"Valentines Fray"
Written by Ian "Not your average Joe" Flynn
Art by Todd "Xerox" Wahnish
Cover by Spaz
Story:
Amy has finally gotten a date with Sonic.
It seems Sonic reluctantly agreed after he lost a bet with Knuckles. Sonic heads over to The Chaotix for advice on what to do, and where to go on thier date. (PLOTHOLE ALERT!! The Chaotix were sent back to thier world about six issues ago. What are they doing back? Awww, who cares?) Anyway, despite thier not knowing anything about romance (this is pre-Vectors crush on Vanilla), they give him a list of things they could do.
Bokkun overhears this, and informs Eggman. Eggman's happy that they're together, just so he can tear them apart.
Unfortunatly for Eggman, every attempt fails. He tries shooting Rockets, but Bokkun wants to lob bombs at the same time. So Sonic and Amy just get a nice display of fireworks. Ecoe and Becoe try to roast them on a hibachi grill, but they end up roasting themselves. Sonic and Amy end up with a "well done" meal. Thier last stop is Twinkle Park where "cute couples get in free" (Ala Amy in Sonic Adventure). While Sonic and Amy are in the front of a fast roller coaster, Eggman and his cohorts are in the back of the car trying to attack them. Bokkun decides to plant a bomb on the car, but Sonic and Amy get off when the ride stops, and fat old Eggman is stuck in his seat. So the coaster goes again, and explodes, hurdling Eggman, and the bots intop the night sky.
Amy thanks Sonic for the date, and even Sonic admits he had a good time, and might take her a second one eventually. Then Sonic races off to find a charred and beat-up Eggman to thank him. Cuz, he never would have had any fun without him. END
Review: The Sonic X books are very different from the regular STH books and Ian has learned that. For the X books it's always supposed to be light-hearted and comical. (Except for third season) It's nice to see Amy finally get what she's always wanted, if only temporary. On the downside, it seems like Ian has been watching to many "Adventures of STH" cartoons. I think that Eggman is a little too bumbling than usual in this case. He's not that goofy.
Personally, I feel it would have been better to have the Chaotix sabotage Eggman's schemes, while Sonic and Amy were on thier date. At least then Eggman would have an excuse for his plans going awry, outside of him and his bots looking extremely stupid. Speaking of Chaotix, what are they doing here? Didn't they vanish back to thier homeworld six issues ago?
Now about the art. Todd Wahnish is a copycat. For the most part, he takes previous Sonic X screenshots, and posts them in the comic like he's doing colourforms (you kids are too young to remember those). Outside of little Sonic and Amy SD forms, his original stuff is pretty lousy. (Especially Eggman) I'll give him credit on Bokkun though he had some good art for him.
Overall Score: 7.5/10
A fun issue, but Eggman's not THAT big of a screwup.
Recall, Chuck mentioned that the area that the Chaotix's house was on seemed extremely unstable. My guess is they warp back and forth randomly because of this.
Ian was asked about this and his answer was--
Quote:
To be honest, it was so long ago that I did that script and I'm not a regular on SX, so I forgot the precise reasoning. I think their disappearance was faked by Dr. Eggman or something. That, and seeing as the comic is now more-or-less perpetually in Season 2, I think we (the entire team) are playing it a little looser continuity-wise. Nothing that would really contridict the show, but not as iron-clad as STH (is now). It's a more light-hearted read anyhow.
I loved this issue though. A great read and a deal of fun. =D
Yea, I'm a Chaotix fan, so I definitely can forgive Ian for them being in it.
My only 2 real gripes were Todd's copycat art, and Eggman being such a screwup. He's always been a bit of a bumbler, but not this bad. While comical, it really makes him look very weak and non-threatening. This is an anime cliche that includes villans such as Team Rocket, King Dedede, all the way back to Zenigata (from Lupin).
I don't want to seem to negative. I'm just nitpicking, and it was a fun issue.
Was this issue #16 or #17?
Issue 16.
Whoops!! My bad. Sorry.
Oh, forgot to mention. Considering AoStH Eggbotnik is my favorite version of the character, as far as personality goes, I loved Eggman more than usual in this issue.
Quote:
Whoops!! My bad. Sorry.
Fixed.
Anyhow, I have the issue, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Eventually I'll do that...
EDIT: I finally got around to reading it. Am I the only one who spotted the reference to Jeff Smith's Bone?
Quote:
It seems Sonic reluctantly agreed after he lost a bet with Knuckles.
Lost a bet with Knuckles? The fact that he's taken sudden interest in Amy for a V-Day special is interesting. Oh, screw it, he wants some pink hedgehog goods, but he decides to let Sonic screw it up so that Amy would come crawling back to him.
........
Hey, I haven't made a Knuckles/Amy remark since my Sonic X episode reviews days. That said, that does look like a cute issue to read.
Knuckles is'nt even in this issue, he's only mentioned once by Sonic.
