Identify the source of the following line: "Since when was I ever subtle?"  Was it:
     A) Sonic interrupting Robotnik yet again
     B) Ken Penders justifying yet another unbelievably heavy-handed movie reference
     C) My forthcoming review of "Sonic Live" to be followed by "Sally Dead"
Sonic comes into Robotropolis to do some shopping, despite the damage to the city which is mentioned in passing and which has no bearing on the plot.  Remember, Robotropolis has supposedly been hit by an earthquake ("The Fall of Robotropolis", Sonic #37) and nuked ("Mecha Madness").  Once again, despite all this, we don't SEE anything remotely resembling carnage on a massive scale, not even so much as a crack in the sidewalk, so the reader will be forgiven for not taking these story arcs seriously.  Freddy Gabrie doesn't help by throwing in an editorial box saying that the city damage is "Nothing an earthquake...and a few bombs...can't take care of."  Gee, Fred, I usually use that phrase to describe the solution, not the problem!  Anyway, after a little five-finger discount, Sonic heads back for Knothole, where he and guest star Geoffrey St. John begin verbally sparring.  Sally tries to break it up, and it falls to Rotor to get the plot back on the rails: it involves some kind of "neutralizer", presumably not the same thing as the "energy inhibitor"/bug bomb from "Heart of Darkness" (#36).  Or maybe it is...this is never really cleared up.  Despite Ken's having written both stories, the gears don't exactly mesh cleanly.  Anyway, Sally's ready to undertake the mission to rescue her father by herself.  Geoffrey suggests that, for the greater good, she stay behind and that she let him take a crack at it.  Sonic suggests a change in casting, followed by Geoffrey's offering to settle matters by putting a crossbow bolt through Sonic's head.  Take it easy, Ken, you'll get a chance to work out the ol' blood lust with issue #47.  The two let their hormones take over and start slugging it out.  On any other planet, such a confrontation between highly competitive males would be settled in the classic manner: drop your pants and get a ruler.  But since this is Mobius, none of the males are wearing pants.  Instead of acting on her first instincts and taking off through the portal while Sonic and Geoffrey continue their male bonding ritual, she breaks up the fight and ends up taking both of them along.
     Cut to the King verbally abusing some mutant toad who dropped by to audition for Worst New Character of 1996.  The King then suddenly has a flashforward seeing Sally, Sonic and Geoffrey in an apparition that then disappears.  Cut to the gang as they slam into a floating rock of some kind while Nicole works on her Mr. Data impersonation.  They then are literally beside themselves; they catch a glimpse of the confrontation they had with the King five issues before.  Nicole explains that Robotnik's tampering with the zone has caused a temporal rift to form, where they can witness events of the past as well as the future.  If you're unclear on the mechanics of this, watch "All Good Things...". the series finale of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"; it's two hours well spent.  So anyway, they then witness the King's first landing in the zone and his being made leader of the Imps (you know, the reptilian types who look like refugees from DOOM).  They witness him being fitted with his suit of armor, but a solar wind of some sort separates Sonic from the group and puts him within striking distance of the King's lance.
     Fasten your seat belts; the ride gets really bumpy here.  Sonic gets zapped back to Sally and Geoffrey who say he never left.  The ones who are leaving, though, are the Imps, who are getting sucked into some kind of vortex.  The group then figure out that the jet packs they brought along to maneuver through the zone are useless without a charge from the "neutralizer" that's supposed to stabilize the zone.  Or something.  Anyway, as a last resort, Sally and Geoffrey blast off with the energy from the neutralizer having refueled Geoffrey's jet pack.  Sonic punches out Sally's old man...hey, he started out trying to put Geoffrey's lights out so why not keep things moving?  Geoffrey then activates the neutralizer, which apparently still has some juice left in it.  The trio returns with the King's limp body.  Sonic orders someone to get "Doctor Quack" -- not a name that would inspire confidence.  Maybe he should consider changing it to something that sounds more professional, like "Hugo Z. Hackenbush."  Hey, Ken, how's THAT for a film reference?  As we close, his condition is undetermined.
     Sorry, Ken, I wanted to give this story a chance but it needs work.  I LIKE the idea of temporal flux, don't get me wrong, but even though the events are as linear as can be expected in a time-shift plot, something still feels wrong about the story structure.  For instance, aside from an offhand remark or two, the rivalry between Geoffrey and Sonic is forgotten when they're in the zone.  Understandable, but maybe if Sally had gone in alone and Sonic and Geoffrey had to try setting aside their differences to go in after her and get the job done, the story would have had more of a hook.
     Not that the Kyle Hunter artwork is any help.  After a few brilliant flashes (the bungee sequence, the first detailed drawing of Robotnik, the first appearance of the King in armor), his drawings go flat.  The problem isn't just that, as Alessandro  pointed out, the characters are drawn out of proportion.  Their expressions take on a mask-like sameness after a while.  Kyle settles on one or two facial expressions for each character and repeats them.  And repeats them.  There's none of Mawhinney's subtlety or Spaziante's extravagance.  Geoffrey doesn't look particularly threatening when pointing his crossbow at the back of Sonic's head, nor does Sally seem moved by any kind of recognizable emotion when confronting her father in the zone or when looking down at his immobile form on the last page.  Speaking of which, that last panel is a neat summary of everything wrong with the artwork: without a background, the expressions and gestures are revealed in all their emptiness.  You might want to switch Kyle over to doing Chaotix until he gets the hang of it.  Maybe he had to hurry to meet deadline, I don't know, but from expression to composition to gesture Kyle's drawings just deflate by the end of the story.  It never comes anywhere near the creepiness promised by Spaziante's cover art.
     Sonic Art and Find Your Name: same old same old.
     Sonic Grams: Fred, you might not want to admit that the Death Egg miniseries won't disrupt the story's continuity -- you're not going to sell many copies that way.  Reminds me of Anna Russell's celebrated statement about the close of Wagner's Ring Cycle: "And so we find ourselves, twenty hours later, right back where we started from!"  Yeah, yeah, I'm going to order it anyway.  Letters: Mobie [ :-P ] and Dulcy [ :-) ] will be making future appearances, and apparently #43 will be the Great Reconciler Issue where the past will be explained and clarified...just before the current scenario is abandoned in favor of the Brave New World set-up.
     Notes From The Net: THIS guy again!?  He needs to get a life!  Alessandro again supplied the best answer concerning the number of other Sega game allusions in "Rage Against The Machine": "WAY WAY WAY TOOOOO MANY!"  Pat, I appreciate an inside joke as much as the next guy, and I know that Sega makes many other games besides Sonic.  But as David Letterman might put it in his uniquely soft-spoken, urbane manner, "LET 'EM GET THEIR OWN DAMN COMIC BOOKS!!!" By the way, one piece of fan art, three names and one SonicGram came from Down Under.  Nice to know we've got readers in Oz.  Maybe one of them can volunteer to coach Geoffrey on his accent; it could use some work.  G'day, mates.