"Born to..." page: there's probably a nice picture of Julie- Su under there somewhere.  And isn't it about time we lost the description of her as an "echidna whose loyalties are uncertain"?
     There are few point-of-view shots more disturbing that the one that opens this issue: one can only hope that Charmy was all the way under for this one and that it wasn't done under local anesthesia.  Which brings me to the topic of: Just what was the medical basis for this story anyway?
     It's been established that Mello and Charmy both succumbed to something in the chili sauce Renfield's been dishing out.  It's something that didn't have anywhere near as lethal an effect on anyone else (however hung over they may have felt later).  This isn't such a far-fetched notion.  I've heard repeated warnings from those in the know NEVER to feed chocolate to dogs: the stuff contains an enzyme or something that the canine system can't handle but that is easily assimilated by your everyday humanoid chocaholic.  So we can theorize that the LSD in the sauce is virulently toxic to bees.  And since it will be revealed that Charmy has undergone abdominal surgery, I can only guess that the stuff settled in his liver (assuming that Mobian bees have livers) and threatened to shut down the whole works.  That would be a plausible weak link in the gastric chain.  I also know of a rather gruesome real-life example: The mother of a former co-worker back in Chicago had been given "gold shots" (minute amounts of actual gold in a liquid suspension) by a quack to treat her arthritis.  The gold didn't do anything for the arthritis--instead it accumulated in the liver and she died of heavy metal poisoning.  Not a good way to go.
     OK, maybe I've thought more about the medical angle of the story than the readers are supposed to, but how else to justify the surgical scene in the beginning?  And besides, where's the dramatic tension in simply having one's stomach pumped?
     Back to the surgery: the purple blood was a nice touch, even though I didn't buy a word of the doctor's monologue.  Looks like they forgot to invent the Hippocratic Oath.  But let's wander away from this scene and turn our attention toward...
     Julie-Su getting thrown off a building!  At least we (if not Downtown and his gang) finally learn why Julie-Su wears such improbably thick boots: you can only fit so much into a utility belt.  While in freefall she deploys her deus ex machina (courtesy of Those Marvelous Toys, Inc., a division of Wayne Enterprises) and pays an impromptu visit to Binny and the Mrs.  Constable Remington intercepts her before she leaves the building and, figuring she's had a hard enough day already, directs her to an exit being guarded by only ONE of Downtown's goons.  The two of them get into Harry's cab and instruct him to follow Downtown's limo, secure in the belief that he won't notice someone following him at 1:00 in the morning (according to the clock on page 3).
     As Downtown phones ahead to the "Professor", his limo pulls into a factory with the name "Axis".  Maybe it was as close to "Acme" as they could get without Legal taking notice, I don't know.
     There follows a baffling little bit of repartee between Vector and his buds.  The croc seems more concerned about getting a radio signal than anything else.  And when he DOES get a signal it just HAPPENS to be a police band on which Remington is relaying the latest plot developments.  Say it with me: "Gee, What Are The Odds?"
     Remington and Julie-Su arrive at the factory, take out the dingo night watchman (who's watching World Cup Soccer) and enter the factory.  They observe Downtown talking to the Professor.  Of all the times to start showing initiative, the P is asking for one more day to whip up the latest batch of sauce.  Before Downtown can ask Blackjack to communicate his displeasure physically, a couple henchfurs ask where they should put all these cases of incriminating evidence.  The trunk of Downtown's limo, of course, is the ideal spot.
     By this time, what's left of the Chaotix have hitched a ride in a truck and arrived at the scene.  They check in with Harry then head for the factory.
     Inside, Downtown is in the process of shutting things down when he detects the presence of an intruder.  Blackjack goes to investigate, and Remington clobbers him with a 2 by 4; this just makes Blackjack mad.  Downtown, in a burst of gunfire and bad acting, starts shooting up the joint.  Julie-Su tries to get the drop on him but it doesn't quite work out, but Espio decloaks and disarms Downtown before he can pierce Julie-Su's ears or whatever other part of her head may be close by.
     Meanwhile, Mighty has taken care of Blackjack, and Downtown's moll "Foxie" tries to make a break for it but is stopped by Homie the Croc.  Harry wisely keeps his carcass inside his cab as the cavalry arrives.  Remington then confiscates what's left of the secret sauce from Renfield's carnival.
     The End?  You haven't been paying attention.
     In what feels like a transition to another comic book altogether, we segue to Haven, which is always good for a laugh.  And we look in on the comedy stylings of Sabre and Locke.  They're still wringing their mittens over Knuckles' "exhibition of power" from the last issue.  For his part, Knuckles simply expresses the wish to go home.  Immediately a wormhole opens on command.  Don't know whether it IS a wormhole, really, but it sounds more impressive than calling it "a McDonald playland slide" as another reader recently did.  Without even tapping his heels together or saying "There's no place like Echidnaopolis" (which IS a mouthful!), Knuckles steps inside and vanishes.
     This sets up a dazzling display of stinkin' thinkin' on the part of Sabre.  Rather than be impressed by his grandson's recent achievements, he's concerned about the fact that Knuckles "is displaying power similar to Dimitri's" and so he's got to report the kid to the Brotherhood.
     Even leaving aside the fact that Dimitri/Enerjak siphoned off the juice from eleven Chaos Emeralds to be able to pull off what he did (see "Sense of History", part 2 in Sonic #35), you have to wonder where Sabre is coming from.  It's clear to me that Sabre didn't read enough comic books when he was growing up.  If he had, he would have learned that there are superHEROES and superVILLAINS, and that the simple possession of powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal echidnas doesn't necessarily have to translate into a desire to conquer and/or trash one's homeworld.  Lara-Le would probably argue that if her ex had bothered to teach Knuckles the Tomes along with history, math, and the rest, Knuckles would have a clear idea of what constitutes right and wrong and therefore Sabre would have no reason to be so uptight (c.f. "The Other Road Taken" in Knuckles #10).  Locke tries reasoning with his old man, but it falls on deaf dreads.  Sabre's position on echidnas with super powers would seem to be: "Shoot  em all and let Stan Lee sort  em out!"  And of course Sabre insists on taking this to the Brotherhood instead of telling his own son Locke to get his tail out of Haven and start acting less like a Guardian and more like a father.  Then again, Sabre would probably hesitate to go there since he himself still has issues with his own father, Athair ("Covenant," Knuckles #11).  I'd be surprised if ANY of these jokers gets a Father's Day card this year.
     And in ANOTHER shifting of gears, we see a variation on a Type 6 Personnel Shuttle Craft from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" landing near "Goldenhive Colony" on Mobius.  Charmy and the Chaotix are accompanying Mello's body to its final resting place.  The reunion between Charmy and his family could have been a little more melodramatic--it's no Return Of The Prodigal Son--but the simple funeral splash on page 20 strikes just the right note.  When you're a teenager trying to duck your responsibilities, goofing off can seem like a "great adventure."  He then takes his leave of the Chaotix, to the dismay of some of the fans, and is formally invested as Crown Prince of the Colony.  Mello works in a celestial cameo appearance.
     This was a good story arc, and it was great to see Charmy take center stage for a good portion of it.  He managed to do in three issues what Sonic the Hedgehog has seriously avoided doing for years in the comic: allow some of his interior life to leak out and let the reader understand what makes him tick.  If anything, we could've done with less of the "caper" part of the story and been treated to more background about Charmy's relations with his family and significant others.  I found myself wondering why the suddenness of his running away, what had his relationship with Safron been like, and through what process he had gone to come to feel about his family the way he did about the Chaotix.  But this IS a comic book and not a novel.
     Fistful of Letters:   No letters, no fan art, but a full- page NiGHTS ad.  Knuckles #16: "Reunions"--it'll be interesting to see the Brotherhood in action and to get an idea of how dysfunctional they may be.  NiGHTS #4 (which I probably won't review) and Sonic #62 (which some readers have already seen but which won't land here until the end of the month--and today's the 17th).  And the Director's Cut of Sonic #50--Ken Penders has as much as said that he expects I'll upgrade my opinion of the story after having read it in its original form.  After the original disaster of a year ago, that's probably a safe bet.