This week I want to discuss recent events in the comics. June marked the start of the epic "Worlds Unite" crossover event that will go all throughout the summer, but before that, Sonic and his friends were already dealing with some pretty tough stuff! Hunting for the Chaos Emeralds was made more exciting by introducing a variety of new characters as well as bringing back old ones (Scratch and Grounder - what what!!), and seeing Sonic become the Werehog was certainly a surprise.
The post-SGW plotline was kind of difficult for me to keep up with at first, mostly because I was still reeling from the fact that a lot of my favorite characters have been permanently erased from Mobian history. But now that I've had some time to adjust, here's the gist of it: After the first crossover event and SGW, Sonic returns home to find that he is the only one who remembers how things were before. With Nicole's help he is able to remind a select few of his friends about what life was like prior to Mega-Man, but it doesn't do any of them any good. Characters who were once Mobini are now full Mobians (like Sonic's dog Muttski, who is now named Ben...what the what?) and the now divorced Freedom Fighters have a whole new problem to face: the world is breaking apart due to the aftereffects of the SGW, and in an unfortunate set of circumstances, Sonic absorbs a significant amount of Dark Gaia energy, turning him into a mindless, raging werehog every time the sun goes down. Meanwhile, Shadow meets and battles his brother Eclipse in an effort to keep him from launching an alien invasion on the planet, and Knuckles hunts down the shards of the Master Emerald to save his island before it's too late. All of this leads up to the second crossover event, which is happening now.
As upset as I was to lose these beloved characters, I was also really excited to see that brand-new ones were being introduced as well. First and foremost, Eclipse the Darkling was introduced as Shadow the Hedgehog's brother (yes, you heard me right). It's still weird for me to think of Shadow as having a sibling, but Eclipse fills the role extremely well. We've already had a couple of Shadow vs. Eclipse battles, which were epic. (I may or may not have been fangirling the whole time those were going on.) Secondly, an entire underwater civilization was introduced. We've had those before, but the writers never really expanded on them until now. (Gotta say, I immediately developed a crush on Razor the Shark. Y'know...)
In addition to that, the Casino Night Zone was brought back into the spotlight when Breezie came into the comics for the very first time!! I was stoked to find out that she was becoming part of the the new storyline. Breezie was first introduced in Adventures of Sonic (the TV show) back in the 1990s. She was a robotic villain made to look like an organic hedgehog to fool Sonic, and it worked for a while. Unlike her TV counterpart, however, the Breezie that was introduced in the last few issues of the comics is - as far as we know - actually organic. No robot parts whatsoever. Following close behind her was the re-introduction of the now-retired Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad (aka S5). That means Scratch and Grounder are back, baby!! (Oh, and Coconuts.) I fangirled for the longest time when I saw that S5 was returning along with Breezie, and I fangirled even more when they made the cover for the first time since the 1990s! As stupid as they were in the TV show, I loved Scratch and Grounder and was sad when they were kind of kicked to the curb several years ago in favor of newer badniks. Now that they're back, though, I've noticed that they actually seem smarter than they were before. Scratch, especially. He seems more intelligent and appears to have developed morals (as much as a villain can, right?). I really hope the writers decide to keep Breezie and S5 in the spotlight at least for a little while. They deserve it.
As far as characters that have been in the comics forever, it seems that the SGW caused all of them to default back to the way they were in the very beginning of Mobian history. For example, Knuckles guards the Master Emerald at all times and never leaves the island unless the situation is dire. The Chaotix are led by Vector once again, with Espio and Charmy close behind. Mighty and Ray are off doing their own thing and, as I mentioned before, Julie-Su no longer exists. (But now Knuckles has a new female companion that I'm sure was meant to replace her as his love interest...I just can't remember her name.) Princess Sally is back in action, and so far I'm liking what I see! She's more of a leader now than she was before, and I think a lot of that has to do with her backstory changing. She is now Crown Princess, so she will eventually take over the kingdom one day. Before SGW, she was second in line for the throne, right after her older brother (who now no longer exists?). I think the added responsibility helped her get her butt in gear and do what needs to be done.
Also, Silver made an appearance in Sonic Universe #75, which was awesome. He was just kind of there all of a sudden, and both he and Sonic were like, "What the heck?" But a race for the Chaos Emerald quickly followed, leading to the single most amazing reference in all of Sonic comic history. If you're a Mobian, you'll understand this, and if not...it would take too long to explain. Sorry. But when Silver and Sonic were chasing after Metal (who had the Emerald), Silver grabbed hold of him with his psychic powers for just a split second before Metal broke free, turned around, and said, "It's no use." TO SILVER. I died laughing. XD
At this point in time, I would like to point out something that I think is very important in relation to the comics. A couple of years ago, around the time of the First Genesis Wave (FGW), the Freedom Fighters were broken into two separate teams for the first time ever: Team Freedom and Team Fighters. Team Freedom was to stay in one location and take care of local issues, protect the people, and hold off enemy forces while Team Fighters went abroad and helped people all over the world while hunting down Eggman and bringing an end to the Great War once and for all. The team has been split up for a long, long time, and because of this, things just aren't the same anymore. Sonic of course ended up on Team Fighters, but he carries the spirit of Team Freedom in him as well. While he may not have changed, others around him have.
However, as of Sonic Universe #75, Sonic has declared that the two separate teams have become one again, and the Freedom Fighters are back in action. To me, this was a huge declaration. After splitting up to take care of separate problems and being apart for the longest time, the long-lived Freedom Fighters are united and strong once more. Sonic has been a Freedom Fighter FOREVER. Like, Sonic the Hedgehog #0 kind of forever. (To put that in perspective, there are now over 270 issues of Sonic the Hedgehog...and that's just the main title!) Even after Princess Sally decided to split their forces into two units, Sonic never became anything less than a full member of both sides. I'm so happy that he finally decided enough was enough and had them go back to the way they were before. It's about time! And it was a good decision, too, because with this second crossover coming up, Sonic is going to need the Freedom Fighters behind him now more than ever.
I cannot wait to see what new events this crossover brings us! But I swear, if a THIRD Genesis Wave comes through...
That's all I have for now! I'm finally all caught up on the Sonic comics and I eagerly await the next installments, as usual! Next week I'll be introducing my very first set of "Sonic Tidbits." What is that, you may ask? Well, come back next time and you'll find out! Celebrating 24 years of Sonic the Hedgehog, I'm up, over, and GONE!!
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