Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[DabigRG]

4 hours ago, Shadowlax said:

" You can't outrun me with a gunshot wound sonic "

 

Oh-hoho, DAA-YUM!

4 hours ago, Sonic Fan J said:

I guess in my case with Starline is just that the delivery hasn't done it for me. As you say, there is a lot of intrigue with him, but I just found myself caring so far while reading. Not that he has failed completely to entertain me as I love his exchange with Eggman after Rough and Tumble introduce themselves, but otherwise he hasn't gripped me yet so the plot points affiliated with him haven't either. I'm hoping his first meeting with Sonic will change all of that for me so I'm looking forward to that meeting at least.

Uh, okay?

Like I said a page back, introductions are sometimes not particularly exciting in themselves.

33 minutes ago, Shadowlax said:

Art

Like that the characters that get focused on I actually care about

Character designs for non game folks

Are you responding to something here or...?

 

[Shadowlax]

1 minute ago, DabigRG said:

Oh-hoho, DAA-YUM!

Uh, okay?

Like I said a page back, introductions are sometimes not particularly exciting in themselves.

Are you responding to something here or...?

 

Someone asked the question of things folks like better in IDW

am I wrong in that?

[Riggo]

1 hour ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

That's a nice idea for a subject: what you think IDW does right/better than Archie?

Better than Archie:

- Consistency in art (though post-Reboot did this pretty well too, so I guess this only partly counts?)

- Quality character designs—it’s really refreshing to get new characters that would fit almost seamlessly within the games

On its own merits:

- Same as above, obviously

- Hopefully not tying Sonic down to a team this time

- Dialogue is generally good

- Year Two looks promising?

- Honestly it’s just nice to have some Sonic material that isn’t the games again

- Dr. Starline. Just him in general.

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

That's a nice idea for a subject: what you think IDW does right/better than Archie?

 

In comparison to Archie?

Well, I guess back to back one & done stories are a thing Archie didn't really do too often outside of backups. And I suppose if having mostly game characters is important to you, I guess it had no choice but to excel in that.

That's about it.

[SBR2]

Honestly I'd say it's about on par with Post-Reboot Archie Sonic. I enjoy both more than Pre-Reboot Archie. 

Like others have said the Art is consistent (Honestly I didn't even hate #3 that much) and honestly I think the story has been fun. It's not deep or anything but as a fun kids adventure book setting up its plot it's pretty good. It let's you know who's who and what they do and everyone has gotten a good amount of Panel time. 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

That's a nice idea for a subject: what you think IDW does right/better than Archie?

I just re-read Year One and I'll say this: they're much better when you're keeping your expectation's low. (or in this case: just know what to expect)

Also, every art easily trumps Archie. Issue 3 aside it always ranges from "good" to "sooooooo gooood". (I'm just hoping panel count isn't suffering too much from it.)

I don’t think IDW does anything better than it does continue the standard Archie had already set with its creative team

It may lack a lot of things that made Archie stand out, the characters and organization they were apart of, but a lot of what it currently does comes off as something that the previous series would or could have done had the initial ideas been approved. I know Ian wanted to do a Heroes adaptation in Archie and that was turned down until it was given the go ahead for IDW.

Although one thing it currently pales in comparison to Archie is its rogue gallery, but that’ll come with time.

Quote

And I know that some still miss Freedom Fighters, but we can't go a single issue without someone doing something really cool or adorable and I can't make that claim about Sally and her pack.

Given the well over 300 issues over the 20+ years they were still around in Archie, I’m pretty sure you can look and find some for Sally and her pack, dude. 

Or are we all just going to forget examples like Antoine nearly sacrificing himself and having us on the edge of our seats if he’ll live before the reboot?

 

[SBR2]

28 minutes ago, Conquering Storm’s Servant said:

 

Given the well over 300 issues over the 20+ years they were still around in Archie, I’m pretty sure you can look and find some for Sally and her pack, dude. 

Or are we all just going to forget examples like Antoine nearly sacrificing himself and having us on the edge of our seats if he’ll live before the reboot?

 

Honestly Sally and the Freedom Fighters were awesome. I still don't think the book needs them but they were cool as hell and I'll hear nothing to the contrary. 

[Zaysho]

I think IDW's biggest strength right now is its creative team. It's made up of the best from Archie's previous ten years. I also think the editorial direction is generally better. If issues like #10 and #11 are indicators of what to expect when two pencilers are put on an individual issue, then I think it will produce a generally better looking product. And all the artists that have been shown so far from Archie's stable are artists whose styles are expressive and animated and really bring Sonic and crew to life. That isn't to discount Archie in that department, because these guys have all been bringing that whenever they were on an issue, but it is a much more consistent showcase and it isn't hampered by concerns of subpar inking, coloring, or random shifts in art styles if multiple artists are teamed up.

Straight up, IDW just looks really fucking good.

The writing is where I go a bit half and half with, but ultimately I don't think the book could have been in better hands even if Ian falls into some problems with his plotting recently. It's not really anything I didn't already have a problem with with Archie's last year (main book with stories that had lots of worldbuilding but no significant or interesting advancement for the arc; Universe picked up the slack here), beginning of the reboot ("Countdown to Chaos" memory subplot, early Universe arcs with too much lore exposition), or "Mega Drive" (cute and fun, but also really repetitive). IDW has very similar pitfalls for me, and I think why these things bother me is that Ian's character writing is just so good that anytime he tacks on anything like the above it shows and weighs down really great dialogue that could be enough to move things along. I don't think IDW is quite as bad in those regards, and I get why Ian embellishes his writing with lots of background details and winks and nods the way he does. If anything, I think it's something that'll get toned down as time goes on, just like it did with the Archie reboot. Old materials is used as a backdrop for new characters and conflicts.

When I look at it this way, I don't think there's anything IDW really does that's much better than Archie. They're slightly different books, but are otherwise comparable experiences. At this point I think you have to decide if the fact that it's Sega canon is good or not. Personally if I had my choice, Archie would have continued, but I admit I already had an investment there.

[Red Hot Jack]

As I said, I like the more casual direction of this book, rather than Archie's heavy continuity, old baggage, world building explosion, Freedom Fighter centric, book that tries to please everyone by introducing tons of new characters in few issues. It was a mess. Trying to fill in the emtpiness left by the absence of Pre-Reboot characters.

This is a brand new thing, more enjoyable, simple, fun and with a decent story. I sure wish next year has better plots, but I do really love the writing here, nice character moments and interactions. It's really a refreshing writing compared to the crap that is story in the games. My God... Everyone here is well written, Sonic, Tails (he's not coward or bitch wife), Knuckles, Shadow (for all the controversy he caused here, I believe he was great), Amy, Eggman (even in just 1 issue he was actually Eggman), Neo Metal Sonic, Rouge, Silver, Blaze... everyone! I don't think people realise what we have here. Ian isn't perfect, he's had rough writing in the past, but he's proven competent and professional later, I think he redeemed himself from his dark past of some lame arcs. I also think he may have spoiled people, who now expect super writing, there will never be perfection in my opinion. But i'll say it's waaay superior to the games.

[Marco9966]

I like how Angel Island felt like a hub world where you go around and talk to the characters standing there. This plus the new "game-focused" characters shows Flynn should write for the games.

[SBR2]

5 hours ago, Zaysho said:

If issues like #10 and #11 are indicators of what to expect when two pencilers are put on an individual issue, then I think it will produce a generally better looking product.

Yeah I love that. I do wish the split was a little better like how in #12 Tracy only does the leaving Angel Island scene but I think it'd have worked better if he did the first 3 pages so the Sonic and Co stuff is all him and the Eggman and Starline stuff was all Evan. 

Just would have felt like a cleaner split to me.

[Kellodrawsalot]

17 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

That's a nice idea for a subject: what you think IDW does right/better than Archie?

I 

 

Better art

Better story

Better character design 

Better flow and better Sonic

[DabigRG]

4 hours ago, Marco9966 said:

I like how Angel Island felt like a hub world where you go around and talk to the characters standing there. 

Yeah, that's a neat point.

4 hours ago, Marco9966 said:

 This plus the new "game-focused" characters shows Flynn should write for the games.

Eeeh, I'm gonna have to once again say no, keep him out of that tape.

2 hours ago, SBR2 said:

Yeah I love that. I do wish the split was a little better like how in #12 Tracy only does the leaving Angel Island scene but I think it'd have worked better if he did the first 3 pages so the Sonic and Co stuff is all him and the Eggman and Starline stuff was all Evan. 

Just would have felt like a cleaner split to me.

Agreed.

[Red Hot Jack]

If Sticks was to be introduced in the comic, which Ian said will happen someday but we don't know when, how should she appear?

- As a traveller from the Boom world. Perhaps along with a threat that must be stopped and is plaguing her universe (without having her world destroyed or making her another Trunks which would change her personality too much).

- Introduce a version of her that is from the game/IDW universe. That Sonic and friends never met before. This is the favorable option because she would not be tied to Boom anymore.

It's one of these 2 options, I'm fine with either but the important thing is to give her a backstory or an origin story, in which she meets Sonic, Amy etc. Which Boom lacked, I know that she has grew up as a loner in the jungle with no family, and this is what made her paranoid, that's already something.

[DabigRG]

38 minutes ago, Jack the Shadow said:

If Sticks was to be introduced in the comic, which Ian said will happen someday but we don't know when, how should she appear?

- As a traveller from the Boom world. Perhaps along with a threat that must be stopped and is plaguing her universe (without having her world destroyed or making her another Trunks which would change her personality too much).

- Introduce a version of her that is from the game/IDW universe. That Sonic and friends never met before. This is the favorable option because she would not be tied to Boom anymore.

It's one of these 2 options, 

The second one.

They clearly want Sticks to be a character they can use in the greater canon and she notably lacks a detailed introduction in Boom proper anyway, so they can just have her be here as a version of the character that exists within the game universe.

Which isn't very hard to begin with.

40 minutes ago, Jack the Shadow said:

I'm fine with either but the important thing is to give her a backstory or an origin story, in which she meets Sonic, Amy etc. Which Boom lacked, I know that she has grew up as a loner in the jungle with no family, and this is what made her paranoid, that's already something.

She did have an ancestor or two that lived within the Unnamed Village and later in other parts of the island.

And its heavily implied that her distrustful phobia of technology may actually be due to Eggman's attempts at conquest.

[Scritch the Cat]

6 hours ago, Marco9966 said:

This plus the new "game-focused" characters shows Flynn should write for the games.

 

2 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Eeeh, I'm gonna have to once again say no, keep him out of that tape.

I really find me saying, why not?  I’m going to steer away from addressing opinions of whether his writing can make the games better, and whether Pontaff are as bad as their detractors say; all that is a matter of opinion.  What is objectively true is that Pontaff had no real history with or real passion for the games, by their own admission; getting the job merely because Pontac’s relative worked at Sega, while Flynn signed up to write Sonic because he was a Sonic fan.  Also objectively true is that Flynn is writing these books based on Sega mandates to keep it closer to the games than Ken Penders did, and so it would seem Sega has a lot to gain in establishing that parity by having Flynn write both.

[MetalSkulkBane]

O,o, I have the craziest idea for Sticks!

What if it was possible to introduce her in games/IDW and then...she jumps into a weird portal and stays missing for some time.

When she finally returns she says "it was a fun place, but got canceled"

Simpler speaking, what if we establish Sticks is really from "prime-verse", while her adventures in Boom were just an episode of her crazy life. (ANd before you ask: any history about her ancestors can be easily explained with aliens and government agents).

I wouldn't have to be canon-canon, just something we learn through facebook or something.

[DabigRG]

23 minutes ago, Scritch the Cat said:

 

I really find me saying, why not?  I’m going to steer away from addressing opinions of whether his writing can make the games better, and whether Pontaff are as bad as their detractors say; all that is a matter of opinion.  What is objectively true is that Pontaff had no real history with or real passion for the games, by their own admission; getting the job merely because Pontac’s relative worked at Sega, while Flynn signed up to write Sonic because he was a Sonic fan.  Also objectively true is that Flynn is writing these books based on Sega mandates to keep it closer to the games than Ken Penders did, and so it would seem Sega has a lot to gain in establishing that parity by having Flynn write both.

Those may be true, but what's also true is that Sonic Team has been seriously meddling and/or shortchanging a number of their games for last decade, leading to major spinoffs getting severely overhauled, too much responsibility being placed on developers/writers' shoulders, stories that needed at least a little more time to be a little more solid on a humble scale, or as of the last big game, lots of both interesting and safe ideas being hastily thrown together.

Add in that Mr. Flynn also has a number of detractors, haters, and skeptics and its understandable for one to think that maybe holding off on making the big leagues for a while longer is the safer option.

[Scritch the Cat]

35 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

O,o, I have the craziest idea for Sticks!

What if it was possible to introduce her in games/IDW and then...she jumps into a weird portal and stays missing for some time.

When she finally returns she says "it was a fun place, but got canceled"

Simpler speaking, what if we establish Sticks is really from "prime-verse", while her adventures in Boom were just an episode of her crazy life. (ANd before you ask: any history about her ancestors can be easily explained with aliens and government agents).

I wouldn't have to be canon-canon, just something we learn through facebook or something.

As funny as that is, I don't think it's a very good idea for the core series at this time.

Continuity is so flimsy already, so much is subservient to Rule of Funny under Pontaff, the cast is so dispassionate even in serious circumstances, that we don't really need another thing in it that just reminds us that it's all just a game where nothing really matters because even the characters know it's not real.

Besides, with every new game being a potential retcon, they could probably just add Sticks in and say "In this game's continuity she was always there."  Not sure why they would, though, since when they're hesitant to put in more playable characters they have a lot less reason to add to the cast.

20 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Those may be true, but what's also true is that Sonic Team has been seriously meddling and/or shortchanging a number of their games for last decade, leading to major spinoffs getting severely overhauled, too much responsibility being placed on developers/writers' shoulders, stories that needed at least a little more time to be a little more solid on a humble scale, or as of the last big game, lots of both interesting and safe ideas being hastily thrown together.

Add in that Mr. Flynn also has a number of detractors, haters, and skeptics and its understandable for one to think that maybe holding off on making the big leagues for a while longer is the safer option.

Then again, there's probably nobody involved with Sonic these days who doesn't have a number of detractors, haters, and skeptics.  However, I'm operating without any great familiarity with Flynn's work, and my familiarity with Pontaff is limited to Sonic Colors and their Sonic Boom episode.

[dbzfan7]

She's Eggman's robotized victim...and then that manages to have a few bugs, so he "gets rid of the waste of time" 

[DabigRG]

4 hours ago, Scritch the Cat said:

 

Then again, there's probably nobody involved with Sonic these days who doesn't have a number of detractors, haters, and skeptics.  However, I'm operating without any great familiarity with Flynn's work, and my familiarity with Pontaff is limited to Sonic Colors and their Sonic Boom episode.

Ah.

Either way, though, the track record where Sonic Team is concerned is...well, cause for concern for someone like him.

51 minutes ago, dbzfan7 said:

She's Eggman's robotized victim...and then that manages to have a few bugs, so he "gets rid of the waste of time" 

 

 

[dbzfan7]

6 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Ah.

Either way, though, the track record where Sonic Team is concerned is...well, cause for concern for someone like him.

 

 

Sticks short introduction and farewell of course XP

[DabigRG]

8 minutes ago, dbzfan7 said:

Sticks short introduction and farewell of course XP

Oh, okay.  

See, there was no name there and that statement isn't exactly the most comprehensible.

 

[dbzfan7]

5 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Oh, okay.  

See, there was no name there and that statement isn't exactly the most comprehensible.

 

Neither is Sticks, so I did it right 

[Red Hot Jack]

I just started a "bring back Sticks" campaign online, which includes bringing her to the comics. And I have to say people are showing love and support for her. I'm surprised she's popular.