Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[MetalSkulkBane]

Annual 2022. I've been really looking forward to this one.

Blaze & Knuckles
Great art, favorite panel Blaze walking on lava. Kinda sad Marine didn't to a little more, one good joke would help.
The core is meeting between guardians, something many of us wanted to see for a long time. And it's good, honestly, it's just... it feels less like "story we wanted to tell" and more like "we need to find a way to squeeze Blaze into narrative again". You get what I mean or do I just sound petty?
Either way, it's good to see those two finally returning.

Omega & Gemerl
Again, pretty art. The "hero vs hero fight without winner" is my pet peeve, but in this case is understandable.
Story doesn't really achieves anything, just sorta reinforces what we know about the two. And that's fine.
My only problem: Omega talking. I'm so used to Flynn's hilarious dialogue and this one doesn't even try to match it. it's not fair complain, but I just couldn't shake it.

Cream & Orbot/Cubot
Not a great art, but does it job. Premise is good for a tongue-in-a-cheek sweet cute funny story.
Problem: Not funny enough. It has one single good joke (he's immune). Rest is... meh, fine enough I suppose.

Silver & Espio
Jesus, why art is this good? Why make tomatoes this gorgeous?
Rivals 2 team is back. This is probably best story but can they just spell out how Silver time travels? The implication I get is that time itself forces Silver back, which is complete news to me. Anyone else understood it this way?  I can't properly feel Silver's struggle when don't feel understand it.

Jet & Whisper
Artwork is just fine, but Wisps have some cute gags and Jet's room is just awesome. It's full of little details, like weights, because cool bro like Jet totally lifts, but priceless flying carpet just hanging there, so you know he's not actually using it.
And it's generally funny, even if it's on Jet's expanse. I mean, the card made me thing this will be a little serious. Is Jet's dad alive and away? I this super old card he keep re-reading? Is he tries to understand deeper meaning?
And who even asked for this team-up? There are doze other characters I want to see with Whisper first.
I kinda disliked it at first, weak premise and Jet's lameness, but after second read I think it's funny enough to work.

Rouge & Tangle (& Rough & Tumble)
So, anyone else suspects that writer noticed similar names first and was swore to make the story without thinking how it would work? Because both new duos are kinda forced.
Overall it's it very simple premise that you seen hundred times. Nothing special. But it's saved by great characterization.
Skunk Bros are good, but Tangle always is way more fun that she has right to be.
And Rouge is a thief! Yes! Finally! She's sneaky, she's smooth, she's morally grey. God I missed that.
One tiny complain: this is 3rd time people steal rhyming joke, It's old by now, there must be some spin on it.Vector's rap, that's how you do it. I mean, Rouge and Tangle both used slant rhymes, that's perfect set up for Skunk Bros declaring "moral victory".

I was a little disappointed by this annual, but it greatly improved on second read. even if 2020 was better. And it's nice to see so many minor characters get a shine.

9 hours ago, Kuzu said:

I love how blatantly nobody wants to write Shadow anymore lol. 

Haha, good one, rub it in. Side note, no one wanted to make story about Charmy, Belle or even Amy. I guess no one likes them too.

Whatever, don't feel like starting another pointless discussion about Shadow. Instead here's what I would write.

Shadow & Belle story

Spoiler

- Belle just finished a big machine that will help her village.

- She noticed Shadow being in the village for some reason. She walks to him and starts nervous conversation.

- She heard he was also made by good scientist who turned evil. And that he was Robotnik too and that kinda...she starts mangling her words

- Shadow harshly cuts with "We're nothing alike.", Belle looks sad. Shadow is here because he expect Badnik attack and sure enough a Super Badnik shows up.

- Shadow fights it, and Belle's machine gets damaged. Still scared, she tries to help, but fumbles.

- Shadow drags her away, growling she stays out of battlefield. But she quickly points to him Badnik's weak spot. If possible like this.
S: Stay out of the fight! You're in the way.
B: Loosen up!
S: What? (funny indignant face)
B: The screw! ((hands him the wrench) on Badnik's left shoulder.

- With Belle's Intel Shadow quickly wins. Belle apologies for being useless.

- Shadow specifies his early statement: they're nothing alike. He's a weapon of war. She's fixes stuff. She actually help, he just destroys, typical broody stuff.

- Belle makes hearty speech how him saving village is good too and that she just wants to make Mr Tinker proud and she never meet Gerald, but she thinks he would be proud too. Shadow either won't comment or dismisses it in unconvincing way.

- Two endings, depending on what I can get away with. Either Belle convinces him to help with fixing the machine (even by logic "I bet great ultimate life form would do it better") or he just runs off to look for more Badniks, Belle commenting that they both do good in their own way.

Story could been called "Relative', double meaning on their loose connection, being able to relate and relative point of view.

 

[The Deleter]

1 hour ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Omega & Gemerl
Again, pretty art. The "hero vs hero fight without winner" is my pet peeve, but in this case is understandable.
Story doesn't really achieves anything, just sorta reinforces what we know about the two. And that's fine.
My only problem: Omega talking. I'm so used to Flynn's hilarious dialogue and this one doesn't even try to match it. it's not fair complain, but I just couldn't shake it.

This is honestly my biggest part of enjoyment from Omega in these comics. Archie Omega was funny, but almost OoC with how cartoonishly comedic his lines tended to be, and regular moments of acting more human than robot. Games Omega has a personality that is funny due to how off-kilter his dialog tends to be, specifically because of how serious/logical/laser-focused on his goals he is in situations where lightheartedness is otherwise being thrown around. He doesn't have a cubot personality, he's almost as strict in robotic personality as SA-55, and that's part of what defines him in my eyes. Kind of like how Decepticons are portrayed - some iterations exaggerate the cartooniness of their personalities to be easier/funnier to write for, but all the individual quirks that make up their personalities is what makes the best versions of them enjoyable to begin with, both in humorous situations and serious angles.

And holy crap I love how the art for Omega portrayed him here. It might not be much, but Omega's design has always been a favorite of mine due to how deliberately badass it's supposed to look, and combined with his almost amoral stance, the momentarily ominous shots of his perpetual scowl and glowing red eyes in black were amazing. Not something I expected to be drawn up from a brief match-up at all, so I am now 100% on board with how well these writers can balance him between the humor of Sonic inherently and his more serious, darker portrayals. Maybe in the far future, even hope to see something more done with him as an amoral individual. Exactly what I've been hoping to see from him when separated from the Team Dark expectations.

Oh and the battle between him and Emerl was amazing as a fan of the robot crew. Again, love love love that the dialog is completely in line with and as restrained as the speech patterns of the robots as they are in the games themselves, while also allowing their personalities to shine through in where they are different. Gemerl is more prone to reflecting the more gracious behavior of Cream and Vanilla with his responses, while Omega is still prone to constant adjective insults and put downs whenever he finds the opportunity as a spiteful robotic soul. What comes off as more fax machines having an argument to others makes me love them more as additions individually to a varied roster lol

(btw that Shadow concept story is particularly good; I'd enjoy seeing something like that in the comics if it was possible. Good stuff )



This annual is particularly fantastic. One of my favorite potential aspects of IDW is the ability it affords the Sonic cast to bounce off of characters individually with how dynamic they can be, and this issue revolving entirely around that was my absolute jam. Incredibly charming and enjoyable work, and will definitely be an issue I'll return to many times in the future.



Also Rough and Tumble continue to be great, can't believe how much the fanbase underrates them lol

[Dreadknux]

Jumping in here to say, while this topic will remain open for the time being (to discuss general IDW stuff as always), we are introducing new guidance/rules that will encourage wider Comics forum discussion and remove the reliance on this megathread for all IDW discussion.

Please see the following thread for changes:

 

[MetalSkulkBane]

Sounds like a good idea.

Pedants like me with have easier time avoiding spoilers

People curious of old issues discussion won't have to check 1K pages to find it.

Heated arguments won't take-over the the topic.

And we already reached 1K pages, so this thread had a good run, can take it easy now.

[Kuzu]

3 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

 

Haha, good one, rub it in. Side note, no one wanted to make story about Charmy, Belle or even Amy. I guess no one likes them too.

Its a joke dude, jfc. I would have figured the fact that his absence had an obvious reason would have been a tip off.

No I don't think the writers have it out for him personally ffs.

I think I'm allowed to make some ironic statements about him without ruffling somebody.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

17 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

  Hide contents

That might very well be one of the best things that any Sonic comic has ever done.

[SkyHorizon]

5 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Haha, good one, rub it in. Side note, no one wanted to make story about Charmy, Belle or even Amy. I guess no one likes them too.

 

Charmy, Belle and Amy appeared massively in recent stories. Shadow doesn't. No one want to write it anymore, Ian even said it openly.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

You’d think an issue like this would be a moment for Shadow to actually chill for once.

I miss Archie Shadow…

[Kuzu]

26 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

You’d think an issue like this would be a moment for Shadow to actually chill for once.

I miss Archie Shadow…

Sega doesn't feel like Shadow actually does "chill" given they vetoed him hanging out with Rouge and Cream.

[Mauro Fonseca]

2 hours ago, SkyHorizon said:

Charmy, Belle and Amy appeared massively in recent stories. Shadow doesn't. No one want to write it anymore, Ian even said it openly.

No, he said he doesn't want to. (with a lot of other caveats, etc, but the point here is he tends to avoid speaking for others, so it's important to distinguish "Ian" and "no one".)

[SkyHorizon]

43 minutes ago, Mauro Fonseca said:

No, he said he doesn't want to. (with a lot of other caveats, etc, but the point here is he tends to avoid speaking for others, so it's important to distinguish "Ian" and "no one".)

That's PRECISELY what I wrote. I quote: "Ian even said it openly (that he doesn't want to write it, AN)".

[MetalSkulkBane]

2 hours ago, SkyHorizon said:

That's PRECISELY what I wrote. I quote: "Ian even said it openly (that he doesn't want to write it, AN)".

 

5 hours ago, SkyHorizon said:

 Shadow doesn't. No one want to write it anymore, Ian even said it openly.

Dude, look what you wrote one more time.

Can you see that it's not that precise? Just a little bit?

[Slashy]

Sonic, Tails, and Amy also didn't have their own stories. Why are we jumping on Shadow?

[Rabbitearsblog]

19 minutes ago, Slashy said:

Sonic, Tails, and Amy also didn't have their own stories. Why are we jumping on Shadow?

I guess in a sense, Sonic, Tails, Amy and even Shadow are major characters for the franchise and this annual was focusing on the secondary characters (although Knuckles was in this annual too).  I'm pretty sure we will see Sonic, Amy, Tails and Shadow in future annuals, depending on if SEGA lifts up their mandates over some of the characters in the near future.

[MGA_Gamer]

3 minutes ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

I guess in a sense, Sonic, Tails, Amy and even Shadow are major characters for the franchise and this annual was focusing on the secondary characters (although Knuckles was in this annual too).  I'm pretty sure we will see Sonic, Amy, Tails and Shadow in future annuals, depending on if SEGA lifts up their mandates over some of the characters in the near future.

Also, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles also appeared in this years FCBD issue as well, so it balances out I guess.

[Rabbitearsblog]

Just now, MGA_Gamer said:

Also, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles also appeared in this years FCBD issue as well, so it balances out I guess.

That is true!

[Kuzu]

Sonic, Tails, Belle and Amy have all been in major story arcs in the last six months, so their omission makes sense to allow room for the other supporting characters who haven't had as much screentime as of late. 

Shadow's absence just sticks out more because he hasn't been seen since January 2021, a whole year and seven months. We know why, so we don't need to go over that, it's just amusing to me is all . 

 

EDIT: Truth be told, his absence might mean he's due for a main story appearance in the near future. 

[DabigRG]

Hey there. Long time no see, eh? 

I've been meaning to post and review stuff from Imposter Syndrome onward, I just haven't had the space, drive, and eventually time to do it. For the sake of saying anything, I generally like Surge & especially Kit, find the changes Sega made to them considerable, have some interesting thoughts about Starline's death, and after just reading the annual, it was an alright batch of fun & nice.

15 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Sonic, Tails, Belle and Amy have all been in major story arcs in the last six months, so their omission makes sense to allow room for the other supporting characters who haven't had as much screentime as of late. 

Shadow's absence just sticks out more because he hasn't been seen since January 2021, a whole year and seven months. We know why, so we don't need to go over that, it's just amusing to me is all . 

EDIT: Truth be told, his absence might mean he's due for a main story appearance in the near future. 

Funny you mention that, considering how he answered a question during the first Live Bumblekast 

[Kuzu]

3 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

 

Funny you mention that, considering how he answered a question during the first Live Bumblekast 

Por que?

[DabigRG]

2 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Por que?

When someone lamented that Shadow isn't going to be used in the comic again, even with Surge around, he said he didn't get why they assumed that and said he shouldn't have much trouble showing up at some point. It wasn't an overt hint or anything, he just answered the question rather matter of factly.

[Kuzu]

7 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

When someone lamented that Shadow isn't going to be used in the comic again, even with Surge around, he said he didn't get why they assumed that and said he shouldn't have much trouble showing up at some point. It wasn't an overt hint or anything, he just answered the question rather matter of factly.

I'm not gonna take that as a confirmation of anything, but it does lend credence to my idea that he's going to be showing up sooner rather than later. 

[SkyHorizon]

18 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Dude, look what you wrote one more time.

Can you see that it's not that precise? Just a little bit?

Ehm... and that's why I specified to Mauro that he understood it wrong... 

[GOAT]

I guess I can post this here. I am finally starting Sonic IDW. I was a kid when the archie series came out/ran so I have wanted to make the move for a while now. I reread and finished archie last year and now its time for IDW.

I just read all of Berserk so its gonna be a little jarring going from that to Sonic IDW but I am excited for the switch up!

[MetalSkulkBane]

3 hours ago, GOAT said:

I guess I can post this here. I am finally starting Sonic IDW. I was a kid when the archie series came out/ran so I have wanted to make the move for a while now. I reread and finished archie last year and now its time for IDW.

I just read all of Berserk so its gonna be a little jarring going from that to Sonic IDW but I am excited for the switch up!

Well, it's gonna be shorter for starters.

If you liked Archie, IDW will be a blast. Less world-building, but more Sega Cast (still missing Sonic Universe though). Reading order is fairly simple, but don't hesitate to ask.

[Strider_Xhaiden]

This is probably the best place to put this, in case anyone's interested.

 

Volume 3 of the Sonic IDW Collection's up for pre-order on Amazon UK, dated for March 14th 2023. Figured some people here might wanna know.