Sonic X

Publisher
Archie Comics
Writer
Joe Edkin
Artist
Tim Smith III
Country of origin
US
Year
2005

Sonic X #16

By David Rasmussen
1st Apr 07

Remember when I once said picking this up was worth it because it was cheap? Forget it! Spend the damn $40 and order Fred Perry’s Gold Digger for a year! I am.
And, as if to act as yet another nail in the coffin of Sonic X, here’s another holiday themed issue to groan over… and complain about. Sonic X #16, the Valentine’s Day nightmare… I mean issue.

After the nightmare that was Christmas in the world of Sonic X, did we really need to butcher the holiday of love (aka Valentine’s Day)? What? We did? Damn it… (sigh)… I don’t suppose Fred Perry did a Gold Digger Valentine’s Special during the past 15 or so years eh… no, I haven’t heard of one. Damn.

Amy Rose, she who is a pink furry, is hot on this date she’s going on with Sonic (the blue hedgehog with all the romantic instincts of a rock). Apparently it sounds all romantic and all, until a hot two pages into the story when you find out Sonic is taking Amy Rose on a date because… he lost a bet with Knuckles.
I don’t need to speed e-mail Svetlana Chmakova or Amy Kim Ganter (Sorcerers and Secretaries, which got a 4 out of 5 for being a down to Earth solid romance story with an innovative twist that you rarely see in AmeriMangas of the genre) to know that is so unromantic.

It only gets worst as Sonic goes to the three stooges of information, the Chaotix Detective Agency, for advice on dating… guy? Not even the World’s Greatest Detective… yes, Mr. Wayne, that’d be you, stop looking “excited”… you know, in that dead zombie sort of way… about it even if he doesn’t need three clueless losers to tell him what to do on a first date. Sonic, on the other hand, needs all the help he can get. Good luck. Luckily for him, or unluckily, his date is laced with Eggman troubles… or is it help… whatever. All I know is that, for a valentine’s story, this was so unromantic. The greats of the romantic manga have nothing to fear from this claptrap. Romance this so ain’t… come to think of it it is also not funny or even very interesting, but at least we see more of Amy Rose than we’ve seen of her to date… not that it’s going to save this title from a dismal score, but I thought I’d bring that up… you know, just in case you’re interested in hearing about things like that. Oh, check the cover by “Spaz”… it’s nice and all but what the hell is wrong with Tails?!? He looks freaky on this cover!!

Sonic X #16 gets one creepy looking Tails (on the cover no less) out of 5... Eeww.
OK. Now go buy Gold Digger. Go on now, go on, it’ll be good for you.

-- David Rasmussen 1st Apr 07