Other-M, "Preparations for War"
issue #19, pages
Review written by Matthias Johnson, a.k.a. Tergonaut
E-mail: tergonaut@aol.com
Summary: In a council meeting with his Chaotix, the Guardian
demands a solution for the rebel menace, and Espio lays out a
ploy that could end the war once and for all.

Credits:
Cover: Jason "SA" Torres, coloring by Tiger Girl Soldier
Story: Ian Potto
Art: Tiger Girl Soldier
Lettering: Ian Potto
Other-M logo design: Jeffrey "Z-Kara" Houston

Plot: The scene opens in the council chambers of the Guardian,
where the tension is running as high as the Guardian's temper
when he begins by asking the Chaotix a few simple but calculating
questions about their current situation.  With Prelates Nack and
Ray dead and the rebellion still at large despite the destruction
of their secret mountain base, Knuckles is getting mighty testy
that innocent echidna lives are being spent every day in the war
against the rebels.  In a climactic moment, Knuckles gives the
Chaotix sixty seconds to come up with a plan before killing them
all.
     It turns out to be Espio who speaks up, telling of a way to
bring the rebels out into the open.  He says that by proclaiming
a specific date to meet the Guardian's forces in battle, the
rebels will jump at the chance to end the war quickly.  To make
sure the rebels would take the risk, the bait would be for the
rebels to be given back their sovereignty should they win the
battle.  It becomes the plan of choice, and the Guardian
authorizes it immediately, sending the message throughout
Echidnaopolis to announce that in two weeks, the Guardian's
forces will openly combat the rebels in a decisive battle to end
the senseless conflict once and for all rather than dragging it
out and killing more innocent lives.
     The odds are easily against the rebels, but they are so
desperate to turn the tide of the war that they see this as the
one chance they'll ever get to do so.  Sonic particularly
encourages the others to stand up and take this opportunity, and
two weeks later the rebels are preparing to fight.
     Fiona finds Sonic's confidence in the face of this situation
puzzling, not knowing that this is not the same Sonic that she
had known before the grenade blast that had supposedly jarred his
memory.  This is the Sonic who has faced against Dr. Robotnik in
another world, where almost every battle was a last-second
victory for the Freedom Fighters and for himself.  But Sonic
promises to explain everything if they live through the battle to
come, and he and Fiona go off to spend a last few minutes
together before the fighting begins.
     Bunnie approaches Antoine and Rotor, who are silently
preparing themselves for battle as experienced fighters, and asks
them if they're ready.  Antoine answers readily enough, but Rotor
is lost in his thoughts of his parents and brother for a moment
before standing up, his twin knives shining and sharp, well-kept
and well-used.
     And then we go to the perspective of the Guardian as he
watches his Legion of Justice arrayed in fine glory for the
battle ahead.  His thoughts turn to Mammoth Mogul, to Dimitri,
and to Locke, his father.  This is a highly emotional moment for
him even as he proclaims that he has surpassed them all, and will
now overcome the rebellion, the one thing left standing in his
way of the domination of Mobius.
     And this issue ends with the promise of being
continued...for the battle between the rebellion and the
Guardian's forces, the battle that will decide the outcome of the
war!

Analysis/Opinion: The Guardian apparently has run out of patience
with the rebellion, even going to the extent of threatening his
own Chaotix.  By issuing this ultimatum, he puts an awful lot of
trust in the judgement of a person he was just about to kill,
which is not always the best thing to do.
     In a way, this isn't really a very long issue, although it's
definitely setting the stage for the next issue.  Both sides are
jumping at this chance for honest, open combat, a chance to throw
aside the shadows of guerilla warfare that usually results in the
deaths of noncombatants in the close quarters of Echidnaopolis. 
Sonic's enthusiasm for this is obvious, as it has never been his
style to skulk in the shadows.  Sonic has always been a show-off
to a degree, which is what made him such an excellent distraction
to Robotnik's forces during the earlier days when the Freedom
Fighters couldn't fight Robotnik head-on.
     It is also important to examine each character's reactions
to the preparations being made.  Bunnie, despite the loss of
Bean, seems cheerful enough.  Of course, I'd probably be cheerful
too if I had two laser gauntlets, much more useful than most of
the stuff the other rebels seemed equipped with in this issue. 
Antoine is enthusiastic, yet he's calm and collected, not prone
to sudden movements.  Rotor's thoughts are the most revealing, as
he is clearly ready to wreak vengeance for the deaths of his
parents and family.  Fiona is slightly worried because of the
sheer importance of this event.  And Sonic is clearly confident
about the outcome, having faced such nearly-impossible
circumstances before and usually coming out fresher than a daisy. 
He's not really scared at all about what might happen.
     Knuckles is rather twisted, but he seems to still have some
feeling yet in his heart.  I actually thought that his extension
of his guardianship over the entire world, making it "his
island," was a rather noble kind of goal, albeit his skewed
viewpoint has made it so that he oppresses the people he is
supposedly protecting.  This motivation makes him less of a
mindless madman and more of a soul to be pitied.  Still, one must
not misinterpret that pity should translate into justification of
his actions, for he has done many terrible things, oppressing
people of Mobius, using Julie-Su as his pleasure toy, among
others.  Regardless of his beginnings, he made the choices up to
this point of his own free will and knowledge, and no matter the
influences in his life, he could have chosen for the better.

Artwork: Jason "SA" Torres did the cover, with coloring from
Tiger Girl Soldier.  Knuckles is at the forefront, dressed in his
finest and obviously challenging the four rebels, Sonic, Fiona,
Rotor and Antoine, who are standing on bare ground with a vague
mountain in the background, while in the darkness above the
mountain, a few of Knuckles's Legion of Justice stand at full
attention.  The only thing I can find to comment on besides the
good artwork is that Rotor's belly seems to be quite gigantic.
     Tiger Girl Soldier did the art for this issue.  I think her
artwork is very good, although at times in the issue her style
seems to dip into making the characters rather cute and cuddly,
like on the first page where I just wanna give Prelate Miles a
big ol' hug, and on page 9 in the bottom panel where the main
rebels look somewhat on the chibi side of things.  Still, I think
she did some very good scenes, including the part between Fiona
and Sonic.  I really liked the one panel with the heart and flora
as Sonic puts his arms around Fiona's waist from behind, which I
think to be a very romantic way to hold someone.
     Ooh!  She put her character into a cameo for this issue.  On
page 12, she's the tiger girl holding the pistol, sorta
centrally-located in the pic.  I'm not sure, but I think the girl
just to the left of her is JagGirl, TGS's friend and associate in
the Dimensional Police.

Final Word: This is preparatory to the final conflict between the
rebellion and the Guardian.  Things are tense, and yet the rebels
are wildly optimistic about their chances of winning.  Perhaps
it'll be this flaring confidence in their strength that will help
them win the day.
     Things are drawing to a point.  Sonic must try not to lose
his focus, however, for overconfidence can be a fatal misstep in
a darker world where friends are foes and doom hangs overhead.