Knuckles #27 [Aug 1999] Galan/Penders/Darrin Moore/Heroic Age cover: Clockwise: Lara- Le and Wynmacher in love, Knuckles and Vector brawling, Sega product placement, Raynor saying to Julie-Su "Check out the two dorks over there by the pinball machine," Archimedes gets too close to a bug zapper, Thunderhawkin a useless cameo, and dominating the whole composition, Locke. Rather appropriate since I bought this issue the Friday before Father's Day. First Date: Part 2 "Who Wrote The Book of Love, Anyway?" Story: Ken Penders; Art: Chris Allan; Ink: Andrew Pepoy; Color: Frank Gagliardo; Lettering: Vickie Williams; Editorial: G- Force. Last month it was Vector freaking out upon getting the news of Charmy's betrothal; this time, Knuckles just about has a fit when he BAMFs into the bistro where Julie-Su is keeping company with Raynor. In a reprise of a scene I think I saw in the first "Karate Kid" movie, Knuckles attempts to back out of the situation and backs into a waiter instead, with predictable results. But as if this commotion weren't enough to have attracted everyone's attention under normal circumstances, the maitre d' recognizes Knuckles to be the Guardian (good thing the place doesn't have a "Jacket and tie required" policy, otherwise he might not have caught on as quickly). Julie-Su heads over to investigate, and Knuckles convinces Archimedes to BAMF him the heck out of there. Perched on a deserted rooftop like some kind of Guardian gargoyle, Knuckles wonders what's come over him. Archimedes explains, somewhat innacurately, that "you echidnas haven't a romantic bone in your body," then gives something of a non-answer answer when Knuckles wonders out loud whether Locke went through the same thing at this age. But then he spots the Chaotix entering a local video gaming establishment. Back in Haven, Locke is trying to locate Knuckles and runs into Sabre and a couple of the local bugs. Despite the fact that Locke refers to Knuckles as "my son, my pride and joy," he figures he's done enough parenting for one day and tells Sabre not to interfere. Locke apparently still prefers hands-off fatherhood. Back at the arcade (where there isn't a pinball game in sight), Mr. Romance is comparing women to video games. Small wonder he has yet to move on to the next level in the dating department. Unfortunately for him, Knux walks in just as Vector begins the time-honored tradition of dissing one's friends when they're not in the room. After getting an earful, Knuckles is ready to give Vector a snootful, but Mighty and Espy intervene before the croc gets what's coming to him. Vector offers an apology which has all the sincerity of a Saddam Hussein press release saying "Honest, we're not producing any weapons at these places we won't let you inspect." Knuckles then storms off looking as if Vector has just beat out both Barney and Jar Jar Binks as the top candidate on his List of Characters He'd Be Willing To Pay Cash Money To See Vivisected On Pay-Per-View. Archimedes explains that Knuckles is in love; I just thought he'd finally realized that Vector is a total jerk. As for Julie-Su, she winds up her day out with Raynor, who seems like a nice enough guy and whose conduct proves Archimedes wrong as far as the capacity of echidnas to be romantic is concerned. Julie-Su, however, in a nicely-colored panel at the bottom of page [12], can't seem to get Knuckles out of her dreads. Knuckles wanders around town until he finds himself outside Lara-Le's apartment building. At the last moment, though, he changes his mind about talking to his mom. Probably just as well, since she and Wynmacher use page [14] to demonstrate that Archimedes is WAY off the mark when it comes to echidnas and romance. As Julie-Su settles in to watch the echidna equivalent of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (hey, I thought that the echidnas were supposed to have an ADVANCED civilization!), Knuckles talks to her through the building's intercom. The sequence doesn't work quite as well as the scene where Elias talks to Nicole instead of Sally in "The Truth Is Out There" (Sonic #73), but there's a certain awkward charm about both these kids succumbing to the inevitable while unable as yet to articulate their feelings FOR each other TO each other. No more awkward than setting a date over the phone, I suppose. And Knuckles thinks he's making progress! Compared to the rest of the Brotherhood, and especially to Locke, he probably is. HEAD: The closest we get to an action sequence of any consequence is when Knuckles is on the verge of putting Vector's lights out (we live in hope). The plot is minimal but that doesn't stop the story from being engaging. As it turns out, everything here is prelude to the next issue anyway. There are no slow spots in the story, and even the digressions to Haven and Lara-Le's apartment add to the story. Head Score: 9. EYE: A correspondent once asked me which most resembled Knuckles's shape: a lima bean, a jelly bean, or a pinto bean. The answer seems to be, increasingly, "None of the above." Chris Allan is slowly adding in more anatomy than Manny Galan did. Knuckles's legs on the first few pages are the most obvious example. He's suddenly grown both kneecaps and a set of gastrocnemius muscles (those big numbers behind the shin bones). Also, Knuckles is starting to look a little...how can I say this?...gangly, as if he's suddenly hit an adolescent growth spurt. Well, just so long as Allan doesn't start making him look too buff too soon. Eye Score: 9. HEART: THAT'S what this story installment is all about, and Ken handles almost everything perfectly, from Knuckles's awkwardness around Julie-Su to his near clash with Vector to his way of asking Julie-Su out. Even the side moments work: the end of Julie-Su's date with Raynor, the interlude with Lara-Le and Wynmacher, even the "throwaway" scene of the dingo doorman opening the door for the elderly echidna couple on page [13]. The one fly in the ointment: Locke. I've been thinking about Locke and his relationship with Knuckles ever since "Childhood's End"(#25), and if anything Locke continues to slide in my estimation. I really had trouble buying into his description of Knuckles on page 8, considering all that's come before. Archimedes was, I think, only part right about the romantic potential of echidnas. It seems to me that it's just the Guardians who are romantically impaired; nobody else seems to have as much trouble. That especially applies to Locke who, as we learned in K25, fathered Knuckles not out of love (something that apparently has yet to sink in with Knuckles) but out of response to some apocalyptic vision which justified genetic engineering, siring a child, then taking that child away from its mother to be raised in isolation for several years and then suddenly abandoned. The boy's mother, having served her purpose, became irrelevant to Locke as soon as Knuckles was ready to be educated in the ways of the Guardian. As I said, I bought this issue on Father's Day weekend. Frankly, I have a hard time picturing Locke singing the Will Smith paean to single fatherhood, "Just The Two Of Us." Come to think of it, I have a hard time picturing him singing the Bill Withers - Grover Washington Jr. easy-listening workhorse version that was Will Smith's source material. Locke, in true Guardian fashion, was a law unto himself: tampering with his body, impregnating Lara-Le, then turning his back on her and disregarding anything she had to say about the raising of her own child. He had probably convinced himself that he was responding to some higher purpose, some noble goal, which prevented him from seeing how utterly self-centered his actions had been all along. And the Soultouch gets the credit/blame. I say that there's a word for the way Locke treated Lara-Le. Four letters. First one is "R." Speaking of Lara-Le, it's good to see that she's gotten over her big-shot ex and is in a relationship that appears to be both stable and happy. I applaud Ken for including that "balcony scene." We already had a scene of Vector cruising the street in the last issue, which doesn't send the greatest message about love. In this case, Wyn and Lara-Le aren't two adolescents on hormonal overdrive. Whether or not youth is wasted on the young, love isn't that picky when it comes to age. Heart Score: 9 (Locke's mere presence costs Ken a point). Mighty the Armadillo in: "Those Were The Days" (Part 2 of 3) Story: Ken Penders; Art: Manny Galan; Ink: Andrew Pepoy; Color: Barry Grossman; Lettering: Vickie Williams; Editorial: G- Force. Hinting at developments, to come, Nic leads Mighty and Fiona (who has by now effaced any resemblance to the foxdroid in "Growing Pains") to what's left of one of Robotnik's "slave labor camps." A couple flashbacks later, they reach a massive vault door, which explains why Mighty is along for the ride. HEAD: I'm still waiting for the chronological inconsistency to be resolved. Everybody in the flashback looks too danged OLD for this to have happened something like six years before! The payoff in the next issue had better be good. Head Score: 6. EYE: No help on the chronological problem from Manny Galan. Sonic STILL looks pretty much like he does now (well, before he got his court-ordered makeover). Eye Score: 8. HEART: Like I said, I find I've stopped thinking of the earlier Fiona. And if they hadn't kept dropping Ray's name, he would have been forgotten as well. Once more, the final chapter had better give us a reason to care. I'm losing interest here, Ken! Heart Score: 4. The answer is: This issue's Off-Panel. The question is: What do you get when you cross Chuck Barry, Buddy Holly, and an echidna? Fistful of Letters: The series running in the CSN (which my local comic shop doesn't carry, surprise surprise) will be reprinted some day. And Freddie repeats his apology for shooting from the hip WRT the age of Prince Elias three issues ago. Letters: selected letters favor the pairing of Knuckles and Julie- Su...like there was ever a choice. "Nanaki" asks a reasonable question and Freddie comes close to conceding that the Brotherhood screwed up in the wake of the "Deep Cover" arc. Blurbs for S74 and K28. Find Your Name: greetings to Malaysia's talented Rina Cat, who's currently creating a fan comic which can be seen over at http://www.teamartail.com It's based on some fanfic or other. Fan Art includes an example of family portraiture-meets-envelope-art from Sarah McSwain. Four generations of Guardians. Also just in time for Father's Day.