Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[dbzfan7]

1 hour ago, caitash said:

Check back on the previous issue, just after where Tails wakes up and Rouge explains she was hypnotised, the panel after that Rouge was using a jagged piece of metal on the side of the rollercoaster cart to cut her ropes and Tails spotted what she was up to. It’s subtle and I didn’t spot it on the first readthrough.

Ah ok musta forgot that. Didn't see her pass it to him though.

[DabigRG]

21 hours ago, Kuzu said:

This arc still feels somewhat...bloated. I was originally led to believe that we were going to focus on the Chao races, while Sonic, Tails, and Belle had their own mini arc. But the Chao races ended up not really mattering much, and Clutch supplanted for Starline as the main obstacle. So it just kind of feels all over the place. I still like it, but it feels very unfocused overall. 

 

20 hours ago, Ryannumber1Santa said:

I feel like Starline is a massive issue with the arc in general. He just isn't needed. He pops in out of nowhere in a unrelated story, supplanting a new villain, and this is already after wearing his welcome out following both appearing in a ton of issues between #10-26, and Bad Guys right after. 

Plus it doesn't help that Starline's role here directly ties into Shadow's attitude once again, when I feel like if they'd just let Shadow investigate solo, and find the chao + Clutch, like he did in the previous issue, it would've looked far better for him. 

 

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

I feel like Dr. Starline appearing here, not only is to tie in with Bad Guys, but it's to set him up as the big bad for the next arc, like Belle is being introduced, it's all a start to season 3 I think.

If anything the filler part here is Clutch and the Chao races, which doesn't contribute to anything to the overall story other than rebuilding Omega. But that's just what I think. I don't even know why it's called Chao Races and Badnik Bases, they either should have splitted it up into 2 arcs, yeah then I agree, or change the name, because the story as it is focuses on... various things, but for me it's mainly about the introduction of a new character and set up for next antagonist for the next bigger saga.

So I'm somewhere in the middle of this point, personally.

First off, how sad is it that the name, cover, subject, prerelease talk, and everything about the arc can effectively be called the filler? That's no good. 

But on Starline himself, that's where things kind of split off. Yes I agree that he kind of like shadow was unnecessary part of this story that ultimately does little else, but distract from it. Where I give him slack over Shadow, aside from just not sucking so hard consistently, is that he could work as an epic transition rather than the true hidden villain of the story. Again, ignoring what was said about year three, having Starline skulk throughout the Arc in the background and then make his move on Rouge when it's mostly been wrapped up makes sense as a cliffhanger segwaying into a new arc. 

What ultimately makes him a issue though is that it's not that. He effectively supplanted what was advertised to be the core plot before it had time to resolve itself--heck, he basically cuts in at a halfway point. And so soon after Bad Guys--which by the way, spoilers for those who haven't seen that recent cover, ends in different ways then one would think seeing that beforehand--, which had him as the protagonist a little while after his ejection from the Metal Virus Saga and ended with his resolution to set anticipation for whatever his next move is. Except barely month later, we see that comeback and before that last part was out even.

 

Honestly, I just stumbled onto a different whole other problem with the comic that's been there since the beginning--it tends to set up interesting ideas and status quos in the process of going through one saga, only two very quickly bring back and put a damper on it before it's had any time to stew.

[Dr. Detective]

I honestly don't see a problem with jumping right into what Starline's next move is. I don't currently have a reason to want to wait and see what it is aside from maybe a surprise reveal thing down the line where we all go, "Oh hey! Its him! He's back!" and then immediately move on. 

I'm also not sure I was expecting anything from the chao races anyway. I figured we'd see one or two races and then move on and thats what happened. 

Plus, the story isn't finished so I don't feel comfortable judging who or what was necessary at the moment but even right now it doesn't matter because I'm a fan of organized chaos so people can come and go as they please as far as I'm concerned. So long as its fun and makes sense it's fine.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

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

If anything the filler part here is Clutch and the Chao races, which doesn't contribute to anything to the overall story other than rebuilding Omega. But that's just what I think. I don't even know why it's called Chao Races and Badnik Bases, they either should have splitted it up into 2 arcs, yeah then I agree, or change the name, because the story as it is focuses on... various things, but for me it's mainly about the introduction of a new character and set up for next antagonist for the next bigger saga.

It shouldn't just be about going from big saga to big saga though, hell - that's the literal exact issue the Metal Virus arc suffered, no break from Year 1, combined with having nearly 20 issues straight of pure action and raising stakes without a chance to stop and breathe.

That's why this arc was so promising to begin with. It was just a smaller arc to breath in. Sonic and Tails are on a classic adventure together to explore some abandoned bases, Amy, Rouge and Cream team up in an unusual pairing and go off to a part of the world we don't often get to see. The part that was promising was the chao races, this whole conspiracy, and how things would play out with this odd pairing, and in the end, Starline took over the plot at the eleventh hour for some reason or another, and if it's to set up Year 3's major arc, to be frank, I think that'd be even more annoying overall.

[DabigRG]

39 minutes ago, Ryannumber1Santa said:

It shouldn't just be about going from big saga to big saga though, hell - that's the literal exact issue the Metal Virus arc suffered, no break from Year 1, combined with having nearly 20 issues straight of pure action and raising stakes without a chance to stop and breathe.

That's why this arc was so promising to begin with. It was just a smaller arc to breath in. Sonic and Tails are on a classic adventure together to explore some abandoned bases, Amy, Rouge and Cream team up in an unusual pairing and go off to a part of the world we don't often get to see. The part that was promising was the chao races, this whole conspiracy, and how things would play out with this odd pairing, and in the end, Starline took over the plot at the eleventh hour for some reason or another, and if it's to set up Year 3's major arc, to be frank, I think that'd be even more annoying overall.

Not to mention Year 3 was explicitly talked about as a collection of smaller fun stories.

[Dr. Detective]

At the moment I'm really not able to see why this would be bothersome but perhaps that's just the effect of being along for the ride. It doesn't really feel like things have popped off to the extent of no longer being a simple adventure story to me. Everything that's happening feels like a regular Sonic adventure at the moment. I do prefer the constant, heart-pumping, constant fear thrill the Metal Virus arc had but this more mundane stuff is charming in its own way. That said, it's left me with not too much to reflect on from issue to issue, which is why my reactions haven't been as in-depth as they were back in the Metal Virus arc.

[Wraith]

There's no 'year 3' story coming. It's a bunch of smaller stories like this one. The next couple of arcs are 3-4 issues long and that'll take us through most of the year. 

I should clarify that I think this arc mostly works. This book has focused so little on the culture of this new Sonic world that I think the chao race was a good choice.  I would have probably focused entirely around White Park personally but doing some setup with Starline and Bell now at least means we won't have to worry about it later. 

[Red Hot Jack]

I literally don't see what's wrong with making Belle debut to focus on her in later stories, and setting up Starline's plan in the eventual climax, it's to make the story more cohesive, whether there is a big main saga or not. The Chao part I called it filler because it doesn't need to anything else besides having Omega repaired. We got the breather arc AND set up for next stories, so it's still fun but also useful for the overall plot. We got both.

You guys wanted a 100% pointless fun arc?

[DabigRG]

7 hours ago, Wraith said:

There's no 'year 3' story coming. It's a bunch of smaller stories like this one. The next couple of arcs are 3-4 issues long and that'll take us through most of the year. 

I should clarify that I think this arc mostly works. This book has focused so little on the culture of this new Sonic world that I think the chao race was a good choice.  I would have probably focused entirely around White Park personally but doing some setup with Starline and Bell now at least means we won't have to worry about it later. 

 

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

I literally don't see what's wrong with making Belle debut to focus on her in later stories, and setting up Starline's plan in the eventual climax, it's to make the story more cohesive, whether there is a big main saga or not. The Chao part I called it filler because it doesn't need to anything else besides having Omega repaired. We got the breather arc AND set up for next stories, so it's still fun but also useful for the overall plot. We got both.

You guys wanted a 100% pointless fun arc?

Belle is not the issue--its Starline and Shadow that are the sources of contention here.

[SBR2]

7 hours ago, Wraith said:

There's no 'year 3' story coming. It's a bunch of smaller stories like this one. The next couple of arcs are 3-4 issues long and that'll take us through most of the year. 

I mean Ian has referred to it as season 3 at least once on Twitter IIRC. And honestly I'm still expecting some kind of 30th Anniversary storyline outside of the Classic Sonic comic.

[DabigRG]

And you know what, yes. Because 100% marker aside for reasons that should be obvious, we haven't had that yet.

[SBR2]

Adding on to my last post also Arc's don't exist in a Vacuum for most comics anymore. The fact that this arc and Bad Guys are both tied into each other and are both setting up for future storylines down the way should be proof of that. 

[Sonictrainer]

Here's some New Years Day Art from some of the IDW artists

Quote

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year from all of us at SEGA!

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Wishing you a super new year from the east coast! 

 

[Kuzu]

Who did the Super Sonic and Super Shadow art?

[Zaysho]

22 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Who did the Super Sonic and Super Shadow art?

Jennifer Hernandez

 

[Dr. Detective]

6 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Belle is not the issue--its Starline and Shadow that are the sources of contention here.

Well, I can't agree with the reasons Starline is in any contention here. If the issue is just that he's been around a lot then that applies to pretty much everyone in this arc aside from the new characters and I guess, technically Shadow (sort of).

It's not like Tangle and Whisper stopped appearing for a bit after their mini-series ended either. I'm not sure why it would be necessary for this.

I also don't even agree that him just showing up suddenly transforms the arc from being something other than a typical, fun Sonic adventure. It still very much feels like it is. There's a fight happening on a rollar coaster right now. 

[Kuzu]

26 minutes ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

Well, I can't agree with the reasons Starline is in any contention here. If the issue is just that he's been around a lot then that applies to pretty much everyone in this arc aside from the new characters and I guess, technically Shadow (sort of).

It's not like Tangle and Whisper stopped appearing for a bit after their mini-series ended either. I'm not sure why it would be necessary for this.

I also don't even agree that him just showing up suddenly transforms the arc from being something other than a typical, fun Sonic adventure. It still very much feels like it is. There's a fight happening on a rollar coaster right now. 

I think the divide is that people wanted a smaller focused arc without any real action set pieces, and that's what people thought we were getting at first. A nice, low key arc that focuses on the secondary characters. 

The second it was revealed that Starline is causing trouble, and that Sonic & Shadow were going to be major characters in the arc, it was kind of inevitable that this arc being low key and focusing on other characters wasn't going to happen. And now that we're at the climax, we're in another action set piece.

 

So it really comes down to how much you would preferred the focus to remain squarely on the girls doing Chao races, while Sonic, Tails, and Shadow would be off doing their own subplots. 

[Dr. Detective]

39 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

I think the divide is that people wanted a smaller focused arc without any real action set pieces, and that's what people thought we were getting at first. A nice, low key arc that focuses on the secondary characters. 

The second it was revealed that Starline is causing trouble, and that Sonic & Shadow were going to be major characters in the arc, it was kind of inevitable that this arc being low key and focusing on other characters wasn't going to happen. And now that we're at the climax, we're in another action set piece.

 

So it really comes down to how much you would preferred the focus to remain squarely on the girls doing Chao races, while Sonic, Tails, and Shadow would be off doing their own subplots. 

Or, in another sense, whether or not you cared about getting either of those and was just on board for whatever, like me. 

So yeah, I can kind of understand it if I force myself to take that point of view but I never had any expectations for the chao races stuff. I don't even really know how much mileage the comic would have gotten out of that before people got bored and starting complaining that nothing was happening instead. Some people on here did just that when issue one of this arc came out in fact, before any of the action popped off.

So whatever.

I guess this is why I tend to subconsciously steer clear of this thread. I know it's not necessarily the case but it does sometimes feel that no matter what happens, everyone is unhappy. Plus its usually over things that I find arbitrary or don't care about. To the point when I actually do dislike something, like issue 32, it kind of feels like that criticism gets lost in the fold. 

This comic has honestly been the one constant in the Sonic franchise right now thay I can always rely on to at least put a smile on my face and I want to keep it that way. So I'll mostly stick to popping in when I have a new thing to say about an issue thats come out or the new covers.

Lord knows I won't be able to stand endlessly saying the same things about Shadow.

[Kuzu]

I mean, its not like you can't enjoy the series while also pointing out it's issues. Yea, I fucking hate what they're doing to Shadow, and I will make that known, but that doesn't mean that I'm not enjoying it nonetheless. 

As annoying as the constant complaining can be, and rest assured, I'm with you that it is extremely tiring and exhausting to read after a certain point, because holy fucking shit. But, I also recognize that the complaining is because fans just want the book to be the best version of itself that it can be. Unfortunately, everyone just has a different idea on what exactly that means. 

At this point though, it just comes with the territory of any Sonic related product; there's never goin to be anyone who's 100% satisfied with its output and will make it known. 

[Dr. Detective]

7 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

I mean, its not like you can't enjoy the series while also pointing out it's issues.

Thats not what I said. Or at least, I tried hard not to imply that merely pointing out the issues was my problem. I literally even made mention of the fact that there are things I dislike as well. 

I'd be a hypocrite were I ever to state that my problem boiled down to merely not liking it when people criticize a thing I like and thats it. I'd have hoped you'd have understood that and given me at least that benefit of the doubt.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

It's not that I dislike the comic or anything, I enjoyed and even defended a lot of what Year 2 did, especially when it came to release and issues, but there's still plenty of problems I have with it. And it gets more annoying when it's always the same problems. Shadow in general, Starline (and hell - even most of the villains in Bad Guys all kind of not having enough time to settle before another usage), too much of a heavy focus on high stakes action plots back to back to back etc.

Hell, even stuff I've disliked, I've gone back and went over stuff I did enjoy. I went hard on Bad Guys #1's preview pages because it showed Starline off as a hypocritical dumbass, but when the full issue dropped, I came back and talked about the stuff I really liked, like how it characterised Zavok, among other things.

Even with this arc, I've praised a lot of the stuff like the art, and how Evan handles the character dialogue and interactions, but the issue is, what I initially enjoyed in the arc has sort of been lost to stuff I just don't particularly care about. That's personal opinion if the new stuff interests you or not, but it is true that the plot has been somewhat hijacked from the original plot.

I liked Sonic and Tails just being on a solo adventure together, and having some banter along the way, we haven't gotten that properly since like Countdown to Chaos in Archie Sonic I think. I liked having Amy, Rouge and Cream make up this fun trio where Amy was being protective, Cream was too innocent, and Rouge was too sneaky. It was fun seeing aspects of the world I hadn't seen before like White Park as a proper amusement area, and Chao Races properly shown off.

I don't even mind Belle being shown off, but I don't think it's that unreasonable to be annoyed that the arc was hijacked with a different villain, and different narrative arc by introducing Starline, having Clutch ultimately end up being not much of anything, and having this whole big ultimatum delivered to Sonic and Shadow taking centre stage, when all I wanted was what the plot was delivering earlier. It feels like we just can't have a simpler plot without some kind of catch to build up some later plotline down the road, especially when this plotline effective spoiled Bad Guys three to four months early with Starline's appearance in Issue 1 - in which most were speculating it was him from the start.

[Wraith]

10 hours ago, Jack-ted said:

I literally don't see what's wrong with making Belle debut to focus on her in later stories, and setting up Starline's plan in the eventual climax, it's to make the story more cohesive, whether there is a big main saga or not. The Chao part I called it filler because it doesn't need to anything else besides having Omega repaired. We got the breather arc AND set up for next stories, so it's still fun but also useful for the overall plot. We got both.

You guys wanted a 100% pointless fun arc?

I was just saying how I would do it. What they chose to do is fine. 

[Kuzu]

9 minutes ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

Thats not what I said. Or at least, I tried hard not to imply that merely pointing out the issues was my problem. I literally even made mention of the fact that there are things I dislike as well. 

I'd be a hypocrite were I ever to state that my problem boiled down to merely not liking it when people criticize a thing I like and thats it. I'd have hoped you'd have understood that and given me at least that benefit of the doubt.

If that's not what you were implying, then my apologizes. 

[Dr. Detective]

26 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

If that's not what you were implying, then my apologizes. 

It's cool.

Obviously, I'm okay with you all voicing your opinions and what not. I would never tell you to stop. That's why I'm voluntarily limiting my appearances in this thread.

After 15 years of drowning in constant negativity and fights, I feel its best, and healthy, for my standing as a Sonic fan to indulge in at least one facet of the franchise where I can sit down and enjoy a thing that I like without the constant noise on the internet clouding my thoughts and enjoyment.

I do feel like I at least should treat myself to ONE thing like that as far as Sonic is concerned after all this time. 

You all can continue on the way you've been. That is absolutely your right. Don't take this to mean I look down on any of you for wishing to do this. If I can't discuss it with anyone then I won't. I'll just sit down and enjoy a comic book once a month and not talk about it with anyone. That's completely fine. I'll deal.

[SBR2]

3 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

Here's some New Years Day Art from some of the IDW artists

So...Sega commissioned this and it's very Classic Sonic focused and Honey is on that ride with Tails. Does this mean that Honey could be in the Classic Sonic comic?