Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Sonictrainer]

We have information on #49

Spoiler

 

[Promethean0416]

Going to bet that this foe is going to be Starline, but we'll see, might be someone new...

[Rabbitearsblog]

11 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

BTW, have you heard about IDW loosing license for Transformers and G. I. Joe? And My Little Pony  comic ended last October, who knows if next gen will be as successful or even get one.

I wondering  if that's good or bad news for us. I mean, poor IDW, but does that mean that Sonic (or TMNT) might get more spin-offs, as their best selling tittles? With Sonic 2 coming up, this is probably the best moment to try getting 2nd book.

What are some other comic book companies that Sonic could go to if something happened to IDW and can they still get the rights to the stories made in IDW if that were to happen?

[MetalSkulkBane]

3 minutes ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

What are some other comic book companies that Sonic could go to if something happened to IDW and can they still get the rights to the stories made in IDW if that were to happen?

Well, there is Archie... oh.

Frankly there are options. Dark Horse, Udon Comics, just DC or Marvel.

[Zaysho]

The stuff with Hasbro sounds like it's specifically Hasbro moving on (and at least the publisher has the courtesy of not lying about it like Archie did), I don't think anyone should read into it being a bigger problem with IDW or that Sega is going to pull out. There are options in the worst case scenario, but the book seems to be doing well enough and Sega supports it way more than they ever did with Archie at its peak, I don't think it will be negatively impacted any time soon.

[Sonictrainer]

Wild Idea

Spoiler

...could Surge gain the ability to control Badniks similar to Zeti?

 

[DabigRG]

19 minutes ago, Sonictrainer said:

Wild Idea

  Hide contents

...could Surge gain the ability to control Badniks similar to Zeti?

 

Spoiler

Oh, THAT's why the color would be green!

 

Not sure how I feel about that, tbh.

 

 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

5 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

Wild Idea

  Hide contents

...could Surge gain the ability to control Badniks similar to Zeti?

 

If that were to become the case, it would only make the Zeti come off as irrelevant to those that already hate them.

[Guergy]

9 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Well, there is Archie... oh.

Frankly there are options. Dark Horse, Udon Comics, just DC or Marvel.

I personally think that Udon Comics, Dark Horse and Hasbro are more likely than Marvel and DC. Hasbro itself has Transformers, My Little Pony and G.I. Joe so I think they are good alternative. 

[MetalSkulkBane]

I'm trying to be optimistic. I prefer to think that IDW will have now free slots to fill, maybe with Sonic Universe or at least more Mini-series.

[Slashy]

22 hours ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

What are some other comic book companies that Sonic could go to if something happened to IDW and can they still get the rights to the stories made in IDW if that were to happen?

Skip traditional publishers and go to Webtoon. That's the future of comics. Marvel and DC are already testing the waters. Skullgirls will get its comic adaptation there ,Pacific Rim got a side comic there.

IDW has been struggling financially for years already and because they own next to no real IPs of their own (and have lots of debt) likely aren't going to get a buyer that will keep them running. I fully expect Sonic to stick around and likely become more important it is its star seller, but despite selling well for IDW, it is really an average selling comic overall and I don't see this run lasting anywhere near as long as Archie.

[Celestia]

On 1/22/2022 at 2:09 PM, Sonictrainer said:

Wild Idea

  Hide contents

...could Surge gain the ability to control Badniks similar to Zeti?

 

Spoiler

I could see that, maybe less "control" and more just making them run wild? That would fit the wording in the solicit too.

 

On 1/23/2022 at 11:49 AM, Slashy said:

Skip traditional publishers and go to Webtoon. That's the future of comics. Marvel and DC are already testing the waters. Skullgirls will get its comic adaptation there ,Pacific Rim got a side comic there.

Definitely possible, but I'm really not a fan of Webtoon's (or really any of the modern webcomic sites') format / layout and would really prefer they not do that. And I say that despite reading a few comics like that and enjoying them.

[Sonictrainer]

We have a single panel of IS

Spoiler

 

[DaddlerTheDalek]

12 minutes ago, Sonictrainer said:

We have a single panel of IS

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Spoiler

Both are looking very... Sus!

 

[Red Hot Jack]

Spoiler

I'd rather not. I think every villain should have different powers, this is exclusive to the Zeti. But yeah apparently now Starline is in control of some of Eggman's army too.

Something I want to see meanwhile is

Spoiler

Belle reforming badniks/her and Tails reprogramming badniks. It looks like this is the ending to Belle's story anyway, this is her direction, seeing what happened with the Moto-Bud. It's a cool idea that would resolve her plot and wrap it up nicely.

 

[MetalSkulkBane]

Random though: how do you like amount of screentime/ presence Eggman has? It seems to me like Flynn has to keep a tricky balance to keep Eggman around, while not overuse him.

In Archie Preboot there were many other villains, bug Eggman pretty much always interrupted the big event to remind us he exits (Enerjak, Scourge Invasion, Iron Dominiom, Naugus becoming King, etc).

In Reboot and IDW there are 2 types of villains: working for Eggman (Phage, Egg Bosses, Mimic, Starline) or stealing his stuff (Breezie, Clutch, Starline again). With very few exceptions, like Eclipse.

What you think on that. It kinda similar to games problem, where so often Eggman is shoe-horned into the game, even if there is a villain. But is this even a problem. or just a thing Sonic does?

[Silvereyes]

I'm fine with it really. Even though IDW has built up a sizable number of issues now, it feels like there is still a considerable amount to build Sonic's allies and rogues galleries so that it can potentially lay the foundation for future stories. Probably a good thing not to overuse Eggman and I don't think he needs to be around all the time.

I think we need to see what is happening after issue #50 to see where the next major storyline is going next.

[DabigRG]

4 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Random though: how do you like amount of screentime/ presence Eggman has? It seems to me like Flynn has to keep a tricky balance to keep Eggman around, while not overuse him.

In Archie Preboot there were many other villains, bug Eggman pretty much always interrupted the big event to remind us he exits (Enerjak, Scourge Invasion, Iron Dominiom, Naugus becoming King, etc).

In Reboot and IDW there are 2 types of villains: working for Eggman (Phage, Egg Bosses, Mimic, Starline) or stealing his stuff (Breezie, Clutch, Starline again). With very few exceptions, like Eclipse.

What you think on that. It kinda similar to games problem, where so often Eggman is shoe-horned into the game, even if there is a villain. But is this even a problem. or just a thing Sonic does?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's something I know some have taken issue with comic ever since partway through Metal Virus.

Despite being the main villain and Archnemesis, Eggman doesn't really have a whole lot of presence in the book. I was more or less fine with that since again he was still largely involved in things developed naturally from him being involved. But now we're actually coming up onto year four as well as the milestone story it is starting to bug me a little bit that he hasn't really done a whole lot in IDW just yet.

Like, Year one was all about finding him and figuring out what happened to him after the Not-Forces war and once that was done, the focus was on Neo Metal Sonic for the finale. But before we could really do much with the unique Mr Tinker situation, we had Rough & Tumble come and take him so Dr Starline would bring him back.

In Year two, he got to work on the Metal Virus, which was apparently something he had in store for a while. Despite how out of theme it is for him to have freaking goo zombies as his fighting force, it nonetheless worked quite well and he was the undisputed main villain of the Arc for a while. But of course because this is a zombie story and Dr. Starline didn't take long to notice the problems in his plans, he started operating behind Eggman's back and brought in the Deadly Six to retake control of the situation. Obviously, they betrayed him at the first opportunity and took over as the final bosses. The two doctors managed to get away, where Eggman had some good moments of getting rid of Starline, figuring out why the virus mutated the first place, backstabbing the heroes when given the opportunity, and sneaks away with Omega's head while giving Shadow the slip thanks to Metal. He then finishes off the Arc as the True Final Boss where he puts up a pretty good fight before his mech is finally defeated by Sonic, so he decides to declare it a pyhrric victory for the heroes and head off to his next operation.

And then we saw him a couple of neat little times since you're free where it seem like he was planning something eventually. He shows up in Bad Guys as the closest thing the miniseries has to a villain among villain protagonists, where he manages to nearly kill Zavok and is clued onto the fact that someone is plotting something against him with his own resources. And in the Test Run story arc, he was the main villain by virtue of merely using the facility to test out something in preparation for his next big plan and also reveals the truth of Bell's origin in our characteristically belittling way. He then turns up in Zeti Hunt's first issue tracking down Master Zik in order to take out the rest of the city ahead of time but gets distracted by Sonic showing up at the same place to stop them. 

He's a consistent and significant presence throughout the book that many of the heroes and almost every other villain respond to and sometimes develop around, but he hasn't really gotten to make the sort of big moves he's known for. And while he's set to have a major part in the upcoming milestone storyline, the recent cover does kind of bring exactly how prominent he will be in it something to question.

 

 

[Red Hot Jack]

I think the title "Battle for the Empire" gives it away it's gonna be Starline vs Eggman, plus the "androids" against Sonic and Tails who will eventually turn on Starline, be independent villains and later redeemed maybe.

I do want more Eggman presence in the book, Metal Virus was okay... he wasn't main antagonist from start to finish (although yes at first and yes at last), it was a complicated situation with multiple villains but Eggman was always at the center of it in my opinion.

Then in "season 3" he barely shows up, this is where I don't really like it, he's underused for now, he has ties to Belle and Starline, he needs more appearances, although he doesn't care for either of them, they do for him, so I can definitely see another confrontation with the Doctor and these two.

[Leebo4]

11 hours ago, Red Hot Jack said:

I think the title "Battle for the Empire" gives it away it's gonna be Starline vs Eggman, plus the "androids" against Sonic and Tails who will eventually turn on Starline, be independent villains and later redeemed maybe.

I do want more Eggman presence in the book, Metal Virus was okay... he wasn't main antagonist from start to finish (although yes at first and yes at last), it was a complicated situation with multiple villains but Eggman was always at the center of it in my opinion.

Then in "season 3" he barely shows up, this is where I don't really like it, he's underused for now, he has ties to Belle and Starline, he needs more appearances, although he doesn't care for either of them, they do for him, so I can definitely see another confrontation with the Doctor and these two.

With rough and tumble going on it alone, we would have a problem of too many independent villain factions if the minions turn on starline to become independent

[KoDaiko]

As long as they treat Eggman with the respect he deserves, the biggest bad guy (of the rogues gallery), I'm ok with having a bunch of independent villains running around.

Getting a bit tired of the constant Starline (& Belle) push rn tho, so looking forward to the season finale where it hopefully ends.

[TailsGotTrolled]

2 hours ago, Leebo4 said:

With rough and tumble going on it alone, we would have a problem of too many independent villain factions if the minions turn on starline to become independent

I don't think you can have too many independent/competing villain factions as long as the characters themselves are well written/entertaining.

[Slashy]

On 1/30/2022 at 2:54 PM, Leebo4 said:

With rough and tumble going on it alone, we would have a problem of too many independent villain factions if the minions turn on starline to become independent

They are not as independent as I would like. Nearly everything still ties back to Eggman.

[Leebo4]

On 2/3/2022 at 3:56 AM, Slashy said:

They are not as independent as I would like. Nearly everything still ties back to Eggman.

 

On 1/31/2022 at 1:48 AM, TailsGotTrolled said:

I don't think you can have too many independent/competing villain factions as long as the characters themselves are well written/entertaining.

Necessary since even with as few factions as there are with villains eggman is a bit lost in the shuffle as it’s been a little bit of a while since he got to be a main villain and too many villain factions and hardly time for them or to balance them 

[TailsGotTrolled]

9 hours ago, Leebo4 said:

 

Necessary since even with as few factions as there are with villains eggman is a bit lost in the shuffle as it’s been a little bit of a while since he got to be a main villain and too many villain factions and hardly time for them or to balance them 

I guess but somehow I didn't notice eggman was getting lost in the shuffle until you told me.