Sonic Universe #42 (September 2012)

Tracy Yardley!/Steve Downer cover: We have Geoff taking a

shot at Silver and an extreme close-up of Naugus. We also get some shaggy doggerel about the alt.FreedomFighters.

And then there’s the figure of Elias. The pose, the set of the crossbow, the smirk, and the rifled barrel encircling the Archie logo are all from old school Sean Connery-era James Bond. Which is OK unless you’re among the pre-ado boys who may know Bond (if at all) only through the Daniel Craig reinvention of the character. I hate to break the news to Archie’s creatives but this homage to 007 is 50 years behind the times. Then again, the Archie flagship comics have always traded in anachronistic nostalgia. Despite adding African American and gay teenagers, the comics are still hopelessly stuck in a time of malt shops and street rods made from 1932 Ford Coupes, the “little deuce coupe” celebrated in song by the Beach Boys. If Archie wonders why they’re not playing with the big kids (DC and Marvel), they’ve got nobody to blame but themselves.

“Unsung Heroes Part 2: The Terror Below”

Story: Ian Flynn; Art: Tracy Yardley!; Ink: Jim Amash; Color: Steve Downer; Lettering: Jack Morelli; Assistant Editor: Vince Lovallo; Editor: Paul Kaminski; Editor-in-Chief: Victor Gorelick; Spy Who Came Down With A Cold: Mike Pellerito

While Silver, Shard and Larry were featured in last month’s issue, this time it’s Elias, Leeta and Lyco who shadow Naugus as he takes his morning constitutional by taking a flying leap into the hole the Battle Bird Armada made in town, thus giving new meaning to the term “plot hole.” Decked out in suits inspired by Ray the Flying Squirrel, the team follows suit. They manage to almost get spotted in the name of dramatic tension. They don’t, however, get close enough to notice that Naugus’s botox injections are wearing off.

We then get a digression that shows a sad division in the ranks. The wolf twins allude to a future issue to imply that Elias hasn’t been too thrilled with their presence while their reception by Uncle Chuck and Harvey Who was way more cordial. In any event, they leave him to plant an explosive charge while they tail Naugus.

They find him deep in the Temple of Crazy chairing a group therapy session, with the voices in his head as the group. It’s at the suggestion of one of his voices that he assumes his FiendFire form and senses the presence of the wolves. Having one of them scream kind of helped, too.

Elias, meanwhile, is thinking that, OK, maybe the girls had a point as he juggles reminiscence and exposition. The scream, however, sends him running.

There follows several pages of dramatic chases and dialogue. It’s not enough to keep one of the girls from getting caught, but a low-tech diversion (throwing a rock) momentarily confuses Naugus who then gets hit with a mid-tech diversion (a flash grenade). With the captures wolf released, everyone beats feet into an obstacle course of crystal stalactites, stalagmites, and … whatever you call them when they grow sideways. Making it back to the tunnel they came in, they blow a hole in the door and take another flying leap. Naugus blows wind at them and they tumble into the darkness, which is good enough for Naugus.

HEAD: Last things first: That was a crappy ending to this installment. It’s the same kind of ending, though, that has plagued writing for I don’t know how long: the Assumption of Doom. We’ve all seen it: the hero is in a seemingly inescapable trap, the villain then walks away, and the hero escapes anyway. Where do they get these lazy villains? For every Scott Evil who insists that a single bullet could do what an unnecessarily elaborate killing mechanism couldn’t, there’s a Dr. Evil saying “You just don’t get it.” Frankly, neither do I.

The only thing I liked about this installment was Naugus’s butt-ugly transformation. It was very reminiscent of Oscar Wilde’s story “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” with its theme of the hidden evil despite a handsome and socially-acceptable façade.

And we get another visit from the Voices In My Head Choir. Unfortunately, I’m losing hope that the plot device of Vale is going to end up being a game changer. Ian didn’t even bother to tease it up a little in this installment.

Beyond that, we have another by the numbers action story padded out with expository flashbacks … or side-flashes since the stories themselves haven’t even been published yet. Maybe we should just call them “Spoilers.” Head Score: 6.

EYE: Tracy Yardley! really gets to cut loose in this one, between FiendFire Naugus and the gliding spies. If anything, the drawings that made up the flashbacks just didn’t have the same power. Eye Score: 7.

HEART: The ill-will between Elias and the wolf girls should have gone somewhere, but the way it was dragged into the story and then more or less forgotten just undid whatever it was trying to accomplish. Heart Score: n/a.

SONIC SPIN: Paul gives us an abbreviated spell-out of how and why the Secret Freedom Fighters came to be, tucked inside a warm and steaming sales pitch.

FAN ART: Nestor gives us a very nice portrait of Leeta and Lyco, Spencer does a Silver with what appears to be a five-o-clock shadow (probably a glitch in reproducing the drawing), Jordan does a skinny-legs-and-all cast drawing, and Alexandria does a very polished Silver and Elias.

OFF-PANEL: Demonstrating that the code names based on playing cards are, in fact, nothing but a joke.

FAN MAIL: Only one letter this time, to make room for 8 (count ‘em, 8!) thumbnails for current issues. And the only real Q-and-A concerns Thrash the Tasmanian Knockoff who will definitely be back. I think I can keep my enthusiasm in check until then.