Sonic Universe #20 (November 2010) Yardley!/Hunzeker cover: Tails is literally the one bright spot on this cover; everybody else looks like they were painted on with grape jelly: Kukku the 15th, his son Speedy, the Mole- Mech, a couple dozen minions, and our old friend Dr. Ffffffffff ... never mind. Impressive artwork of a tiresome flock of birds. And where are Bunnie and Antoine? Probably off-cover making out while the making is good. "Trouble in Paradise : Part 4: Finale" (Ian apparently couldn't be bothered to think up a chapter title) Story: Ian Flynn; Art: Tracy Yardley!; Ink: Jim Amash; Color: Jason Jensen; Lettering: Phil Felix; Editor: Paul Kaminski; Managing Editor: Mike Pellerito; Editor-in-Chief: Victor Gorelick; Sega Licensing Reps: Cindy Chau and Jerry Chu It's never a good sign when we rejoin a story with the Mad Scientist in full rant mode. Bunnie returns to the party just as M2 powers up and starts shooting. Bunnie manages to disorient it with a bright light (seriously) while Tails has her and Antoine do some damage to the room while he loosens up M2 with a wrench and plants some explosive charges that have been conveniently hidden inside T-Pup. That having been accomplished in a 2-page action sequence, he gets in the face of "Dr. FooBoo" (I'm NOT touching that one!). Tails's standing still to deliver his dialogue is its own reward as M2 grabs him and dings T-Pup in the process. Tails then throws his wrench at the mech, which falls apart rather spectacularly, and nobody can think of anything better to do in response than to reenact a routine from "The Princess Bride." But then Tails and the readers realize that someone was inside M2; it wasn't just running on remote control. Tails proceeds to rescue the pilot, who turns out to be Speedy, who was also the pilot of the Mole Mech three issues ago. No, wait, he wasn't. Well, never mind, because the Speedster isn't about to show much love to Tails for having saves his tail feathers, anyway. OK, maybe a little, but he gets over it quickly. With all kinds of explosions going off and T-Pup's hind leg injured (which is no big deal because the pup-bot can fly, remember?), our heroes make their escape past the horde of Kukkus heading for the exits. I guess they're part chicken. When the elevator that our heroes highjack stalls, Tails leads them further underground. They then bail as the Kukku Battle Fortress lifts off and sheds the remaining island camo cover, and probably the Sea Fox as well; we don't know because we never see or hear about it again. Bunnie and Antoine use the opportunity to get in some quick kissy-face time. The villains, however, get more than their due as they take up space on the next two pages. Kukku XV chews everyone out, then announces the laundry list of new objectives once the avian rip-off of the Death Star is again operational: go after the Babylon Rogues, then break away from the Eggman Empire, then conquer Mobius and settle scores with the furries. Why am I thinking "Transcript of the last Editorial conference"? And just to remind us that they haven't been written out of the series yet, the Babylon Rogues put in a one-page appearance themselves before presumably getting on their boards and hassling the Battle Fortress (I'd call it the "Death Egg" but that's already been taken). That leaves two fairly useless pages of our heroes acting smug and self-satisfied and oblivious to the avian menace which, thanks to the magic of Loose Continuity, probably won't materialize for several years yet. Based on the layout of the final page, we can definitely say that this story arc is for the birds. HEAD: With this final installment, the arc makes the transition from James Bond-type adventure story to a goof on a James Bond-type adventure story. The Mole Mech doesn't hurt anybody, and neither do the numerous explosions. The only casualty in all this silly running around is T-Pup, who sustains a broken leg. This hardly qualifies as an "I've lost R2!" moment, but Tails treats it as such by CARRYING the flying bucket of bolts around as if it really was incapacitated. And while Dr. Fukurokov is no Wallace Shawn, Tails isn't exactly Mandy Patinkin himself. Tails gets to get his geek on by sabotaging Mole Mech on the fly, literally. And the honeymooners try to get some face time in as well, though they've outlived their usefulness to the plot once they've inflicted some diversionary damage. In the end, the Kukkus accomplish nothing. Sure, they've set themselves up as villains able to recur, but with the "Let's get operational" plot point enabling them to disappear into the mists of Loose Continuity, we won't have to worry about them for ... however long it takes. Which brings us to the last two pages, some of the worst I've ever read in this comic. If I may be allowed to paraphrase: Antoine: I think I'll start collecting long metallic phallic symbols. Bunnie: I affirm you, Tails. Tails: I affirm you back, Antoine and Bunnie. I don't mind a happy ending, but this one is about as substantial as styrofoam. OK, they've established that a new (and admittedly beatable) menace has been worked into the continuity, but NOBODY is nagged by the slightest qualm or wondering whether they shouldn't be telling somebody. Once more, I find myself wondering whether Ian needs a good closer. Head Score: 4. EYE: Tracy Yardley!'s artwork, once again, is great, especially the layout on the page where Tails, Bunnie and Antoine bail out of the Battle Fortress. And once again it's not enough to hide the weaknesses in the story. Eye Score: 9. HEART: Sherman, set the WABAC(tm) to the closing months of 1995 and the original Tails miniseries. For all the lame punning and the lamer Downunda Freedom Fighters, author Mike Gallagher did have one solid something at the core of the story. Tails began the series with a full load of resentment at everyone treating him like a kid, something that he worked out in his fantasy comic of "Captain Super Fox-Man, the Mutant Cyborg Clone." Nowadays I suppose he's be "Captain Super Fox Man, the Vampire Ninja Wizard" or some empowerment figure like that. But over the course of the arc, Tails gets the hint that he's in over his head. Nothing like that happens in THIS arc. Tails may be the youngster, but Ian makes sure he's large and in charge and doesn't have to answer to the dubious parental authority figures who are along for the ride, Bunnie and Antoine. THAT was always a head-scratcher for me. If this were a proper honeymoon, Tails would have dropped them off on one of the out-islands and started putting together T-Pup in private. But Antoine and Bunnie don't serve much purpose here except when the plot called for them to keep developments bubbling in the two middle installments. By this installment, they've used up their potential and end the story as Tails's cheering section. The ONE Heart moment in the story was the rescue of Speedy. At first I thought that he was remarkably unscathed for someone who was inside an explosive-laden mech. But then I remembered that this is a comic book, and an Archie comic at that. Giving Tails a chance to exercise his nobility by treating the Speedster better than he deserves is an echo of Sonic's dismay at having inflicted mental damage on Robotnik in S200's "Turn About Is Fair Play." Then again, Speedy is about the only character worth the effort; Kukku XV and Fukurokov are such broad caricatures even for a comic book that anything that happens to them really doesn't matter. Heart Score: 2. Tails Fan Art: In several places throughout the comic are the winning entries for the Tails fan art competition. Jonathan's grand prize winning entry, making use of a diagonal layout, is great even if the modeling of Tails himself is just a little off. Sapphire's entry is a VERY strong runner-up, especially in the warmth of the coloring. Of the other runners- up, the old-style daguerreotype by Jean-Francois looks the most impressive; it also makes use of Amadeus and Rosemary, something the comic itself hasn't figure out how to do yet. Of the Honorable Mentions, kudos to Bryan's 3D realization of how weird this material can be, and to Ginger's homage to the Marx Brothers (you can find way more of her work on deviantArt under her screen name "spongefox"). Sonic Spin, which contains even more Tails artwork, including Fawn's Tails-as-Aladdin piece. Paul mentions that even MORE Tails art is available at the Sonic Universe blog. I'm surprised that he didn't know what he was in for after Editorial requested Sonic/Sally logo submissions. And perhaps he should see an eye doctor about that wink problem. Off-Panel: Kukku XV finds out just how derivative his character is. Jet, Eggman and Knuckles might want to go see a doctor as well; looks like cold and flu season on Mobius. My Sonic Universe: Susy suggests a half-dozen story arcs built around various female characters but offering no clue as to what to do with them. Rouge and Amy Rose will be joining Cream and Blaze in the next SU arc; wake up and smell the estrogen, people. Bunnie is featured in the next Sonic arc while Sally has already gotten a workout in "Reigning Cats and Dogs" and the whole Iron Dominion arcs. Julie-Su's had her own workout in the Echoes of the Past arc (SU9-12). Olivia takes a long time to ask who would win a chili dog-eating contest, Archie Andrews or Sonic? Frankly, I don't want to know; I also think Jughead would be more of a contender. On the subject of Echoes Of The Past, John is confused about the time line, and Paul (or whoever answers the mail) isn't much clearer. And if Chelsea thinks that Mobian cats end up looking alike (I say it all depends on who the artist is), she should get a look at Mobian walruses.