Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Meta77]

I think most the cast is better than archie. Though they had what nearly 2 decades to get people use to different characters, IDW is doing a great job so far on the bunch they have such as Starline. He is a great villain so far.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Knuckles and Shadow were hands down better in Archie. Even when they rebooted, they were more like how I would expect them from the games there and more. I’m not gonna beat the dead horse that is Shadow, but Knuckles’s saving grace in IDW is that they’re actually keeping his damn character in mind and not throwing him all over the place just because people expect him to show up—I don’t care how long he stays absent, but it’s not like it’s impossible to make stories for him. Not sure why they’re holding back on making plots him, but I’d rather not have a repeat of him showing up just to play with Sonic. He’s his own character, not a tag-along.

Beyond that, most of the cast isn’t that much different from their Archie selves post-reboot. That’s not counting the Babylon Rogues who we never really got a chance to see post-reboot. Cream is getting more action—I never really downplayed her portrayal in Archie, but it she’s doing more here in IDW than she did before.

Really miss Eggman having Egg Bosses tho. If anything, him not having the Egg Army anymore is a downgrade—not to his character, that hasn’t really changed, but to his whole organization as a whole. 

All in all, they’re not really any better than they are in a different set of circumstances. The premise isn’t really that different from Archie, but the material that can be worked with somewhat is, so that in turn creates a different feeling—most of what goes on in IDW wouldn’t be out of place in Archie, so there’s not really much to say they’re better.  Especially when we lost a lot of awesome characters still legally owned by Sega—I want Conquering Storm so she and her ninjas can deck Starline in the face, dammit.

All in all, IDW still has a long way to go.

[CertifiedNobody]

4 hours ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Knuckles and Shadow were hands down better in Archie. Even when they rebooted, they were more like how I would expect them from the games there and more. I’m not gonna beat the dead horse that is Shadow, but Knuckles’s saving grace in IDW is that they’re actually keeping his damn character in mind and not throwing him all over the place just because people expect him to show up—I don’t care how long he stays absent, but it’s not like it’s impossible to make stories for him. Not sure why they’re holding back on making plots him, but I’d rather not have a repeat of him showing up just to play with Sonic. He’s his own character, not a tag-along.

Beyond that, most of the cast isn’t that much different from their Archie selves post-reboot. That’s not counting the Babylon Rogues who we never really got a chance to see post-reboot. Cream is getting more action—I never really downplayed her portrayal in Archie, but it she’s doing more here in IDW than she did before.

Really miss Eggman having Egg Bosses tho. If anything, him not having the Egg Army anymore is a downgrade—not to his character, that hasn’t really changed, but to his whole organization as a whole. 

All in all, they’re not really any better than they are in a different set of circumstances. The premise isn’t really that different from Archie, but the material that can be worked with somewhat is, so that in turn creates a different feeling—most of what goes on in IDW wouldn’t be out of place in Archie, so there’s not really much to say they’re better.  Especially when we lost a lot of awesome characters still legally owned by Sega—I want Conquering Storm so she and her ninjas can deck Starline in the face, dammit.

All in all, IDW still has a long way to go.

I do wish Knuckles got more attention, but that's really the only issue with his character, Post Reboot Archie spent nearly it's entire run with a crisis keeping Knuckles off the island, so if it continued, I'd imagine Knuckles would've been more like he is in IDW right now, even if they had Sonic Universe, there's only so many times they can endanger the Master Emerald in a row before people got annoyed.

I'm sure we'll get some type of "egg bosses" down the road, especially if Infinite becomes available to use (He has more potential than Zavok and they were still able to make Zeti Bowser interesting and cool). But IDW has only just established it's universe and is still going through some major story arcs, so they'll have to wait to do that. Right now it seems Surge and Kit may be like Starline's own egg bosses in a way.

None of the post reboot archie characters really interested me all that much, but the series would benefit from bringing some of them over, specifically the villains, as I'd say IDW already has a big enough cast at the moment (Especially since with all the focus on the new characters post-Metal Virus, a lot of characters haven't been utilized much in favor of focusing on Belle and the Zeti.) I understand why the focus is on who it is, but it's discouraging when every one of my favorite characters (with the exception of Starline) has somehow managed to get sidelined, sent to the future, and stuck on an island ever since the end of Metal Virus.

[CertifiedNobody]

Does anyone know how well the IDW Sonic comics and trades have been selling? Clearly they sell enough to keep making, but Archie Sonic was one of the company's most successful books for a while, wasn't it? I'm curious as to how IDW compares to post and pre reboot Archie, and how important the Sonic series is to IDW.

[Wraith]

Most characters are the same as they were in  post reboot Archie in concept. In practice, almost none of the cast has been given any room to breathe so it's hard for me to say.

With all the whining about whether Sonic should be in the resistance or not it's kinda funny to see him still running errands for them for the most of the book. You can't say it's OOC either, since Sonic in the games has been a boring team player since heroes. I don't mind it, personally, but I wish we got to see him struggle more or more of his flaws higlighted. I think my favorite moments for him in this book came from seeing him genuinely exhausted in the Zombot arc.

Tails sure is doing Tails shit. That he is. Yep.

Shadow's been a mixed bag but I think he's trending upward overall. He still leaned toward being a bit too childish to me in Chao Races but that's a minor thing. I also think SEGA will inevitably stop being tight asses about him soon so I'm not that worried about it right now.

There was a lot of weird bitching about Amy when this book started but when I think of a lot of my favorite character moments, jokes etc. She's the one that keeps coming up. Her first issue was really good and they really got into a good flow with her post Zombot. Not enough praise was given to her in Seasons of Chaos. Watching her break through Bark's icy demeanor was a highlight.

Knuckles is so in character that he doesn't get to be in the book much. I like Ian's Knuckles so I think it's kind of a shame. Hopefully we get a story focused around him soon.

Unlike Shadow, Sega seems cool with letting dorky Silver from Archie rock which is cool since canon!silver was a painfully boring character. I feel like he should have played a much bigger part in the zombot arc since they gave him the Super form money shot at the end but Victory Garden was cool.

Blaze is highlighted as an improvement but that's only if your standard for Sonic character writing is "Did they make my fave look cool?" Blaze's flaws and insecurities are instrumental to making her an interesting character to the point where it's kinda pointless to bring her up if you're not going to leverage them. Archie gave us entire arcs focused on Blaze and was much better about showing off her short temper/issues with socializing.

I think Ian just doesn't know what to do with Rouge that won't piss people off. Games don't give him much to work with there though so I don't know what to tell him about how to proceed. I was about to suggest a classic "Steal the master emerald" story but I can also see a bunch of people claiming she wouldn't do that now and she's too kind and etc.

I don't care about Cream that much but I liked basically everything they did with her and Gmerl in the Zombot arc.

The chaotix are there. I like seeing Vector but he's another character where they aren't really doing enough with his flaws imo. Ian always portrayed him as hypercompetent when I always got the impression that Vector fumbles his way through most of what he does in the games.
 

[CertifiedNobody]

6 minutes ago, Wraith said:

Unlike Shadow, Sega seems cool with letting dorky Silver from Archie rock which is cool since canon!silver was a painfully boring character. I feel like he should have played a much bigger part in the zombot arc since they gave him the Super form money shot at the end but Victory Garden was cool.

I'd argue Silver's always been an awkward dork. The only times he's been boring are in games where he doesn't do much. I haven't played Rivals so I can't tell how he is in that, but his story in 06 was really interesting., and he was pretty enjoyable in Team Sonic Racing

[Kuzu]

Silver's character before Archie was a little too self-righteous for my liking, so him being a huge dork was an improvement overall. 

I do agree that Blaze needs more of those insecure and vulnerable moments as well.

 

 

 

Id be down for more morally ambiguous Rouge but I know the fanbase would flip its shit if they did, so meh.

[CertifiedNobody]

1 hour ago, Kuzu said:

Silver's character before Archie was a little too self-righteous for my liking, so him being a huge dork was an improvement overall. 

I do agree that Blaze needs more of those insecure and vulnerable moments as well.

 

 

 

Id be down for more morally ambiguous Rouge but I know the fanbase would flip its shit if they did, so meh.

When was Silver like that? In 06 he was a naïve kid who's determined to save his world but doesn't know if he can sacrifice someone else's life to do so. Is there a different game where he's boring and self-righteous?

Also yeah, I like Rouge being kind of morally ambiguous, as long as she still remains the more moral, rational member of Team Dark.

[thumbs13]

5 hours ago, CertifiedNobody said:

When was Silver like that? In 06 he was a naïve kid who's determined to save his world but doesn't know if he can sacrifice someone else's life to do so. Is there a different game where he's boring and self-righteous?

Also yeah, I like Rouge being kind of morally ambiguous, as long as she still remains the more moral, rational member of Team Dark.

He's way more confrontational in the Rivals games, which is where I think the confusion comes from. Silver's always been naive.

[DabigRG]

I get the feeling that much like Eggman Nega being Eggman Nega, Silver's different characterization is partially due to the limitations on the games he was introduced in.

06 isn't known for its stellar in-game animations and Rivals used character portraits, with few if any having Silver so much as crack a smile.

 

[MetalSkulkBane]

While 06 (probably) never intended to make Silver a dork, he kinda felt like one. He's described as heroic but naive, he's tricked by Mephiles, needs guidance from Blaze (who gives sliiight 'big smarter sister' vibe) and Shadow. I mean whole story paints him as a noble kid trying to save the world, but over his head. And I feel his voice actor helped in that depiction.

I suppose he wasn't down right 'dorky' but I feel it was natural progression at that point.

[DabigRG]

3 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

While 06 (probably) never intended to make Silver a dork, he kinda felt like one. He's described as heroic but naive, he's tricked by Mephiles, needs guidance from Blaze (who gives sliiight 'big smarter sister' vibe) and Shadow. I mean whole story paints him as a noble kid trying to save the world, but over his head. And I feel his voice actor helped in that depiction.

I suppose he wasn't down right 'dorky' but I feel it was natural progression at that point.

Also, the desert scene

[MetalSkulkBane]

I just finished re-reading whole IDW. Few though

- Can we just stop and appreciate how good artwork got? Most art is made by power team of Yardley, Stanley and Thomas and I swear they got even better than back in Archie (especially Thomas). If it wasn't for unfinished shading in Bad Guys or Test Run I would have very hard time pointing any badly looking stories. Even coloring just feels way better than before.
- I've been way too harsh on epilogue issues, like #12, #30-31. I called them waste of time, but frankly watching our favorite characters being just the best is what I want from this books.
- Same with start of Metal Virus Saga. Now that I know how long this arc was, I think few low stakes fights with skunks duo  and Starline were in order.

 

I won't say that everything is perfect. Start was to plain, Ultime-you-know-who, Sonic's amnesia, I got few gripes.

But overall I would say Neo Saga and Metal Virus were a success. But I have mixed feelings on newest arc
(that I have no idea how to call. Fallout? Starline Rising? Belle's Beginnings? Eggman Succesors? Eh, it will come to me)
Part of me just wants to point at Belle and made her as waste of space that stops stories from breathing (especially in chao racing), but I guess it would be more fair to say each arc had it's strengths and weaknesses.

[Red Hot Jack]

Okay, my issues with IDW, again but I want to focus on them:

- Issue 1 is too plain simple, even Yardley's pencils were not too hot in there. But there is some kind of hook even in that issue.

- The start of Metal Virus, again, it starts off slow to build up later but still not my favorite issues, especially the fact that letting Metal Sonic go which was the ultimate reason for Eggman's coming back was not addressed, obviously Sonic doesn't know but Starline may have as well told him, anyway the credit went to Starline for kidnapping Eggman I guess.

- Shadow more or less has the same role in every issue he's in, telling Sonic his morals suck and being out for revenge, then being too harsh most of the time, but I have to say I liked him in Chao Races arc, still my favorite Shadow in the entire IDW run and kudos to Evan for trying to include him in spite of SEGA's mandates.

- Sonic's amnesia and Blaze's arc obviously, as well as the overall wrap up in the epilogue, felt too simple, it definitely should've been expanded but I guess we were already tired by the Metal Virus being too long.

- Also, the second annual is again used for the Metal Virus saga, I still think Big's story was too bleak, everything was too bleak actually.

- Test Run and Zeti Hunt: not only do the issues feel short and empty, the whole meaning of 8 issues is to reveal Belle's backstory in 2 of them, making the Tower and the Zeti stories quite pointless.

Anyway for Saga 3 for now... I really liked Bad Guys and Chao Races, yep the latter was poorly focused on that particular plot but I liked how complete it was, it definitely didn't feel like a waste of time but rather a good introduction. 

Again, Belle being used by Starline to provide a core matrix for his androids was a great connection IMO. Besides tying in and giving more depth to Mr. Tinker, Belle has complexity, she's relatable, she might get a lot of flak for being weak and appearing in every arc, but she's still the complex new character I was looking for, yeah the definitely waited too long to reveal her full backstory and played too much on a simple mystery though.

[SBR2]

9 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

I just finished re-reading whole IDW. Few though

- Can we just stop and appreciate how good artwork got? Most art is made by power team of Yardley, Stanley and Thomas and I swear they got even better than back in Archie (especially Thomas). If it wasn't for unfinished shading in Bad Guys or Test Run I would have very hard time pointing any badly looking stories. Even coloring just feels way better than before.
- I've been way too harsh on epilogue issues, like #12, #30-31. I called them waste of time, but frankly watching our favorite characters being just the best is what I want from this books.
- Same with start of Metal Virus Saga. Now that I know how long this arc was, I think few low stakes fights with skunks duo  and Starline were in order.

 

I won't say that everything is perfect. Start was to plain, Ultime-you-know-who, Sonic's amnesia, I got few gripes.

But overall I would say Neo Saga and Metal Virus were a success. But I have mixed feelings on newest arc
(that I have no idea how to call. Fallout? Starline Rising? Belle's Beginnings? Eggman Succesors? Eh, it will come to me)
Part of me just wants to point at Belle and made her as waste of space that stops stories from breathing (especially in chao racing), but I guess it would be more fair to say each arc had it's strengths and weaknesses.

See this is why I don't feel comfortable talking about an arc issue by issue. It's easier to actually judge if a storyline is successful when it's complete and you read it all in one go then waiting for each individual issue. 

[MetalSkulkBane]

1 minute ago, SBR2 said:

See this is why I don't feel comfortable talking about an arc issue by issue. It's easier to actually judge if a storyline is successful when it's complete and you read it all in one go then waiting for each individual issue. 

That's true, but Metal Virus was like 1,5 years long, even without the delays. If universe we exist decided to publish stuff in tiny packages by month, then they have to deal with reviews of what I got. Even if I don't write in comments, they still exist in my brain you know.

Besides, I like looking back  on my older thoughts and see how they changed. It's interesting. (I wonder if it's half the reason people make journals).

[Sonictrainer]

A & IR Cover Preview for 46

Spoiler

 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Could those covers be any more day and night from each other?

[StaticMania]

Teh wood 'as not caught fire...

[CertifiedNobody]

I asked about merchandise for Starline and the other IDW villains in the (still live as of typing this) Sonic Official livestream, and they seem interested, so that's on the table, at least for our favorite Wechnia-inspired Platypus.

[Silvereyes]

Cover A makes it look like they started the fire and decided to take selfies as it burned.

[caitash]

Issue 45’s preview pages are out:

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

Smokey is disappoint with that cover. Belle looks a bit creepy there too.

[CertifiedNobody]

10 hours ago, caitash said:

Issue 45’s preview pages are out:

 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

So I guess AGES is a canon company in the Sonic world now?

[DabigRG]

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

Smokey is disappoint with that cover. Belle looks a bit creepy there too.

I took me until just near to realize who you were talking about