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IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread


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1 minute ago, silvereye27 said:

I'm kind of late to the party on this, but I only found out that when they did the Sonic X comic in 2005, and had Sonic Universe succeed it, Archie had 2 Sonic comics running together from 2005 to the end of Archie's run. Hopefully with news like this, maybe in a few years IDW could perhaps see the benefit of a second comic running concurrently with the main series.

Depends on how much it will have progressed into finding it's bearings and really establishing a hefty enough sum of it's material. Didn't Universe partly came about due to the large number of subplots and side-characters that needed extraneous room to develop?

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Just now, DabigRG said:

Depends on how much it will have progressed into finding it's bearings and really establishing a hefty enough sum of it's material. Didn't Universe partly came about due to the large number of subplots and side-characters that needed extraneous room to develop?

Don't ask me, I havn't gotten to Universe yet. Or know any of the behind the scene stuff aside from various stories about how Ken Penders wasn't very good.

I've only just gotten into the Archie Sonic stuff thanks to starting with these IDW issues. I'm really finding it interesting, I'm at about #114 so far.

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1 minute ago, silvereye27 said:

Don't ask me, I havn't gotten to Universe yet. Or know any of the behind the scene stuff aside from various stories about how Ken Penders wasn't very good.

I've only just gotten into the Archie Sonic stuff thanks to starting with these IDW issues. I'm really finding it interesting, I'm at about #114 so far.

Image result for sonic comic 114

...Oh...well continue to enjoy it then! 

(I still kinda love that cover, though)

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I'm not a Star Wars guy, especially not a fan of Attack of the Clones, but that is a pretty sweet cover. I do find some of the editorials interesting about the guy talking about what a huge Star Wars fan he is, and how much he was looking forward to the next movie. Poor guy...

I've got to be honest though, I do not care for Mammoth Mogul in the slightest. I seriously think he might be the lamest Sonic villian in the franchise, at least at this point, I don't know if he does much else in the future.

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11 minutes ago, silvereye27 said:

I'm not a fan of Attack of the Clones, but that is a pretty sweet cover.

Agreed.

11 minutes ago, silvereye27 said:

I've got to be honest though, I do not care for Mammoth Mogul in the slightest. I seriously think he might be the lamest Sonic villian in the franchise, at least at this point, I don't know if he does much else in the future.

Really now?

He pops up in a fairly big way at least 4 or 5 times throughout the remaining 133 issues. As for how good they were, well...you'll see.

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Interesting. I guess we'll see how that goes. To be fair, in the space of issues #51-#74 when Robotnik is dead before they revive him into Dr Eggman, I'm not sure any of the villians they bring in to try and fill the gap ever work for me. Mammoth Mogul in particular, I think his suit design is really goofy, I think his name is silly, even for a Sonic character's name. The way he talks is just funny to, I just struggle to take him seriously in the slightest.

I guess I will see if he gets any better when he turns up later I suppose.

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I heard that this initial run of Sonic also topped out on IDWs catalog this month. Just out of rampant curiosity, what are the average sales of IDWs best performing series outside of Sonic? It'd be interesting to see if the Sonic series settles into an anchor spot of that this new publisher has to offer. That would probably be the single best indicator that a second spin off book could be profitable for the company.

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5 hours ago, Ernest-Panda said:

Issue 1 has become the best-selling Sonic comic ever.

The previous record-holder was...Sonic Boom #1. Huh.

Best selling ever is over stating it. It's within specific parameters: The best selling post-1996 to comic shops and ignoring Sonic Worlds Battle Unite #1. IDW #1 is outsold by a typical Archie issue when you factor in the latter's newsstand sales and subs.

Boom had a larger than usual debut because it had four variant covers. Those have always given the books a boost in comic shops.

3 hours ago, Sega DogTagz said:

I heard that this initial run of Sonic also topped out on IDWs catalog this month. Just out of rampant curiosity, what are the average sales of IDWs best performing series outside of Sonic? It'd be interesting to see if the Sonic series settles into an anchor spot of that this new publisher has to offer. That would probably be the single best indicator that a second spin off book could be profitable for the company.

It did. After #4 at 13K, the next IDW books are Star Wars Adventures #9 at 12K, TMNT #81 at 11K and My Little Pony #65 at 8K and TMNT's companion series, TMNT Universe #21 at 7K.

It's way too early to make a comparison when Sonic only has a month of sales, but some data points: Most IDW books are selling in the 4K - 7K range. Star Wars Adventures #1 and TMNT Universe #1 started at 49K and 34K respectively before falling to where they are now.

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58 minutes ago, NotHole said:

It's way too early to make a comparison when Sonic only has a month of sales, but some data points: Most IDW books are selling in the 4K - 7K range. Star Wars Adventures #1 and TMNT Universe #1 started at 49K and 34K respectively before falling to where they are now.

 

Yeah, we'll have to wait and see where the Sonic comics settle into over the next few months, but at least we have a comparable baseline in the TMNT series. If it hovers around that sales category for a while, the idea of a companion book may have some legs down the road.

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Fantastic news! Considering the franchise is “Floundering” if you read some of the gaming press.

l love the new comics and I’m not a comic fan really but I’m invested. I hope they continue for many many years.

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18 hours ago, Celestia said:

The thing is I don't think that makes any of them "difficult" to use at all, I didn't want to argue with people in here about it but the only one where I kind of understand it is Knuckles and even he would be really really really easy to justify bringing into new stories while still addressing the M.E. and stuff. They just haven't because...reasons. Just because SEGA doesn't do a thing doesn't mean it's impossible.

Although, I have to ask:

Err...how?

I didn't say it was impossible to be sure, just that they make it difficult for themselves when it starts becoming necessary to justify every appearance. When you can't justify the appearances you hurt the character's credibility and undermine what makes them who they are, which in turn can aggravate your customers which will cost you money in the long run. Considering how poorly Sonic sells these days compared to in his prime there is no doubt that SEGA is very poor on the handling side of things.

As for Chip, while he doesn't perfectly follow the same formula that Knuckles, Shadow, Blaze, and arguably Silver do (he is missing the rival aspect entirely after all), he does still use the common elements of being strongly lore attached to the plot and once his in game role is over is removed in a near permanent status by the end (Knuckles was left to continue his duty, Shadow died, Blaze went back to her dimension, and Silver both went back to his future and was pretty much wiped out of existence).

18 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Humorously enough, I'd say Blaze was actually drawing from variations on all three of the Universe 75 heroes(just with less Shadow), while Silver was trying to contrast/complement Shadow and Blaze specifically.

Still, the point is that they struck iconic gold with Knuckles and they typically invoke many of the same idea when introducing new recurring characters.

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong: the fact that they were able to get such generally distinct and mostly well-received characters out of it goes to show that it was indeed a rich well for inspiration and creativity.

We've technically already seen that with the Deadly Six and for some people Silver, though the latter admittedly departs more than he derives.

And to be fair to Chip, he's a very different take on the ideas compared to all of the others and had some charm/heart of his own to offer in his rare only major appearance.

It is a solid well of ideas to draw from and as Sonic is a globe trotting adventure it even makes sense to use that idea again and again. The problem I feel is that they won't leave characters behind who should be left behind narratively due to the money that can be made by keeping them around but never bother to even use a simple explanation to justify keeping them around. The only character who should have been left behind after their debut and was is Chip.

Speaking of Chip, the uniqueness of his character compared to Knuckles, Shadow, Blaze, and Silver both shows how versatile that design philosophy is, but also how generally lazy SEGA and their creative teams are by mostly just tweaking the formula instead of really mixing it up more. How unique Chip is despite using that formula minus the rivalry aspect might be one of the reasons I enjoy his character so much (though it probably also helps that I prefer the Japanese voices and his Japanese voice is like anight and day when compared to his English voice).

17 hours ago, Shadowlax said:

Weird, I would more so like to see them team up with various other characters rather than just one. Personally Blaze and Sally working together would be neat. However... I have a bias and if you would allow me to show it. I think Sally, Antione, and Bunny could have really interesting dialog with shadow the hedgehog. I can totally see sally just kind of being upset at shadow's temperament and how he's handling thing and a sort of callousness in his actions, expecting someone like sonic and getting someone very different. And shadow could think of her of not being uh... strict enough as someone who will be the leader of people. Eventually the learn from each other and then you ruin/make some fans on tumnblr's and twitters day by suggesting a ship.   Antione I could see him just going " Train me " because he's impressed, shadow says no though. And them being polar opposites in terms of personality would combine into some goofball shit. The last one , bunny would be interesting. Because Shadow existing is kind of monument to some of the pain of her existence, and maybe given she doesn't know shadow's story... she's kinda resentful about that. Maybe she think shadow needs to be happier because he's not in her situation, she learns its more complicated than that. And shadow learns that not everyone makes it out with an intact body. And to be a bit more thankful with what he can do, and not think so lowly of himself given his origins. 

 

I would like amy to go out more on adventures by herself or with not sonic, I like that side of her as well. 

And as for the shadow thing, probs alien related

Hey, look you accidentally created a better story for shadow than sa2, congradurations. ( I know how I spelled that ) . My own take in both 2d and 3d is that he has an alien paren't I guess they get killed , then he gets taken by gun and put on stasis because they want him locked up. Years later eggman finds him, and then sa2 happens as usual. ( then you get a hint later said alien parent might be alive, because everything is a myster nowadays )

I think the issue with the book is less its bad, more so its new and trying to be safe. If we still don't know who tangle is after a few more stories, then we might have an issue. And if the stories format is still like that past a year, we might have an issue. 

 

Yeah this, neither them are difficult to handle, sega keeps making the active decision, or  rather indecision, to make them difficult to use. 

Knuckles: Chaos Now guards the M.E 

Shadow: The Government Running Gun , shut gun down because of all of the shit its done over the years and it doesn't like shadow being on the squad, particularly the new president. He wants shadow captured and put back in some pod, rouge afraid of shadow doing the thing he said he would do and " fighting like he always has " and murdering an entire government to save his ass. Gives him the option of coming to sonic land ( because sonic world is a different fucking world now ) to stay out of trouble, but given the events of forces it doesn't seem like he can stay out of trouble for long. And is now seen as a villain amongst the people, now he's dealing with the idea that to help the planet he promised maria to protect...it might be better to stay away from it. And dealing with even in this new would that should all intents and purposes be his home, he's still seen as a monster. Without Gun team dark , is just kinda 3 individuals who occasionally hang out so they don't even need to be around all the time. So it leaves all 3 of them to hangout with other characters. 

 

Bam there you , Sega will however do nothing and expect you to pretend like they don't make thing increasingly difficult for these characters

The characters you highlight would definitely play off of Shadow well, and I think even Nicole who has had identity crisis stories would work well with Shadow as well. If I were to defend my stance though and why I'd start with single pairings, it would be because it is easier to highlight what makes them who they are when you have less characters to juggle in the story. Once you have a firm grip of who each character is seeing how they interact with other characters and situations not only becomes easier but by having a clear picture of who they are from the get go it is easier to create anticipation for some of those future pair ups. Well at least that's how I see it.

As for why I personally left out the alien aspect of his character in my example of how I'd introduce him on the Classic side is just mainly because most of the classic games used a minimalistic style with their story telling usually just providing enough detail in the manuals to explain the basis of the adventure about to take place. If I were to try and tell a Shadow-centric story though without those restraints there is no doubt that I would address the alien side of him, but I would also probably use him to further investigate the positive and negative aspects of the Chaos Emeralds which was barely touched in SA and hinted at again in his own game. If I were to simplify his background any though instead of giving him an alien parent (and adding yet another character to the franchise who would need to be addressed) I would probably tweak things to say that instead of Gerald making Shadow as pretty much a byproduct of his attempt to cure Maria (honestly when creating life is a byproduct of trying to cure a disease you have to be doing something wrong if you still haven't cured the disease), he used a hedgehog as the basis for his research due to their high natural resistances to disease and poison and eventually spliced his DNA with that of the Black Arms as a last ditch effort as he continued to find no success. Playing it like this you could almost even argue that Shadow kind of served as a companion for Maria during the experiments and tests and that is where their relationship stems from. It also would remove the plot hole of why Egg man himself isn't more amazed that his grandfather could create life as meager byproduct of his work.

For ease of use in Sonic's story even with the simple solutions you presented (honestly I think the fanbase on a whole has shown at one time or another how easy it is to come up with reasons to use the characters) the only problem is that they still don't address why they should appear in Sonic's story. That is really at the end of the day the problem that needs addressed more than any other, though realistically it should never really be any more complex than the characters were doing their own thing and happened to bump into each other while having a common obstacle to deal with. It's why I frequently site the Japanese Chaotix manual when talking about Knuckles as it's story gives an example of Knuckles leaving Angel Island as part of his duty to protect the Master Emerald. From there having him bump into and help out Sonic is just a mater of selling the contrived meeting in an acceptable way. That should pretty much be the case with all of the characters who don't have personal reasons to just show up and join Sonic on his next adventure. Of course all of that only applies if your telling a Sonic story and shouldn't matter at all if you're telling a story about any of the other characters. At that point the question that should be being asked is if Sonic even needs to make an appearance at all in the story, to which I say if he isn't necessary then leave him out. If you still need Sonic's name to sell the product then just label it as Sonic Presents Insert Title Here.

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On May 13, 2018 at 11:39 PM, Celestia said:

With the recurring cast being mostly introduced so far in the order they first appeared (Tails -> Amy -> Knuckles -> Chaotix), by all rights Big should have been the one featured in the sixth issue instead of Shadow. As a Big fan, I'm upset that this was allowed to happen. Hopefully Mr. Flynn addresses this quite embarrassing mistake soon, ideally by replacing Shadow with Big in every panel of that issue.

I know there are people who only see Big as meme material, but as someone who also has a soft spot for the kind and noble giant of the Sonic franchise, I wholeheartedly agree with your proposal. XD

But serioulsy, I'd totally be in for a story being seen from Big's POV, like one where he is just looking and searching for his best buddy and compadre for life, Froggy, while doing all kind of things that without him intending to, have consequences that affect the outcome of other events like turning the tides of a great battle, foiling by accident some scheme from the bad guys, etc.

And to seal the deal, a happy reunion where they both go fishing, not minding the things in the world that happens around them.

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On 5/14/2018 at 6:26 PM, DabigRG said:

The foq?! How?!

#1s sell because of the (sometimes correct) assumption that it will be much easier to start reading than, say, #792. Welcome to comics! ?

See also: when Archie Sonic started to emphasis each story arc's individual numbering so that every few months they could have an issue with a #1 on it somewhere.

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Most likely a fruitless endeavor, but honestly, does anyone have a clue as to where one would/could get the Tidewater Comicon exclusive Superstar variant for #1? I'm beginning to wonder if anyone on the planet has one. I know the Tidewater con has already come to pass and apparently these were available there, but I haven't seen so much as one seller on eBay who has or is selling it. It's literally the only #1 variant I don't have, and I'd be willing to cough up reasonable money for it if they only sold it somewhere. It's like no one went to that convention and picked up any. :unsure:

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21 minutes ago, Marco9966 said:

Someone ask on Bumblekast if the hooligans can truly appear

I need to get caught back up, especially after seeing Black Panther.

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23 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

I need to get caught back up, especially after seeing Black Panther.

What do you mean?

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11 minutes ago, Marco9966 said:

What do you mean?

I haven't listened in a while due to spoilers and stopped about #62.

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I do not like the implication that I would read issue 3 and not immediately go "Well what the fuck time to grill Ian on this".

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If Sticks is accepted, is there a chance Zooey can appear too with SEGA's authorization??

No need to make her a full lover of Tails, but have them have some moments like Knouge.

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Theoretically as Sega owns Zooey. But unlike Sticks, the rest of Boom's original characters weren't designed by Sonic Team, making their use beyond Boom unlikely. In the same way Manic or Chris are technically owned by Sega and legally free to use, but Sega will likely mandate they can't be used beyond titles under the Underground, X,or Boom branding.

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