IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog

[Eurisko 493]

Just a heads up Tangle and Whisper number 1 is now up for pre-order on Forbidden Planet for UK folks. No sign of Issue 0 though.

[MetalSkulkBane 1,788]

Well annual was... cute. Five stories, each varying from "pretty cute" to "eh, I gueeeesss it was somewhat cute". If you expected action or something remotely dramatic, then sorry.

Quick non-spoiler reviews.

Whispers & Tangle was Flynn's standard cute interaction. I recently re-watch Riders cutscenes and I learned that Babylon Rouges are much better characters than I remembered. Too similar ability-wise (and extreme gears are limited gimmick) , but they burst with personality. This  story does them justice. Same goes for newcomer Jewel.

Sonic & Tails...eh. It's represents their bond properly, but story itself is just boring.

Silver & Blaze was decent. I like the moment when Blaze asks Silver to trust her but rest is... there. I kinda hoped for more from Evan Stanley, but i guess it was 6 pages.

Rouge...eeeeehhh. IDK, I just didn't feel it, even Skelly's artwork was just there. Maybe because it's half her story, half Rough & Tumble, so in the end none of them gets enough screen time (8 pages, 4 without Rouge). I really hopes for more Rouge-centered story. And resolution is a little silly, more MLP than Sonic.

Sonic Fan Club...okay, who asked for that? Why Not Shadow story? Or Knuckles? It's nice to see Gray's art again, but it's waste of his talent. This story feels extremely pre-Flynn Archie. Technically not bad, but no one wanted it.

[SBR2 2,554]

4 hours ago, Marco9966 said:

6 zetis? why not a full civilization, like Xandar in the MCU

There's got to be more Zeti. There's a city and a casino on the Lost Hex.

[DabigRG 2,976]

Okay, now THAT was a decent bundle of fun! It really does feel good to just have a couple of low stakes, low plot stories that just has character doing stuff. It's also good to see multiple artists and even writers do their own thing, including good ol' Dub.

My favorite story is obvious, but oddly enough, I'd say probably the strongest story was the one with Jewel. Still, all of them had their moments and elements of greatness too.

Though I noticed one little flub: the Pyramid is said to be in "The Dusty Desert," when really it was clearly intended to be the one from SA2 not very far from Wild Canyon.

10 hours ago, Marco9966 said:

Also I loved Cavan Scott's story of Rouge, and it proves that THERE IS NO 2 WORLDS (just as there is no 2 worlds since we saw Eggman's mystic ruins base).

Cavan Scott's story provides good worldbuilding too, if IDW had to do a Sonic Universe, I'd love him to join.

Eh, not really?

10 hours ago, dbzfan7 said:

Thoughts on annual

  Hide contents

 

1. I was kinda hoping Whisper and her no nonsense would have just shot Jet because a race is just dumb and a waste of time, when she can just get the stuff back her way. 
2.  I really enjoy Sonic showing as well as reminding people that yes he CAN fly a plane himself if he wanted to. He had it first. Was nice to see them swap spots too.
3. The ending is a little confusing to me though, I barely get what happened in the last action scene.
4. I enjoyed the numb skulls more here than pretty much any other time they've been on panel. I
5. Though Rouge was kinda odd. Turns out she was helping people hide out. I didn't expect that of her at all. Not a bad thing, but I am curious about how she got to that position of helping the locals out like that. She wasn't even sly nor even considering stealing the treasure which I thought she would do. But nope she makes it obvious she wants it and the village offer her some.
6. Didn't think of her feeling she needed a fan club. I don't see her as being even a little egotistical. I thought she'd just join it..

 

 

1. Spoiler

    

   1. Oh-ho shoot, I didn't even think about that!  
   2. Yeah, I remember that being a highlight of the first glimpses.
   3. I didn't really get it either. Like, shouldn't they have been retrieving the supplies?
   4. It could be because the focus is actually on them and thus they got to drive the feel of the story, which I don't think was really the case before. That can have a decent degree of sway for how the character(s) themselves can go over, as recent games seemingly indicate.
   5. The impression I got was that she had gotten there before they did and thus came across the locals.
   6. Yeah, that was kinda my thought too.

    

    

7 hours ago, Jack the Shadow said:

Kinda boring and filler, I dunno, it's forgettable, I mean the art is nice, but they could have used these little stories to set up bigger arcs for the future, would have been more interesting, anyway I liked the the Rough and Tumble one, the Silver and Blaze one and (kind of) Tangle and Whisper, mostly for the characters. But not much happened.

t would be cool to have her and Whisper in a game.

Nah, the magic of this annual was that it drop the expectations of being a Sonic comic book and just did whatever for funsies. 

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

 I recently re-watch Riders cutscenes and I learned that Babylon Rouges are much better characters than I remembered. Too similar ability-wise (and extreme gears are limited gimmick) , but they burst with personality. This  story does them justice. Same goes for newcomer Jewel.

.Yeah, that is the thing with them, it seems.

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

 

Sonic & Tails...eh. It's represents their bond properly, but story itself is just boring.

 

It did seem to lack a drive beyond the novelty.

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

 

Silver & Blaze was pretty good too (what else could you expect from Evan Stanley?) but it is underwhelming if you hopes for something slightly meaningful.

 

Yeah, I can't say I thought/felt much of it.

But hey, at least it's educational.

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Rouge...eeeeehhh. IDK, I just didn't feel it, even Skelly's artwork was just there. 

I really hopes for more Rouge-centered story.

And resolution is a little silly, more MLP than Sonic.

 

Admittedly, I didn't notice it was her until a little before the Egg Golem.

Yeah, more would be nice.

True true. I didn't have a problem with that, but true.

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

 

Sonic Fan Club...okay, who asked for that? Why Not Shadow story? Or Knuckles? It's nice to see Gray's art again, but it's waste of his talent. This story feels extremely pre-Flynn Archie. Technically not bad, but no one wanted it.

Eh, it's a big book with one-off stories. It's fine.

Plus, it has Tangle! For those who like her, anyway

31 minutes ago, SBR2 said:

There's got to be more Zeti. There's a city and a casino on the Lost Hex.

There IS a city?

And yes, Zomom and Zavok allude to there being more of them.

 

[Marco9966 1,229]

32 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Eh, not really?

An Eggman pyramid was abandoned after the war so it became a shelter for a group of Fennec foxes, that's a cool little fact!

[DabigRG 2,976]

1 hour ago, Marco9966 said:

An Eggman pyramid was abandoned after the war so it became a shelter for a group of Fennec foxes, that's a cool little fact!

Oh, is it supposed to be Arsenel Pyramid?

Cause they didn't get that across.

[Marco9966 1,229]

1 minute ago, DabigRG said:

Oh, is it supposed to be Arsenel Pyramid?

Cause they didn't get that across.

No its the one from Sonic Adventure 2

[DabigRG 2,976]

45 minutes ago, Marco9966 said:

No its the one from Sonic Adventure 2

Okay that's what I thought. Although, that one would've likely have been abandoned since the struggle for the Eclipse Cannon.

[PublicEnemy1 1,468]

3 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Okay, now THAT was a decent bundle of fun! It really does feel good to just have a couple of low stakes, low plot stories that just has character doing stuff.

That's kinda my issue with the series in general: everything feels low stakes. Yeah, there is the zombot virus, but nobody is acting like it's that a big deal so far.

[DabigRG 2,976]

1 hour ago, PublicEnemy1 said:

Yeah, there is the zombot virus, but nobody is acting like it's that a big deal so far.

It just started.

[Dr. Detective Mike 6,404]

That was adorable. I feel like it could have been more adorable.

Instead of Sonic and Tails role reversal with the plane flying (which I liked) I'd have probably opted for a story of hyper serious video gaming from the two of them. Something more mundane. 

[Shadowlax 1,889]

I don't expect these stories to matter, nor they obligated to do something in the grand scheme of things. What I expected these stories to do however was provide some insight on the characters involved in some interesting way tell a story that reminds you why you like these characters. Maybe something not new , but something that reminded you why you like these characters, or maybe endear you in a way you have not been before.

I got that out of one and a half stories , the first one and the blaze part. The first story is good and you get interesting perspective on all characters invovled, fun cute fine.

The sonic and tails thing was mundane, sonic and tails are friends. Whoop di do

The rouge thing was strange, she's helping these people but it doesn't really say anything about her character at all, and it isn't that interesting of a story. I would have actually prefer a story she was actually after gems and had to choose whether to do a good thing or not. Rouge isn't a bad guy but her moral compass is fuzzier than a lot of the heroes, so I thought the would play on that. Instead she ended up being ... mundane.

The blaze and silver story was interesting for blaze, having a princess with the element of fire , something so firey and destructive be carefully enough to plant flowerrs and be good at it, says a lot about who she is as a person and her character. She's multifaceted, and she has to be as someone who rules a kingdom, someone who can be strong and firm, and gentle and nurturing . It says a lot and its perfect. Silver's character doesn't go anywhere in ths story and continues to be bad at things, and I don't find silver to be bad at things endearing no matter cute you try and make him. He's useless still, but I got a cool blaze moment out of it. So its cool i guess.

The story with the kids was alright. Nothing bad about it, just was ok. Like the premise though, folks reacting to sonic characters with out them being around, they should do that more.

[StaticMania 2,184]

Well, well, isn't Jewel just an adorable wreck...wreck?

Why does this character look like Dot? That's pretty weird.

[Ziggyfin 673]

1 hour ago, StaticMania said:

 

Why does this character look like Dot? That's pretty weird.

That was actually something Jon didn’t necessarily mean to reference, but when we were figuring out colors schemes for the kids we decided to run with it!

[StaticMania 2,184]

Hmm?

I don't know, I mean it would've been less blatant to be sure...but call outs will still happen.

Not of the negative variety.

[MetalSkulkBane 1,788]

So, for those less than satisfied with annual: how would you make a 6-8 page small stories?

I think I would give a goodbye for Knuckles leaving Resistance and acknowledge the long question: how was he a leader? As Knux is about to leave Restoration has some kind of problem, which he fixes by being stubborn, never giving up and inspirational to the other. On last page I would show that Amy was close to breakdown in Forces (just like Tails), but Knuckles gave her mental support.

[SBR2 2,554]

I haven't read it yet but honestly these sound really cute. I think sometimes you just need some fun fluff every now and then.

[Shadowlax 1,889]

6 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

So, for those less than satisfied with annual: how would you make a 6-8 page small stories?

I think I would give a goodbye for Knuckles leaving Resistance and acknowledge the long question: how was he a leader? As Knux is about to leave Restoration has some kind of problem, which he fixes by being stubborn, never giving up and inspirational to the other. On last page I would show that Amy was close to breakdown in Forces (just like Tails), but Knuckles gave her mental support.

The tails and sonic story is gone. It just , it doesn't really do anything. Do some other characters, maybe your knuckles idea or something

2nd, Make the rouge story about something specific to rouge? Like her whole thing is that she's a theif a spy , someone who's moral compass on occasion isn't always on the side of good. She doesn't do anything specifically rouge like, and some might say " Well she asked for treasure in the end" to which I would post if I could find it that image from machademia where the guy is like " Wanting to take care of yourself and your family is the most honorable thing you can do " she's a woman with a job and would like to be compensated for her time. The reason that's interesting because sometimes she's willing to occasionally be not in the moral right. A story that has her have to make a choice on whether to find jewels or something would be more interesting and maybe do more for her character. Rouge hasn't been fully characterized in most things in years, even in the previous comics this has not happened. Having a story that like reminds you " Oh hey , she's a spy and a theif , look at her go. Also she may sometimes steal " might actually remind folks who she is. Instead of the story that was just " Oh hey rouge is just a hero , don't worry. No complicated characterization here, you are safe "

Uh, Blaze is perfect. Silver Sucks, but 8 pages is not enough to make silver not suck so you can just keep that the same if you wanted. Just focus more on blaze.

[DabigRG 2,976]

7 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

So, for those less than satisfied with annual: how would you make a 6-8 page small stories?

I think I would give a goodbye for Knuckles leaving Resistance and acknowledge the long question: how was he a leader? As Knux is about to leave Restoration has some kind of problem, which he fixes by being stubborn, never giving up and inspirational to the other. On last page I would show that Amy was close to breakdown in Forces (just like Tails), but Knuckles gave her mental support.

Now that you mention it, it might've be cool to see Knuckles doing his own thing, since he's gotten little focus compared to the other Classic carryovers.

[Big Panda 9,107]

You know what I just realised?

This is IDW Sonic’s first proper (i.e. canon) one-shot issue and its final story is about a Sonic Fan Club.

Where have I seen that before...?

[Ellipsis-Ultima 7,771]

Previews for IDW Sonic #16!

Spoiler

Tangle having a bike is kinda cute.

 

[StaticMania 2,184]

Well, that was easy.

Better not be actually easy.

It'd be dumb.

[Shadowlax 1,889]

that's the book with the chaotix right? kinda lost track a bit

[DabigRG 2,976]

So actually reading lax's reply indirectly reminded me of something: Are there some things about the game stuff in the comic that you aren't too approving of and/or find a little on the wavy side?

1 hour ago, Ellipsis-Ultima said:

Previews for IDW Sonic #16!

  Hide contents

Tangle having a bike is kinda cute.

 

Tails face, amiright.

[Shadowlax 1,889]

23 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

So actually reading lax's reply indirectly reminded me of something: Are there some things about the game stuff in the comic that you aren't too approving of and/or find a little on the wavy side?

Tails face, amiright.

What do you mean, game elements of the character you wish they wouldn't use?