By gameboysage Watch 13 Favourites 161 Comments 4K Views

I find it rather ironic that I titled my last Sonic review journal "Bringing in the new world" after 252 has come out. The vast majority of readers were under the assumption that once the crossover ended we'd return the story at hand, with Mecha Sally about to be de-roboticized, Naugus to be dealt with, a Tails Doll to be defeated, and the main differences being some characters no longer existing and others simply looking different. Heck, we were even told there were no plans to toss out 20 years of comic history. However, what we didn't know is that many points of those 20 years of history were going to be retconned, rebooted, altered, changed, removed, added to, and that the world itself was taking on a whole new shape. Simply put, what we got was Sonic in an alternate reality, similar to the world that Scourge or Robo-Robotnik came from. Sure, it's similar to the world we once had, but this is most definitely a different world then what we once knew, with many of the characters different in not only shape but in personality.



I've noticed three main camps being formed by the fans due to this controversial issue. The first group is made of fans that are flat out confused and have no idea what to think of what's going on right now, and choose to wait things out till more issues are released. Another group is made of fans that are absolutely pissed that Flynn put us through over two years of poorly written shock value filled dramatic crap, just to wave the vast majority away without any satisfying conclusion, making most of it never even happen in the first place (SEGA and Archie had a big hand in this, but just like Sonic 2006, what matters is the finished product and not the behind the scenes issues). Then you have the third group that is holding on to the hope that this new world is only temporary and that once Countdown to Chaos is done, it will set right the world we once knew, and get a satisfying conclusion to all the crap that's been going on in the comic as of late.



To the third group, I'd just like to point out that just like with Endangered Species, a great deal of the plot changes going on lately have absolutely nothing to do with telling a good story with twists and turns, but instead are being forced on the comic by Archie and SEGA (or did Sally having two deroboticiztion methods geting tossed out the window already not tip you off?). The simple fact is King Max was rejuvenated and made king again BECAUSE Elias was killed off and won't be returning. Naugus returned in his own body and has his subplot altered and tossed out for now BECAUSE Geoffrey was killed off and Flynn is far too busy salvaging the comic to even bother dealing with the Naugus subplot until a later date. The simple fact is, the world was remodeled and all these changes were done BECAUSE these changes had to be made in order for the comic to not get canceled and gone forever. As we've seen, they've even removed a lot of the Archie elements and shoved in a great deal of SEGA elements and plot points as well, so I highly doubt that this world is going to revert back to how it used to be at all in the future, simply because these were the changes that had to be made in order for the comic to continue to exist (and to not have to pay any royalties).



By now I'm sure you guys could guess what group I'm in, right? Actually....no you wouldn't, because I'm in a fourth group that I don't see having very many people in it, and I think people in the second group I listed aren't realizing something very important. Just to remind you guys, I was speaking out against the comic for a long time now, as far back as #232, which was before we learned about the redesigns, before we learned about the gender discrimination, and before we learned about the outcome of Archie's lawsuit. For you see, what had me pissed off beyond belief wasn't that changes were happening to the story, but the story itself that Flynn was writing (as well as him calling the Freedom Fighters the SatAM cast as if they didn't belong in the comic, and calling them outdated and niche). As far back as the Iron Dominion arc his writing was starting to get to me, and it only got worse and worse until the shock value arc and onward from 231-247, which I consider some of the worst writing period to ever hit the comic, period (all it has is good art, but the writing itself is horrendous).



So with that in mind, issue #252 is showing us that a great deal of the story arcs and plots from as far back as #200 are being removed from the comic completely, and remembered as nothing more then bad dreams that never actually happened in this alternate reality. While other people are pissed off at this virtual reboot, I am thrilled that Nicole was never brainwashed, Mina never wrote a hate song, Sally was never roboticized into the most disappointing and botched villain of all time, Bunnie was never written as stupid enough to legionize herself (supposedly, don't know this one for sure yet) and various other plot points that I've hated with a passion for years now. So while others hate the reboot, I'm actually rather thrilled with it for the simple fact it's eliminated the garbage Flynn has forced into it for so long now. Sure, the characters might remember the alternate reality, but let's face it, these are the SEGA characters, not the Archie characters, so anything they remember happened to alternate reality versions of the, not themselves, so who really cares?



Now I'm sure at this point, you guys are wondering exactly what changes have occurred that are so huge right? Well let's go into a few of them (though just to be clear, it's quite possible the new world really is temporary and things could return after all to how they were, but I just find it incredibly unlikely due to SEGA and Archie mandates):



1) We're now in a similar yet alternate reality, with a new world and alternate subplots going on, with alternate reality characters having different histories and memories then the original characters (though they can get glimpses of the other world, just as how Sonic starts to remember the history from this new reality, though they're nothing more then visions that don't actually change anything in this alternate reality).

Essentially what this means is that while this world is similar to the world we followed for 20 years, it's practically a reboot that makes knowledge of the past virtually useless and even pointless to bring up, since history may have happened differently or never happened at all anymore and characters could have entirely new histories or personalities. Essentially, this is a SEGA/Genesis/Archie world now, filled with alternate reality SEGA characters that simply aren't the ones we've followed for 20 years. They may look similar, but their experiences and personalities may be vastly different from what we remember, and only time will tell how similar they are to the original characters that they replaced. Even Mobotropolis was moved to a new location to fit in more with the SEGA games.



In fact, they've even removed Robotnik prime out of the comic entirely, and made the current Robotnik the one from the very beginning. No longer was there a Robotnik that got killed off, then replaced by Robo-Robotnik, who got a new body and was then turned into flesh and blood. The one we have now is the SEGA Robotnik completely and not the flesh version of Robo-Robotnik.



2) Mecha Sally never happened, which means Team Fighters never happened and Silver's traitor subplot never happened.

One huge reveal we finally got in #252 was the reveal of SEGA Sally, all the way down to Mecha Sally's hairdo and clothing, essentially showing her as she did from the con over a year ago (Thanks for the false hope there Flynn....). HOWEVER, I know people foam at the mouth when I call her SEGA Sally, but I think this term has never been more correct then now. For you see, SEGA Sally was never roboticized, modified, and deroboticized into this current form. SEGA Sally has ALWAYS looked like this in this alternate reality, and has no clue who Mecha Sally even is. In short, by removing Sally and replacing her with an alternate reality version of her, they've removed one of my biggest and most hated issues with the redesigns, that Sally would dare to wear the Mecha Sally clothes after returning to normal. However, those events never even happened to SEGA Sally, so even if she gets flashbacks of Mecha Sally, those events happened to Sally from an alternate reality, not to herself, and the clothes were given to her from some other means entirely. I still hate the gender discrimination that says Antoine has to be nude while Sally has to dress like a human, but at least they fixed that major issue.



With Mecha Sally written out entirely, it means Team Fighters never had to chase after her, and I've already gone into big details about how badly and incompetently I felt Team Fighters were written, to never learn from their mistakes and always run at Sally loudly instead of trying any new strategy whatsoever. Heck, they couldn't even remember for 5 seconds that Sally had a laser in her brain regardless of all the times they fought her. Though the worst part of writing was that they had a robot capable of freezing any robot they wanted in stasis to hold as their prisoner, yet never once thought of using it to capture Sally. Needless to say, removing their entire plot point out of the comic is no loss whatsoever.



I've also gone into great depth about how ludicrous the traitor plot point was, and how much of a waste of time it was to make Sally the traitor all along, essentially saying there was no traitor to begin with....sure this plot point was resolved before the crossover, but having it never have even existed in the first place seems like a much better deal to me.



3) Without Mecha Sally, Nicole's original computer box was never destroyed, and the nanites were never used to build a city (I think the location of the city was moved to an entirely new location as well).

We saw in #252 that Nicole had her portable computer body back, and that the nanites that once were what made the city are now no longer in existence, making the city regular brick and stone again. What this change means is the Iron Dominion had never brainwashed Nicole to take over the city and that Mina had never written a hate song decrying the horrors of relying on Nicole. I've gone into great detail about Nicole getting hacked by the Iron Queen was very lazy and crappy writing in the past (a program from the future I'd like to point out again) and have also gone into great depth about how poorly written Mina's hate song was when you really get down to it. The fact that both of these are removed from the comic sit very well with me as well.



4) The Naugus subplot was heavily altered and tossed out the window to return at a later date, and King Max was rejuvenated to be the king once again.

In this alternate reality, Naugus never took over Geoffrey's body (since he never existed in this reality) and the very first Genesis Wave removed Naugus' powers and he became king by trapping Max in the dungeon, and tried to use Nicole to get his powers back....plus apparently his name is Wally now? (if anyone knows what that's about, let me know...maybe some super old story element I forgot about). However, after getting a shock from Nicole he got glimpses of the old reality and ran off terrified, to be forgotten for the time being. The Naugus subplot was getting as convoluted , lengthy and boring as the Iron Dominion arc, so having it get tossed out the window sounds good to me.



As for Max, he is no longer a senile old man, is now a more SEGA-rized younger man that is once again King Acorn (since Elias never existed in this alternate reality). His personality has also been altered to be much nicer, to show that it's not only physical appearances that are being changed in the comic. I understand they had to remove Elias, so having him take over again as a nicer king seems fine to me.



5) The Tails Doll monster transformation was retconned from looking like a sexual organ into a robot.

.....Okay, this one isn't very significant, I just wanted to point it out and ask what they were thinking with this guys original design? XP



6) While there's no proof for these yet, it's quite possible to believe that Bunnie was never debroboticized just to get legionized, Antoine was never blown up and left in a comma, and Rotor never had his back get crippled, taking him out of action.

With most of the other changes done to the comic, and the fact that all the Freedom Fighters were sent out on a secret mission, it stands to reason that all three of these characters are still in action and a team, instead of the broken up mess Flynn left us with for so very long. It's quite possible that perhaps my most hated subplot ever put in the comic (much worse then the Sally slap to me) of Bunnie getting deroboticized just to have her get treated like a useless joke and then have her flee just to have her Uncle cut her limbs off and legionize her, was removed from the comic entirely and she's going to simply get turned back into the Rabbot we know and love. This change is huge to me if it's true, and would fix one of my other huge problems with the comic as of late. With Rotor's back no longer crippled, it would also mean he can fight without the nanite suit....which no longer exist anymore anyhow. As for Antoine, we'll no longer know what plans were made for him since he no longer is in a comma with a crippled and shattered body, so he'll be back in action as well....just naked now.



With the removal of all of that plot I hated so much, there's really only one thing I can get annoyed by with the comic now, that being SEGA's extreme gender discrimination as far as women goes, and just the fact I can't stand SEGA Sally's new design, greatly in part to Flynn's Mecha Sally idea, even if it no longer has any weight in the comic. I can no longer blame SEGA Sally for looking or dressing that way, simply because Mecha Sally has nothing to do with her look, that's simply what SEGA Sally looks like, as opposed to the real Sally from the original reality. However, it still tears me apart to know that the last line of defense when it comes to fans wanting to create their own gender equal character has been removed from the franchise. In the past, if someone wanted to create a female character that dressed how she wanted and people ask why she dressed that way, the artist simply had to point out Sally as the defense....but now it's gone and all the brainwashed fans can pick on these characters all the want, all the while being surrounded by nude male Mobians....it still makes no sense to me -.-



However, those two listed problems above are essentially my own issues and not something I'd try to make a fuss about since the story itself is being patched together and fixed now that it's tossing out the worst of Flynn's writing like the bad dreams they were, so there's not much left for me to fight for anymore. In the past when people told me that "if I didn't like it just don't read it" I didn't think it was fair to say, since this was a single story I've followed for 20 years that was being destroyed with bad writing, but now that the comic is virtually being rebooted and is no longer the world I followed for so long, it makes it the perfect time for me to jump off and move on to newer and better things, while new fans jump on.



Now for the issue itself, so that I can make my final review complete: Sonic finds himself no longer in the Death Egg with Mecha Sally and co, but is instead back in Mobotropilis and staring down a robotic Tails Doll with Tails. After some talking Sonic realizes the world he's in now is vastly different story wise then the one he once was in and even learns the nanites never existed.



We move on to Naugus talking to Nicole and we learn he lost his powers and wanted Nicole to help him restore them. He also trapped the king in the dungeon and made himself king in his absence, but after getting visions from the other reality he freaks out and tosses Nicole against the wall then runs out....of the story completely. We also get to see Robotnik crash in this reality and slowly find a way to get back to the Death Egg.



Back with our heroes, Tails finds Nicole in the grass and gets shocked by her as well, allowing him to get flashes of the other world as well. After this, they team up to defeat the Tails Doll (in a way similar to a SEGA boss battle all the way down to a single weak spot to hit) with the help if Nicole. They then realize that if they gather their friends they could learn more about the other reality, and then free Max from his prison, who helps point them in the direction the Freedom Fighters went for a secret mission. We then end on a final page of SEGA Sally running around the Death Egg, most likely as part of the secret mission.



My thoughts? Honestly, even though this is my last issue and review, I'll probably still keep tabs on the story until I hear what the SEGA Fighters are like, and if they're identical or not to the Freedom Fighters. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if we learn Antoine and Bunnie are no longer married, or if their nationalities are changed or anything else, but it would be nice if they were still pretty close to how the originals used to be. If it wasn't for the gender discrimination and SEGA Sally's look, I might have continued to follow the comic, but I honestly don't want to continue reading a comic with her looking like that just cause she's female, so this is where I end my 20 year following of the comic. Admittedly, even though I'm done, I'm leaving on much better terms now then with the disgust and betrayal Flynn's story was having me feel before the crossover ended. You might also see a very small journal based on the reveal of these characters from me, but they'd probably just be a small paragraph just pointing it out and not the huge journals I did in the past, or maybe a silly art talking about it. Once all the reveals are done though and the real stories kicks in, you probably won't hear anything from me again about the comic, since by that point I won't even be keeping tabs or anything else on it (if anyone wants to tell me how horrible or awesome it is after that point feel free too, but just don't expect me to have any idea what you're talking about XD).



With that, I guess that's the end of my final journal, but I'd just like to point one final thing out for those that don't like the new direction of the comic and continue to read it. You could write all the reviews you want, post on all the forums or draw any of the art you want or sign any of the petitions you want, but as long as you continue to buy the comic, they really won't care if you love or hate the comic. While some changes can't be undone, when it comes to Penders' characters it still might be possible to have them return if you prove to Archie that they're more profitable to be used and pay the royalties for, then to just keep them killed off. However, to do that you'd have to prove they'd lose money if they don't use them, buy not buying the comic. The main thing Archie cares about is the sales, so if they go down by a large margin they will start to listen, but if you rant and complain while the sales remain strong, they really have no reason to listen to you.



If you want Archie to listen to you, speak with your wallet, not with your words. One fan alone wouldn't make a difference, but if enough people speak with their wallets, it really will add up and make a change. After all, look what speaking with our wallets did to the Xbox One.