#sth 49

No, it still sucks. Thanks for read - no okay fine

It's easy to understand why Endgame always stands out in older readers' memories because it's practically the first arc where anything consequential actually happens in Archie Sonic

Sure, there were memorable events within the first 46 issues and their various spinoffs. The introduction of Knuckles, Mecha Madness, Sonic reuniting with Chuck, rescuing King Max, etc. But rereading my archive a few months ago, it really struck me how little actually happens in that span of time aside from those bits. The series was largely content to rely on its status quo. Robotnik would hatch an evil scheme, the Freedom Fighters would go on a mission to infiltrate Robotropolis (that never resulted in anything). They'd go back and forth like this for a few years. There's nothing inherently wrong with having a status quo, of course, and I'd absolutely take those first 50 issues over the shit Penders wrote later. But the general lack of dramatic consequences prior to this instantly made the Endgame arc stand out. It really does feel like the series finale it was originally written to be

Of course, I'm not reading this as a 9-year-old in 1997. I already know this isn't the end, but rather one of many status quo shifting milestone stories from a series that would last nearly 250 more issues. And like I said back when I first covered this arc seven years ago, the sources of drama here are mostly lame as hell

I'll avoid ranting about Sally's death too much here, but it has to be addressed. It sucks. It's dramatic and it grabs your attention for sure, but it sucks that Sally doesn't even get a heroic death, but rather a sudden anticlimactic death on a random mission with no clear goal, just because Penders thought she "cramped Sonic's style" and didn't know what else to do with her. She had already been largely reduced to a prize for Sonic and the ever-skeevy Geoffrey to fight over, but her fridging here only takes that even further. In her death she is fully transformed into a mere concept for the guys to fight over, not a character with any agency of her own. Hell, this could have been a setup for a twist where Sally has her own counter-plan at play and makes a triumphant return in the climax to reveal that she was actually alive the whole time, and then take part in the final battle with her friends. (The possibility that the report of Sally's death had been a lie was being teased as early as issue two of this arc.) I didn't like the similar storyline in her miniseries, but I'd take it over this. Instead, she's only thawed out at the very end to give Sonic a kiss. She's not a character, she's a reward for Sonic

Actually, a thing I couldn't do when I first covered Endgame was compare it to the series finale of SatAM, as I hadn't seen that at the time. And the difference there is night and day. In the show, instead of being written out, Sally is more present in the climax than ever, to the point where she literally shares Sonic's super speed, allowing her to be there at his side for their final victory. The difference is so stark that it's actually kind of hilarious

(Side note: Some of my critiques in the early days of this blog came off as more black-and-white than I would like. A few times I may have skirted a bit too close to the whole Strong Female Character angle, where a female character has to be an ass-kicking, "empowering" aspirational figure in order to be considered a good character. I'll say very bluntly that there's nothing inherently wrong with writing a story where a female character dies a pointless, tragic death, nor is it inherently bad to write characters with no agency in their lives. (I am a known Gundam liker.) The problem here is that the way Penders writes Sally is part of a larger pattern with his typical Baby Boomer view on gender roles.)

But, okay. I said I wasn't gonna dwell on this. Let's set the decision to kill Sally aside and look at what Penders and co. do with that twist. For one, it's there to shock the reader. And, yeah, it sure did that. But it also turns the early part of the arc into a murder mystery. A classic premise! So, is Endgame a good murder mystery?

Nope!

As I ragged on repeatedly in my original coverage, Sonic immediately gets blamed for Sally's death, and it's pure nonsense. Nobody believes that Sonic, the main hero of the team, has any motive to kill Sally. Because he doesn't. But they don't do anything to disprove it, even though this is a series where Sonic alone has been mind controlled into acting against his will, impersonated by his evil universe doppelganger, and replaced with a robotic duplicate - not to mention how often this shit happens to other characters. When Endgame began, it had literally only been seven issues since Sonic was put on trial for crimes he didn't really commit following the Mecha Madness event. And yet we're already doing this again

Even the question of who really killed Sally doesn't get to be a source of intrigue. None of the established characters end up being a traitor, despite the presence of a traitor being the entire focus of issue #46, and it isn't even an old returning villain or anything like that. No, it's Hershey. A brand new character introduced after Sally's death. But she didn't do it of her own free will - the whole thing was orchestrated by Drago, a confrontational member of the Wolf Pack the Freedom Fighters met literally one issue earlier who was already immediately suspicious, and King Max, who had been replaced by an Auto-Automaton off-screen... somehow. (It's revealed in the end that Robotnik had actually discovered the location to Knothole and sent troops to replace Max all the way back during "Battle Royale," while Sonic was out of town. Why didn't he just blow up Knothole then and there? Who knows!!!)

The actual explanation of how New Friend Hershey could possibly have killed Sally might be even more nonsensical. As Drago reveals, he tricked her into wearing a lifelike full body Sonic costume designed by Robotnik that has an augmented reality display built into the head that makes everyone look like Snively. So Hershey thought she was killing Snively, and everyone else thought she was Sonic because of the costume. Why did Hershey think she needed to come along on that mission and dress up as Sonic? Who fucking knows!! More effort goes into explaining what happened to fucking Crocbot over in Downunda - no, seriously, he gets two whole pages of exposition in #49!

Overall, the best explanation we get for why Robotnik's plan is so complex is that he just seems to be playing mind games to pit the heroes against each other while he finishes the Ultimate Annihilator. But, again, the story devotes very little time to this tension within the team because of how quickly the question of who killed Sally gets resolved, and the only ones who really bicker are Sonic and Geoffrey, who were already constantly at each other's throats long before this

And, yes, the subplot with new characters Hershey and Drago devolves into a domestic abuse story. As I said years ago, I think it's a good thing to teach kids how to spot abusive relationships, but this isn't a well told story about abuse. Drago is a one-dimensional exposition dumping villain who also hits and insults his girlfriend. It feels like it was mostly setup for Hershey to turn the tables and beat the snot out of him in the last issue (which admittedly is kinda satisfying after having to read about Drago for multiple issues), but no matter the intention it's just a bizarre inclusion in this already overstuffed arc

This is all part of what's probably the overall biggest problem with the arc, which is that despite being intended as a sendoff for the series, so much of it revolves around new characters over the actual main cast. Hershey, Drago, and Dr. Quack all get a lot of screen time throughout the arc and are integral to the plot. So is Geoffrey, but at least you could say he was an established character who had fans at that point. (This was years before folks realized the age gap between Geoffrey and Sally, or before Penders made That Tweet.) Most of the Freedom Fighters are totally passive for most of the arc. Rotor, Tails, Chuck, and Amy contribute basically nothing. Dulcy does exactly one absurd thing and then Sonic tells THE GIANT DRAGON she doesn't have to help fight. Antoine starts tailing Drago when he realizes something's probably up, but he and Bunnie are immediately caught and shipped off to literally the opposite side of the planet and kept out of the action until the finale. (How they manage to travel from the Midwest to Australia and back so quickly is a mystery, but nitpicks about travel time are the least of this story's problems.) Even Sonic himself doesn't contribute all that much to Robotnik's defeat in the grand scheme of things, and he spends most of the arc just going "man it's fucked up that Sally died and everyone thinks I did it"

But finally, we come to #50. (Or, well, the "Director's Cut" version of it released as Sonic Super Special #6, which has supplanted it in canon.) I'll stand by my statement that this final issue is the best part of this arc. Broadly speaking, it feels like a proper ending. I like the way it's bookended with Robotnik's arrival in the Acorn Kingdom and his death. It's got some action that feels appropriately climactic, and there's good Spaziante art mixed in there. At the very least, the last issue is in the shape of a good series finale, with the heroes starting at their lowest point and then rallying together to win once and for all

That decent climax is just massively let down by the story surrounding it. The cracks start to show very quickly with the infamous scene where Dulcy reveals that dragons are all walking lie detectors. (Sure would've been convenient to know that three issues ago!!!) Even in this expanded Director's Cut, they just need to get the ball rolling and convince Geoffrey of Sonic's innocence as quickly as possible. Then the Ultimate Annihilator is FINALLY set up after somehow not being mentioned the whole arc and the fighting begins. Again, another concession: Knothole finally being put in danger by Robotnik's invasion and then the U.A. is a smart move. An obvious one, but a good one to raise the tension nonetheless.

Then we get the final showdown between Sonic and Robotnik, which is still pretty good, and after that it's all plot cleanup. (Contrary to what I've been saying for years, it isn't actually said anywhere that Sonic uses his billionth ring to avoid getting blasted by the U.A. I'm not sure where I got that idea from, other than the image of him coming out of a ring.)

Said plot cleanup is just wall to wall nonsense, as if this story wasn't full of that already. The reveal that Knothole has been blasted three hours in the future, a fact that never ended up mattering. Author's pet and Bones McCoy expy Dr. Quack revealing that everything is actually HIS fault, because he's such a super genius inventor that his "Dream Watcher" had the exact part Robotnik needed for the U.A. and that's how he was able to locate Knothole off-screen. The fact that Snively was actually the one to ultimately defeat Robotnik due to him tampering with the U.A. off-screen. (He doesn't even get to gloat about it!) And, of course, the reveal that Sally was alive and recovering the whole time, because readers (rightfully) complained. They kiss so that she can be Sonic's prize for winning, despite the fact that he actually contributed very little to Robotnik's defeat. Roll credits

Yeah, Endgame just isn't good, y'all

Escape from the Floating Island

Writers: Mike Gallagher and Ken Penders Pencils: Sam Maxwell Colors: Karl Bollers

After another recap intro page, we're thrust right back into the action from last issue's literal cliffhanger. Sonic finds himself plunging down a terrifying drop with certain death at the bottom. He's too exhausted from all the chaos to try his figure eight move to hover, so instead, he decides on potentially the most ridiculous and disgusting option possible to save his skin instead.

This madlad grabs the stink lines and dirt from his own horrifically disgusting socks, throws it in an arc, and races along it like it's solid ground to reach actual solid ground. I cannot even begin to fathom how something like that works, but hey, it works, and Sonic is able to run for it away from Geoffrey and his troops, who are forced to take the long route back through the caverns to follow him, though they still have the advantage of the tracking device implanted in his shackles.

Back at Knothole, everyone learns how Robotnik was able to carry out his plan. The miraculously-revived king was no more than a robotic duplicate.

The real king, still crystallized, is currently within his base, where we see another familiar face - Dr. Quack, handing over Sally's death certificate (which actually lists Sally's full name as "Sally Elisha Acorn," though her middle name's spelling was later retconned as we'll see) to Snively and demanding that Snively "fulfill his end of the bargain." Wait, what? Snively merely opens a wall panel, to reveal Dr. Quack's wife and children, imprisoned behind bars. When Dr. Quack reacts in outrage and anger, Snively blasts him with some kind of energy beam as motivation to behave.

Wait… falsified? So Princess Sally isn't actually…?

Yeah, here's the thing. I was playing along with the narrative before, but I'm sure anyone reading this without having read the comics beforehand was saying to themselves "Of course she's not actually dead, she's one of the comics' main characters! They wouldn't just kill off a main character in such a sudden, ignoble manner!" But that's where you, my good friend, are wrong as hell! See, this scene marks a hard right turn that Kenders was basically forced to make by (from what I've heard) Sega themselves. At about this point in the comic, he'd gotten it into his weird little Penders-y head that no one really cared about Sally anyway, that she was an unpopular character who "cramped Sonic's style" as the cool guy he was always meant to be, and decided to kill her off for real. As in, her "death" in the first issue of Endgame was actually meant to be 100% serious, with Sally gone forever. Of course, this immediately resulted in a huge outcry from devastated fans who loved Sally and didn't want to see her suddenly killed off, and so Penders had to rewrite the next three issues to make sure she could be brought back. But shh! You didn't hear that from me! We're still pretending to be shocked that she's not actually dead, okay?

Meanwhile in the wilderness, Sonic is trudging his way along, exhausted and desperate for help. Suddenly, he remembers that by doing a certain whistle he can call Dulcy to him, and she arrives, eager to help. She also says something… very interesting.

So dragons can sense truth, huh? *takes deep breath* WHEN WAS THIS ESTABLISHED?! I get that in this case King Acorn was going to sentence Sonic to prison anyway given that he was just a puppet of Robotnik's, so her testimony might not have mattered anyway, but damn, dude! Where was Dulcy when Sonic was accused of treason back in StH#40? Where was she when literally anyone was saying something suspicious or seemingly impossible? Dulcy alone could have solved like half the plots of this comic series by herself! Sigh. Kenders, you really need to learn to stop including random facts like this out of the blue when you've written yourself into a corner. A real writer doesn't solve plot holes through a deus-ex-machina, they cry and eat Denny's at 3am while their plots fall apart! No I'm not speaking from experience! Why do you ask?

Well, back at Hershey's place, Drago's only being more and more of a douche. Hershey has only just heard the news about Sally's death, and is horrified when Drago gleefully reveals that she's the one who did it! But how?

Yeah, turns out she was convinced by him to wear a Sonic costume, somehow, and the eyepieces made everyone look like Snively. She thought she was helping the Freedom Fighters by killing Snively, but was the one who dropped Sally all along. She's devastated, and left to sob on the ground as Drago happily celebrates his own genius in trusting Robotnik for personal power, because that's never backfired in anyone else's face before, has it?

Now we finally get to see what happened to Antoine and Bunnie after they were captured last issue. They've been hauled all the way to a prison in Downunda, and shackled to the wall, fitted with customized collars. Bunnie's is merely tuned to sense when she uses her bionic parts' capabilities to try to escape, while Antoine's is tuned to explode violently if Bunnie's collar gives the signal. Ouch, man.

They soon find that Walt Wallabee and Barby Koala are locked in with them, looking rather the worse for wear. Before they can get further than basic introductions (remember, only Tails has met these guys before), who shows up to greet everyone but Crocbot! Apparently, he didn't actually die when his tank exploded back in the Tails miniseries. He was badly damaged, but built himself back up from combot parts and has taken control of this region once again, running this slave labor camp to mine ore for Robotnik. He was pissed at his past defeat, and so made it a point to capture the Downunda Freedom Fighters the first chance he could. Yeah, capture, not kill. 'Cause remember how this guy has a hard-on for cold-blooded torture?

Who knows how long those poor Downunda Freedom Fighters have been locked up in here, man. At least they're still alive, right?

While all this has been going down, Dulcy has been flying Sonic to his requested destination - the Floating Island, where he hopes to get help from the only neutral third party he really has left. Unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten that whenever he and Knuckles appear in the same issue together, it's a hard rule that they have to start punching each other for no reason.