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paulagnewart · 13 hours

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Sonic the Oz-Hog Act 5/12: Best Laid Schemes (of Mikes and Mobians)!

Sonic the Hedgehog issue 134 AU Publication Date: 17th May 2004 Price: $5.40

For the first time in its life, Sonic fandom truly understood the meaning of war.

Never let it be said humanity will someday exhaust new and depraved ways to destroy one-another. From religious to political spats, extortion to embezzlement schemes, even petty squabbles in carparks. All it takes is a bruised ego and makeshift weapon to bring one or more life to a violent end in the barbarous pursuit of perceived justice.

The tragedy yielded upon thousands of innocents during September 2001 left the western world reeling. Months of anguish soon devolved to hatred, citizens and politicians desperately seeking answers and faces to paint as "the enemy". Taking a leaf from Ronald Reagan's book, US President George W. Bush proudly proclaimed his mission to "lead the world to victory". The media lapped it up, declared him "the avenger" in "a monumental struggle of good versus evil", and by the dawn of 2004, multiple nations were swept into the 21st century's first war.

Fictitious children's entertainment was far from safe. Swaths of "Mah Paytriatizm!" echoed across message boards and group chats. Fans projected such sentiments through art and stories, depicting their favourite characters decked out in full realistic militaristic garb, ready to fight their cause. In time, they too descended into anarchy when fansites boasted about going to war with each other.

Restoring the environment after Summer bushfires ravaged Dubbo and Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park was inconsequential. When not gleefully orchestrating the modern equivalent of Harold Holt's "All the way with LBJ!" speech supporting Bush's war in Afghanistan, then-ruler of the land John Howard (one day I'll get a chance to discuss a different Prime Minister, I swear!) waged war on migrants and contraceptives. Responding to a droop in national birthrates, the government hoped to persuade voters by dangling $3000 over their heads. The "Baby Bonus" announced in May 2004's budget instantly went down in infamy after offsider Peter Costello emphatically begged Aussies to "Have one for mum, one for dad and one for the country!". A temporary boost which totally wouldn't backfire on the housing market decades down the line.

After nine years dominating the war on morning entertainment, not even Cheez TV escaped its clutches when news of cancellation leaked online two weeks prior. In a move mirroring the final fate of longtime rival Agro's Cartoon Connection, Monday 3rd May 2004 saw 30 minutes permanently stripped from its timeslot, host segments reduced to barely a minute, and parody songs/skits virtually nonexistent. Any few remaining Cheezoids tuning in 17th May watched the premieres of Dragon Ball GT episode 'Saying Goodbye', and Pokémon Master Quest finale 'Hoenn Alone!'. How ironic. Both franchises at one point the hottest craze in the country, now long past their prime and cast aside in favour of new, more exciting animated imports.

And Sonic fans verged on a little civil war of their own.

To think 2004 began with such promise. Having boasted on IGN how 2003 was "Year of the Sonic", the only way was up for SEGA's mascot. New games like Sonic Heroes and Sonic Advance were on their way to shifting over a million units each. A new anime pulling respectable ratings in Japan and the US. Merchandise and fast food promotions sold well, and with annual profits up 300 percent, other companies were taking note. Archie Sonic equally enjoyed success with increased circulation figures and media attention thanks to co-creator Yuji Naka's contribution to their 10th anniversary milestone issue.

After years of crafting stories around SEGA/editorial mandates, head writer Karl Bollers entered 2004 with a spring in his step and a bold new vision for Knothole's finest. Having nailed the details with editor Justin Gabrie over the weekend, he dropped by the KP WWWBoard on the afternoon of 4th January to wish readers a happy new year and discuss canonicity of the impending 'Mobius: 25 Years Later'. This message was well-received by fans. Or at least the select few who saw, for it was deleted within the hour. Bollers tried again shortly thereafter, only for the webmaster to yet again hit delete. His days answering questions and chatting with fans on that site were over.

Thanks to prior (or more fittingly "Pryor") experience writing Marvel's favourite mutants, long-running fansite ComiX-Fan invited Bollers to host a section of their message board in August 2003. Initially limited to X-Men discussions, the floodgates opened 5 days later for Sonic fans. No longer would they have to rely on contact through other boards or ICQ chats, though he still occasionally visited Sonic HQ's Knothole Village to put Dan Drazen in his place. Excellent resource as it was, sadly would not survive to see year's end.

Among the numerous stories discussed was issue 134's 'Say You Will', the culmination of his 'Home' saga. To say its 19 pages raffled the fandom's jaffas is an understatement.

But as is the way with many works, general consensus changes over time. Contemporary sources like the Archie Sonic Wiki will boast the "massive outrage" it brought, and how Sally's reputation "went downhill with fans". Such hyperbolic inaccuracies are par the course unfortunately. From the perspective of someone who lived this issue and its fandom the first time around, the truth is far more nuanced.

Sally Acorn had been a popular target long before 'Say You Will' hit shelves. From video game purists demanding no "canon foreigners" in their favourite media, to shippers with the pointless yet staggering "Sally Vs. Amy" debate which gained traction among online fans since the release of Sonic Adventure. Sites who already looked down upon Archie's efforts including Sonic Anime, The GHZ and Sonic CulT were given more ammunition to push their views, declaring anyone who liked this supposed "Psycho Sally" not a true fan.

If outrage existed, one wouldn't have found it on pro-Archie sites like Sonic HQ. Once a major watering hole, readers heaped praise on the story. "This argument had to come eventually" they said, or how "Superman and Lois split up not long before they got married, so all is not lost". Newcomer artist and then-forum moderator Jon Gray also received his fair share of love, having "brought a life to the comic I haven't seen in ages", and "everything about it is vibrant and lively, the characters seem to burst off the page, they're that expressive". Residents of the Knothole Village Message Board overall viewed it "a treat for me and a delight to read", going so far to vote 'Say You Will' the best story of 2004.

Other websites proved indifferent, split or worse. The Sonic Foundation and TeamArtail, the latter of which hosted plenty of Archie Sonic fans, remained civil. DeviantArt not so much. And despite longtime fan Ian Potto summarising the story in his review as "brilliant", the KP WWWBoard spent weeks at each other's throats. Bollers was heavily targeted for Sonic and Sally's fight, Bunnie's newfound firearm appreciation and more. Yet none moreso than webmaster BobR who went straight for the jugular after this issue's release, launching a scathing verbal strike and ousting the identities of writers Benny Lee and Romy Chacon.

Was 'Say You Will' the unspeakable abomination touted by fans today? Hardly. It's true plenty of vocal detractors hated the new direction, but others equally sang high praise. Which is far more than can be said for the likes of 'Return to Angel Island', 'Sonic's Angels' and 'Line of Succession', all of which were even worse recieved by fans at the time. Many diehards chose to wait it out and see where the story went before casting final judgement, but they would never get the chance. By the time of release, Justin Gabrie was gone and Mike Pellerito stepped in to weave his editorial red pen, swiftly cancelling any and all prospects of 'One Year Later' seeing fruition.

Sadly this will be the last retrospective to feature Karl Bollers, on what was fittingly enough his final 'full' story. There are a plethora of excellent comics under his belt worth discussing, and wouldn't mind tackling them another day. In the meantime, it's cathartic knowing he's continuing to make an impact on the industry. Having joined Oni Press last year, I have no doubt that if asked, he'd be perfect for their recently announced 'Biker Mice from Mars' miniseries. Goes without saying he's had plenty of experience writing a turbo-revving freedom fighting anthropomorphic rodent's gang who protect the environment from a portly intergalactic warlord.

To conclude this excessively long-winded post, I'm reminded of a coincidentally fitting event; throughout May 2004, the Australian music chart was a constant battleground between two performers, each rising and falling from top spot. D12's 'My Band' took a swing at the superego, chronicling singer Eminem's public perception as the band's star attraction. The hero. The main man. The one who gets the job done overshadowing everyone else. Anastasia meanwhile told a gripping, emotion-charged ballad 'Left Outside Alone', reciting her feelings of anguish towards a failed relationship. How she wasted years imagining a fairytale ending only to face for the harsh realisation it would never happen, slowly gather her voice, and defiantly speak out against her fears.

Two entirely different musical genres and themes. Yet they both perfectly encapsulate Sonic and Sally's respective feelings by issue's end. Each wanted the same thing but refused to meet in the middle, irreparably hurting one-another in the process.

And if us humans aren't willing to meet in the middle to work through our differences, what hope did a pair of comic book characters have?

Next Time: The phrase "Go Big or Go Home" is rarely thrown around anymore. But for a time, Archie Sonic was willing to indulge both. One of their "big"gest outputs will be going under the knife, shamelessly boasting a special surprise or two along the way.

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#Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic the Hedgehog Comics #Archie Comics #Archie Sonic #Sally Acorn #Karl Bollers #Jon Gray #Michael Higgins #Jason Jensen #Justin Gabrie #Mike Pellerito #Comic Books #Australia #2004 #Musings

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