Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[NegaMix]

4 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

My side isn't about getting them in as main characters, but rather icons of the past brought along as background stars that pop-in from time to time based on convenient necessity, such as repairs on tech ala Rotor, maybe Sonic getting his quills butchered to hell and back calling for a trip to Bunnie's salon, you could have Sally and Nicole helping Sonic out when he needs something to go undercover maybe, kind of like a supply for gear and outfits...

Make them convenient cast, not the main cast.

(Hell, have Chuck running a chili-dog stand with a new nephew by his side helping out as a nod to Sonic being his former nephew)

You could have a place where Sonic hangs out to eat with a familiar face offering conversation the way Naruto did in his series

(That last is a personal stretch)

That's an interesting idea, though it also depends on what kind of direction IDW takes with how Sonic interacts with other, non-game characters. At the very least, I wouldn't mind seeing the Freedom Fighters as background characters, with the odd cameo every now-and-then.

[Chris Knopps]

38 minutes ago, Captain Metallix said:

That's an interesting idea, though it also depends on what kind of direction IDW takes with how Sonic interacts with other, non-game characters. At the very least, I wouldn't mind seeing the Freedom Fighters as background characters, with the odd cameo every now-and-then.

That's what I'm going for in general. They are background characters, but you see how they are now important in an entirely different way to aiding Sonic and co.

They help them stay looking good, they provide them with gear and outfits when needed, offer a place for chat and eating, a place to get repairs...

Important enough to help Sonic and co. yet not on the forefront of everything. A purpose, but not a spotlight per-se.

Then, you have the old Archie cast with their purposes in the world, helping on the homefront, and you have the main/new cast of the new series out in the battlefield itself and such.

Everybody wins that way.

[NegaMix]

I suppose. Right now, I'm still of the mindset that they're unlikely to return, but I'm not against them appearing in some form either.

[Mauro Fonseca]

7 hours ago, Mayor D said:

I thought it was kinda obvious, it's been 26 years since Sonic started, there's a lot more characters now than when Archie & Fleetway started...

But let's take Eggman for instance. 

It's very common knowledge that Sega told both Archie and Fleetway that Eggman had an assistant. But they never specified what that should be, hence why we got Snively and Grimer.

Not to disparage your point, but just correcting here that we know Grimer didn't come about because Sega told Fleetway Eggman has an assistant- he came about because Nigel Kitching saw the SatAM materials, and assumed, being on a licensed comic, he'd have to change the comic to fit them, which included Snively. Then SEGA said "No, you can't use Snively, actually", so he had to quickly rewrite Snively's part. Thus, Grimer.

Can we not reasonably agree that the mere presence/absence of characters from the Archie comic, Freedom Fighters or other, won't make or break the IDW comic by itself?

I think that's what most of us are trying to say, though. Even Diogenes, who's stated he's no fan of the FF, isn't saying he doesn't want them in the comic, I don't think. We're trying to explain that the comic isn't automatically ruined if they aren't there, and also that they very likely won't be there.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Hard to tell when a number of you guys have generally been acting rather hostile toward their inclusion and even to those who are heavily wanting them back after losing them just recently.

[King Scoopa Koopa]

I think we're seeing all shades of arguments about their presence that just seems to be going around in circles, and the next five or six months feels like a really long time to be going around in circles about it. I don't think there's really anything more that can be said at this point that hasn't already been said and to some degree ignored (seeing as how a number of newer statements reiterate things previously said).

[Dr. Detective]

I mean, I'll fully admit, I wouldn't be too jazzed to see them in the comic. I've admitted to that plenty already. But at the same time, I always at least try to take into account the feelings of others, even when I don't necessarily have to. 

Just because I've been on the opposite end of similar situations where people bad mouth characters that I like. Too often.

Most of my worry does just come from really not wanting to see them at the forefront as the main cast of characters. I tried my best to get into it. I really did. Seeing the huge line-up of them all on the covers still just killed me inside, because I kept imagining the game characters being there instead. I was just bred a different way when it came to Sonic.

Didn't let any of that stop me from collecting the comics though. 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I'd like a rotation of characters. The main ones should be Sonic and Eggman, and everyone else takes turn getting spotlight depending on what the narrative could benefit from. So the FF can more or less be central characters and they won't lessen that of the game cast. They did that to a great degree having Tails, Amy, Cream, and Big along with Sally and the others, so I fail to see why this can't be done whether they're collected as a group of superheroes like they've usually been or not.

Just don't give focus to characters just because fans expect them like the games have done a number of times. I had enough of that shit with what they've done with Knuckles and ignoring his guarding of the Master Emerald before benching him, just as an example, and that's one reason why I jumped full ship into the Archie incarnation.

[Dr. Detective]

I certainly wouldn't imagine a scenario where they give the spotlight to the game characters without remembering to impart a good story or reason for their attention. I wouldn't have a problem with Knuckles appearing as often as he did in the games, had they just found a way to make it work that made sense or at the very least explained what he was doing to keep the Master Emerald safeguarded while he was away from it. I don't think the act of giving him that spotlight was the issue. They just didn't know how. If they get some good writers on this, they could find a way to make it work. And with there being a ton of game characters still in need of some good exposure, they won't have to worry too much about that idea well running dry or things becoming too repetitive and stale as quickly. 

Hopefully at least. I do think Archie had a bit of an issue with that. A lot of the game cast did feel they were mostly relegated to Sonic Universe unless they were a Freedom Fighter. And with the Freedom Fighters also being allowed their own Sonic Universe arcs there were times where my patience kind of dulled a tad. 

I always tried to make the best of it though. 

My personal opinion kind of falls in between the idea of (if they do appear) desiring they be more third tier characters. Having them alongside Sonic, Tails, and Amy was an odd feeling that never got any less distracting for me. It'd be nice to see how their dynamic could work with Sonic and Tails acting as their own free spirited, independent selves again. I suppose that wouldn't necessarily require them being third tier but I suppose it's best that I still be honest with myself.

[Shadowlax]

14 hours ago, Mayor D said:

This was confirmed as being a thing two weeks ago with the leaking of the Rise of Lyric design doc.

I believe that currently Tails and Eggman are considered inventors and that there can be nobody else in Sonic be they main or minor character who also has that job now.

i'll wait and see if that still applies here. ROL and sonic boom while seemingly dying a slow televised death, seem to be its own thing. Also there are other people who invent things in the show irrc... so there's that. 

10 hours ago, SonicComicFanboy said:

  No more then saying IDW's comic can't have its own identity because it uses some of the same characters that have been used in Sonic comics for nearly a quarter of a century.

 

Again by that Logic no Batman media post 90's should have used Harley Quinn.

Ninja Turtles should have left Bebop & Rocksteady out of the comic, etc.

That isn't a fair comparison with harley

Harely was retained due to her popularity. No one in the comic is that popular, and that's a pretty bad comparison. The only person in the franchise to do this currently is shadow. There are plenty of characters and versions of chacters batman left behind because they weren't of use, and they wanted to seperate themselves. 

[Mauro Fonseca]

Should also be mentioned it's easier for Harley to do the transition when both the comic and the cartoon shared staff.

[Badnik Mechanic]

5 hours ago, Shadowlax said:

i'll wait and see if that still applies here. ROL and sonic boom while seemingly dying a slow televised death, seem to be its own thing. Also there are other people who invent things in the show irrc... so there's that. 

It's not a Boom thing. It's a Sega thing. Remember that Sega Bible regarding Sonic? The one which leaked a few details a few years ago. 

This is another thing that's apparently in it.

[SonicComicFanboy]

 Well I admit I was wrong in comparing Sonic to Batman.  Sonic as a character or a franchise is nowhere near as popular as Batman and most likely never will be.

 

 As for popularity though.  The FF are popular enough to the part of a fanbase that actually reads the comic.  Doubt it would have lasted 25 years if they were solely despised.

 

Again the comic fills a specific niche for that part of the fanbase and it would be shame to loose that.

 

It would be like if Archie gave up on Sabrina.  Sure she's not a main character, but there's still people that enjoy the character and would hate to see her disappear forever.

 

 Comics are a niche market and its important to cater to the niches you've already established just as it is to attract new/ the next generation of fans.

[SBR2]

I just want to say it's really douchey how people are basically reacting to people wanting the FF by just going "No fuck those characters you like because I don't like them and never want to see them again".

[doctorbenMD]

I really think everyone should be approaching this as a case of "what evidence is there for x, y, and z." It's probably the most mature way of looking at it (about as mature as you can get with blue anthropomorphic woodland creature and his friends). 

Let's look at the facts:

-Sega doesn't particularly care for the FF. Archie had to fight for them to remain in the book in the reboot. If you think about it, they are more of a luxury, not an absolute necessity. You may *think* they are necessary, but the way Sega views it is this: the general public will buy the book if Sonic's face is on it, regardless of whatever other characters are in the book. 

-At the end of the day, Sega is the license-holder: whatever they say goes, and you can bet that they'll be ruling it more with an "iron grip" from they lessons they learned with Archie. If they don't feel that the FF represents the "current brand," then they might drop them. IDW can fight for what they want all they want--but to say that they have any creative control *over* Sega is immature and wrong. We've already seen that Sega pulled the license from Archie. They can do the same with IDW. 

-While you can make the argument that more people will be alienated if the FF aren't included, the opposite is more true: the general public have no idea who they are--they just want a book with Sonic in it. Hell, I think it's pretty fair to say that for every 1 person who likes the FF and buys the book for them, there's probably at least 20 people who buy the book just for Sonic--that's who Sega will be catering towards.

-Sega (and IDWs) priority--their *main* priority--is to get a book out there with Sonic in it. Everything else is secondary and tertiary at best. 

-By the time the book comes out, it will have been a year since the last time we saw Sonic in print (maybe *over* a year since we don't know when in 2018 this'll be released). That's a long time to go without seeing any of these characters. But Sonic is more likely to be recognized during this time period than any other character. 

Look, this is coming from someone who loved the Archie books and the FF. But I also recognize that the writing is on the wall: there's more evidence that the FF won't be in it than there will be. We shouldn't expect them (nor a continuation from where Archie left off), and the only thing we should expect is that there's going to be a book with Sonic in it.

[Mauro Fonseca]

Are people going that?

Diogenes seems to me to be on the camp of "I don't like these characters, and personally would like to not see them, but my point isn't personal, it's that the comic doesn't need them and I think it's a bad precedent to put all these expectations on a new comic already".

Hogfather roughly the same with a bit more abrasiveness.

I'm at the same position except for the "I don't like these characters".

No-one, legitimately, is trying to say "fuck you and fuck those characters", as far as I can see. What we're saying is, "don't act like the new comic needs those characters, or that it's a monumentally stupid idea not to have them."

Let me give you a comparison with Disney.

I really like Ludwig von Drake.

He's forbidden in northern European stories as the Egmont editors feel he's redunctant with Gyro Gearloose.

I think that's a stupid idea, and I'd love to see them loosen on that so the Egmont authors can do more Ludwig stories.

But I also realise they have no need for it. Clearly the comics still sell, clearly the stories are still made, etc.

Ludwig is extremely popular, being an animated character and all. But he's nowhere close make-or-break.

 

IDW Sonic can not have Freedom Fighters at all, and it will work regardless. And it'll likely be good, or may be bad, but either way it does, it'll be because of the staff they have, not because they didn't get to use a handful of fan-favourite characters. Because if that were that true, the comic would've died with the reboot, yet it held through.

[SonicComicFanboy]

5 minutes ago, The KKM said:

 

IDW Sonic can not have Freedom Fighters at all, and it will work regardless. And it'll likely be good, or may be bad, but either way it does, it'll be because of the staff they have, not because they didn't get to use a handful of fan-favourite characters. Because if that were that true, the comic would've died with the reboot, yet it held through.

  Again we don't know if it can or not and saying it can't &/or that it would be better off without them is flat out rude and dismissive of loyal fans who read the Archie book for decades as well as the late great Ben Hurst who brought characters to life in SATAM and every man/woman who ever worked on the comics

 

 And if SEGA does make IDW take as much a souless approach I gurantee you it will be bad no matter what team they get on the book.  Even the most talanted writer & artist can't turn garbage into gold.

[Mauro Fonseca]

Grammar mangled there a bit. I meant "IDW can (do something)", in which "do something" is "not have the Freedom Fighters", not "IDW can not (do something)", in which "do something" is "have the Freedom Fighters".

 

And I disagree with that. Especially since by your logic, saying that the comic needs them is disrespectful for the future staff, saying that they can't do good work unless they forcefully use these old concepts too.

Just consider this. Imagine SEGA says "no SatAM and AoSTH, it's old shows". But also says "but create new characters if you want, and also, here's forgotten characters like Honey and Mighty", which I imagine will be the likely scenario. Then, imagine it's a good team.

Will you still say it's a soulless approach?

[SBR2]

8 minutes ago, The KKM said:

Are people going that?

Diogenes seems to me to be on the camp of "I don't like these characters, and personally would like to not see them, but my point isn't personal, it's that the comic doesn't need them and I think it's a bad precedent to put all these expectations on a new comic already".

Hogfather roughly the same with a bit more abrasiveness.

I'm at the same position except for the "I don't like these characters".

No-one, legitimately, is trying to say "fuck you and fuck those characters", as far as I can see. What we're saying is, "don't act like the new comic needs those characters, or that it's a monumentally stupid idea not to have them."

Let me give you a comparison with Disney.

I really like Ludwig von Drake.

He's forbidden in northern European stories as the Egmont editors feel he's redunctant with Gyro Gearloose.

I think that's a stupid idea, and I'd love to see them loosen on that so the Egmont authors can do more Ludwig stories.

But I also realise they have no need for it. Clearly the comics still sell, clearly the stories are still made, etc.

Ludwig is extremely popular, being an animated character and all. But he's nowhere close make-or-break.

 

IDW Sonic can not have Freedom Fighters at all, and it will work regardless. And it'll likely be good, or may be bad, but either way it does, it'll be because of the staff they have, not because they didn't get to use a handful of fan-favourite characters. Because if that were that true, the comic would've died with the reboot, yet it held through.

Hmm I don't know man a lot of the "No Freedom Fighter" posts have seemed pretty venomous to me. But I want to stress it's both sides I think are taking it to an extreme. The "The comic will suck with" and "Comic will suck without" are both equally silly.

I've made it clear that I'm neutral here. I like the Freedom fighters and honestly would love to see them continue on in some form. But I also don't think the book lives or dies on their inclusion. Hell it looked like Archie was going to be taking a break from them in the main book for a while save for "Baking Bad" and I thought those look delightful.

Honestly I also think the whole "Spotlight stealing" thing I've seen is massively overblown. Yeah the FF got focus post reboot but unless a story was specifically about the (Sonic Comic Origins, Spark of Life) they're importance was massively cut down Post-Reboot. Almost all of the Shattered World Crisis storyline focused on Sonic and his friends going on an adventure to save the world. Just like the games except with a five extra faces in the group. 

[BlueSky]

Well, hello again...

All this back and forth, sometimes I think we aren't even discussing in the same wavelength anymore. It's like we only hear bits and pieces from each other's talk and then twist the stuff in our heads in a comprehensible text and like it or dislike it purely because of some random triggerwords.

I myself am starting to grow tired.

I read some old, pre-SGW (Flynn-stuff)  stuff yesterday and today and I was happily reminded why it's so good in my opinion; all the structure in the plots, the atmosphere, the overall feeling made the stuff alive! It got me excited!

And then there's the now.

As someone earlier said in here, whether or not the new stuff will be good or not, if the FF (and other Archie cast too) isn't around it will make reading the IDW comics hard. For me because I'd remember the FF every moment I just glance towards the comics, that alone would probably make my stomach twist in a hundreds of knots. It would feel so uneasy that picking the comics up would be nearly impossible for me thus making it stupid to buy them, I'm not too rich after all. Probably because I keep remembering the good stuff I liked about those characters left to the "shadow side again". Whoever gets that gets it. Only hint is it's about a song.

So well, comics can be good without the FF and other Archie cast, and Sega has every right to decide how it wants to use stuff it owns or want others to use it on behalf of them. If they want a blank slate, by all means have it, just don't wait for me to come aboard.

About that how some say Mr. Flynn getting involved would bring the Archie stuff back in a bigger probability, well, I dunno. I don't know what to think anymore. Mr. Flynn is a good writer, and his quality is pretty stable and I really enjoy his writing, but if this is going to be a fresh start, I dunno if that'd cause any too big wanting from his part to bring all that stuff back. Only Mr. Flynn knows for sure, and since he's pretty much professional he'll probably keep his opinions about this to himself to some degree.

Heck, Mr. Flynn has stated many times in different podcasts (like in Sonic Sez Issue 30) the mandates are mostly about common sense or something. I don't see Sega as a bad company, heck they allow fan works to exist for pity's sake! Sometimes their logic just is a bit interesting ("Why would you use Mephiles, he's dead?"), which actually kind of reminds me of some logic some guys use in here too.

I'm not the one to pull any ropes in anywhere; companies may do what they want with their stuff, they have all the rights to do so.

But I also have the rights to not buy any single issue if I feel like I can't read them! My money, my desicion!

And if someone tries to make me feel bad about my desicions, I can tell you this; I've been trough with that kind of stuff already, it still hurts but I'll not let it affect me anymore. And if it somehow affects me, it affects me exactly the opposite way one trying to make me feel guilty could want it to.

If, by any chance, my personal "best case scenario" happens and the FF/other cool characters come back, I most sincerely hope their core, their personalities, morales, stuff that make them individuals, is kept intact. Otherwise there's no point for me to have them around. I don't care whether or not I'll see them around either once every issue or once/twice a year as long as they are what makes them so great to begin with. I don't care if Sally's a princess or not as long as her core being is safe.

And of course it would be epic to keep Antoine and Bunnie married, their union survived the reboot after all and I really think the said relationship works. It's probably one of the best marriages in comics I know of (then again, stuff I read doesn't really include too many of these... and some of them are really odd for my tastes)

And, of course, if I could ask the moon from the skies I'd love to have at least a closure for the post-reboot Archie continuity. But then again, pre-reboot didn't really have one either...

I wouldn't even mind other parts of the Sonic franchise getting their cast in too, by all means, be my guest! Even if I'm not owning anything, it's just a saying though... The more, the merrier! At least people couldn't complain about some non-game character getting too much paneltime, I suppose different non-game casts would be pretty much on the same line in that case.

But well, after all, I'm just some stupid Finn who knows nothing about stuff like this. All I can do is hope, and maybe write an email or something.

I was beyond pissed from about a week ago to the said week's end. Then I became about as indifferent as one liking Archie comics and not wanting them to die can. The whole situation to me is starting to seem more and more like a "meh". This franchise as a whole is looking less and less appealling every day. I'm not really leaving but I'm not jumping out of joy either, I'm in a limbo of feelings right now. It's a pretty empty limbo. There's no furniture either you know...

I see no real reason for the time being to be too excited over this all. "IDW makes comics!!!" Yay. Good for you.

One of my biggest worries though is the fact they could bring Pontaff in for that new direction of theirs... who knows. I don't find that idea appealling at all though.

At this point though, even being good doesn't mean I could read it, as I explained before I have a drama-queenish stomach after all. But being not-so-good wouldn't be of any help either.

And there's this one rule about never saying never, though the probability would probably be around ~0,01 % if the cast I so adore isn't in there...

It's no threat, just a statement, I'm just one person and these sell by thousands. Or something like that.

[doctorbenMD]

2 hours ago, SonicComicFanboy said:

  Again we don't know if it can or not and saying it can't &/or that it would be better off without them is flat out rude and dismissive of loyal fans who read the Archie book for decades as well as the late great Ben Hurst who brought characters to life in SATAM and every man/woman who ever worked on the comics

 

 And if SEGA does make IDW take as much a souless approach I gurantee you it will be bad no matter what team they get on the book.  Even the most talanted writer & artist can't turn garbage into gold.

But see, that kind of thinking makes your argument hard to take seriously--you're using extremes. How do you know it'll be "soulless?" How can you say "I can guarantee?" The book hasn't even been released yet. Just because it might not have characters that you love doesn't mean it will be soulless and garbage. 

[King Scoopa Koopa]

Okay, for all my kvetching about the topic running in circles, maybe I can try to throw in some other topics of discussion to keep things fun in here. I mean, the FF are such a small part of a much bigger picture.

This is IDW, who-- unlike most comic publishers-- really specializes in licensed stuff, and have done a lot of different things. I think we can look at their past work and speculate on stuff that may or could happen.

1) Much like the Freedom Fighters, we don't know that anyone from the book's staff will carry over. Now while I want Ian and company  to get first crack at this more than anyone here, let's say they don't-- or, in a better case, they decide to mix new blood in with the old (speaking of which, Jon Gray works for IDW, so there's that). Who might we want to see-- or never see?

Personally, one I'd be wary of hiring on (besides the obvious who shall not be named) is Mike Costa, who jumped into writing Transformers without much of a clue of what he was writing about.

2) Here's one to brace for: Sonic might not be an ongoing comic series. When Transformers began, it wasn't ongoing, but a series of micro-series that eventually led to ongoing. I think My Little Pony did this, too?

Ghostbusters has longer themed arcs that act as different sequential series, and I think Back to the Future runs this way, too.

Arguably the most comparable might be Skylanders, which has several minis that seem to take place around the games themselves (and the collections have neat hardcovers). They also had some neat callbacks to Spyro's past history.

3) Spotlights. These might be exclusively a Transformers thing, but a lot of characters got single-issue stories called Spotlights that focused more on them. Not quite a Universe thing, but sort of a middle-ground.

4) Linewide events. IDW does neat stuff, (often not in continuity, or they can be, depending on the book) that covers several unrelated titles.

One neat one was Deviations, sort of their take on Marvel's What-If, and I think it proved popular enough for them to return to it. In Transformers, it looked at how the original Transformers movie would have played out if Optimus hadn't died; in Ghostbusters, what if they'd obeyed the big rule when fighting Gozer and not crossed the streams?

Sonic no doubt has some good moments to examine. If not for He Who Shall Not Be Named, we might have been able to see for ourselves what would have happened if Princess Sally did die during Endgame.

A more likely one would be "what if Shadow didn't remember Maria's wish?" Imagine seeing how things might have turned out if he didn't join in the fight to save the planet at the end of Sonic Adventure 2.

That's mine, now you guys think of some!

Another event has been Infestation, where some of IDW's own original characters are dealing with a zombie plague spreading through the multiverse.

Yet another was a series where the X-Files' Lone Gunmen were investigating stories and rumors surrounding the likes of a group of paranormal exterminators in New York, ninja reptiles in that same city's sewers, and word of warring transforming robots from long ago. I know after the Image crossover, some of us would be happy to never see X-Files and Sonic meet again, but this could be neat as an out of continuity side-story.

Sonic would be an odd fit here, though there are possibilities. A tie-in with the upcoming movie, maybe, if that brings Sonic and friends to our world? A way to explore that whole "two worlds gateway" thing? Or something else.

5) Speaking of crossovers, IDW have become masters at crossing over not just various licensed franchises but even stuff they're licensing with stuff they're not. After two TMNT/Batman crossovers, is Sonic/The Flash so far fetched? Or Sonic and Quicksilver?

Keeping it under the IDW umbrella, we could see a three-way race between Sonic, Blurr, and Rainbow Dash.

All this, and there are probably aspects I haven't even thought of yet. Hopefully this will help get some discussion going that isn't sniping at each other over if the Freedom Fighters should continue to exist, because there is just so much more to look at.

[RedFox99]

On 7/26/2017 at 11:13 AM, KingScoopaKoopa said:

Okay, for all my kvetching about the topic running in circles, maybe I can try to throw in some other topics of discussion to keep things fun in here. I mean, the FF are such a small part of a much bigger picture.

This is IDW, who-- unlike most comic publishers-- really specializes in licensed stuff, and have done a lot of different things. I think we can look at their past work and speculate on stuff that may or could happen.

1) Much like the Freedom Fighters, we don't know that anyone from the book's staff will carry over. Now while I want Ian and company  to get first crack at this more than anyone here, let's say they don't-- or, in a better case, they decide to mix new blood in with the old (speaking of which, Jon Gray works for IDW, so there's that). Who might we want to see-- or never see?

Personally, one I'd be wary of hiring on (besides the obvious who shall not be named) is Mike Costa, who jumped into writing Transformers without much of a clue of what he was writing about.

2) Here's one to brace for: Sonic might not be an ongoing comic series. When Transformers began, it wasn't ongoing, but a series of micro-series that eventually led to ongoing. I think My Little Pony did this, too?

Ghostbusters has longer themed arcs that act as different sequential series, and I think Back to the Future runs this way, too.

Arguably the most comparable might be Skylanders, which has several minis that seem to take place around the games themselves (and the collections have neat hardcovers). They also had some neat callbacks to Spyro's past history.

3) Spotlights. These might be exclusively a Transformers thing, but a lot of characters got single-issue stories called Spotlights that focused more on them. Not quite a Universe thing, but sort of a middle-ground.

4) Linewide events. IDW does neat stuff, (often not in continuity, or they can be, depending on the book) that covers several unrelated titles.

One neat one was Deviations, sort of their take on Marvel's What-If, and I think it proved popular enough for them to return to it. In Transformers, it looked at how the original Transformers movie would have played out if Optimus hadn't died; in Ghostbusters, what if they'd obeyed the big rule when fighting Gozer and not crossed the streams?

Sonic no doubt has some good moments to examine. If not for He Who Shall Not Be Named, we might have been able to see for ourselves what would have happened if Princess Sally did die during Endgame.

A more likely one would be "what if Shadow didn't remember Maria's wish?" Imagine seeing how things might have turned out if he didn't join in the fight to save the planet at the end of Sonic Adventure 2.

That's mine, now you guys think of some!

Another event has been Infestation, where some of IDW's own original characters are dealing with a zombie plague spreading through the multiverse.

Yet another was a series where the X-Files' Lone Gunmen were investigating stories and rumors surrounding the likes of a group of paranormal exterminators in New York, ninja reptiles in that same city's sewers, and word of warring transforming robots from long ago. I know after the Image crossover, some of us would be happy to never see X-Files and Sonic meet again, but this could be neat as an out of continuity side-story.

Sonic would be an odd fit here, though there are possibilities. A tie-in with the upcoming movie, maybe, if that brings Sonic and friends to our world? A way to explore that whole "two worlds gateway" thing? Or something else.

5) Speaking of crossovers, IDW have become masters at crossing over not just various licensed franchises but even stuff they're licensing with stuff they're not. After two TMNT/Batman crossovers, is Sonic/The Flash so far fetched? Or Sonic and Quicksilver?

Keeping it under the IDW umbrella, we could see a three-way race between Sonic, Blurr, and Rainbow Dash.

All this, and there are probably aspects I haven't even thought of yet. Hopefully this will help get some discussion going that isn't sniping at each other over if the Freedom Fighters should continue to exist, because there is just so much more to look at.

Maybe some good what-ifs would be Tikal resealing Chaos or Sonic actually dying in the explosion during SA2 

[rosedust]

sally is one of my favorite characters, i'd hope that she'd appear in at least some capacity.

[Korke]

Heheh, I'm in the most weird boat ever in this subject. At the same time I'd wish for Nicole to survive this, I would prefer Flynn to not be included in the IDW series. He had enough years, and I think it's time for others to come around. I've grew really tired of the reboot, quitting before the end of the Shattered World Crisis saga. Grew really tired of his writing...

Also, worth mentioning his latest revealed shipping agenda on his twitter, which is quite questionable.