Comic Book Review – Sonic Universe #54

Sonic and Mega Man fight for their lives in ‘When Worlds Collide’: Part Eleven of Twelve! The evil doctors Eggman and Wily have completed their ultimate battle-weapon: the Egg-Wily Machine X-Powered by the Chaos Emeralds, it is the most powerful battle machine ever constructed! As our heroes do battle, Metal Sonic and Bass join the fray! Will the combined might of the Wily/Eggman arsenal be too much for Sonic and Mega Man to handle? 

As Worlds Collide nears its end, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find adjectives to describe how brilliant this series is. The eleventh part of twelve, Sonic Universe #54 once again shows that Ian Flynn and his team ‘get’ this concept and have put together another fantastic read.

With this being the penultimate part of our story, Sonic and Mega Man face their toughest challenge yet – Bass and Metal Sonic. Flynn made such a smart choice in picking these two iconic villains as the “second to last bosses” as they both represent the same thing – robotic doppelgangers designed to know their every move. This leads to a superb issue long action sequence with some laugh out loud moments, high tension and phenomenal storytelling.

One thing that Worlds Collide has struggled with per say is that Sonic and Mega Man have never seemed to be in too much peril as they track down Eggman and Wily. No matter who they come across, they seemingly overcome the odds without too much concern. Whether Flynn was saving that for this issue is unknown, but Sonic Universe #54 is the first time in the series where it looks like our heroes might be outmatched. They have to work together and use their past 10 issues worth of knowledge to get past this tricky task. It all makes for a brilliant read as Sonic and Mega Man attack, fail and then reevaluate the situation in the most engrossing way possible.

Flynn has also done a great job by juxtaposing the relationship between Sonic and Mega Man with that of Eggman and Wily. The evil duo started off this series the best of friends but overtime (especially very recently) the cracks of their partnership are beginning to show, which will no doubt lead to their downfall. Sonic and Mega Man on the other hand started off as enemies and didn’t know whether they should trust each other. But as the series has progressed, their friendship has grown and their teamwork has improved – as demonstrated in the last couple of action packed issues and even more so here. It shows the level of detail Flynn and his team have put into this series and why it’s been one of the highlights of the comic book year.

Sonic Universe #54 is the culmination of everything they’ve been building up over the last 10 issues of Worlds Collide. The writing is brilliant, the pacing is perfect and the artwork leaps of the page. Excitement levels are high riding into the final chapter of this epic crossover, but it will be sad to see it end.

Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.