Knuckles Miniseries [Jul-Sep 1996]
     "Rites of Passage"
     Story: Ken Penders and Mike Kanterovich; Art: Art Mawhinney
     Grab your coats, gang, we're going to the movies!  Anyone
who wonders whether film has an influence on popular culture
would do well to read this story, which contains a fair number of
film references.  Hey, this isn't the first time it's happened:
remember the eleven scattered reference to [mostly Beatle] song
titles in "The Good, The Bad, and The Hedgehog" [Sonic #11]?
     In the starring role is "Sonic's friendly nemesis",
Knuckles.  Sure, it's a mouthful, but how else do you explain to
the kids that a) Knuckles rates his own miniseries, despite the
fact that b) every time he and Sonic are in the same time zone
they try to pound the electrons out of each other?
     OK, we're here.  This theater has everything, even a video
game in the lobby.  Oops, my mistake, that's an ATM so you can
withdraw $20 in case you want to buy a tub of popcorn and a box
of Sno-Caps.  Change?  As if!
     The story starts off simply enough: Knuckles has entered the
Grand Conservatory and has to avoid a fair share of booby traps
[Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]. 
This he does with style, including a VERY nicely-done two-page
spread where flames, bullets, shurikens, etc. are all headed his
way.  After that splashy action sequence, we put on the brakes
for a two-page exposition of the plot.  Good thing, too, because
this story started way back with "The Hunt Is On" [Chaotix
Special #1] which began, what, only about SIX FREAKIN' MONTHS
AGO!!!  I know that three of those months were spent running in
place story-wise, but c'mon!  We cover that development, fast-forward 
through "Fathers and Sons", then cut to the chase of "A
Sense of History", the 3-parter that was the prelude to all this. 
Everyone understand the plot?  Don't worry, this isn't the first
time our memories will be refreshed.
     Flashback's over, cue the Knuckles-Being-Chased-By-A-
Boulder-In-A-Direct-Quotation-From-"Raiders of the Lost Ark"
scene.  A nice three-panel progression on page 8 of Knuckles
trying to stay one step ahead of the boulder doesn't negate the
fact that Indiana Jones is fully entitled to say "Been there,
done that."  What took me a while to figure out on my first read,
however, is that page 8 also begins a split-screen sequence; once
you know what's happening, it works well.  Anyway, Knuckles
manages to avoid becoming roadkill, and discovers a "concussive
blaster" in a nearby storeroom.  Using it to punch through a
doorway, he hears Archimedes' earlier taunt and begins following
it.
     INTERMISSION: Sonic/Tails artwork.  Mother Of The Year
honors go to Dorion Barill's mom for stitching together a
Knuckles costume.
     Knuckles traces the voice to a room where the Chaotix have
apparently been partying since their abduction all those months
ago.  While considering renegotiating his contract, Knuckles
spies Archimedes, who turns out to be a fire ant standing on the
table.  To better see him, he speaks into a video camera and his
image is shown on the back wall [Wizard of Oz].  He also
apparently shops at the Paul Hogan "Crocodile Dundee" Boutique
because he's decked out in an Australian digger-style hat, vest
and a necklace of...hmm, what kind of teeth ARE those, I wonder? 
After a quick demonstration of his ability to disappear and
reappear in a puff of smoke [remember that -- it's important to
the plot], as well as his knack for breathing fire, he starts to
cop an attitude because "my people have pulled echidna fat out of
the fire more times than I can count."  This is no way to get on
Knuckles' good side, but before the echidna can call the Orkin
Man, who should appear but the mysterious figure from the split
screen sequence.  He announces that Dmitri "is no more."  He has
a new look; some have called it Egyptian, but from here the mask
looks more African than anything else (Memo to the Ancient
Walkers: THIS is the kind of look you should have been aiming
for!).  For me, the effect is spoiled by the fact that Dmitri has
rechristened himself with the unfortunate name "Enerjak."  Still,
like the Wing Dingoes of "Southern Crossover" the look is
impressive even if the name is a little on the stupid side. 
Knuckles and the gang attempt to rush him and are hurled aside by
a single gesture (Memo to Kent Taylor, with a carbon copy to
Mammoth Mogul: THIS is how a being with limitless power is
supposed to act!).  While keeping the Chaotix, Enerjak hurls
Knuckles and Archimedes out into the middle of a desert waste.
     INTERMISSION: Map of the Floating Island: Don't know
anything about the game zones, but it's nice to have if you want
to write any Knuckles fanfic and need to get your bearings.  Now
we know where John Ritts got the idea to ask for a map of Mobius
in his letter in Sonic #40.  And speaking of stupid names, whose
bright idea was it to christen the Letters column "Knuckles
Sandwich"?  Letters establish that Knuckles is 15 (that's 16 in
DiC years) and that the barbs on his gloves really do grow out of
his hands.  Wonder if he's tried soaking them in dishwashing
detergent?
     KNUX II: THE SEQUEL: How much trouble can Knuckles and
Archimedes get into in the middle of nowhere?  Plenty, if you're
about to become lunch for that latest desert cliche peril: the
giant sandworm [Dune, Beetlejuice, Tremors; face courtesy of
Alien].  Anyone else catch the tribute to Bob Clampett on page 4? 
Utilizing a convenient rock and his disappearing shtick,
Archimedes makes short work of the foe and that evening our
heroes sit down to a repast of grilled sandworm, yum yum.  Time
for the next flashback: Archimedes needs three pages to inform
Knuckles that ants helped loosen the foundation of Echidnapolis
so that it could become the Floating Island -- does this mean
that the Chaos Emeralds are overrated?  Anyway, Archimedes cycles
through the rest of "Sense of History", followed by a quick cut
to Dmitri/Enerjak beginning to reconstruct Echidnapolis, now
bearing the snappy new name "Necronopolis."  All this happens in
split screen (again); as for Knuckles and Archie (hey, even
though it's supposed to be pronounced "Ar-Key" we know you can't
spell "Archimedes" without "A-R-C-H-I-E", right?) they throw in a
comic relief bit where a delirious Knuckles mistakes Archie for a
spicy meatball, with predictable results.  Knuckles, faint from
heat and hunger, then sees a vision: his father appears before
him [Hamlet -- OK, THAT one is a stretch!] who tells him that he
must be brave, that Enerjak can be defeated, and that he must
take his place in the Circle of Life [The Lion King].  Oh, and
did I mention the oasis over the next hill?  After some brief
R&R, the oasis vanishes.  We hope you enjoyed your visit to Deus
Ex Machina Resorts; please come again.  Knuckles and Archie don't
have time to debate much about it because the city that
Dmitri/Enerjak has been conjuring up during the split-screen
looms ahead of them.
     INTERMISSION: Knuckles art.  Consider it a short art film.
     Despite never having been to the place that I know of,
Knuckles recognizes the place as a "dark, corrupted reflection of
Echidnapolis."  We then get to see "Enerjak's Citadel" [while the
audience gets bludgeoned to death with references to "Wizard of
Oz"].  Knuckles comes out swinging [not a Tarzan reference], but
soon finds himself surrounded by Mecha-Nauts (low-budget
SWATbots).  He takes cover in the Citadel, only to discover
Dmitri/Enerjak's defenses consists of the Chaotix, who are under
Enerjak's control.
     INTERMISSION: Map of Necronopolis, and a second Knuckles
Sandwich.  Candice White observes that the names of the Chaotix
make identifying the characters rather difficult.
     KNUX III: THE FOREGONE CONCLUSION!  And welcome to the
Necronopolis Wrestling Federation's "Brawl To Win It All!"  It's
tag-team action with the Chaotix up against Knuckles and Archie. 
Archie starts with a fire-breathing offence he learned from Ricky
The Dragon Steamboat, which Vector counters with a firehose.  In
the resulting steam, Archie and Knuckles disappear.  After a
quote borrowed from Lamont Cranston [The Shadow], Knuckles comes
out swinging again.  Less than satisfied with the performance of
the Chaotix, Enerjak administers a remote-control sleeper hold
that puts out the lights for Knuckles and Archie.  With the hero
out like a light, it falls to Dmitri/Enerjak to supply this
issue's two-page exposition of the action, but not before a short 
     INTERMISSION: more Knuckles fan art.
     Dmitri/Enerjak's account of the events starting with "Sense
of History" is accurate but self-serving.  By now Knuckles has
come to, and (in the course of small talk) realizes that Enerjak
is clueless about the oasis.  He also nudges Archie into
beginning our final split-screen of the series, by which in
response to a telepathic command from Archie the ants come
marching.  Enerjak moves to finish off our heroes, but they pull
that vanishing stunt once more.  While Enerjak searches for his
elusive prey and the Chaotix are called out, ants from the
surrounding area converge on the Citadel.  Knuckles re-enters the
fray, and while he and Enerjak fight/banter, the ants are chewing
away at the Citadel's foundations.  Thanks to some rocket
boosters that attached themselves to the Citadel from out of
nowhere (courtesy of the Deus Ex Machina Jet Propulsion Labs),
the Citadel takes off like...well, like a rocket.  Knuckles and
Archie manage to escape as Enerjak rockets out of sight. 
Speaking of out of sight, Necronopolis vanishes as well, leaving
only the Chaotix as remnants.  The Good Guys party down, the
cloaked figure from "The Big Picture" (Sonic #33) is revealed to
be Knuckles' father, who has apparently traded in his Luke
Skywalker jacket for a Ben Kenobi robe, Knuckles quotes the
curtain line from "Casablanca" and, in a final bow to "Star Wars,"
we get a final shot of the Citadel hurling through space, like
Darth Vader's fighter.
     OK, we'll stick around for the closing credits: a layout of
the Citadel, and a final Knuckles Sandwich.
     I have no real kick against the use of motion picture
allusions in the story.  Face it: the core audience for the
comics isn't really primed for originality.  If they can be eased
through a story while leaning on the cozily familiar icons of
popular culture (film, other comics, pop songs, etc.), who am I
to say?  Credit Penders and Kanterovich for not slavishly
following film plot lines (though some references, like the "Oz"
set-up outside the Citadel, was just heavy-handed enough to be
unforgivable).
     In a way, it's good that the series arrived late.  After the
"Rage/Mecha/Court Martial" series with its uneven Gallagher
scripts and shifts in artwork from Spaziante to Manak, it was
good to settle back and watch the Sonic Comics A-Team in action. 
Ken and Mike have delivered a strong story, despite the delay in
getting it launched.  The action was plentiful and, once you got
the hang of the split-screen layout, easy enough to follow.  More
important, the character of Knuckles had a chance to expand and
it made the most of it.  There was a hint in "Fathers and Sons"
that Knuckles' problem-solving skills (When in doubt, punch it
out) were due for an overhaul, and Archimedes proved an apt foil. 
His bag of tricks might seem meager (disappearing and breathing
fire) but, hey, all Sonic has going for him are speed and
attitude, and look how far that's taken him.  Still, Knuckles
actually broadened his character by the time the story was over;
he was still Knuckles but not so much of a lone wolf.  THIS was
the kind of scripting that "Growing Pains" demanded yet never
achieved.
     Mawhinney's artwork may lack the splash and dash of
Spaziante, and is certainly not in the same league as Manak's
cartooney style.  It's a straightforward meat-and-potatoes kind
of artwork, well-suited for this kind of storytelling.  Though
the design of Enerjak was a little confusing (try looking less
like Dmitri, why don't you?), it was still powerful in its own
right.
     All in all, an extremely well-done series.  There have been
recent rumblings about developments in the story in the coming
months.  If those developments are anything like the ones in this
story (where not a whole lot changes fundamentally but broadens
and deepens in terms of narrative and characterization), it will
be a major improvement to the series as a whole.
     Anybody remember where we parked?