Review – DC X Sonic the Hedgehog #3: The Pinch-Hitters
DC X Sonic the Hedgehog #3 cover, via DC Comics.
Ray: Crossovers are always best when they can put the characters in new situations, and it seems like this one is going to essentially take place in multiple acts. After a two-issue team-up of Sonic's crew and the Justice League, Darkseid managed to gain the upper hand – and the result was the Justice League being trapped on Angel Island, while Sonic and friends were shunted back to Earth. With the help of Mr. Terrific, they're able to get their bearings and agree to take over for the missing Justice League – with each of them taking over the beat of the hero they're closest to. Tails takes up with the Teen Titans (and gets some temporary cyborg enhancements), while each of the others heads to one of the DCU's most famous locales to take on some of the worst villains around. But almost all the villains seem upgraded somehow – and they all have a new piece of jewelry to go with it. Missing in Action. Via DC Comics.
Silver teams up with the Green Lantern Corps, taking on Sinestro and Parallax in an epic space battle. Amy Rose has the time of her life with Hawkgirl and Supergirl, defending Washington from Grodd. Shadow fills in for Batman in Gotham, battling the Joker and proving to be far less willing to do the regular dance with him. Sonic proceeds to outrace Reverse Flash and drive him nuts with banter. And in the best segment, Knuckles has a parlay with Lex Luthor, who tries to get one over on the super-strong echidna. And each of these villains turns out to have a Chaos Emerald, bring them one short of the number they need to unite them – but giving them the answers they've been looking for. Next issue promises to fill us in on where the Justice League has been (likely wrangling Robotnik). Overall, even though this story has to handle a ton of storylines, it's been a lot of fun so far.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Geek Dad
a day ago
- Geek Dad
Review – Absolute Green Lantern #3: Hunger in the Dark
Absolute Green Lantern #3 cover, via DC Comics. Ray: Al Ewing has turned Green Lantern into a full-fledged horror story, and like every horror story, it has some classic inspirations. Fans of Stephen King will obviously see the influence from Under the Dome here, as the mysterious alien judge Alan Scott has created a green energy field over part of the city – trapping Jo Mullein, Hal Jordan, John Stewart – and John's friend Todd Rice, who enters the story this issue. While the story jumps back and forth in time, we see more this issue of the earlier segment, as the crew tries to figure out the strange new world they find themselves trapped in. It's John who takes the lead here, with his strategic mind discovering that the field reacts a certain way to metal – or anything it perceives as metal – and starts trying to break it down. But this attracts Abin Sur's attention, and the inscrutable alien proceeds to cast his judgement over John. Lockdown. Via DC Comics. We know from the earlier issues that the power will wind up vested with two of these characters – Jo with the Green Lantern ring, and Hal with the Black Hand. What we didn't know until now is that those powers are diametrically opposed, with the Black Hand trying to consume the green automatically – and anyone it's attached to. This is the first take on Green Lantern that portrays these powers not as superpowers, but as something terrifying and bizarre, that would be beyond the average person's ability to comprehend. Al Ewing has worked a lot with cosmic powers before, and his books are often deeply haunting, but part of the credit here goes to the great Jahnoy Lindsay. Their art is deeply unsettling in places, creating a sense of just how powerful these elements are. This is the most mysterious of the Absolute line so far, and it has me incredibly intrigued by what comes next. To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week. GeekDad received this comic for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Geek Dad
a day ago
- Geek Dad
Review – Absolute Superman #8: Showdown in Smallville
Absolute Superman #8 cover, via DC Comics Ray: For the last few issues, we've been teased about what happened in Smallville. One emotional issue showed us the few weeks Kal-El spent in the small town, being found by Jonathan and Martha Kent when he was a teenager. You could see that they would have shown him the same love they did if they found him as a baby – but then Lazarus Corp came, hunting him, and Kal was forced to flee. And all these years later, that's still the only place he ever felt safe. But this isn't the Smallville he left. The town has been fully taken over by the shadowy corporation, turning the farmers into modern serfs. Jonathan Kent is long gone, and Martha Kent languishes in a memory care center. Kal tries to visit, but she doesn't recognize him. And so he prowls the streets of Smallville – along with Lois Lane, and Omega Man Jimmy Olsen. Put to the test. Via DC Comics. The three main players have been in opposition from the start, with Lois not sure she can fully turn her back on her father's army yet and Jimmy not trusting anyone associated with them. And Superman, of course, stuck in the middle. But now, the Peacemakers are about to enter the fray, led by the mad and cybernetically-enhanced Agent Smith, turned into a raging monster. The action in this issue is intense, but as usual with the Absolute Universe, there's a great emotional underpinning to every issue. And then there's the main villain, Ra's Al Ghul. Whether he's the true big bad of this series or Brainiac is, it's hard to tell. But after last issue's spotlight for Brainiac, what we see of Ra's here is no less terrifying. Here more a mad warlord than the utopian we often see him as, he's further gone – and plays a key role in introducing Kryptonite to the world of Superman, raising the stakes even higher. To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week. GeekDad received this comic for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Geek Dad
a day ago
- Geek Dad
Review – Secret Six #4: Cats and Shots
Secret Six #4 cover, via DC Comics. Ray: So far, most of Secret Six has been dedicated to the story of the trio of young heroes who were ripped apart by Absolute Power – Jon Kent, Jay Nakamura, and Nia Nal. But now they're separated, with Nia captured by Checkmate along with Deadshot and Black Alice, and Jay using his intangibility to stay one step ahead of them and infiltrate the base where they're being taken. As for Jon, he made the tricky decision to escape with Catman last issue – and now the two unlikely allies have to make their way back to their friends. The main threat at the start of the issue is Jeanette, probably the most obscure member of the Secret Six but a character Maines obviously likes. She's a banshee, whose inhuman form is like something out of a horror movie. And her wail has a lot more to it than just sound – it's essentially a pained song of grief about her horrific execution centuries ago. Close shave. Via DC Comics. But the heart of this issue is between Catman and the young Superman, as they try to stay under the radar and get back to the base before it's too late. Catman's always been a great character ever since Gail Simone got her hands on him way back when, and his snarky, gruff nature makes him a perfect fit for Jon's more optimistic personality. We knew that there was some sort of nasty falling-out with his mate Deadshot before this series began, and the issue finally lets us in on that secret – and people who felt there might be something more going on between these two than we thought will be very happy to read this issue. Catman's been one of the DCU's more UTR queer characters for a while, although he did have a great Pride story in one of the previous anthologies. Overall, this title hits on the same thing that made the first Secret Six run work so well – the oddball mix of personalities. To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week. GeekDad received this comic for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
