Sonic Universe #88 is the second part of Knuckles and Amy's quest to rebuild the shattered Master Emerald, which Knuckles has been charged with guarding. This quest happens to coincide with Team Darks' (Shadow, Rouge, and Omega) mission to find an alien menace called Eclipse. Things open up with our heroes in various predicaments, and none of them are any fun. Shadow and Knuckles are arguing with another Echidna named Nixus about various coincidences, Amy and Rouge are endanger of being swallowed by cave crystals, and Omega is under the influence of a dark force, pitting him against his friends. So yeah, pretty action packed issue we've had here.

One good thing about these kinds of comics is that you already kind of have their voices in your head which really helps out a writer when doing dialogue for them. It also helps because, having played with these characters in several video games it's cool to see them in what feels a more "natural" setting. In the past, I've kind of laughed at the idea that Shadow is just edgy Sonic, (who himself is edgier than his original appearance).

In Sonic Universe, things I might have laughed at in the game from characters in terms of dialogue feel more in-character. Like, there's no way this could be played up for a laugh. It's just how they are. In addition, I also feel like there's more character to play with. Whereas in the games, Knuckles has always come across as pretty one-dimensional, with Sonic receiving the most, if any, character development.

Here, Knuckles actually gets to play a character impacted by his environment and the people around him. Plus, it’s cool to see an addition to the Mobius lore. Which makes me wonder why this isn’t called “Mobius Universe?” Or simply “Mobius.” Sonic hasn’t even appeared in this story, but that’s a tiny gripe.

Never read the series before, but honestly, I feel this was a solid place to hop on. The art was very well done, by Jim Amash, and Ian Flynn provided perfectly in-character dialogue. Which feels weird to say because I already feel like I know the characters so well! Point being, I had no issues with the writing here. The little tidbits included at the end were really just the icing on the cake. Loved this book and can’t wait for more!

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Sonic Universe #88 Writer: Ian Flynn Artist: Jim Amash Publisher: Archie Comics Price: $3.99 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

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