Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Sega DogTagz]

I honestly didn't expect much else until we got the introduction of the core cast out of the way. They could toe this line until Tails comes back around in the rotation and I'd be perfectly fine with it. Last thing I want them to do is clutter up the real meat of future stories with introductory banter and basic character synopsis's. Better to knock that out in the accelerated first month and rip the band-aid off in one go.

If I had to wait a month to see the same song and dance 4 times in a row, I might be a little miffed, but accelerating those first few issues makes it tolerable in the knowledge that we've covered our introductory phase and can now start getting into the meat and potatoes of the series largely unhindered by narrative speed-bumps of introducing new major players every issue.

[PublicEnemy1]

28 minutes ago, Elseb said:

Finished reading issue three and four, extremely underwhelmed. Even more so than the first two Issues, everything just seems far too similar and dull. I'm worried Sega have given IDW strict guidelines behind the scenes on what they want from the comic and if this is what we will be getting in the future, I'm out. It's been extremely lacklustre.

Having said that, it's only issue 4...

 

Well, they did say that they'd have a lot more creative freedom, if not the same as Post-Reboot. I doubt they'd be stricter.

[Blueknight V2.0]

Does anyone else think that the IDW Sonic Fallout series, could be what Project Death Egg Sigma could be about? A DLC follow up story to Sonic Forces, a separate game or even a Modern Sonic TV series based on the comics and events following Forces.

[Dr. Detective]

I've read issue 4 and I liked it once again. More so than issue 3 by far. Still haven't seen an outright bad one in the bunch just yet which is good. I've gotten exactly what I've expected and then some, especially when it came to issue 2, which surprised me quite a bit. That said, I think Issue 4 here might be the second best one after it.

I haven't said a word about Tangle since the reveal of her character way back when we were playing that game of "Sally or Not-Sally" on "SSMB Family Double Dare" but now that I've read an actual issue with her where I can gauge her personality and her manner of speaking and fighting I can confirm that she's definitely a character I like quite a bit. The fighting style with the Gear Fourth stretchy tail thing was interesting to see first hand but her crushing the robots with it and seeing her reaction to the incredibly stupid thing she did was also great. I like it when they put forth someone like this who can be cool but aren't necessarily supposed to be uber badass either. They usually tend to be easier for me to like that way.

Blaze was Blaze, though noticabley not as straight-faced and super-serious as I was expecting. I expected her to be frowning a lot more so I'm glad she felt a bit more balanced here. I can't speak too much about her proper characterization since I'm not a Blaze expert or anything but I did like the fact that the Sol Emerald thing was at least addressed. Unlike everyone else here, when I saw her, the only thing I was looking for was an explanation. Since this was enough to satisfy me, it goes well towards showing that so long as something is addressed, I'm usually pretty okay with it. I just need some acknowledgement as to why someone's around. Granted, I still don't understand how her dimension works or anything like that but if it supposedly is that easy to get to and from now then that'll go well towards helping to explain why it can suddenly make sense for her to be around. I'd admittedly still like a bit more clarification on things (like how Sonic's group can contact her from where they are or whether or not the method to getting into her dimension as outlined by Rush and Rush Adventure still matters... stuff like that) but whatever. I'm cool with it.

I also really liked the fight choreography in this issue compared to the last couple. Especially issue 3, where all that happened was that there was a lot of talking and then some generic shots of fists and kicks going by without much impact being drawn into the panels. Here, not only is that there but there's also neat things that utilize the way the robots are constructed against them, like the huge drill that Tangle swung about and the part where I think one of the robot's thrusters was used to burn against it's own back.

Also, really enjoyed the drawings here. The cute anime stuff was awesome. Whenever they make Sonic look adorable it tends to go a long way towards making him more charming then he already is. That look on his face when he's waving like a little kid and saying hi to Blaze followed by that little panel of him giving a thumbs up was great. However, my favorite was definitely the part where he was dizzy. As a huge fan of slapstick, of course I loved that. Dizziness is adorable. 

It also helped make Blaze look nice and huggable here too. That's usually never a word I'd use for her so bravo. It wasn't a huge game changer for her character like it was for Amy but I still was glad I left the issue thinking it was nice seeing her.

So yeah, all in all, really promising start. Better than the first four issues of the Archie reboot though I kind of feel that might not be saying a whole lot. That other reboot was incredibly confusing at the start and ended up being completely superfluous in the grand scheme of things due to the selective memory wipe. It's hard to not do better than that I guess.

Either way, I got what I was expecting. I'm sure as hell not disappointed and I'm looking forward to more. Issues in order from favorite to least favorite would probably be: Issue#2, Issue #4, Issue #1, and Issue #3. Ironic since I think I like the characters in Issues 1 and 3 more but that's just the way the wheel or fortune turns I suppose.

One last note, I love the ending of this issue where Eggman is supposedly just staking out in a suburban household, watching a little kid crying over a busted red wagon. "Don't worry. I'll fix your little red wagon for you." That's such a funny image. I don't know why it amuses me so. 

[Sonictrainer]

Spoiler

Real Talk: Do you think Eggman will actually fix the boy's toy?

 

[PublicEnemy1]

25 minutes ago, Sonictrainer said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Real Talk: Do you think Eggman will actually fix the boy's toy?

 

Spoiler

Oh, he'll fix the toy alright... and the boy... and his entire family...

 

[Celestia]

19 minutes ago, Sonictrainer said:

  Hide contents

Real Talk: Do you think Eggman will actually fix the boy's toy?

 

Absolutely.

Spoiler

After all, it doesn't have any deadly lasers or anything. Eggman can't just let that be.

 

[StaticMania]

Why Eggman be creepin' though? 

Legit confusion.

[PublicEnemy1]

Let's hope that SEGA themselves aren't too strict on the IDW book for long. I would like to see something change. Like, ANYTHING.

Well, Ian DID say he'd have the same creative freedom as in Post-Boot Archie IF NOT MORE in IDW. My prediction is that SEGA will be more watchful of the book for the first year, and then they'll allow more room for experimental things.

I'm still worried, however, because it's fucking SEGA.

[UmbraTheHedgehog]

I wanted to wait until I read the first 4 issues of the new Sonic comic until I gave my Impression. The art each issue is great and the characters are very expressive. Each Issue seems focused on trying to get the interpretation of the various Sonic characters right, so there is not much world building yet and just the teasing of an overall plot. Since the first 4 issues came out weekly I am willing to be patient but I hope we start scratching the surface of that soon. I enjoyed seeing how Sonic would relate to the resistance. That said I believe these issues successfully represent these characters well, introduce new intriguing characters with a charming story, and give just enough to keep me invested. I will be eager to see more characters and a developing ongoing plot and world.  

[SBR2]

5 hours ago, NikoS said:

Also, i know it's a nitpick, but could we stop having the same stock art in every credits page?

  Reveal hidden contents

Like, please?

 

Yeah I don't really get why they went with that. They could have used stills from the previous issue or something. I also find the lack of even a brief recap odd.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

So Arby's did this yesterday-

That's actually pretty cool!

[GentlemanX]

So, um, @Fusion-Ellipsis also just posted this. I knew IDW was bad about royalties for material they reprinted, but this seems... I don't even know. Negligent? I assume there was some mistake.

[Shadowlax]

38 minutes ago, GentlemanX said:

So, um, @Fusion-Ellipsis also just posted this. I knew IDW was bad about royalties for material they reprinted, but this seems... I don't even know. Negligent? I assume there was some mistake.

oh, look turns out this was in fact a fresh new hell

[MetalSkulkBane]

5 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

  Hide contents

Real Talk: Do you think Eggman will actually fix the boy's toy?

 

My guess? It's gonna be his latest and greatest invention, Egg Trolley.

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, Fusion-Ellipsis said:

So Arby's did this yesterday-

That's actually pretty cool!

Come try a Lemur Sandwich--She's Totes Adorbs!

4 hours ago, StaticMania said:

Why Eggman be creepin' though? 

Legit confusion.

I know right?' I expected him to have been stuck in a Genesis Portal or hiding away in some secret, obscured base, not playing handyman in some tiny village.

 

Also, he looks bizarrely out of place there.

[Your Vest Friend]

1 hour ago, GentlemanX said:

So, um, @Fusion-Ellipsis also just posted this. I knew IDW was bad about royalties for material they reprinted, but this seems... I don't even know. Negligent? I assume there was some mistake.

SEGA seems to have stopped working with her too? Huh, Aaron mentioned her not long ago, in the last Sonic stream. I can't think of anything recently happening that might affect--

...Oh, wait, yes I can, possibly. There was a campaign on Tumblr to stop her working for SEGA  And that was dated late February. It got less than 400 notes though, so it's not like it caused a massive backlash or anything. Most people here probably wouldn't have even seen it let alone SEGA or IDW seeing it. 

[Shadowlax]

2 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

SEGA seems to have stopped working with her too? Huh, Aaron mentioned her not long ago, in the last Sonic stream. I can't think of anything recently happening that might affect--

...Oh, wait, yes I can, possibly. There was a campaign on Tumblr to stop her working for SEGA  And that was dated late February. It got less than 400 notes though, so it's not like it caused a massive backlash or anything. Most people here probably wouldn't have even seen it let alone SEGA or IDW seeing it. 

....why was there a campaign?

It was some sexist shit wasnt it?

 

[DabigRG]

3 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

SEGA seems to have stopped working with her too? Huh, Aaron mentioned her not long ago, in the last Sonic stream. I can't think of anything recently happening that might affect--

...Oh, wait, yes I can, possibly. There was a campaign on Tumblr to stop her working for SEGA  And that was dated late February. It got less than 400 notes though, so it's not like it caused a massive backlash or anything. Most people here probably wouldn't have even seen it let alone SEGA or IDW seeing it. 

...Why?

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

20 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

There was a campaign on Tumblr to stop her working for SEGA  And that was dated late February.

...the people who made this campaign... wouldn't happen to be from a blog called Sonic Safety Squad right?

[Your Vest Friend]

12 minutes ago, Fusion-Ellipsis said:

...the people who made this campaign... wouldn't happen to be from a blog called Sonic Safety Squad right?

Oh good, you mentioned them so I don't have to awkwardly dodge posting the link due to the NSFW stuff that they put on it as means to call out Rafa on their stuff. 

[Big Panda]

Somebody care to explain without posting any links?

[DabigRG]

44 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

Oh good, you mentioned them so I don't have to awkwardly dodge posting the link due to the NSFW stuff that they put on it as means to call out Rafa on their stuff. 

Rafa makes Rule 34?

[Celestia]

Though I don't think this is actually why she didn't get paid at least, I can't say I'd lose sleep over SEGA letting an artist go for that shit if it's true. But uh, I think it might be best if we don't talk about that aspect of this any further. Thanks y'all for not posting any questionable links.

I know the comics industry can be messed up, but surely IDW would be under fire for not paying someone? Hopefully that gets resolved cuz I'd rather not set [more] precedent for artists to get thrown under a bus.

[Ayliffe]

7 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Real Talk: Do you think Eggman will actually fix the boy's toy?

 

Spoiler

if it turns out next issue that Eggman's retired from villainy and he literally just fixes things from his village now I will never stop laughing