DC x Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Legion #5: So Long, and Thanks for all the ‘Hogs

Here we have the final issue of Metal Legion, and for now the final of the DC x Sonic crossover. The battle commences, and we see Lex’s very cool and silly Deathlex Robot (I assume is the name). Adam Bryce Thomas’s art is firing on all cylinders in this issue, pushing the weird angles and spectacular poses. The matchups chosen here are fun, some more interesting than others. Captain Cold and Blaze is a bit trite and uncreative. Cheetah and Supergirl is fine for two heavy hitters, Cream versus Sinestro is a great idea, if a little cruel but the teamwork between her and Cheese gets the job done. Aquaman and Big versus Black Manta is a highlight. Big’s gormless and good-natured personality is such a good contrast to the pure evil of Manta. He tries to see the best in Manta, but Arthur quickly shuts it down. Seeing Cheese use the Yellow Lantern ring is some great schlocky fun that I love to see especially as he summons a construct of the Metal Overlord from Sonic Heroes. The Justice League handily takes down Lex, however reality begins to break down as the portals become unstable. It takes the Flash and Sonic to shut down all the portals to return the worlds back to normal, cutting the two sides off once again, leaving us with the question of who truly was faster.

A brisk and adequate finale to a series that despite its short issue count, was feeling a little long in the tooth. I think the pacing was definitely off, there wasn’t enough meat to the story to subsist across five issues. This installment definitely cured my fatigue with the book somewhat, not so dragged out, no annoying cliffhangers, and I’ll definitely look back on it more fondly, but I do have to ask what the point of it all was. The Metal Legion didn’t do a whole lot or drive the plot in any meaningful way. I think Metal Sonic can be a really compelling character on his own, especially even without dialogue, a character so envious of the real Sonic, it developed into a superiority complex. I think if given the opportunity he could have been a great “true villain” for this run especially with some kind of Neo-Lex form or something. Obviously that’s not what we got, which is fine but I can’t help wishing that this story was less shallow. I am both, and am not the target audience for this, I love all the constituent elements, but I also don’t love the action-figure style storytelling in story is a thin excuse for action scenes.

I will miss this series for the unconventional nature of the crossover, something I never thought I’d see, or honestly ever even considered. If it does return I hope it has something more to say about the real world or either component series. Lex and Eggman’s chemistry was undoubtedly the highlight, as a showcase for the designs of the characters it also functions adequately. The art has been a huge highlight throughout, I love seeing ABT work outside his usual wheelhouse and push the DC characters in a way they very rarely are by the usual artists, and I’d love to see more of it going forward. Maybe it’s the manga reader in me, and how much I enjoy the manga influence of the Sonic book, Absolute Batman is certainly achieving this.