Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Shadowlax]

1 minute ago, Marco9966 said:

Great covers! Cant wait for the next comics. Hopefully a Sonic unviverse can be done

I hope there are just more miniseries instead of sonic universe.

[Marco9966]

1 minute ago, Shadowlax said:

I hope there are just more miniseries instead of sonic universe.

Either one is good. All I want is a monthly comic with the other characters

[Eurisko]

Beautiful covers. 

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

The raw version:

Just now I noticed the octopus tentacle in the back.

[dbzfan7]

10 minutes ago, Champion Ellipsis-Ultima said:

The raw version:

Just now I noticed the octopus tentacle in the back.

Huh so they're adding Hentai into the IDW Sonic comics. We got tentacle, and I have seen enough hentai to know where this is going.

[Razule]

First the characters can say crap, and now the floodgates have opened for all kinds of horror.

Edited June 12, 2019 by Razule
Wrong low-level swear

[Eurisko]

3 minutes ago, Razule said:

First the characters can say damn, and now the floodgates have opened for all kinds of horror.

Hentai The Hedgehog - coming 2020

[Big Panda]

“OH CRAP!”

-Silver the Hedgehog, 2018

[Eurisko]

1 minute ago, Ernest the Panda said:

“OH CRAP!”

-Silver the Hedgehog, 2018

Someone else said 'Crap' recently, can't remember who it was without looking. Was it Charmy?

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, Champion Ellipsis-Ultima said:

The raw version:

Just now I noticed the octopus tentacle in the back.

Is that what that is? At a glance, it almost looks like Whisper's mask.

[SBR2]

7 hours ago, Eurisko said:

Someone else said 'Crap' recently, can't remember who it was without looking. Was it Charmy?

It was Rough I believe. 

[Heckboy]

On 6/11/2019 at 9:07 AM, SBR2 said:

I would also like to point out using Cosmo as an example is ridiculous. It had sales troubles because it's an incredibly obscure book and Archie is not exactly the best at running a business.

It was also not good or memorable in any way. It's forgettable as a sci-fi book, forgettable as a comedy book, and forgettable as a kiddie adventure book. Ian isn't good with comedy (by his own admission, to be fair), so putting him on a comedy sci-fi book was a bad idea. It seems like something they threw out there to fill the action-adventure void left by Sonic and Mega Man getting the axe, and hoped that Flynn and Yardley's names would have some pull with the former Sonic/MM crowd.

Ian's a cool guy, I don't want to seem like I just shit on him constantly for no reason, but he frankly has limited range. If he can't fall back on lore dumping and fanservice/memes he stumbles, and Cosmo was the perfect example of it.

@Shadowlax Quoting separately because I can't directly quote in an edit (or if I can I'm too much of a dumbass to figure out how haHA)

Quote

Ontop of that, I think the suggestion that he's burnt out is uh... laughable... to say the least. Not only does this man continue to show genuinely respect and enthusiasm for this series he continues to enjoy. But he's coming up with new ideas, how can you say that' he is burn out and this year's narrative is a zombie apocalypse story using what was an Easter egg in one game.

He certainly respects the Sonic franchise, sure. But if he's genuinely enthusiastic about this comic it's sure as hell doesn't show in the writing. Over time he's gotten noticeably worse with pacing and even dialogue. His main thing is focusing on long-term plans but failing to tell stories in the moment that are memorable or engaging in their own right. It started with Iron Dominion, gradually got worse with Mecha Sally, reached its nadir with Shattered World, and now it's carried on to IDW to some extent.

And sure, the *idea* of the zombots is kind of neat (even if, again, it's just relying on DUDE OBSCURE REFERENCE LMAO). But the execution? It's uh...

Again, he is certainly capable of putting good work out. He is significantly better than Penders (though, hot take, I'd argue Flynn has a few bad writing habits in common with ol' Ken). But his writing has a lot of problems that seem to have only gotten worse over the years, when you'd think he'd have improved after over a decade of working in the funny book industry.

[DabigRG]

9 hours ago, dbzfan7 said:

Huh so they're adding Hentai into the IDW Sonic comics. We got tentacle, and I have seen enough hentai to know where this is going.

Cue Tangle making a dumb joke about her's being longer/thicker/elastic-ier.

30 minutes ago, SBR2 said:

It was Rough I believe. 

That sounds about right.

[Heckboy]

If the comic becomes actual tentacle hentai I will take back all of my criticisms.

[StaticMania]

1 minute ago, DabigRG said:

Cue Tangle making a dumb joke about her's being longer/thicker/elastic-ier.

That's pretty good.

The good kind of dumb.

Ey.

[Meta77]

Why do people keep questioning if people are really enjoying the idw comic. The fact my comic store and many others are constantly sold out speak volumes when many archie age late issues sat on stands.

[Heckboy]

Archie sold way more through newsstands and subscriptions according to Ian himself.

And, y'know, I wasn't really questioning if other people enjoy it or if it sells. I'm explaining why I think it's shit and elaborating on how I think Ian's writing has gotten worse to the point where the same flaws he shows in the licensed, mandated Sonic comic is showing in his other, less-strictly-mandated work. 

[Meta77]

I do not know what youre talking about in the issue of writing being bad. Ive been in the comic since issue 0 and this is some of the best writing ive seen in years.  And its great in mixing humor and darker stories.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

Another Tangle Whisper cover. I really like the style in this one-

[DabigRG]

On 6/9/2019 at 10:05 PM, Heckboy said:

It's not Sega, at least not entirely. Read Ian's other books, like that Cosmo thing that lasted for five whole issues. He's written some good stuff, but his writing can be pretty mediocre. I really just think he's burnt out after 13 years of writing the same fucking series.

They need a new writer or co-writer. The mandates excuse really is bullshit when you realize other writers have done more with the characters in spite of these guidelines, the most recent example being the stories in the annual. You can have so many varied and fun stories with these characters that are totally in compliance with the mandates, but for some reason - either because of Ian or his editors or whatever - we get stuck with boring, decompressed-as-fuck arcs that just spin their wheels for a year until the rushed climax.

It really only lasted five issues? I thought it was supposed to be ten?

I will say that while I don't think it's quite that bad, this Sonic book is suffering from a combination of being stuck in a routine without too much to vary or spice it up beyond face value. The Annual is only such a standout because it completely breaks away from all that and just does whatever with whoever, with the Sonic Fan Club as the more avant garde.

Another writer or two would indeed be nice to have around from time to time as well, as probably should've been the case earlier on. Heck, it'd be cool if Mr. Flynn pulled a Toriyama occasionally.

10 hours ago, Heckboy said:

It was also not good or memorable in any way. It's forgettable as a sci-fi book, forgettable as a comedy book, and forgettable as a kiddie adventure book. Ian isn't good with comedy (by his own admission, to be fair), so putting him on a comedy sci-fi book was a bad idea. It seems like something they threw out there to fill the action-adventure void left by Sonic and Mega Man getting the axe, and hoped that Flynn and Yardley's names would have some pull with the former Sonic/MM crowd.

 

Was it?

I do have the series via Archie suddenly deciding to make up for the cancelled Sonic issues they owed me, but I haven't opened them.

10 hours ago, Heckboy said:

If he can't fall back on lore dumping and fanservice/memes he stumbles, and Cosmo was the perfect example of it.

Unfortunately, that's part of what IDW Sonic's issue is. Regardless of where you stand on, most can agree that some of the stuff we see here was also in play previously but with less exploration, development, and even fun liberties involved.

Amy being a capable, balanced character? Knuckles being dutiful and guarding the Master Emerald? Eggman being a threat on top of being a whimsical egomaniac? We've seen these before, but the characters also got to do more with and/or without it.

So far, the only game characters who've really gotten much noteworthy use besides Sonic himself are Amy, Eggman(as Mr. Tinker), Metal(as Neo), Silver(taking a explosion), Vector(trapping that lady), and Charmy. Everyone else is just kinda going through the motions whenever they actually get pagetime.

10 hours ago, Heckboy said:

Again, he is certainly capable of putting good work out. He is significantly better than Penders (though, hot take, I'd argue Flynn has a few bad writing habits in common with ol' Ken). 

Well, considering he used to be a fan....

9 hours ago, Meta77 said:

Why do people keep questioning if people are really enjoying the idw comic. The fact my comic store and many others are constantly sold out speak volumes when many archie age late issues sat on stands.

Because there's a fair, frequent amount of people who voice issues with it.

8 hours ago, Champion Ellipsis-Ultima said:

Another Tangle Whisper cover. I really like the style in this one-

Shadow?

[bingboomer]

look, people oughto stop their complaining. the comic is just starting. im sure its gonna pick up the pace soon enough at sonic speed. im liking it and am really grateful that sonic is back in the comics. im betting that its going to be just as good as archie. if not BETTER! just give it a chance and see. 

[Big Panda]

I just realised that giant pointing hand is Tangle’s tail. And that’s epic.

[MetalSkulkBane]

2 hours ago, bingboomer said:

look, people oughto stop their complaining. the comic is just starting.

No!

No-no-no-no

NOOOOOOOOOOO

I refuse to listen to this god damn excuse. I've been over this one too many times. You can't sell people empty boxes with promise of filling them later.

Sonic Universe #1 had action comedy and drama squeezed in 20 pages and I read it without knowing any context from rest of the series.
Darkwing Duck comic lasted only 20 issues, but each of  them kicked ass.
Transformers New Bold Continuity is garbage and I don't care it's "only" 6 issues. I gave up.

We can't let creators benefit of 'will be  worth later'. I can go to cinema, buy video game or just buy pizza, way cheaper than 12+ worth of comics and without months of waiting.

An in Flynn's specific case, what kind of excuse is 'just starting' He had 10+ years of experience and first 12 issues make a self-contained arc

[Razule]

31 minutes ago, bingboomer said:

look, people oughto stop their complaining. the comic is just starting. im sure its gonna pick up the pace soon enough at sonic speed. im liking it and am really grateful that sonic is back in the comics. im betting that its going to be just as good as archie. if not BETTER! just give it a chance and see. 

Maybe don't bother complaining about people complaining. What you say has already been said or considered. 17 issues is more than a lot of comics get, this is "just starting" assuming things don't go wrong anytime soon.

[SBR2]

12 hours ago, Heckboy said:

It was also not good or memorable in any way. It's forgettable as a sci-fi book, forgettable as a comedy book, and forgettable as a kiddie adventure book. Ian isn't good with comedy (by his own admission, to be fair), so putting him on a comedy sci-fi book was a bad idea. It seems like something they threw out there to fill the action-adventure void left by Sonic and Mega Man getting the axe, and hoped that Flynn and Yardley's names would have some pull with the former Sonic/MM crowd.

I disagree. I thought it was a fun light read and I got a few good chuckles out of it.