This panel has both a flying Knuckles and Sticks REALLY liking Tails hand. I think Evan is secretly trying to ship them.

From a writing standpoint, the Sonic Boom series of games, comics and cartoons seems to be at odds with one another on how to exactly interpret the characters. In the games, Amy is a athletic, smart leader while in the cartoon in much more of a den mother of the group who is much more ladylike and loving. Sticks is over the top crazy in the 3DS game while a bit more subdued in the cartoons. Knuckles comes off as very dumb in all media, but shows more confidence in himself in the Wii U game while being more silly and fun loving in the cartoon. The thing is, both the game and the cartoon were being done almost simultaneously with each other, so while they had a game plan of how the characters would act, there were a lot of nuances that were still different from one another. Basically, they had an IDEA of how each character would be, but it was never exact so we didn’t get a perfect interpretation across the board.

This is a blatant lie!

This brings us to the first two Sonic Boom issues by Ian Flynn. It’s my belief that Ian Flynn may not have gotten enough material from both Big Red Button or OuiDo! studios to get a proper interpretation of the characters. That the only explanation I can think of as to how Ian managed to make the worst, most mean grammar Nazi version of Amy Rose ever. With that, let’s look at the first two issues of Sonic Boom “Getting a little Boulder” and “Knuckleduster” (BTW, why is the first issue “part one of one” when it ties directly into the next issue and ends on a cliffhanger?).

STORY SYNOPSIS

Issue one starts off Sonic and the gang fighting off one of Eggman’s giant mechs. With the exception of Sticks, each character gets a little indtroduction (along with an old-school logo name) and we get to see a sample of them in action. The mech is taken down and they head back to their village area where Sticks (who is also introduced via logo in a joke that gets old by the second issue) informs them that Tails house has been robbed. Not part of his house, the ENTIRE house as it was uprooted and picked up by a giant cyborg rock golem. The rest of the issue comprises of some jokes between the cast and basically Amy insulting Knuckles for no good reason other than he’s dumb and has trouble following directions.

Dang girl, that’s just mean!

You see, Knuckles isn’t too bright. Something they are fully aware of, but instead of Amy treating him with kid gloves when he doesn’t understand something and asks a ton of questions, she insults and berates him. I know it’s done to provide character conflict to resolve in the next issue, but all it does is make Knuckles look like a HUGE idiot who can’t understand the most basic of things and worse, make Amy look like a horrible Sally Acorn wannabe with a total lack of patience. It’s the worst interpretation I’ve seen of her character and I really don’t care for it.

He didn’t actually say that, but I’m sure he was thinking it.

Before I leave issue one though, I have one last note. What’s REALLY up with the Golem? Everyone assumes it was a giant Eggman robot, however….

A.) The Golem took Tails house at the same time everyone was fighting Eggman, so he wasn’t in control of the robot unless it was programmed to go off on it’s own.
and…
B.) When Sonic and company destroy the Golem, it breaks off into stone pieces with no mechanics shown.
Ergo, it’s my belief that this was not one of Eggman’s monstrosities, but something else entirely. Maybe something they’ll explore in a future issue, perhaps?

Knuckles just figured out how babies are made.

Issue two improves on the humor (although the logo jokes return again), but I’m still a little sour on Amy. It begins with Sonic and the gang (sans Knuckles) attacking the same giant robot they fought at the beginning of the first issue. They start to realize this when Eggman finally launches his secret weapon..Knuckles! Knuckles captures all the heroes in small cages with the exception of Sticks who, in a hilarious moment, captures herself in a cage she happened to have with her. With the heros captured aboard the giant robot, Eggman tries to decide weather to conquer or destroy the village as he has Pork Chops thawing back home.

I gotta admit, I laughed pretty hard at this.

Inside the robot, Sonic is freaking out from being in such a tiny cage “Gotta go Fast!” while Knuckle finally reveals it was all a trick. He fooled Eggman and them. Only Amy reminds him they are still captured so he technically is working for Eggman at this point. Knuckles finally realizes this and it sends him into a sad state of depression. Knowing they can’t get out of the cages and stop Eggman without his help, Amy and Tails cheer him up only for Knuckles to go out and stop Eggman himself, stupidly leaving the others still inside the cages.

Luckily for a very panicked Sonic, Sticks frees him and the others (she never said she was LOCKED in her cage)and Sonic bounces around n a gleeful frenzy. Meanhile, Knuckles finally reveals his “cunning ploy” to Eggman and proceeds to destroy his robot single-handedly. This includes a scene of him gliding which is something this version of Knuckles can’t do. Sonic and the others burst out of the robot as Eggman barely escapes again. Amy finally gives an apology to Knuckles (she does apologize earlier, but it doesn’t feel sincere) only to realize she’s lost in hammer in another cliffhanger ending.

Look guys, it was funny at first, but now it’s just overkill.

Nobody likes a grammar Nazi, Amy.

OVERALL REVIEW

As far as quality goes, I believe Sonic Boom will pick up greatly over time. The humor is definitely there (especially in the second issue) and it reminds me a bit of the old Mike Ghallager days of the original Sonic comic. Evan Stanley’s art was very expressive and fun to look at. However, as I said in the beginning of this review, it’s apparent that Ian Flynn was not given enough material from either the show or the game to get a firm grasp of the characters. His version of Boom Sonic is exactly the same as it is in the regular Sega Sonic comics rather than the straight man he is in the cartoon. Knuckles is INSULTINGLY dumb in this, even compared to the cartoon version who can’t read. He can barely bring a thought together. Not to mention the gliding. Something Boom Knuckles can’t do (looks like Ian pulled a Joe Edkin, who once had a panel of Amy flying in Sonic X). Tails and Sticks fared fairly well. Surprising with Sticks since she’s a brand new character who might be hard to nail down in terms of personality.

Then there’s Amy. I can’t exactly blame Ian for not getting this version of the character nailed down. In the cartoon, she’s level-headed and more of a peacemaker and denmother. In the games, she’s an independent adventurer, field leader and gymnast. Those are two drastically different versions of the same character. It seems Ian went with more of the game version with Amy being the field leader. However, in order to provide character conflict, they made her lack any patience and be insulting towards Knuckles who really didn’t do anything wrong outside of being dumb and confused. It makes her look mean-spirited and unlikable.

Evan Stanley’s great at showing a wide range of emotions. Poor, sad Knuckles. Ya just wanna hug him.

Then there’s the logo jokes. It was definitely funny in the first issue, but than gets recycled in the second issue and it starts to become tiresome. If you want to have a humor comic book where the characters break the fourth wall, there’s other ways to do it than repeat the same joke over and over. Having Sonic mention Eggman almost smashing the credits was a nice touch, but I think a comic format is prime for some real fourth wall craziness. Have them climbing over panels! Have them burst through the cover only to have some of them hiding behind the back cover. Be crazy!

Okay, I’m starting to nit-pick here. Overall, Sonic Boom 1 and 2 had plenty of action and humor that really gave me some old-school vibes of the early days of the original Sonic comic. Evan Stanley’s art is also very expressive and humorous. I think once the writers get the hang of the characters, it will be a great book. Besides, I doubt they’ll be re-using the logo joke and making the characters act like jerks to each other again, right?

Maybe I spoke too soon.

*dresses up as a vampire and emerges from behind the sofa with a scary put on deep voice*

MU-HAHAHAHAHAHA! Hello my children! It’s the time of year where the nights get colder, darker and things become just that little bit spooky!  And what better way to enjoy the season by sharing a horror story?

Come my children, gather close to your uncle Hogfather and let me tell you a tale which contains a mystery, crazed villagers, a conspiracy, sacrifice and a certain red echidna treasure hunter. It’s august 1996 and despite the early time of year Fleetway has released the newest issue of their highly successful Sonic the Comic, and within its pages contains a tale so scary, it wouldn’t be out of place at any Halloween camp-fire!

So my children, in the run up to Halloween, join me as we look back at one of Fleetway’s finest and scariest stories, submitted for your approval…

Knuckles: Village Of The Damned Part 1:

We begin our tale with Knuckles, after completing his quest to get ancient artefacts in a bid to restore power to the floating islands systems, he finds himself alone in a dark forest with night drawing in.

Fortunately he spots a small village and heads over to seek shelter from the night.

It’s here we see our first little homage to classic horror, and an indication of how the writers and artists were fans of classic British and American horror movies and their mythology.

First, you might notice the name of the pub is ‘The Green Man’ we see something which could be seen as a subtle reference to multiple British horror titles. Could it be reference to a classic British horror tale of the same name, which was also adapted into a TV Movie on the BBC back in the year 1990. A horror tale fresh on our artists mind is present here in this story

Or more likely… The British Horror movie ‘The Wicker-Man.’ After Sargent Howie arrives on the island, he spends his time alone in the towns in… called ‘The Green Man.’ Later, we shall see why this is the most likely reference and homage… but not just yet my children.

But this would be one of many non-intrusive homages that would enforce the idea that all is not as it seems in this story. As Knuckles steps inside the pub, we see the next example of fine homages to classic horror.

You don’t see it my children? Well, take a good look at the pub that Knuckles enters; now take a good look at “The Slaughtered Lamb” from the movie ‘An American Werewolf in London.’

Here we now see how clever the artists and writers were on this particular issue. The differences are many, but the similarities are there, the pub is full of subtle homages to the slaughtered lamb, the star on the wall which gets them kicked out.

It’s right there, the fact that in every panel in this strip, someone is always watching Knuckles, he is an outsider, almost, foreign to this place.

After an uneasy welcome, Knuckles is given a room for the night, unknown to him, the villagers were expecting him and begin to conspire against him.

Sometime later, when Knuckles is asleep, he is awaked by a terrible scream! He rushes to the window to see a horrific sight before him, the once friendly villagers are now wearing strange costumes, branding torches and have tied a young girl to a large stone who begs for someone to save her.

This final panel once again shows how the artists and writers were careful and masterful in their craft, once again we see references to classic British Horror movies, the Green Man pub sign makes another appearance, but also, the full moon in the sky so much like an American Wereworlf in London, and the villagers themselves. Their costumes are so much like those found in the climax to the island of the original version of The WickerMan.

And you want another subtle reference? The girl on being taken away is a sheep… you might say a ‘Slaughtered Lamb…’ I point you my children towards An American Werewolf In London… the pub which it all starts in is named ‘The Slaughtered Lamb.’

This comic is a fine example of how you reference and pay homage to another media the references never distract from the action, whilst the build up to the story isn’t original, it’s enough to keep you interested, and given his character at the time, Knuckles a physical character against a whole village of insane people alone at night is fitting for his character and abilities. He can’t simply run or fly out of there, he must fight his way through them.

The artwork is also very fitting to this comic and is extremely well done. If you were to take out all the dialogue, the artwork itself would tell a clear story which matches that of the writers intention. A clear harmony existed between the artist and writer in this particular strip.

The cliff hanger may not be to everyone’s tastes, but I for one enjoy it, whilst the reader catches on that something is not right in this village long before Knuckles, he is not kept in the dark for too long or to a point that he becomes naive, his realisation is a natural and realistic one that the villagers have a terrible secret and are not what they first appear to be.

But that’s all for now my children, join me next week as we take a look at part 2 of this homage to classic horror featuring old red.

Goodnight Sonic fans… whatever you are…. MU-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *Vanishes into the darkness*