DC x Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Legion #4: In Space, No-One Can Hear You Double-Cross

The battle between the Justice League and the titular Metal Legion is finally here. A lot of action this time and it falls into the kind of dialogue I tend to dislike, basically dialogue that doesn’t add anything. When the action is allowed to breathe I think the book feels a lot stronger, what is happening on each page isn’t hard to comprehend, the over-explaining almost makes the plot seem more complicated than it actually is, when in reality the events are extremely simple. I had hoped this series would aim a little higher than just being a crossover punch-up but I think unfortunately that is what it will shape up to be.

That being said, I love Metal Knightfall. An inspired choice, primarily due to Azrael’s colour scheme I assume. What a cool design, almost a shame he’ll only be in this one book. The fight between Eggman and Superman, thankfully, skips the chitchat, climaxing with a beautiful spread of the two trading blows. The way the Justice League solve the problem of the Metal Legion is unfortunately pretty cliché, deciding to swap opponents as each robotic duplicate is specialised to take down a specific hero. It’s been done to death, especially in children’s media, which brings me on to another thing that has been bothering me for a while now; who is this for? Who is the target demographic? As overall it seems to skew pretty young with its plot and themes, but the references and some of the jokes and dialogue are aimed much older. I don’t ultimately mind this, but it seems rather confused on what it wants to be. Especially as a 5-issue Mini with very little to say on a deeper level. I really think this could have been three issues, or even simply one longer issue.

Some more pages of team-up action before Eggman decides to pull his final Hail Mary. Lex has allowed our heroes to put a stop to Eggman’s plans, whilst also preventing them from travelling back to Earth. But of course, there’s a whole other set of heroes ready to show Lex Luthor who is boss. Adam Bryce Thomas’ art continues to be a stand out, but now that we’re well and truly into the final part of this story, I think it’s fair to say it’s a bit of a letdown. The fresh weirdness of the initial run definitely carried that through to its end, but now we’ve spent so long in this crossover space without trying to deepen or explore the plot and world more, it’s starting to all feel a little hollow.

The funny thing is, I don’t think this issue is particularly any worse than the last few, just that problems have compounded for me over the whole run, starting to leave me feeling cold. The best part is and has continually been the rivalry between Eggman and Lex. Again, the heart of this issue, with Lex doubly double crossing the double crosser Eggman, ready to destroy Sonic’s world to prove he’s the best.

This was a perfectly fine issue of the crossover, but I am more than ready for it to wrap up. If we see another DC x Sonic team-up, I really hope it aims a little higher in what it’s trying to say and be, and doesn’t fall back on the low-hanging fruit of seeing characters we know standing next to each other and fighting. It makes me want to go back and re-read Archie’s Sonic and Megaman crossover, the difference with that is that it was canon to both continuities, and I remember (if vaguely) it did a lot more with its robotic villains.