Worlds Unite Weekly Reviews, Part 5: Sonic Universe #77

by Mighty No. X

Welcome to Act 2 of the Worlds Unite crossover. As always, I am your source of weekly crossover reviews, Mighty No. X.

Act 2 begins with all of our heroes being summoned to a meeting aboard the Sky Patrol, the Freedom Fighter airship from the Sonic comics. Everyone is present… save for Sticks, who appears to be investigating some kind of “spy-broom” invasion. Sticks always puts in a strong effort, but mental stability was never her strong suit. 

Meanwhile, Drs. Wily and Eggman are fleeing for their lives on Lost Hex. Just as the two doctors begin to give up on escaping, Xander Payne arrives through a Genesis Portal. He claims to have already witnessed the events of Worlds Unite, and says that the doctors’ survival is necessary. To the bemusement of the doctors, Payne helps them escape from Lost Hex through a Genesis Portal.

Sticks arrives back from her “mission” in time to hear the team arguing about their lack of leads. They don’t know where Sigma is, or what he has in his arsenal. X tries to avoid being discouraged, but his stoicism won’t be necessary; Payne, Wily, and Eggman arrive in the Sky Patrol through Payne’s Genesis Portal.  Although the heroes are shocked to see the villains arrive (particularly Mega Man, who thought Wily was dead), they waste no time in locking the new arrivals in the brig. Sticks imprisons herself in the cell as well, for some reason.

The doctors promise information to the heroes under the condition they are freed. Mega Man is hesitant to release them, but Sonic and X eventually convince him. Given that we’ve witnessed Sigma’s scheming, the doctors’ explanations aren’t particularly surprising: Sigma fused the two worlds together because the Unity Engines would overwhelm and destroy the weaker individual worlds, and he plans to use the worlds’ energy to become an infinitely powerful being. During a Sonic-catered lunch of chili dogs, X wishes that he could contact Alia and Signas; inspired, Sally, Cream, Nicole, and Roll volunteer to serve as Navigators.

Meanwhile, Sigma is using his power to resurrect old Reploids such as Chill Penguin. The Sky Patrol nears Lost Hex, and in response Sigma beings to deploy his army. The battle is about to begin…

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The real core of this issue is the one-off character interactions littered throughout. Sticks argues with Payne about the Illuminati, insists Knuckles exercise and tries to give Sonic sports tape; Comedy Chimp attempts to converse with a taciturn Break Man; Wily remarks that Zero looks like something he would build; Antoine boasts about his sword in the face of Zero’s saber; Sonic takes advantage of Mega Man’s lost memory to insist Sonic won the fight at the start of Worlds Collide; Shadow Man reveals that he still pledges allegiance to Wily. These clever, quick interactions are sheer fun, and a welcome break from the somewhat predictable main plot.

I hesitate to put down the work of any comic artist, given how much time and care must go in to the process of line work, but the artwork here is a step down from any of the standalone books. Everything is drawn accurately — Mega Man isn’t missing the red oval on the side of his head like that one scene from Worlds Collide — but facial expressions feel rather similar regardless of emotion.

The small parody strip at the back of the issue is simply a single panel stuffed with characters to the point that characters at the edge of the panel are being crushed, as a play on just how many characters are in this crossover. The strip has a good point; there are just so many characters at this point. Flynn’s done a great job, all things considered, but it’s rather nerve-wracking to think that ten franchises’ worth of additional characters will be thrown in before the end. I’m afraid it’s looking more and more likely that the last few issues will become too ambitious for their own good.              

Easter Egg Watch:

• Sticks voluntarily locked herself up back in Sonic Boom #2, as well.
• Sticks’ references to exercise and sports tape are, of course, calling back to Knuckles’ and Sonic’s designs in Sonic Boom.
• It goes without saying that Wily thinks Zero looks like something he would build because Wily did indeed build him.
• Sigma references Chill Penguin’s DNA-soul, tying into Mega Man Xtreme 2 and Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X.
• A couple of familiar faces from old DiC cartoons appear in the “Off Panel” strip.

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Mighty No. X is a member of The Mega Man Network’s User Content Submission System, and the views expressed here reflect the views of the authors alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mega Man Network.

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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