of affairs. In the kerfuffle over teaching creationism or evolution, this is called “teaching the controversy” which is also known as “changing the subject.” Speedy then slams Tails into Naugus and they both fall off the deck of the flagship; Tracy may have weaseled on the biology but at least he got this bit of physics right. Rotor, who we’re led to believe saved Amy Rose’s tail off-panel, catches Tails; Naugus is on his own. Sonic’s bubble bursts, meanwhile, and he burns rubber heading for the city where Naugus is picking himself out of a hole in a wordless sequence that at least spares us the commentary by his imaginary posse. And on the final page, we get a recap of the Blowing Up The White House scene from “Independence Day.” Odds of Sonic surviving: excellent since it’s still his name on the cover. Odds of Naugus surviving: I don’t care.

HEAD: I’ve said it often enough but it bears repeating: there is a world of difference between LOOSE continuity and BAD continuity. And losing track of the Battle Lord’s succession number is just plain bad continuity. When I first saw that XIVth Battle Lord business I had my suspicions. So I went back to Sonic Universe #34 where, sure enough, he’s still the XVth Battle Lord. I don’t know whether Editorial noticed anything as they were putting this issue to sleep … er, to bed … but it’ll be interesting to see whether they can correct it later on.

Speaking of the Battle Lord, I get the feeling from this story that Ian and Tracy aren’t communicating enough, and it shows in the character of Naugus. In Ian’s stories, Naugus may be troubled by his inner demons but he can still wield awesome Chaos Emerald-powered crystal magick. In the hands of Tracy Yardley!, however, Naugus is seriously under-powered and can be beaten into submission by the old crow of a Battle Lord.

And I still think the whole upgrade of the Battle Lord’s powers is absolutely phoney. There’s been nothing close to an explanation, never mind that there wasn’t even a hint of his powers in “Trouble In Paradise” (SU*). It’s obvious that Tracy Yardley! is indulging in one of the oldest of adolescent and pre-adolescent fantasies: that you can beat up on a powerful opponent and they won’t even try to mount a counteroffensive. It’s a comforting illusion, but when it comes to the Battle Lord it just doesn’t fly (forgive the pun).

Consistent with this state of affairs is the fact that the Rogues and Speedy seem to have way too much advantage over the Mobians. Again, based on the “Trouble In Paradise” arc these characters would have trouble finding corn in Kansas, never mind being able to smack the heroes around. Bottom line: the birds have a manufactured disadvantage, and it makes the story feel like it’s a rigged game. And that is a turn-off, whether in a comic book or any other medium. It’ll be nothing short of a miracle if Tracy can pull this one out of a dive. Head Score: 4.

EYE: I have no qualms about Tracy Yardley!’s artwork; the two wordless pages just before the final splash page are very effective. It’s his skills as a writer that I’m beginning to question. Eye Score: 9.

HEART: In this action-heavy story, Heart is pronounced “Nicole.” She’s the one character we can feel sympathy for; too bad Tracy Yardley! has chosen to overdo it.

Let’s grant that as an A.I. Nicole has only experienced emotions at second-hand, by observation. Based on her depiction here, she’s spent most of her time observing an old school tragedian. It’s not that she doesn’t have issues, between what happened to Sally and the fickle nature of Mobian popular opinion. But it really feels like she’s got it dialed up to eleven. That can be just as bad as being emotionally disconnected, and her appearances here demonstrate that.

I looked at the Nicole sequences here and I couldn’t help but think “Why couldn’t she have been more like Twilight Sparkle?” That’s a character who’s much more balanced out: she has a Nicole-class intellect but it’s mostly based on book learning. It’s the interaction with the rest of the Mane characters that serve to teach her what books can’t.

Unfortunately, except for Tania del Rio’s “Stargazing” which introduced this manifestation of Nicole (brilliantly, I might add), it feels like Ian Flynn’s understanding of her has been hit-and-miss. Tracy Yardley!, however, has gone over the top here and has turned her into a one-dimensional character and it just doesn’t work, except for her abrupt fade-out when Elias was talking to her. Honestly, I was glad she was used as little as she was here and that’s NOT a good sign. Heart Score: 3.

SONIC SPIN: Paul Kaminski flogs the compilation of the “Zone Wars” though it’s really a compilation of Super Specials 8, 10, 12, 14, and the Sonic Blast special.

Fan Art: Jag draws a Sonic who looks like he’s from the Sonic CD game, P.K. demonstrates leet sewing skills with Scourge and Rosy plushies, Michael designs some Scourge the Hedgehog video made cover art, and Sue gives us Jet doing his Monkey Khan imitation by riding a cloud instead of his board.

Fan Funnies: Alim demonstrates that it sometimes takes more than a direct order to get robots to do something.

OFF-Panel: Aside from a spirited rendition of Naugus vs. the Battle Lord as to who’s uglier; it should be noted that Ian and Jon Gray tow the party line and use the designation “Battlekuku XIV.” Translation: “WHAT continuity error?” That’s their story and they’re sticking with it.

Sonic-Grams: Mitchell wants to see Bean and Bark again, though after Treasure Team Tango Nack might be reluctant to join in the fun and games; he’s told that robots will be featured in both comics; we WON’T be seeing Black Doom; and he wants to see a Fiona arc. Max wants a Sonic the Werehog arc. Emily wants to see Fiona do another face turn; I don’t think Scourge would sign off on that. She also admits that she’s a Tails-Fiona shipper; not gonna happen, Em. And Evan liked the Scourge arc, likes that the Rougues have their own thing here, but thinks they need “more characterization.” Sorry, Ev, this comic isn’t based on “Character development and more character development.”