INFO BURST

Format: Comic strip
Initial Release Date: December 1992
Feature character: Sonic the Hedgehog
Other characters: Rotor Walrus
Locations: None specifically mentioned, takes place in a baseball field
Continuity: Archie Comics
Synopsis: Sonic plays baseball with Rotor, bemoaning the fact he is so fast he can run to third base before he’s even heard the crack of the bat.

CREDITS

Writer: Michael Gallagher
Artists: Scott Shaw, Bill White

Review

Another quickie gag story, another case of there being very little material to work with. Scott Shaw’s art does a great job of stretching out a joke which is quite thin, showcasing Sonic in different positions and wearing different exaggerated expressions all in a single motion over the “Sonic is fast” joke once again. At the risk of sounding like a bore, this doesn’t feel like the most exciting showcase of Sonic’s powers. And, in fairness to writer Michael Gallagher, it’s not really meant to be exciting, it’s meant to be funny. But we’re only two issues in and already this gag is wearing thin. At the risk of sounding like a nitpicker, it’s also not clear exactly why Sonic is frustrated that he can outrun the speed of sound. You’d think he’d be pleased with himself that nobody can beat him at sport, noted egotist that he is.

To give a little more credit to the script, perhaps the fun of this piece comes not from the joke that Sonic is too fast to play sports properly but from the amusing concept of seeing Sonic do things most of the comic’s readers would consider mundane. Baseball being such a staple pastime of life in the USA, it’s not hard to imagine plenty of young readers would wish they could call upon Sonic’s super speed to help the win a game. Certainly, the strip is more charming than it is funny, but perhaps that’s the point. As with the other single-page strips, it’s difficult to get too irked by this given its short length. One quick chuckle later and you’re on to the next one.