Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Mauro Fonseca]

Wechnia (wek-nia), not wechidna

[CertifiedNobody]

3 hours ago, SBR2 said:

Good. More companies need to.

Why?

[Endy]

2 hours ago, CertifiedNobody said:

Why?

diamond publishing is or was a monopoly on comic book distribution has a really fucked up way of distributing comics that puts far more risk on the part of stores than needed and encourage mostly buying pre established guaranteed sellers. They also just straight up won't let shops order certain comics unless they're buying above a certain threshold which just makes new comics entering the market incredibly difficult. They are a large contributing factor as to why American comics are dominated by few specific genres and characters. and all of this is compounded by poor service that makes a company that is bad for shops, consumers and creatives 

and for whatever reason they only like to distribute comics to specialty comic book stores, which, while shipping to comic book specialty stores comes with many advantages compared to book stores, grocery stores and news stands and whatever, most of the audience that will go there are sweaty nerds so thats who comics will cater to. I can only see IDW switching to Penguin benefitting Sonic because as a child I sure as hell did not go in to comic book stores, the only reason I ever got my hands on the Archie comic was because they were available in places I would regularly be.

[CertifiedNobody]

6 hours ago, Endy said:

diamond publishing is or was a monopoly on comic book distribution has a really fucked up way of distributing comics that puts far more risk on the part of stores than needed and encourage mostly buying pre established guaranteed sellers. They also just straight up won't let shops order certain comics unless they're buying above a certain threshold which just makes new comics entering the market incredibly difficult. They are a large contributing factor as to why American comics are dominated by few specific genres and characters. and all of this is compounded by poor service that makes a company that is bad for shops, consumers and creatives 

and for whatever reason they only like to distribute comics to specialty comic book stores, which, while shipping to comic book specialty stores comes with many advantages compared to book stores, grocery stores and news stands and whatever, most of the audience that will go there are sweaty nerds so thats who comics will cater to. I can only see IDW switching to Penguin benefitting Sonic because as a child I sure as hell did not go in to comic book stores, the only reason I ever got my hands on the Archie comic was because they were available in places I would regularly be.

Seeing Sonic at grocery stores would be nice to see again, and would almost certainly boost sales with them being more accessible. It'd help young movie fans get into the series easier. 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Funny enough, that’s where I first found Archie Sonic when I was little—at a grocery store.

Although now with things also going digital, that might help double as advertising. Miss your chance to buy it physically? We have it it online!

[CertifiedNobody]

33 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Funny enough, that’s where I first found Archie Sonic when I was little—at a grocery store.

Although now with things also going digital, that might help double as advertising. Miss your chance to buy it physically? We have it it online!

I first found Archie because a site called Sonic Scanf uploaded scans of all the recent issues at the time, so I don't think I've ever seen Archie comics out "in the wild". My younger brothers have informed me that the current IDW comics and Sonic posters are available at Scholastic Book Fairs (One of them even bought a poster of Greg Martin's Sonic Chaos boxart for me). Does anyone know if Archie trades were available at those?

[SBR2]

1 hour ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Funny enough, that’s where I first found Archie Sonic when I was little—at a grocery store.

Same. I bought Sonic #140 at a Walgreens when I was like 14 and that was my first Sonic comic. Hell even beyond Sonic I started reading comics thanks to the double issue flip books they had at Walmart. I had several issues of New Avengers, Ghost Rider and Ultimate Spider-Man through those. Man I miss those. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

#44 was a considerable improvement over #43, and it was nice to see more of Belle's backstory specifically in how she was created and how the denizens refused to trust her after (Although admittedly it's beginning to get silly the lengths they'll go establish Belle is mistrusted and hated - I mean they thought she was an Eggman spy when the more likely answer was 'Eggman remembered this was the village he recovered in').

I do still think this arc was just ridiculously uneven and what they said really oversold on what it was going to be. The Zeti stuff, apart from the neat moment of Zavok respecting Sonic for his decisions was a nice character moment in an arc of absolutely nothing, I'm beyond sick of the 'Sonic lets people go free' shit because it's evidentially clear we're just going to run in circles on it and SEGA won't let them give any vindication to Sonic's viewpoint on the matter, nor will they allow Sonic to acknowledge the blatant danger his merciful attitude tends to bring by allowing his threats to swear revenge and come back. It raises questions that damages a character through unintended consequences, and the solutions aren't viable because SEGA won't ever allow them to answered. 

Part of me wishes Sonic still infected Eggman, or tried to infect him with the Metal Virus back during that arc - I feel like that could've been a good cap-off to this whole question - Sonic decides enough is enough and he should've listened to Shadow from the start - during his fight with Eggman in the random village I can't remember the name of - he infects Eggman to force him to come up with a cure, and Sonic could potentially feel sick and disgusted with himself when he realises what he did, and vow never to do it again. It wouldn't be the worst action Sonic could take in the situation, but one that viably would make him double-down on his mercy and redemption viewpoint, IMO. Still, even with this moment having passed, I just wished they'd stop acknowledging it and move on, because it's blatantly done nothing but hurt Sonic's character to me when they can't give him any leg to stand on in this argument, even though I do agree with his viewpoint.

Anyways, that's neither here nor there.

I feel pretty annoyed about how the Chaotix were treated in this arc, personally too. They were such a non-essence for most of it, and while they did manage to locate and rescue Belle, I thought it was really lame that Starline was able to easily no-sell them with the Tri-Core. It's getting pretty annoying how invincible the Tri-Core seems to make Starline, with the Bad Guys, Sonic, Shadow, and now the Chaotix being unable to touch him much at all, and the only time he was defeated with it was when Sonic and Shadow accidentally caused him to get in the pathway of the avalanche back during the Chao Races and Badnik Bases arc, that and Rouge catching him off guard by flinging Omega's head at him. 

I feel like it's more blatant here because it's quite literally one of the Heroes teams that he so easily jumps around and treats like chumps. You can argue that because the Tri-Core is like a team working under one mind, it's more effective, but it still feels pretty annoying that Starline acts so clever and smug to everyone, and the Tri-Core easily allows him to dispatch of threats, with the exception so far being when he's blind-sided. I hope we start seeing him feel like he's actually hittable during fights, because right now, it's not been great imo.

Overall, I'd say the issue was fairly good, but the entire arc as a whole was just crap. Painfully oversold, and pretty rushed, solely to have a issue and a half dedicated to Starline and Belle. For the big send off to the Zeti for now, it was just them gathering, pulling a fairly obvious trick that probably shouldn't have worked, and then Sonic kicking their asses for an issue, with Tails hopping in to secure the win. After all the hype that was being built around it, it just didn't hit the mark at all.

I'm already going into the next arc with low expectations, fully expecting the arc to get derailed for more Starline stuff. I hope not, but this arc really hit the bar low for me.

 

[MetalSkulkBane]

1 hour ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I feel pretty annoyed about how the Chaotix were treated in this arc, personally too. They were such a non-essence for most of it,

I get that you wish Chaotix did more, but I guess Flynn decided giving them small role is better than nothing. Would you prefer if they were removed completely?

On note of joggling all the characters, I'm a  little worried by next arc. Amy, Tangle and Belle. All three of them had quite a lot of screen time in past year. With exception of Sonic and Tails I would pick any other hero. (I know, I know. Quality of story matters more than who gets to be in it...) I guess it will be nice to learn more about Jewel?

[Sonictrainer]

21 hours ago, AWild No.1 washed up gamer said:

Belle has a metal arm. Interesting.

Spoiler

Wait, did she lose an arm during the forest fire?!

 

[Wraith]

Amy's gotten a lot of good moments but not really an arc focused around her yet. I'm excited for it personally.

[CertifiedNobody]

1 hour ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

I get that you wish Chaotix did more, but I guess Flynn decided giving them small role is better than nothing. Would you prefer if they were removed completely?

On note of joggling all the characters, I'm a  little worried by next arc. Amy, Tangle and Belle. All three of them had quite a lot of screen time in past year. With exception of Sonic and Tails I would pick any other hero. (I know, I know. Quality of story matters more than who gets to be in it...) I guess it will be nice to learn more about Jewel?

Honestly, I do feel like the comic has neglected some characters in favor of others recently. Give Amy and the original characters a break for a bit and focus on Team Dark, Gemerl, Team Chaotix, Knuckles, Silver, or the Babylon Rogues. A lot of the characters have had ~4 issues actually treating them as main characters, so it'd be nice to get more of them.

I don't hate any of the comic exclusive characters, but I'd rather get a story that focuses on Jet's gang or Knuckles, characters that haven't been stars of the stories much, than another story with Tangle or Belle.

[StaticMania]

31 minutes ago, CertifiedNobody said:

...or Belle.

This is her 1st one...isn't it?

[SBR2]

I really don't understand this idea Belle is getting too much focus in a storyline that's about her.

[Kuzu]

And Amy, Tangle, and Jewel have all been playing supporting roles since the book started, but none of them have had an arc where they're the primary focus. It feels like a weird complaint tbh. 

 

Chao Races was initially about Amy, Rouge, and Cream but Sonic & Shadow pretty much ended up the stars of the climax by the end of it, even if they didn't ultimately save the day. 

[Wraith]

Tangle got the Tangle and Whisper book. If you twisted my arm and told me to sub someone out it'd probably be her but I'm glad to see her anyway.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

5 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

I get that you wish Chaotix did more, but I guess Flynn decided giving them small role is better than nothing. Would you prefer if they were removed completely?

I mean, yeah, kinda? I personally prefer cast members having a purpose and getting proper spotlight if they're going to show up in an arc. The Chaotix showed up and did nothing for three issues, and then ended up getting the run-around to show off Starline in Issue 4. It was kind of lame imo.

[Kuzu]

@Wraith I mean even then, that story's focal character is Whisper while Tangle is there as emotional support. And more to the point, that was literally two years ago lol. Since then, Tangle hasn't really done all that much. She gets moments don't get me wrong, but I'm definitely not mad she doesn't have to play second fiddle to big star characters in the next arc. 

Anyway, I find myself mixed on Zeti Hunt; its not a BAD arc, but I feel like aside from the last issue...nothing really happened? Zavok finds the Zeti, they attack, Sonic & Tails beat them and send them off, the end. The only bit of character exploration happened after the fight was over lol. Think this arc would have been better served if more time was dedicated to the Zeti themselves as opposed to the Heroes, and make them fight Tangle and Whisper. There's nothing really gained from focusing an entire issue on Sonic fighting them again, even if it did look good. Have Tangle and Whisper hang in there and let Sonic have the save if they need to give him a big hero moment. 

[MetalSkulkBane]

12 hours ago, SBR2 said:

I really don't understand this idea Belle is getting too much focus in a storyline that's about her.

Are we in a story line? I could swear we're in a bunch of unrelated stories with her as one constant.
But even if we are, I'm still looking forward to end of her storyline. I just don't care about her.

Again, I get that balancing characters is hard, narrative is more important and Flynn is actually doing a pretty good job. But the way I see it.
- Sonic, Tails always get biggest slice of a cake. Amy and Tangle aren't far behind.
- Shadow, Rouge and Cream had recent chaos race. Especially Cream had a lot of time in Metal Virus.
- Silver and Whisper got their fair shares in Metal Virus, so for now we must be satisfied.
- Chaotix are always on bottom of priorities (sorry guys), which is probably why Flynn gave them this little role in Zeti Hunt.(1)
- Big, Omega, Gemerl and Babylonians are extras and should be thankful for screen time they got. Most of them had much less in Archie.
- Broadly speaking most underused characters are Blaze and Knuckles. Both of them had fairly large roles in Neo Saga and smaller ones at the end of Metal Virus. But Knuckles is so important that he deserves a little more and Blaze didn't do anything important 2nd time. Just sorta reminded us she exists.
(On villains site I have no complains. If anything I want more villains so there is more variety.)

(1) This is why I didn't liked how quickly Sonic caught up to Zeti, making whole plan of misdirection pointless. It would be cooler if Chaotix were in base and just barely held Zeti at bay till Sonic arrives.

For comparison in Archie

Spoiler

PREBOOT
- Tails was always around, but past House of Card I don't remember him doing anything interesting (just his SU arc). And before that it was mostly Fiona stuff and that weird Adam plan with Chaos Emeralds.
- Similarly with Amy, although I remember a bit more of her. She fought Iron King, recruited Cream,  lead resistance against Iron Queen, main characters of Team Tango arc, had duel with Rosy Rascal, etc.
- Knuckles on the other hand had plenty of time and even his own nemesis. Much different than these days.
- Chaotix were always around Knuckles, but rarely getting focus. Mostly ninja clan stuff for Espio.
- Cream and Big had little introduction and re-introductions before forming team Freedom. So that's something.
- Silver was surprisingly major player too, thanks to the traitor storyline.
- Blaze, poor girl. One looooooose adaptation of Rush 1, SU 1 and part of Team Tango. That's it.
- Shadow had a lot at start, but after Team Dark arc in SU 1-4 he was completely gone for almost 4 years (expect Team Tango once again). Rouge and Omega meet similar fate.

REBOOT
- Tails had very beginning and Championship. Other than that  he was basically just another Freedom Fighter.
- Amy at least got some time away from Sonic. SU with Blaze, SU with Knuckles, fight with Metal, friendship with Coral.
- Knuckles thankfully had the shattered Master Emerald arc which gave his plenty of time to shine.
- Shadow had juuust enough to satisfy. Three Sonic universe arcs. One his, one co-starred, one supporting role, but still.
- Omega and Rouge as we all know, were for ever stuck as his sidekicks. On that note IDW is slight improvement.
- Chaotix had 1 SU own arc and 1 co-star with Knuckles. Good enough.
- Blaze had 1 SU arc. Sad but Reboot wasn't this long.
- Silver had 1 SU arc, issue SU 75 and Free Comic Book day. Barely better.
- Cream and Big were supporting FF. Which was just fine for Big, he got some funny moments. But Cream mostly got to bring cookies and comment how she never gets to do anything.

 

[Sega DogTagz]

1 hour ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

- Broadly speaking most underused characters are Blaze and Knuckles. Both of them had fairly large roles in Neo Saga and smaller ones at the end of Metal Virus. But Knuckles is so important that he deserves a little more and Blaze didn't do anything important 2nd time. Just sorta reminded us she exists.

As much as it might suck on the surface, that's exactly how it should be. Blaze, Knuckles and to a much lesser extent Silver have circumstances that demands that they stay away from the main narrative. Just throwing them into any old narrative does a disservice to both their character roles and lessens the impact from when they do eventually make their returns.

Honestly, both Blaze and Knuckles have been given exceedingly important roles in the screen-time they have been given. I think that's a fair trade off to being MIA for longer stretches.

[MetalSkulkBane]

5 hours ago, Sega DogTagz said:

Honestly, both Blaze and Knuckles have been given exceedingly important roles in the screen-time they have been given. I think that's a fair trade off to being MIA for longer stretches.

Is sipping tea with Sonic "important role"? IDK, if Blaze really is "quality over quantity" then her appearance should be a little more impressive. Knuckles got to do more, Silver did WAY more.

Same story in Archie, be that Preboot or Reboot. She's long overdue for a bigger story focused on her.

[CertifiedNobody]

6 hours ago, Sega DogTagz said:

As much as it might suck on the surface, that's exactly how it should be. Blaze, Knuckles and to a much lesser extent Silver have circumstances that demands that they stay away from the main narrative. Just throwing them into any old narrative does a disservice to both their character roles and lessens the impact from when they do eventually make their returns.

Honestly, both Blaze and Knuckles have been given exceedingly important roles in the screen-time they have been given. I think that's a fair trade off to being MIA for longer stretches.

It's really not that hard to come up with a reason to explain it. Knuckles shrunk it and took it with him in SA2, and he could definitely hide it in one of the many, many hidden locations on the island, or maybe even get Gemerl or another side character to temporarily take over the role of guardian.

Blaze doesn't seem as important because she pretty much always has the Sol Emeralds and can easily tap into their power. It'd be a challenge to take them from her and they aren't tied to an island. Really, the only thing gutting her off from main stories is being from the Sol Dimension, but introducing Warp Rings or Star Posts could make that divide as small as walking through a door.

[IWriteAlright]

This comic has two issues

The first one being the stories I feel are too focused on getting to point B rather than doing anything interesting with the narratives and characters. The second one is that the comic suffers from " Well they did this one thing so you are happy right?". Really focusing on the appearances of characters rather than those appearances being of quality. I think knuckles at the end of the zombot arc is a perfect example, I don't think knuckles got to do much more than blaze and his actions often didn't mean much or say much about his character that was particularly unique. The zombot arc in particularly being arc a that came a bit too early for the changes in characterization due to the dire situation to manifest into anything interesting. It gets even worse when you consider everyone outside of sonic remembering getting yelled at by multiple protagonists , and maybe shadows motivations if we ever figure them out, no one actually acts like the zombot arc happened. Unlike the previous connective tissue everyone just moved on a way that was really unnatural.

When I reflect I can't say that knuckles and blazes appearances ultimately said much about who they were, and weren't satisfying. I feel this way about quite a few characters, shadow obviously but also amy, rouge and a lot of the cast of the games haven't really had time to actually have their appearances result in anything memorable or interesting that wasn't high stress apocalyptic situation that will never be referenced and wont be reflective of how their character is characterized 99% of the time.

The first part of Chao bases and this next arc look interesting. The former is 3 characters hanging out and having interesting interactions in the world that show new sides of their characters and the latter seems like it will be more of that. I would personally gladly forgo everything having a coherent action packed conclusion if I could just get these characters to be interesting more often. I'm not saying this book needs to become slice of life, but I do think more time needs to be taken in terms of characterization because appearances feel less fun pops and more like " I have checked off the box, now they can leave" and I don't think that's a fun way of telling stories.

I know these issues can't easily be solved because the main reason they exist is because

1) There's only 1 book and IDW doesn't want to invest in another one right now for various reasons.
2)The book isn't that old and its a monthly so you have under normal circumstances 12 issues and maybe a few more if there is a miniseries to say what you want to say.

But even considering both of those, I still think you could do better

 

[Wraith]

6 hours ago, Sega DogTagz said:

As much as it might suck on the surface, that's exactly how it should be. Blaze, Knuckles and to a much lesser extent Silver have circumstances that demands that they stay away from the main narrative. Just throwing them into any old narrative does a disservice to both their character roles and lessens the impact from when they do eventually make their returns.

Honestly, both Blaze and Knuckles have been given exceedingly important roles in the screen-time they have been given. I think that's a fair trade off to being MIA for longer stretches.

Having respect for their established priorities is fine, but there comes a point this just becomes an excuse to keep them benched constantly. Like, I get that Sonic and Tails are the easiest characters to use but I want to see this book get more creative.

[CertifiedNobody]

3 minutes ago, IWriteAlright said:

This comic has two issues

Actually it has 44

3 minutes ago, Wraith said:

Having respect for their established priorities is fine, but there comes a point this just becomes an excuse to keep them benched constantly. Like, I get that Sonic and Tails are the easiest characters to use but I want to see this book get more creative.

You said exactly what I was thinking but couldn't figure out how to express.