Looking Back at the Sonic The Hedgehog in 2011
I know this is early but I have to say what a year it has been for the Sonic the hedgehog comic book.
I mean from the aspects of both the main comic and the universe spinoff, it has indeed been quite a year. From the story arcs that were provided to us in Sonic Universe to the very controversial story arc known as Genesis in the main comic, one can say that 2011 was the year of not only the overall 20th Anniversary of the Sonic franchise but as far as the comics published by Archie comics was indeed the most controversial, disappointing, surprising, and electrifying year in its near 20 year existence.
With Sonic Universe, we started out with the final part of the treasure team tango arc which then allowed us for the next four months after that to read what many have considered to be evidence that the head writer doesn't stay true to his word (in the eyes of some) because even though it was a 4 – part story arc featuring and starring Silver the hedgehog, it was also a soft adaption of the head writer's web – comic that he made while he was still a fan of the comic book, which he entitled Other – M, and even though this was a fairly decent story arc that was enjoyed by many fans. Some of those fans along with fans that didn't read the Silver arc were upset at the fact that the head writer had gone back on his word. The reason was because he had said he would not use any elements from his Other – M Web – comic and yet in this 4 – part arc he did just that.
Now after the Silver arc we got something new and different, a 4 – part Universe arc-based around original characters created for the comic and these characters were called the Suppression Squad and the main focus of this arc was for them to break their leader out of the Zone Penitentiary. This of course was done at the urging of their leader's girlfriend Fiona Fox. This was of course a success which many fans enjoyed due to the backstories of the Squad.
The final story arc in the 2011 run of the Universe comic is once again game based and this time stars the Babylon Rogues and so far by the cover previews and descriptions it seems that it will be another interesting four-part story arc.
With the main comic we dealt with a lot, we actually started the year out on a positive note in the eyes of many long-time fans when the head writer finally decided to put Sonic and Sally back together as a couple. This of course occurred in the February issue which was numbered 222 and again many fans, long-time fans enjoyed what they saw and read and felt that it was a relaxing break from the norm. Now many other fans didn't like what they saw and read, mostly they did not like the character of Amy Rose being portrayed as someone that loves Sonic enough, that not only does she still believe in her heart that she will be together with him in the future/someday, but if being with Sally makes him happy then that makes her happy and that's all that matters. As I mentioned before many fans enjoyed this while many other fans did not.
The other character that got some development even more so than before was Nicole. This development was based off her situation during the Iron Dominion arc that ran and dominated most of 2009 and into the early portions of 2010. The development was not only to make Nicole more than just an A.I., but to make her more real just like her friends to the point that in one issue she ran off crying due to the lyrics of one character's song that mostly seemed to target Nicole. But thanks to an unlikely friend she has learned or is learning to cope with the situation as well as try to find a way to win back the citizens trust.
The character that I mentioned above was another character that got some long overdue development and that character was Mina Mongoose. As I mentioned above she was the one that sang the songs and wrote the lyrics that basically demanded or protested that Nicole no longer be in control of their city. The reason for this was due to the fact that Mina was having, well let's put it this way, Vietnam/postwar traumatic nightmares of Nicole losing control once again just like she did briefly when she was under the control of the Iron Queen. Now her development, Mina's is that is, was not only this with the song that she wrote but also due to the fact that later on she found out that for most of the Iron Dominion's control of the city that Nicole was acting as a double agent and not only that but in the 222nd issue she sees that perhaps her doing what she did was perhaps not the best idea and I think she tries to make up for it later on.
Another character that got a push in 2011 was St. John. This surprise push revealed a few things, one that he was a ixis wizard/apprentice and that perhaps he wasn't as loyal to the kingdom as he seemed to be in the past. His betrayal if you will led to him restoring his master, Nagus back to sanity with a chaos emerald as well as trying to convince the people and Royal Council that his master was not only promised the kingdom's throne long ago but that his master was more suited to be king then the current king who happens to be Sally's brother. St. John's future will be revealed along with his reasoning behind his betrayal as well as the answer that all fans want about his wife Hershey will be answered in the next few months.
This of course overall lead us to the 225th anniversary issue of the comic which was a prologue/prelude to the four-part Genesis story arc which dominated most of the summer and many felt was a good summer arc while others didn't feel that same way and felt that it was overshadowed by wondering what would happen or would be happening to the Princess Sally character who apparently was shot to death off panel at the end of 225 and this of course led us into Genesis which when you look at it now it seems like a loose adaption of the recently released game "Sonic Generations". Now Genesis did have some nostalgic moments and gave us an idea of what it would be like or would have been like if Sonic and his friends met while they were still young teenagers and not as kids. Again though this was all overshadowed by fans who like and don't like the Sally character and wondering what her fate would be.
This of course leads us into the issue that was released just last month. Even though at first many fans speculated as to what her fate would be from the cover preview of 231 with the shadowy silhouette on the cover with the ?, and then having that same ? being shown on the cover of 232, most fans pretty much knew what her fate would be. This was further proved correct when Big Wayne's Comics accidentally, if you want to look at it that way, revealed the official official cover of 232 which showed and revealed a robot Sally that was hidden if you will behind that ?, which many fans were not happy about and many fans were happy about.
Now the head writer said at the New York Comic Con that Sally would be like this going forward. However many fans like myself feel that this is not true and even though I'm a fan that's stuck in the middle and has sworn not to read or review any of the current issues to come including 230 due to the fact that I want to see where they go with this and also because as I have mentioned before many times on these forms and on YouTube, going forward just means for the time being and not forever, in other words it's just for the upcoming story arc that will lead us into the 250th anniversary issue which I have stated could be, not saying it will be, but could be the final issue of the overall main comic.
Now the reason I say that 250 could be the last issue is because it's so ironic that all of this within the comics continuity is occurring as we speak. Also with the news that the head writer will be writing more not just for the Universe spinoff but also for the Mega-Man comic as well as for the revival of The Mighty Crusaders comic, this just gives me a feeling that either the Comic will come to end or the head writer will be replaced by a new head writer.
To say 2011 hasn't been a controversial, and electrifying year for the Sonic the hedgehog comic book would be an understatement. Because many fans had moments they loved and moments that they hated and whether they're divided or together fans overall have seen many many controversial moments that they have felt were either necessary or unnecessary.
One thing is for certain though, the head writer in the eyes of some if not many still continues to do a great job while in the eyes of many others he has literally stepped in it to the point that it will take multiple among multiple if not millions and billions of cleanings to get the you know what off his shoes clothes.
All we can do now as fans overall is just wait and see would 2012 has to offer.
Edited by bwrosas, 06 November 2011 - 06:15 AM.