Sonic the Hedgehog #173 [May] Spaziante cover: WEV of Sonic saying "Hi, bug, sorry to have to step on you." Pretty generic cover to a not-at-all- generic issue. "Round-Up!" Story: Ian Flynn; Art: Tracy Yardley!; Ink: Jim Amash; Coloring: Jason Jensen; Lettering: John E. Workman; Editor: Mike Pellerito; Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick; Editor-in- Chief: Richard Goldwater Antoine proposes to Bunnie. If you thought that sentence was abrupt, you should see how the proposal was handled in the comic: page one, panel one, no set-up, no back story, no warning (even though it's been on the horizon since Sonic #46). Amy Rose hopes that some of this sudden surge of romance will rub off on Sonic, but he doesn't take the (jail) bait. Bunnie wants to break the news to Sally (who's already been down the aisle with Antoine evil twin). But she's on the line with Knuckles who brings her up to speed about Mina who's on tour, and Rouge who's selling the Master Emerald on ebay. OK, not really, but she's still fielding offers. Sally come up with an idea just as the happy couple shows up. A couple hours and an Archie ad later. Sonic and Antoine spout exposition disguised as conversation, while not that far away Sally and Bunnie spout exposition disguised as conversation. Except Sally is more self-confessing than Antoine and Sonic. But they can only get through one page before Nack enters, still in need of orthodontia. Sonic and Antoine head over to back up the girls, but are intercepted by Bean and Bark on hover boards. This being Sonic's comic, it's no contest. Antoine executes an especially tricky move of limboing down while slicing Bark's board out from under him with his cutlass. Meanwhile, Rouge has a rendezvous with two of the more tedious villains in the continuity, Mammoth Mogul and Naugus. Mammoth does all the talking for them as Naugus seems to have come down with a serious case of Parceltongue that leaves him hissing like a leaky tire before Bunnie clocks him. If I cared (which I don't), I'd relate the details of Mammoth Mogul's exposition; suffice it to say that A.D.A.M./Anonymous/Tommy kyped the Chaos Emerald embedded in his pachy dermis, hence his interest in acquiring a replacement. Mercifully, Sally puts a halt to things before they go any further by landing a scooter on M.M.'s head. As for Rouge, turns out she never had the Master Emerald after all; she was working an independent operation. But it ain't over yet. While the mopping-up continues and Sonic and Sally are asked to take part in the wedding party, Eggman and Snively have deployed the same Egg Fleet that gets so easily destroyed at the climax of "Sonic Heroes." That takes the edge off what could have been a portentous last panel. HEAD: The only thing worse than the way the Bunnie- Antoine nuptial was announced at the beginning of the story was the way it was turned into a Whack-a-Mole plot point for the rest of the story. It doesn't do much to drive events, it only occasionally makes its presence known when there isn't a fight going on, then it disappears again. This is one of those stories that isn't a story at all. Primarily, Ian is setting something up, probably something that will come to a head in issue #175. The entire Bunnie- Antoine deal takes up two pages max, and the rest of the story could have gone on without it. It adds absolutely nothing to what was going on except by way of diversion and a chance for a couple of snide remarks toward the end. Ordinarily this would be a cue to ease up on the story line and engage in character development; here, it's more like a reason to nod and say "Uh-huh" while putting the story pedal to the metal. Mostly what we have is exposition: two pages of exposition from Knuckles transmitting via Julie-Su's implant, one page of exposition with Antoine and Sonic, one page of exposition with Bunnie and Sally, one page with Nack, three pages with Mammoth Mogul ... you get the idea. Even Rouge gets a page. The only time in the story where exposition DOESN'T clutter things up is when there's a fight scene. The coming wedding, as I say, doesn't figure into things for the most part, and the commentary by Rouge and Sonic at the end kind of drains it of importance to the reader. This isn't as dismal an example of non-storytelling as Karl Bollers's infamous "The Last Robian" (S123), where he more or less presented a story outline with pictures in place of telling an actual story. It's pretty darn close, though. Ian has a good grasp of dialogue, and knows how to throw in cute touches such as Julie-Su's slow burn as she lets herself be used as a cell tower. But here it just doesn't come together. The first order of business is setting up and then disposing of a number of villains; the proposal may as well have been an afterthought. One panel in particular worries me. In the midst of Mammoth Mogul's mammoth declamation about Naugus, we cut to Sonic and Bunnie totally anticipating an attack from the shadows by Naugus with Bunnie cleaning his clock. They both looks extremely bored as its happening. Been there, done that, doing it again. That's how I felt as this story went on: I was getting bored myself. This is supposed to be counterbalanced by Sally's grand entrance on the scooter, but it never quite tipped it in for me. The problem with the "action and more action" formula is the same as with ANY formula: the Law of Diminishing Returns kicks in sooner or later. I don't want to believe it's beginning to rear its head now, but like I said, this story just doesn't come together. Head Score: 3. EYE: Once again, Tracy Yardley!'s problem with facial expressions comes to the surface. In last issue's "Truth of the Heart," Antoine exited looking like he was ready to eat horseshoes and spit carpet tacks. But that all evaporated when he got down on one knee right out of the box. As I mentioned above, though, Tracy did a marvelous job with Julie- Su's slow burn, and the rest of the art works as well. Eye Score: 8. HEART: I've gone back in my mind over some of the major Heart moments in this comic. Sometimes they take up an entire story ("Stargazing"), sometimes there's a moment to which the story builds ("In The Still Of The Night," "Father's Day"). All are character-driven ("The Royal Signet"). With something as monumental as Antoine proposing to Bunnie, you'd think it would have made more of an impression. But by placing it first and foremost in a LONG list of story elements Ian is dealing with, it suffers. Perhaps Antoine could have been stopped just short of popping the question in the beginning, and then waited until nearer the end to actually do so. That would have been more emotionally satisfying than the laundry list of villains Ian runs through. But the impending wedding is indeed part of the plot works, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, it's something we know is coming but isn't something we feel. Except for Sally's complex of feelings about it and Amy Rose's giddiness, there's no attempt to connect with the readers emotionally. I know, I know, this is a kid's comic and even with the older hardcores the prospect of marriage doesn't carry the same weight as birth and death and other major Heart triggers. I know I look at the story from the position of someone with three decades of marriage behind him, which is NOT the intended audience for this title. Ian makes an effort by throwing in some guy talk and girl talk on pages [5] and [6] respectively, but aside from that there's no follow-through on an emotional level. Worse, the dialogue itself is all wrong. Antoine and Sonic don't discuss the wedding, but instead summarize plot points for the benefit of the reader. The Bunnie-Sally dialogue (as much as they can get through before the plot shoulders its way back in) tries harder but falls flatter. Sally says she hasn't been a part of the Freedom Fighters for a long time and speaks of being jealous at Bunnie and Antoine's happiness. It's good stuff; so how come I didn't believe a word of it? Possibly because once it was put out there in as crowded a story as this one it died like a mayfly by the time the story wrapped up. I KNOW Ian can do better than this; "I Am" was proof of it. Maybe this is what happens when you write a set-up instead of telling a story. The demands of the story down the line, the supposed big deal, can blind the writer from making the best of the small moments that are just as important. Heart Score: 3. "See Ya Later Chao!: Part 1" Story: Ian Flynn; Art: Tracy Yardley!; Ink: Michael Higgins; Color: Jason Jensen; Lettering: Michael Higgins And now a 5-page (well, 4-page actually, but I'm getting ahead of myself) re-introduction to those cute li'l onion heads, the Chao. Upon learning that a Chao has followed Sonic home, Sonic's mom Bernie asks: "It does beg the question of 'What is a Chao?' and 'How did it follow a certain hedgehog home?'" In the immortal words of Slappy Squirrel, "Does that hammer the plot home for ya?" Seems that Sonic, Tails and Knuckles (aka Team Sonic or The Franchise) discover that the "old magic ring grotto" has been overrun by Chao. After about two pages of exposition on Chao abilities and life-span, Eggman splashes in on the last page with a drill bit attached to his egg-vehicle, sort of like at the end of the Marble Garden Zone. He's obviously mistaken the place for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. HEAD: We first met the Chao in the first Sonic Adventure game. Aside from being sprites who lived with the Master Emerald and Chaos (there HAS to be a relationship between the Chao and Chaos given the similarity of their names), they were also lodged on one of the floors of the hotel in Station Square where they constituted a game-within-the-game as a kind of tamagotchi or virtual pet. I never quite understood how they came to be in Station Square, but their presence at the end of the game helped to pacify Chaos after Super Sonic had beat him up. At game's end, they disappeared with Tikal and Chaos; a piece of artwork at the end of the game shows them all together in what can only be described as a family portrait. But that was only the beginning. According to the article about them in Wikipedia, they've become part of the Sonic franchise, appearing in most of the games since Sonic Adventure, and have been features in the Sonic X TV series and comic. The Wikipedia article will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about Chao; if you're still not satisfied, more can be found at the Team Sonic and ChaoWorld Web sites. What Archie did NOT get around to mentioning is that if you see a Chao seated in a circle of flowers it's advertising its willingness to get jiggy with it. But far be it from Archie Comics to delve into the mating habits of Chao when they're hopelessly stuck in the past when it comes to the mating habits of human teenagers. This being part 1 of a two-parter, nothing really happens. We get a set-up, a helping of facts about Chao, with the climax of Eggman's entry into the story. Not much going for it here. Head Score: 4. EYE: I don't know what it is about Tracy's drawing of Bernie, but her headfur just looks wrong, like a bad wig. But in compensation, the expressions on Tails's face when seeing the Chao more than make up for it. Eye Score: 8. HEART: N/A