COMIC REVIEW: FTN reviews Sonic The Hedgehog #251

Writer: Ian Flynn

Pencils: Ben Bates

Inks and Colors: Gary Martin and Matt Herms

Cover by: Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante

Publisher: Archie

Age of Ultron, Trinity War, Infinity.

There are a lot of fantastic events going on in the comic world this year, however the one that I don’t hear people mentioning that much is the Worlds Collide event that just wrapped up over at Archie.

A twelve-part saga merging the narratives of two of the video game world’s most classic and popular characters, Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog, this event has been nothing but non-stop action, thrills and laughs since part one. Spanning across three titles (Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe) this story arc saw the joining of forces between Doctors Wiley and Eggman to once and for all defeat their respective foes and reshape the universes to their design. Originally pitting the two blue heroes against each other, soon the bomber and dasher teamed together to take down the demented geniuses and restore order to chaos.

This week we were given the finale to this epic with Part Twelve appropriately titled “It All Ends Here!” and it did just that and in a BIG way. Just by looking at the cover of this issue by Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante, you knew you were in for something huge. We are used to seeing Super Sonic on covers as not to long ago we had him on the cover of the final chapter of the Genesis Event, but this time we get not only Super Sonic but a Super Mega Man as well. Since I first saw this cover I was salivating to find out how Mega Man harnesses the power of the Chaos Emeralds to achieve a super form. Having one super character in Sonic is awesome enough, but now to have Mega Man as well seemed to me like the good Doctors where in for more than they bargained for.

This issue had everything that has made this arc so compelling throughout its entire run, action right from the get go as Sonic and Rock’s friends are dealing with robot masters outside of the aptly named Wiley Egg, Sonic and Rock are where we left them after Part 11, which is captured by the Doctors. Now just like any good villain we get some pretty funny monologues from them as to their ultimate goal for the Super Genesis Wave, the weapon they intend to use to reshape their respective universes. Sadly just like most villains who monologue, they soon find themselves under attack from Knuckles and Proto Man, which allows Dr. Light to free our imprisoned heroes so they can harness the powers of the chaos emeralds to achieve super forms. This transformation leads us to some pretty witty dialogue between Sonic and Rock, as this being the latter’s first time using this form.

Beautiful splash pages give us a look at the battle between the heroes and villains, combine that with very well written dialogue for every character, including the bickering between the villains as they try to sabotage each other, and this is as I have always said, one of the best comics around. There are a lot of books that try to cram so much text into a bubble, but that is not the case here. Each bubble has just enough of what it needs and it is bold and clear for the readers. You don’t need to pull out your heavy-duty reading glasses for this book. Every bit of text is exactly what you know the characters would say and I find myself smiling as I read Sonic making a quick jab at the Doctors because even at what could be the end of the world, Sonic still has that cocky ego we all know and love. That is a major kudos to John Workman who made sure these letters are perfect and of course to Ian Flynn for once again giving us a fantastic story that I will want to re-read over and over.

The art is everything we have come to expect from a Sonic book. Ben Bates, Gary Martin and Matt Herms truly have the gift of bringing these worlds alive. The colors are vibrant and in a time where a lot of books have a much darker tone in the coloration, they make sure that even in the darkest moment of the battle, you still get beautiful imagery.

Now I am not going to give away the ending, which is in my opinion, a masterpiece. However I will say that the Sonic universe is going to change in a drastic way, and I have that from a very reliable source that works on the Sonic titles. So for new fans the jumping on point is now.

Don’t miss this issue and if needed go back and get the whole Worlds Collide saga, if you are or ever were a fan of the Sonic and Mega Man games, this is the story for you. So much nostalgic memories throughout these titles, it truly made me want to go and play all the classic games again.

5 out of 5 nerds