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IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread


Dejimon11

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Shits getting intense! Me likely!

Glad the comic team still have their touch on high stakes. They still make the Deadly Six earn their name like they did in Archie’s atrocious Worlds Unite arc—goddamn Zavok looks evil.

And I still think the Metal Virus will be set up for Ian’s take on a future Metallix arc. If he ever gets that chance, lord knows what twists he’ll do.

19 hours ago, Jack out of the comics! said:

Not what I personally want, so who asked for this stuff?

And if I said it was me?

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Oooh I really hope the battle in this issue isn't rushed and underwhelming. Stakes are tense in those pages!

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Haven't been on for a while. Things are a bit crazy on my end. I'm getting my room completely re-done and had to spend all day cleaning it out and what not. Also, I currently don't have a bed but one is coming by Sunday. So there's that. I finally have time to review this annual though, at almost 4 in the morning. 

It's another really good one too.

Big's Big Adventure
Written by Ian Flynn, Art by Jonathan Gray, Colors by Reggie Graham

Spoiler

 

Jonathan Gray's artstyle works really well for a setting and tone like this. It's really amazing just how much it fits despite it being a Big the Cat centered story. It's, of course, an homage to the fact that no matter what's happening or where it's happening, Big the Cat is in the background doing something, completely oblivious to the main plot and the main plot (mostly) oblivious to him. Of course, there's a cute moment where Sonic actually does see him and they do a song lyric reference that ACTUALLY WORKS. Like, the way it's written, it comes off as playful and something they would naturally say to each other rather than that cringey shoehorned "What I'm Made of" reference Master Overlord did. 

I was taken in by how delighted I was to see where Big was during all of this. I even found it wonderfully ridiculous that he was on the fish ship when Sonic and Neo Metal were having their fight. There was a part of me that got a little worried that it was just going to boil down to a pseudo recap but thankfully that didn't happen. We started to get into stuff we didn't see at all and eventually got reminded of the fact that Big is actually a pretty good fighter.

That ending page might be the most effective page in the book though. The ominous and sad shot of Big slowly and obliviously turning into a zombot while sat there overlooking the transforming forest over the dark horizon is gut wrenching. I'm blown away. I feel privileged to have grown up in the timeline that allowed me to experience such a thing.

 

 

Darkest Hour
Story and Art by Evan Stanley

Spoiler

 

So this one took me a bit by surprise. I wasn't expecting to get an entire story about two previously unknown civilians however when I realized that's what it was going to be, I welcomed it greatly. Side-stories within the zombie apocalypse are great for fleshing out how different people react in situations like this. Does a lot for the world building too which is something Evan Stanley says she wishes to focus more on during her run. 

Nite the Owl and Don the Rooster do make pretty good first impressions. I was charmed by Nite's personality and reverence for "the people" and I do like that rough and tough Don showed pretty quickly that he's got a good heart to go along with that survivalist instinct of his. 

That said, I think what really makes this effective is the atmosphere. Radio stations out in the middle of nowhere always gave off that sort of isolated creepy feel whenever I was on the road to New York City at it was pitch black dark out. Imagining being in one kind of always got my survivalist, juices going so seeing it here in a zombie story set the immediate right atmosphere for me. It probably only hit me in a way that could have been relatable in that exact manner though.

 

 

Reflections
Story by Caleb Goellner, Pencils by Aaron Hammerstrom, Inks/Colors by Reggie Graham

Spoiler

 

A silent story about Metal Sonic. Due to being a silent story aside from literally three panels, what happens within it is mostly up to interpretation. I do feel like I have a good handle on what's going on though. Metal Sonic is ironically the only person shown in this book to willingly attempt becoming a Zombot but due to the fact that he's already a robot, it slides right the fuck off of him and back into the tub. Then he just stands there, so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn't even notice Starline immediately. 

One can only guess, considering the images of Sonic with the gunk on his hands that keep popping up, that he was hoping to use it to turn into one as well for the sake of becoming stronger. A Zombot on top of a robot sounds hilarious but it wasn't to be. He's definitely contemplating how to best proceed from here now that this avenue is closed off from him. Either that or he's sulking and literally can not show it through shifts in facial expression. it's tough but I do think this awakened me more to the beneficial side of having a silent character like Metal Sonic.

So often Metal Sonic, to me, is just the guy you have a boss battle with every once in a while. He's only ever come off like an actual character to me in Heroes and in the various comics he's been in so this continues to be something to help keep him more endearing. Often I do tend to forget to even include him in character pools when I'm making pointless lists of who I want to play as in fantasy games that don't exist so anything that helps is appreciated. 

 

 

Eggman's Day Off
Story by Sarah Graley, Pencils by Lamar Wells, Inks by Bracardi Curry and GiGi Dutreix, Colors by Bracardi Curry

Spoiler

 

First of all, the art here is really good. At first I thought it might have been Adam Bryce Thomas but no, it was Lamar Wells. It's really well done though. Secondly, it's great to see just how huge of a man-child Eggman is, playing with his action figures and all that, but he has a Rouge the Bat figure?! The allusive Rouge the Bat figure that has yet to be made (aside from the over-priced Sonic X one I saw on ebay) is trapped within the pages of this comic book. AGH! How frustrating. I'm still kicking myself for not getting the Big the Cat one when I had the chance too.

However, yes, this was great. It's interesting how Eggman was so open to shamelessly showing this stuff off to Starline. The guy was willing and ready to kiss his ass over all of it too, but unfortunately, he's in cahoots with Comic Eggman and not Boom Eggman so the extremely dark, uncomfortable, shivering punchline at the end hits and it just makes me go "Oh shit..." 

This takes the "Never meet your heroes" thing to an extreme level, if it didn't already based on what we've seen. We've already done a few deep dives into what Eggman's character is because of the Mr. Tinker plot but what's it say about a guy who's this nonplussed about sculpting a robot toy of someone who did everything in their power to bring you back from the brink and has done nothing but praise and admire you? You couldn't be handed a more perfect minion but Eggman's just like, "No. He's not truly perfect unless he becomes a ROBOT!"

It goes back to that thing I said before about the absence of free will, nay, the absence of ANYONE'S will except his own is what he wants. That's why everyone is robots. People can't truly devote themselves to you 100%, not even someone like Starline who's the most devoted to Eggman a person could ever possibly be. It's incredibly scary how warped Eggman is. Fuck man. It wasn't even written by Ian Flynn too, though I'm sure there might have been some behind the scenes talk to make sure this was done right.

Honestly, any one of the people writing these short stories could write for the games and come up with something interesting most likely. 

I also really like how annuals with short stories grant the ability for endings that leave things open-ended and ominous. It really does do a lot to sell you on the uneasy feeling brought about by these situations, even if in some cases you may already know what pans out after it ends.

 

 

Flock Together
Story by Sam King
Art by Jamal Peppers
Colors by Priscilla Tramontan

Spoiler

 

So, it's a Chaotix story and the person who wrote it is not only a Chaotix fan but a huge Charmy Bee fan. So, obviously, it's gotta be my favorite one right? I actually don't know. This was pretty good but there's a lot of really good contenders in this book. I don't feel comfortable ranking them, although, I will say the final story was probably my least favorite. Even then, that's not to say it was bad.

I did have a big of a minor wonder as to how Vector and Espio managed to find Charmy. I expected him to still be in the city. Even that ominous silhouette  of Charmy from Big's story earlier seemed to indicate that but there was nothing saying he had to stay there, obviously. So when he shows up with his hoard of Zombot flickies, it's not only a bit surprising but also kind of cute. Like he's just adorable, especially when he's evil.

The thing that really makes it for me is how intense Vector's devotion to rescuing him is. Like yeah, obviously they have their squabbles but the man treats his boys like family, goddammit. Of course, the brashness with which he's willing to save him makes him a bit reckless at times, which is where Espio comes in. Vector, being smart, is still able to use his brain to carry out the mission too. It's all good. 

The Chaotix are an assortment of completely misfit personalities and identities and that's what makes them perfect. I always need more.

 

 

The Catalyst
Story by Gigi Dutreix
Art by Abigail Bulmer

Spoiler

 

The last story is fairly simple and straightforward. There's not a ton to talk about really. Kids will be kids and Jewel will be a stressed, secretary looking type. She does not look comfortable wearing those high heels, I gotta say. 

It's just the story about how Tangle's hometown became infected. Honestly, even if the kids didn't do what they did, with that face ship literally hovering over the town, there wasn't any hope anyway. 

These last two stories are here to fill in the gaps left by those wondering how things ended up a certain way, and that's fine. Stories like that are what you save for something like the annuals anyway. 

 

So that's it. I'm glad we finally got it and I'm already anticipating the next one. Though, I guess, I'm not in that much of a rush to be a year older for it.

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4 hours ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

So, it's a Chaotix story and the person who wrote it is not only a Chaotix fan but a huge Charmy Bee fan.

Huh neat. I didn't know Sam King was a big Chaotix fan. All I really knew was she wrote and storyboarded for Ducktales so I was already pretty excited for this one.

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NEW COVERS

Spoiler

Cover B

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RI Cover is gonna be connected-

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EDIT: That reminds me, Nathalie Fourdraine actually posted a sneak peek last month:

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pretty sure this is gonna be a part of the next RI cover.

 

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I'm DOING art of that half red-eyed, half normal Charmy.

Fuck yeah. Thats metal as hell.

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Annual 2020. Is it better than 2019?

YES

Despite stories being shorter than last time. Suck on it,  everyone who keeps banging on value of decompressed storytelling.

1) Big's story is very Flynn-ish. It has a GREAT art and atmosphere. But to nitpick, I feel like it should been a little funnier, some recaps are just there. Also I seen ending coming from a mile. Maybe if annual came out a little earlier.

2) Nite the OC Owl is... just like last Evan story. Short, but sweet and has a good atmosphere. With that said, I would trade if in heart beat for something with actual Sonic characters. Oh sure, "fascinating look from civilian point of view". Except it's not about civilians looking at Sonic, it's civilians looking at zombie outbreak. You could change characters into humans, replace zomBOT with zomBIE and you have something completely unrelated to Sonic. So meh.

3) METAL-METAL-METAL-METAL! Oh yeah, baby. Contender for best story in both annuals. Admittedly story is so open to interpretation that it's kinda meaningless. Metal sulks about his last defeat, so he touches virus...why? Does he thinks he'll get stronger? Or tries to prove he's better, taking on something that is slowly killing Sonic? Or maybe he's just that curious that he's willing to risk his free will for a slim chance he'll be more real or something? Either way fascinating. And art give AMAZING atmosphere.

4)Eggman ... fine, this might be best story from all annuals. I'm still debating with myself. I mean, Eggman plays with toys. Great encapsulation incapacitation of his most important trait (man child attitude), he boasts, his doll looses to Sonic. Cute story, but nothing groundbreaking, right? But then you think "what if it's about Mr Tinker, how he misses making harmless toys?" And then BAM, rug under your legs. Great stuff. Artwork does really good job on faces, but I feel like Egg-Cave should look a little more amazing.

5) Chaotix story is nothing special. Art, action, dialogue, importance. It's all okay-ish-enough. I never had to learn how they got Charmy back, in fact I think I preferred to imagine them fighting impossible odds to get him. Best I can say is that it captures well Chaotix dynamics, like Vector being kinda goofball and yet smarter than people suspect. One art fail is that Charmy is suppose be hidden in flickes, losing himself in the crowd. Artwork makes it look like he trained them as his bodyguards.

6) Jewel...sigh, we end on low note. I just don't get the point of this story. What it's even about? It's predictable, Jewel doesn't do anything heroic (she doesn't even fly that much), in fact her and kids' actions seem meaningless in long run as Eggman is about to flood the city. It's the most bare thing I read in a while.
My best guess is that writer someone either A.) was under impression that he's getting best artist in town and whole thing will have a serious horror vibe to it. B.) was just told to show how Jewel got infected and didn't even tried.

Last time we seen Sonic Fan Club I said "who even asked for it?" Now I'm asking with double underline and flaming letters.

 

 

Side note, what happened to Wispons? You would think they would be really handy in fighting Zombots.
I'm suspecting either
A) Flynn is very slowly breaking ties to Forces
B.) Wants to keep Whisper special
C) Let's face it, never had any ideas how to use them anyway.

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On 7/8/2020 at 7:23 PM, Sonictrainer said:

Tracy Yardley showed off his process for the Annual Cover

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We also have some art of the characters from the Annual (Spoiler'd for those who haven't read it yet)

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Ecb0CHIUEAAMNTP?format=jpg&name=small

 

 

So Chaotix focused story arc when?

On 7/8/2020 at 9:05 PM, PublicEnemy1 said:
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What's this?
A male Sonic character wearing

LOWER BODY COVERINGS?

BLASPHEMY!

(either that, or he's got a different body color)

 

 

On 7/8/2020 at 9:49 PM, Sega DogTagz said:

 

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Its just a tool belt. Technically not clothing an not entirely unprecedented. (Big rocks that flotation belt). 

 

 

On 7/8/2020 at 9:59 PM, PublicEnemy1 said:
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No, I mean he appears to be wearing a black bodysuit.  

Unless that's actually his body color, which would be strange, considering his head and tail are purple.

EDIT: IIRC, bodysuits are an option for males in Forces, so that's MAYBE how they got it by, if that is the case.

 

 

On 7/8/2020 at 11:41 PM, Sega DogTagz said:
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His chest hair is sticking out, so I'm inclined to believe that is just his body color 

 

 

Roosters generally have different colored bodies compared to their comb, giblits, and tails, so he's likely naked aside from the belt.

On 7/8/2020 at 11:41 PM, Sega DogTagz said:
Spoiler

(although, if you want to haggle, Wave's chest floof is a debate topic that rages to this day, so you could make the argument for a bodysuit...)

 

What was that?

On 7/9/2020 at 6:26 AM, Jack out of the comics! said:

I'm actually glad they introduced male characters who aren't villains, it's a first in IDW. lol

I read it yesterday and...

  Reveal hidden contents

My God, it's so scary, creepy, depressing, everything is. It's definitely not Sonic's Worlds daily life, it's how the world is affected by the pandemic... how relevant.

I didn't expect Big's story to be so sad. Takes my top spot

Metal's one is actually great, it's up to interpretation. 2nd place.

Third one is the Chaotix, they really do stick together!

The rest... I didn't care much tbh. The OCs are fun but still, don't care much, same for Jewel and the club, it's really side stories who don't mean much, aren't really interesting or needed for anything.

But the one I'm mad the most is Starline's story... you had Dr. Starline and you didn't do any teasing for his mini, which I'm waiting for... what a waste.

I can't believe I'm saying this about a Sonic story but this arc is really too much for me, in general, don't get me wrong, it's really well written, well made, there is A LOT of pathos and emotion, but it's so dark, I really don't want this for Sonic. Not what I personally want, so who asked for this stuff?

Well aren't we extra entitled today?

On 7/9/2020 at 8:44 AM, TransPirate said:

Loved all the stories, hope Clint McOwlroy and Vector's ex-bandmate come back soon.

Is that who he's based on?

20 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

Preview of the Giga Zavok Finale

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I'm on the edge of my seat.

 

Does he really need his natural powers to do that?

Also, Knuckles did that why? Not that I'm complaining, just confused.

16 hours ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

goddamn Zavok looks evil.

You mean he doesn't otheriwse?

16 hours ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

And I still think the Metal Virus will be set up for Ian’s take on a future Metallix arc. If he ever gets that chance, lord knows what twists he’ll do.

Oh yeah, he did technically get the blessing to do that. Perhaps SEGA is far more open to that after Mania Plus and this arc in general.

 

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2 hours ago, DabigRG said:

 

Oh yeah, he did technically get the blessing to do that. Perhaps SEGA is far more open to that after Mania Plus and this arc in general.

 

Wait, WHAT?

IIRC, he only got the blessing from the original writer of the StC, Nigel Kitching. Did he get a blessing from SEGA, too?

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2 hours ago, PublicEnemy1 said:

Wait, WHAT?

IIRC, he only got the blessing from the original writer of the StC, Nigel Kitching. Did he get a blessing from SEGA, too?

No no, I was referring to Kitching. 

I was just saying that there's arguably precedent to convince SEGA with.

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27 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

No no, I was referring to Kitching. 

I was just saying that there's arguably precedent to convince SEGA with.

Remember that Sega doesn't even want SatAM characters, assets that THEY own. What makes you think they'd want to pull material from a defunct British comic that they had very little involvement with? And whether Kitching gave his blessing or not, I doubt Sega would want to risk it after the lawsuits.

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3 minutes ago, PublicEnemy1 said:

Remember that Sega doesn't even want SatAM characters, assets that THEY own. What makes you think they'd want to pull material from a defunct British comic that they had very little involvement with? And whether Kitching gave his blessing or not, I doubt Sega would want to risk it after the lawsuits.

I mean, he can not use the name Metallix and just pitch the general idea of Metal Sonic actually leading an army of robots for a bit.

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11 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

I mean, he can not use the name Metallix and just pitch the general idea of Metal Sonic actually leading an army of robots for a bit.

That could work.

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11 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Also, Knuckles did that why? Not that I'm complaining, just confused.

Spoiler

As he said: "There's literally nowhere left to run!"  Knuckles would rather go down fighting and buy Sonic some time to save everyone than waste his final moments trying to delay the inevitable.

 

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14 hours ago, DabigRG said:

You mean he doesn't otheriwse?

Zavok looks more like a Bowser-clone reject otherwise. Outside of the comics, he and the Deadly Six are pretty underwhelming as villains.

Here and in Archie? They earn their titles as Deadly.

 

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I dont think he or the deadly 6 are that impressive looking or threatening at all. It says a lot that the d6's entire thing was loosing very quickly and then zavok throwing the actual threat at them. If they were worth anything I might feel away about them jobbing out so hard. But it kinda seemed par four the course.

 

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5 hours ago, Bowbowis said:
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As he said: "There's literally nowhere left to run!"  Knuckles would rather go down fighting and buy Sonic some time to save everyone than waste his final moments trying to delay the inevitable.

 

Oh. Okay, that makes sense.

Kinda think his priority would be launching some of them back off in a single stroke instead of just punching Edgy in the face, but fine.

3 hours ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Zavok looks more like a Bowser-clone reject otherwise. Outside of the comics, he and the Deadly Six are pretty underwhelming as villains.

Here and in Archie? They earn their titles as Deadly.

 

I mean that he looks like a big red black-faced devil with spikes growing out of his shoulders, waist, and neckline.

Why does everyone always go for Bowser? 

2 hours ago, Shadowlax said:

I dont think he or the deadly 6 are that impressive looking or threatening at all. It says a lot that the d6's entire thing was loosing very quickly and then zavok throwing the actual threat at them. If they were worth anything I might feel away about them jobbing out so hard. But it kinda seemed par four the course.

 

Hi Crusher.

At the very least, Zeena and Zomom got in there themselves with the Zombots just being spectators for the most part.

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12 hours ago, DabigRG said:

I mean that he looks like a big red black-faced devil with spikes growing out of his shoulders, waist, and neckline.

Why does everyone always go for Bowser? 

You can blame the Mario-like direction of Lost Worlds for that analogue.

Also, where can we submit Q&As for Bumblekast again? I have a question about the Metal Virus and it’s original use for Archie comics that I just realized and want to verify.

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50 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

You can blame the Mario-like direction of Lost Worlds for that analogue.

Hmph. I guess that's something of a connection.

50 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Also, where can we submit Q&As for Bumblekast again? I have a question about the Metal Virus and it’s original use for Archie comics that I just realized and want to verify.

Bumblekast@yahoo.com

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Anyone had the 2020 annual ship from Forbidden Planet yet? They've charged my card but not shipped it.

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So I listened to last week's Bumblekast, Ian was asked again about the canon immigrants or off-limits characters, and it looks like, by the answer he gave, that SEGA said the same thing about Sticks and Marine, like, not off-limits, but "not yet".

Which means... I have no idea, there is hope for them, they aren't dead, just forgotten? Still they are basically in the same boat. IMO it's the same thing I've heard about Infinite, that he could appear later, from what I've heard about Hardlight and the mobile games, but there is literally no source on this, just read that online somewhere.

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So Evan Stanley answered a bunch of questions about the comic on twitter today. From what I saw, nothing too important aside from Rivals apparently not being canon to the comics. (How'd they meet Silver?) 

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