Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Diogenes]

11 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I haven't read the latest issue yet, but am I the only one who doesn't wonder why the hell Eggman isn't trying to screw with Sonic instead of infecting random villages?

Infect the whole world and there's nowhere left for Sonic to run.

[Your Vest Friend]

There's space. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

1 minute ago, Diogenes said:

Infect the whole world and there's nowhere left for Sonic to run.

Yeah, but like, as I said - Eggman could still very easily attack villages to simply force Sonic to stop and give in. If anything, he should want that, because Sonic, given his super speed, would be the best virus carrier to very quickly infect people if he was under Eggman's control, as well as Eggman getting to use the world's hero as their very destroyer.

[Heckboy]

9 minutes ago, SBR2 said:

I'm just saying if you hate the book so much why keep buying it? This has never made sense to me. 

Maybe I'm easily pleased but honestly the moment I saw the movie Sonic design I felt absolute dread for a Sonic thing for the first time and honestly if that kind of seething hatred is what people are feeling on a regular basis why the fuck does anybody screw around with this franchise? It just boggles my mind.

Corporations have conditioned me (and indeed most of our generation) to cling to my childhood brands because it is the only thing keeping me sane and occupied in a world that is increasingly complicated and distressing.

But really I dunno, it occasionally has moments I like. The annual was fun. The art is sometimes good. It just... fails on every other level most of the time.

9 minutes ago, SBR2 said:

why keep buying it

[Dr. Detective]

Damn. Not even this is impressing some people. Well, that sucks.

Well, the infection has just begun. Maybe there's still time for you guys. 

I'm a lot more open to the idea of exploring the ramifications of something like this on the general populace of the world, first and foremost. I do genuinely find that stuff perfectly fine and in this instance, gripping as a sign of what's to come. I don't tend to look at something like this as though it's not something to care about because the first victims were people I'm not intensely familiar with. That's part of the build up. Plus, I still have a general sense of empathy for randos if the presentation is done well. 

It's interesting because the thing I'm worried about is it only lasting a year. I kind of like the idea of this lasting a while. The climax to the last arc was so fast it made what came before feel a little wasted. 

 

[SBR2]

6 minutes ago, Heckboy said:

Corporations have conditioned me (and indeed most of our generation) to cling to my childhood brands because it is the only thing keeping me sane and occupied in a world that is increasingly complicated and distressing.

But really I dunno, it occasionally has moments I like. The annual was fun. The art is sometimes good. It just... fails on every other level most of the time.

 

Well I don't agree on the quality I think it's been a fun ride (and I also enjoyed the Post-reboot comics more than pre-reboot) and I have few complaints and most I have is minor stuff more or less. 

As for the first point...eh fair enough. 

[Lord-Dreamerz]

Been wanting to start reading the Sonic IDW comic series for awhile but kept away at first because enough fans said the early issues were boring. Is it worth starting with issue #1 if i want to get into these comics? Or is there a more exciting place to start instead? FYI I'm not the type that it bothers me to jump in the middle of something depending on the exact circumstances of the media in question.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

Damn. Not even this is impressing some people. Well, that sucks.

Well, the infection has just begun. Maybe there's still time for you guys. 

I'm a lot more open to the idea of exploring the ramifications of something like this on the general populace of the world, first and foremost. I do genuinely find that stuff perfectly fine and in this instance, gripping as a sign of what's to come. I don't tend to look at something like this as though it's not something to care about because the first victims were people I'm not intensely familiar with. That's part of the build up. Plus, I still have a general sense of empathy for randos if the presentation is done well. 

It's interesting because the thing I'm worried about is it only lasting a year. I kind of like the idea of this lasting a while. The climax to the last arc was so fast it made what came before feel a little wasted. 

 

I mean, it's not anything to do with being impressed or not, I'm still waiting on the verdict, it's just from what I've heard, and read so far, it's still doing the same old premise even with something this interesting. We've got a massive zombie infection plot, and Sonic infected, yet it still seems to be Sonic running to a village, seeing it's in trouble, and having to get out of it.

Even his infection is being pushed back by his speed, and the plot doesn't seem to be actively doing anything with it. As I said, with the plot of "Sonic has to keep running or else he'll be turned", you'd assume that this would lead to a new twist where Sonic is out of action (forced to constantly run), and the other characters have to try deal things solo, whilst Eggman takes advantage of the situation by either attacking, or trying to turn Sonic.

That's the point I'm making - the plot itself IMO writes itself perfectly for a twist on the formula to this point, where Sonic is forced into an never-stopping obstacle course as Eggman keeps trying to throw trick and trap after him to force him to stop, and let the infection take over. Some people say it's in character for Eggman to just attack villagers, while Sonic is incapacitated, but to me, Eggman is exactly the kind of petty dickhead who would try to turn Sonic fully so he can then act as a carrier for the zombot virus, and on top of that, delight in the irony that his advisory is the person who now is terrifying people. 

When I first heard this premise, I thought we'd at least have a plot where Sonic is seriously and forcefully unable to do anything, because stopping would allow the virus to catch up and overtake him, but from what I hear, instead it just seems like as long as he does what he does, he's fine, and in all honesty, that kind of sucks because that just means we're still running into the same paint by numbers pattern that we've encountered over the past year now, and even now with a fresh plot that should allow with formula twists and breaks, we're still forcing it to shape into that specific mold that Year 1 followed so much.

[Dr. Detective]

1 hour ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I mean, it's not anything to do with being impressed or not, I'm still waiting on the verdict, it's just from what I've heard, and read so far, it's still doing the same old premise even with something this interesting. We've got a massive zombie infection plot, and Sonic infected, yet it still seems to be Sonic running to a village, seeing it's in trouble, and having to get out of it.

Even his infection is being pushed back by his speed, and the plot doesn't seem to be actively doing anything with it. As I said, with the plot of "Sonic has to keep running or else he'll be turned", you'd assume that this would lead to a new twist where Sonic is out of action (forced to constantly run), and the other characters have to try deal things solo, whilst Eggman takes advantage of the situation by either attacking, or trying to turn Sonic.

That's the point I'm making - the plot itself IMO writes itself perfectly for a twist on the formula to this point, where Sonic is forced into an never-stopping obstacle course as Eggman keeps trying to throw trick and trap after him to force him to stop, and let the infection take over. Some people say it's in character for Eggman to just attack villagers, while Sonic is incapacitated, but to me, Eggman is exactly the kind of petty dickhead who would try to turn Sonic fully so he can then act as a carrier for the zombot virus, and on top of that, delight in the irony that his advisory is the person who now is terrifying people. 

When I first heard this premise, I thought we'd at least have a plot where Sonic is seriously and forcefully unable to do anything, because stopping would allow the virus to catch up and overtake him, but from what I hear, instead it just seems like as long as he does what he does, he's fine, and in all honesty, that kind of sucks because that just means we're still running into the same paint by numbers pattern that we've encountered over the past year now, and even now with a fresh plot that should allow with formula twists and breaks, we're still forcing it to shape into that specific mold that Year 1 followed so much.

I suppose one could look at it that way... but I don't know. I genuinely don't see this as an issue.

Maybe if I felt the formula itself was getting in the way but I don't. I don't mind Sonic being active in the plot still. I'll be disappointed if nothing comes of it because then it would have just been something done for show while the regular pattern continued to chug along but at the moment it feels like it's got something in mind for him that we've yet to reach just yet. I'm extremely fond of this build up and how the events are playing out so far. 

I also suppose what course of action Eggman takes is up to the individual to decide when it comes to what they prefer. I'm perfectly okay with him focusing his efforts on making sure it spreads first before turning his attention to Sonic or waiting for Sonic to find him while he gets his master plan going. I don't see it as a problem myself. This is the general focus of what he's been trying to do after all. 

 

[SBR2]

6 minutes ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

Maybe if I felt the formula itself was getting in the way but I don't.

 

I agree. I really don't see the problem with the formula in general. It's been what Ian's done for years Sonic and one or more characters go on an adventure kick some Robot or Legion or Egg Army butt and have some laughs or get some sad moments and then something comes along to totally fuck up the status quo.

It's a perfectly fine formula. 

[StaticMania]

The formula should die.

[Dr. Detective]

1 hour ago, SBR2 said:

I agree. I really don't see the problem with the formula in general. It's been what Ian's done for years Sonic and one or more characters go on an adventure kick some Robot or Legion or Egg Army butt and have some laughs or get some sad moments and then something comes along to totally fuck up the status quo.

It's a perfectly fine formula. 

 

1 hour ago, StaticMania said:

The formula should die.

I don't want anyone to get me wrong.

I'm not really for either of these positions. 

What I'm saying is that I'm in the middle. In that I don't care about the formula. 

So long as it doesn't feel like it's intruding on things, to me, it's fine. There will probably, no doubt, be situations where it does (and there even has been a few spots where it did annoy me) but when it comes to the general plot of this arc and what's happened so far, it's not done anything to harm the story that's being told.

So far. I'm not saying it can't happen eventually but everything I just read was some scary, cool shit. I'm loving this and everything about it right now.

[SatAMhog]

To be honest, I like the new year-long arc focus of the series.  It gives the series a focus for the year that you know will see it's end by December and you'll get a resolution sooner.  I'm loving this arc thus far...Dr. Starline is a fun new villian, Eggman is back to being his evil self(times infinity) and the book is fun.  I love it.   We got fan service in season 1 and now the story ramps up in Season 2.

[Heckboy]

They should let the guy who wrote that Rouge story in the annual get an arc.

[Razule]

52 minutes ago, Diogenes said:

Infect the whole world and there's nowhere left for Sonic to run.

He can run to the human world.

[Dr. Detective]

1 hour ago, Razule said:

He can run to the human world.

"There's Zombots everywhere! Help me, Officer James Marsden!"

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just now, Dr. Detective Mike said:

"There's Zombots everywhere! Help me, Officer James Marsden!"

Tbf, Movie Sonic already looks like a mangled corpse that would take a bite out of someone, so Tom's world probably isn't safe either.

[Razule]

Just now, Dr. Detective Mike said:

"There's Zombots everywhere! Help me, Officer James Marsden!"

Aw man, what if this is a stealth prequel to the movie somehow? Sonic finds a pack of Warp Rings to banish himself to another dimension so no one else can be infected, turns into a baby and is horrifically mutated because of magic side-effects, and lands in Tom's world

[Kuzu]

I can understand the aforementioned criticisms towards this arc, but I don't feel they drag the issues down. Yea, it's pretty by the numbers, but my biggest misgiving was that the things that were happening just were pretty mundane and uninteresting. Stuff actually happens in this issue, stuff that actually matters and might potentially have impact on the arc for the rest of the year. Its not very original nor does it carry much weight if you never cared for this little village, but I feel it gets the job done. It's meant to establish that Eggman is a bastard through and through by targeting a village that took him in. Maybe it could have had more weight if we actually got to personally know one of the villagers beforehand, but I feel it gets the job done regardless.

Maybe we'll see some nice character introspection on Sonic's part as he has to basically distance himself from his friends to prevent the virus from taking over. Who knows, if it goes back to the same "Sonic goes to a village and teams up with a character of the day" and none of what I typed is acknowledged much at all, fine. I'll call it out, but I'm at least willing to see where it goes because of this issue. 

The issue is good; it doesn't have to be spectacular nor break new ground, it just has to be good enough to keep the reader interested. Could things be done differently? Absolutely, but I don't feel this is necessarily too boring.  Or maybe I'm just so used to the series have shoddy writing that anything remotely competent looks good, I dunno. 

[Marco9966]

These kids are zombots now

[MetalSkulkBane]

6 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I haven't read the latest issue yet, but am I the only one who doesn't wonder why the hell Eggman isn't trying to screw with Sonic instead of infecting random villages?

You mean if he didn't just assumed that Sonic is already Zombot since we seen that Eggman didn't do enough tests and is unaware of speed weakness?
Or that he got super exited with his new toy that he forgets fine details, like he always does?
Or or he's sadist and wants Sonic to see the terror he created?
Or-or-or perhaps he's aware that Sonic is kinda hard to beat, so he prefers to first make invincible army?

Yeah, I guess there is no explanation.

6 hours ago, Lord-Dreamerz said:

Been wanting to start reading the Sonic IDW comic series for awhile but kept away at first because enough fans said the early issues were boring. Is it worth starting with issue #1 if i want to get into these comics? Or is there a more exciting place to start instead? FYI I'm not the type that it bothers me to jump in the middle of something depending on the exact circumstances of the media in question.

Ummm, barely.

Year 1 can be described as  "Sonic meets, one of his friends, they smash badniks together, Sonic leaves" Cute interactions and jokes, good art and characterization, but bare-bone plot. If that's all you want, just start at #1. Issues 1-4 are probably most repetitive, but jumping 4 issues seems kinda petty, you know.

Year 2 so far is... a setup. Issue 13, Eggman, tests something, 14 His new lackey tests some more 15 Eggman uses the thing on Sonic. 16 Satisfied, Eggman released 'the thing' on large scale.

Aaaand now the second arc can REALLY begin. So honestly, you could just jump in to issue 15 and you would feel pacing is better. Sadly without my crystal ball I can't say if next issue will be satisfying.

 

So my suggestion: either start from #1 (I mean, what's stopping you? Not enough time? Money?) or return to us in January 2020, then arc will be over and I'll be able to fairly tell you if I can recommend it or not. Because first impressions are... mixed.

[Dr. Detective]

1 hour ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

You mean if he didn't just assumed that Sonic is already Zombot since we seen that Eggman didn't do enough tests and is unaware of speed weakness?
Or that he got super exited with his new toy that he forgets fine details, like he always does?
Or or he's sadist and wants Sonic to see the terror he created?
Or-or-or perhaps he's aware that Sonic is kinda hard to beat, so he prefers to first make invincible army?

Yeah, I guess there is no explanation.

I really do think this is fine. 

Whichever dickish thing Eggman decides to do, he's still doing a horrible dickish thing. Dumping the metal virus on that village is the thing that got the entire focus of his plan going. Its supposed to spread like a zombie apocolypse. It even affects the plants. And now its gotten a little flicky and that flicky is headed towards a city. 

Putting that on hold to dick around with Sonic somemore when he already knows he's infected might not be the smartest thing to do in a race to get this virus off the ground before they could do something to stop him. Tails even said that the goal was to hunt Eggman down before the doctor did this and... Tails doesn't know it yet but he and Sonic already fucking failed at that. Whoops.

Now that the virus is out there, maybe now he can waste time messing with Sonic but I have a feeling the doctor is probably going to find it more amusing allowing his virus to do that for him.

And again, if Sonic has to stay active, how is he supposed to sleep or even relax? Or high five his bros? 

Maybe this will be for naught but I really do think this issue in and of itself succeeded in doing what it needed to do. This is one of the few where I really don't have any complaints.

[Red Hot Jack]

I have to share my thoughs on the issue as well... So, I felt it was really a transition issue, but geez, the pages with Eggman he was such a psychopath that I love him, I love to hate him, I didn't expect him to infect the village that took care of him, zombots kids... yeah pretty dark. For the heroes, it was a pretty filler issue, Tails is cute as usual, and Tangle was also sweet but I kind of wish they did more, anyway she'll get the miniseries and got the annual so she will get to do some action. I did like that deph at the end though.

Also, Starline... I want his backstory revealed at this point. 

Diana was on fire this issue! Best drawings in a while, they are really sticking with consistent art this time, after the sweet mess she did in Champions. 

8 hours ago, Lord-Dreamerz said:

Been wanting to start reading the Sonic IDW comic series for awhile but kept away at first because enough fans said the early issues were boring. Is it worth starting with issue #1 if i want to get into these comics? Or is there a more exciting place to start instead? FYI I'm not the type that it bothers me to jump in the middle of something depending on the exact circumstances of the media in question.

It really depends who you are asking. It's subjective because of what your expectations are. I mean, the comic is well written, personality-wise the characters are wonderful, and so are their interactions. The story for year one was simple but nice, I won't spoil it for you but there is a mystery villain, and that's the hook for the narration. It's basically the book of our favorite characters getting justice in writing. If you are hoping for a super fan fiction like Archie... This isn't one, it's strictly like the games, but it's really cool.

[DabigRG]

Do you think the comic will ever start doing stories that don't necessarily star Sonic?

On 5/2/2019 at 12:41 PM, 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?

I actually forgot about this. Here's a couple of things I noticed that some might consider:

• Amy claiming to be the real leader
• Shadow in Issue 6
• Rouge tipping off the Chaotix
• Metal saying he was to be Eggman's greatest weapon in destroying the Resistance
• Knuckles jumping ship to Angel Island
• Eggman making the Metal Virus

   

[Lord-Dreamerz]

7 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Year 1 can be described as  "Sonic meets, one of his friends, they smash badniks together, Sonic leaves" Cute interactions and jokes, good art and characterization, but bare-bone plot. If that's all you want, just start at #1. Issues 1-4 are probably most repetitive, but jumping 4 issues seems kinda petty, you know.

Year 2 so far is... a setup. Issue 13, Eggman, tests something, 14 His new lackey tests some more 15 Eggman uses the thing on Sonic. 16 Satisfied, Eggman released 'the thing' on large scale.

Aaaand now the second arc can REALLY begin. So honestly, you could just jump in to issue 15 and you would feel pacing is better. Sadly without my crystal ball I can't say if next issue will be satisfying.

So my suggestion: either start from #1 (I mean, what's stopping you? Not enough time? Money?) or return to us in January 2020, then arc will be over and I'll be able to fairly tell you if I can recommend it or not. Because first impressions are... mixed.

Guess I'll look for issue #1 to buy and see how I feel afterwards. But from the sounds of it I might jump to #15 afterwards as I'm not really into the idea of a slow start including Sonic just going around helping/saving random towns from Robotnik with nothing much else to it... sounds repetitive which is not a thing I care for.

And yeah money is a slight problem as I don't have tons of it right now to be throwing it at things I am not sure that I'll enjoy.

5 hours ago, Jack the Shadow said:

It really depends who you are asking. It's subjective because of what your expectations are. I mean, the comic is well written, personality-wise the characters are wonderful, and so are their interactions. The story for year one was simple but nice, I won't spoil it for you but there is a mystery villain, and that's the hook for the narration. It's basically the book of our favorite characters getting justice in writing. If you are hoping for a super fan fiction like Archie... This isn't one, it's strictly like the games, but it's really cool.

Subjective opinions are fine in this case as I simply wanted to hear a few opinions trying to either sell me the comic or tell me what might be bad about it so I can make-up my mind on something I haven't read whatsoever yet. I haven't read much of the Archie comics either past the 90s... I just read up what was happening with them online randomly after that point.