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FractiousLemon — Where'd the Funny Go?
Published: 2009-08-07 15:28:15 +0000 UTC; Views: 3534; Favourites: 47; Downloads: 29
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-------------DISCLAIMER: I apologize for the crummy way this picture looks. I'm feeling sick today, but I felt like doodling something and this was the result. It looks about as sickly as I feel.
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Sonic and Dr. Eggman decide to check out their American comic books and boy are they in for a surprise! Even Old Man Robotnik understands that they're supposed to be funny characters! So howcome the stories got so serious after only 20-some issues? Was the premise of "Dr. Robotnik comes up with a nasty scheme and Sonic foils his plans in some funny manner" too difficult to work with? Seriously, I grew up reading these comics, but stopped reading around issue 28 or so when the writers began to trade comedy for drama. Now I'm trying to get back into it all by reading the comics online and I can't believe how confusing and twisted the stories have gotten! I would think that the Sonic comics should be something that match Sonic's carefree, energetic personality, but these things are so confusing that I can't imagine the blue blur himself bothering to waste time figuring them out!
*sighs* Please, guys, reboot the series. I want to see Sonic pulling funny pranks on Eggman again.
On another note, Eggman points out the very thing I thought even as a kid when I read the comics. Why didn't they just use Robotnik's appearance from the games? The comic version is just plain weird looking!
Sonic and Robotnik are ©SEGA, Sonic Team
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Comments: 128
Good thing Sonic Boom came along then. But let me guess, THAT'S too light-hearted for ya!
Seriously, the comics suck. The Fleetway ones aren't bad, just had a lot of ideas that just didn't work.
👍: 1 ⏩: 2
No, the Fleetway one (after a certain point) is just as bad, especially the online one.
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
Yeah. The online version wasn't that good, I must admit.
👍: 1 ⏩: 0
No, Sonic Boom is exactly what I expect out of Sonic the Hedgehog. Lots and lots of silliness. Granted, I wouldn't mind if it was a little more action oriented at times, but that's not really the point of the cartoon. I personally love the comic book which is ridiculously self aware to the point that they often make jokes about the lettering in the comic and such.
👍: 3 ⏩: 1
I thought the comic sucked. Or that may be the bias from the Sonic Underground comic being cancelled for the Sonic Boom comic talking.
That said, Sonic can go dark, can't he? It's worked before in the games. It only STOPPED working because they stopped being aware of how humorous the contrast of a brooding, yet small and fluffy hedgehog is supposed to be. Sonic Unleashed, for example, got the balance right, as did Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. The comic? That's NEVER got it right, as it keeps bringing in new characters you'll barely see again, focuses mainly on a group of uninteresting and obnoxious characters, has writing that would make Stephanie Meyer cringe and a new colourful art style that doesn't fit in the slightest with the harsher tones that they're forcing along.
You know, like every Sonic game AFTER Sonic Unleashed!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I loved Sonic Unleashed, though I also enjoyed Sonic Colors and Sonic Lost World. I thought the games have, for the most part, done a good job of contrasting Sonic with a dark setting while still playing up the fact that he and his friends are silly characters. After all, he's inspired by classic comic book characters like Mickey Mouse and his stories were classic at putting a silly character up against dark situations. The trick is, as you pointed out, to stay aware of how silly it is and play with it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Which is what Shadow, 06 and Rise of Lyric DIDN'T do.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
We don't talk about those games. They don't exist.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'M NOT LISTENING! LALALALA!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
ADMIT IT. ADMIT THE PRINCESSES AND THE SNAKES IN POWER AMOUR EXIST. Otherwise we'll never truly appreciate the GOOD Sonic games!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I APPRECIATE THEM JUST FINE! YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I...oh wait, I'm not.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Look, just admit they exist and move on.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
No. The pain is still fresh.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Then blot the fucking out and grow up. It's just some games.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
NEVER! *runs away, crying*
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Geez...all I wanted was a nice conversation.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I don't do nice. I do baffling and pointless.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
And that's just the US comics. The British version is so bleak it was never published outside of it's home country.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah. I've read it and thought the same thing. How in the world does a goofy video game about a superhero hedgehog get such depressing comic books?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Because maybe they want an older demographic. BTW, Archie rebooted to become more kiddish and dropped most characters.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hahahaha!!! You actually believed that rot? They did a four-part simplified story and then immediately went back to "Tails, no! That's my long-lost evil twin from the 12th Dimension who we thought was dead but was married to my Uncle George's roommate all along!"
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
They did it again with 252, and apparently it'll stick. No sign of such for the U.K. version, which is now even darker than it once was.
I actually prefer a darker and more complex version, but I can see why one would be a bit offended at Grimdark Sonic Comics.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'm not offended by them. I just don't understand the point. The Sonic characters are very silly. They're inspired by oldschool comic characters who would end up in all kinds of wild and silly adventures. Even when the stories got dark (and boy did they sometimes!), the characters themselves handled it in their own goofy way.
I expect the same out of Sonic. Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Lost World are good examples. The stories there take a dark turn near the end, yet the main characters lighten the mood by being very silly throughout. Sonic doesn't sit around moping and wailing about the fact that a demon is going to destroy the world. He just grins like the little maniac he is and says "Guess I'm gonna have to kick his butt!" In Lost World, it's actually Sonic's fault the planet is being drained of its very soul and Eggman CONSTANTLY points it out to him, resulting in a hilarious back-and-forth argument that makes them sound like an old married couple. It's incredibly funny and adds some necessary levity to an otherwise grim scenario.
That's what I want out of the comics. They can be dark if they want, but I expect Sonic and his friends (and even some of his enemies) to handle the situations as themselves instead of as soap opera stars in cartoon character costumes.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
What's wrong with the modern comics? I thought the All-Stars Racing Transformed tie-in was pretty good!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
To be honest, I haven't read that particular story. For the most part, I'm just not fond of the dramatic tones and lasting story arcs. Sonic, to me, is a series that works best as a superhero comedy with huge emphasis on the "comedy" part. I liked the old comics in which they made fun of the cliches of superhero comics instead of resorting to using the very cliches they poked fun at.
I know I'm in the minority here, but "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Sonic X" are, in my opinion, the best cartoon and comic book representations of the series. They feature Sonic doing what he does best: Saving the world in the silliest of ways and having a fun time doing it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
The only older ones I've got to read was in Sonic Select, Sonic Archives, Sonic Super special, and that comic that came with Sonic Mega Collection, I've never read the Knuckles series or any of the other specials, Its already hard keeping up with the comics as it is.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Agreed. I generally don't like comics that require me to pick up every month's issue in order to know what's going on. That's another reason I preferred the Sonic X comic series as opposed to the primary Sonic the Hedgehog comic. Most stories were self-contained within one or two issues and didn't create any over-arching story elements. It was just one silly adventure after another. I'm still upset they canceled the series, especially when the final issue pretty much said "We're tired of this series. Go read the other one."
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
At least theres that Sonic and Mega Man crossover to look forward to next year!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I dunno. It sounds kind of neat, but I'm not sure I'll pick it up. While I enjoy how Archie comics has managed to remain truthful to the MegaMan story, characters, and sense of humor while building upon all three, I'm just not fond of how they've handled Sonic. For me, it would be more like seeing MegaMan interact with bad fanfiction versions of Sonic and his friends instead of the real deal.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well sure, archies shoved their characters into the Sonic series, but that does'nt take away much from it, The 20th anniversary special Sonic:Genesis got positive feedback and reviews, so maybe Sonic and Mega man will be just as good.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Meh, I dunno. I picked up the "Genesis" storyline because I was told it would be a reboot and instead it was just a cheap publicity stunt to bring old readers back into their stupid storyline. At this point, I want nothing more to do with the Sonic comic books. As the expression goes: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Whatever, I thought it was good, even though I dunno why Snively was in the Eggpod with the ball and chain instead of Eggman. And honestly, I don't care if you read them or not, its your choice, not mine.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Oh, I LOVED the Genesis four-parter. I was just angry that it was passed off as yet another one of the trillions upon trillions of alternate universes in the series instead of a legitimate reboot. And I certainly hope you don't care what comic books I read! That would be very sad if your happiness relied upon my particular choices in entertainment!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I never knew there were other alternate universes besides the '30 years later' thing. I can't catch up with the comic at all, my brother just got the Sonic goes to the 2012 Olympics issue yesterday. Only Comics I have is Sonic Select book 1 and part one of Scrambled. I also noticed how common the Archie comics are yet the Sonic and Mega Man ones aren't as common and can only be found at certain places.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ah, that would explain it. Yeah, wait until you REALLY delve into the comic universe. It's insane. And not in the way you would expect a series about a hyperkinetic hedgehog to be.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well, Its already hard keeping up with the comics as it is, considering how common they are. I mostly stick with the Games and the other merch(shirts, figures, etc).
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
*nods* The games are all I really follow. I like some of the cartoons, but they can't really be considered since none of them are currently running anymore.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
That last one I enjoyed was way back at the beginning when some giant robot guy from space caught Robotnik and Sonic in a hamster ball and they had to work together to get out.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah, I remember that one! It was really funny! I wish the comics had stayed true to that style of writing. Sonic comics should be just as wacky as the characters they're about.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
unfortunately they have to be "oh we're grim and dark like everything else now. Even have to bother to explain why there are humanoid animals instead of just having them be normal inhabitants of Earth."
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Of all the things in Sonic the Hedgehog, I never expected to have the existence of talking animals explained. That's sort of a staple of cartoons. We just accept them without question.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
My god, I'm all the way with you. I first saw comics on Sonic Mega Collection. Read the pages there, and I thought
"OK, comic-only characters, not so bad...Protecting the greenery, yeah, that's Sonic...Pulling funny jokes, THAT'S the blue blur!".
I admit, I wasn't too fond of Sonic being bound by a group in a secret hide-away, as Sonic, as we all know, would face the doctor head-on. But I still liked it somewhat, Sonic was who he was, the rebellious teenage spirit of doing things the way he wants, flinging into danger, and having an attitude. That was Sonic...
Then I had to look at the older comics...What did they do...? Now Sonic's all serious, and he gets girls. He's a free rebellious spirit, he's not supposed to be bound with girls! That's what they made Amy to represent! Not even the games were this serious, and people complain that the games have too many unecessary characters! The comics have them all and more! What happened?!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
The problem of having a long-running series is that it quickly becomes a soap opera if you're not careful. The Sonic comic writers weren't careful. I personally find it funny that the early comics habitually mocked the serious nature of other superheroes and actually promised us, the readers, that Sonic would never go down that path because he's too hyperactive and silly to stick to a serious storyline.
Oh, Archie-Sonic... If only you could've seen what you'd become...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Indeed...The games have even become silly, look at Colours.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
What makes me laugh is that people complained when the games got too serious (and rightfully so as Shadow and Sonic '06 were awful), but then complain about Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors for being silly. Go figure. Personally, those are two of my favorite Sonic games so far.
Though Sonic Adventure 2 is my top favorite still if only for all of the fun character chemistry and those adorable little chao.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'm afraid all the comic originals will die soon.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
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