Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Kazhnuz]

What I find pretty interesting is that indeed SEGA seems to be more involved even in the creative process on the character, and not only to "make sure that it fits with the universe" (as they made some remark about how make it fit the character.

[PublicEnemy1]

Huh. I thought he legitimately DID have a glove on his right hand, and the other glove was just something like the Infinity Gauntlet.

[DabigRG]

3 hours ago, Ellipsis-Ultima said:

Some Dr.Starline concepts:

 

An interesting post on how Evan tackles the character design for the comics: https://spiritsonic.tumblr.com/post/185946426789/yo-i-have-some-questions-about-the-idw-sonic#notes

Well now I know why his design looks so  distinctly different to the usual Sonic style. 

Also Eggman is 5 cm too short. 

[Red Hot Jack]

I'm so sad about Yardley leaving, but at least we do have other competent artists, my favorites are Stanley, Adam Bryce Thomas obviously, and I don't mind Skelly, she's improved a lot since Champions, and of course… if we could have Tyson Hesse as a replacement for Yardley, that'd be fucking awesome.

Starline is really a great character with a great design IMO, but quite wasted right now as Eggman's sidekick, here's hoping he could be a proper villain in season 3! Also, I'm glad Ian decided not to introduce even more new characters this year, besides Jewel and that new villain for the mini-series.

I'm really looking forward to the miniseries by the way, and getting to know Tangle and Whisper's personal stories...

[Kellodrawsalot]

9 hours ago, Ellipsis-Ultima said:

Some Dr.Starline concepts:

An interesting post on how Evan tackles the character design for the comics: https://spiritsonic.tumblr.com/post/185946426789/yo-i-have-some-questions-about-the-idw-sonic#notes

Pretty cool to see that Sonic Team themselves have to aprove of the designs, 

[DabigRG]

 

9 hours ago, Kazhnuz said:

What I find pretty interesting is that indeed SEGA seems to be more involved even in the creative process on the character, and not only to "make sure that it fits with the universe" (as they made some remark about how make it fit the character.

 

2 hours ago, Kellodrawsalot said:

Pretty cool to see that Sonic Team themselves have to aprove of the designs, 

Is that really a surprise?

[Myst]

I thought Starline was a girl when he was first introduced.

Definitely one of my favorite characters from the comic atm. (Like him a whole lot more than Tangle & Whisper, tbh) Really great henchman for Eggman that isn't a bumbling idiot.

Theory: What if in the finale Sonic is consumed by the virus and Tails has to fight him?

[Razule]

2 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Is that really a surprise?

Well, it could have just been SoA people.

[DabigRG]

9 minutes ago, Myst said:

I thought Starline was a girl when he was first introduced.

 

Probably because he has a general fop vibe to him. I even imagine he'd have a vaguely flamboyant tone of voice.

Thought it was obvious he was male, though.

10 minutes ago, Myst said:

Definitely one of my favorite characters from the comic atm. (Like him a whole lot more than Tangle & Whisper, tbh) Really great henchman for Eggman that isn't a bumbling idiot.

Oh? He's about on the level with Whisper for me.

10 minutes ago, Myst said:

 

Theory: What if in the finale Sonic is consumed by the virus and Tails has to fight him?

Spoiler

That's what it looks like.

 

3 minutes ago, Razule said:

Well, it could have just been SoA people.

There are rumors of an in-house migration...

Still, this comic has been framed as SonicTeam based since the beginning.

8 hours ago, PublicEnemy1 said:

Huh. I thought he legitimately DID have a glove on his right hand, and the other glove was just something like the Infinity Gauntlet.

It does sorta look like that, now that you mention it.

7 hours ago, Psycho_Jack said:

Starline is really a great character with a great design IMO, but quite wasted right now as Eggman's sidekick, here's hoping he could be a proper villain in season 3! .

He is just sort of there as an enabler. Still, he definitely arranged to make stuff happen.

[Marco9966]

Every Sonic IDW issue sold higher than the Archie issue, yet Archie still had Sonic Universe too.

IDW should do that, since sales are high.

[Red Hot Jack]

I think that commercially and strategically, it's best for them to do a lot of miniseries, that way they will have a lot of #1 issues that will sell like hotcakes, and each miniseries will be treated like a special event or something, instead of a regular thing.

[Kazhnuz]

TBH, maybe we already have a "Sonic Universe" with the mini-series though and the possible other "alt comics". If we have regulary new mini-serie one after another, it will be quite the same as having a "Sonic Universe" comic-book, we just won't have the name.

[Shadowlax]

Having mini series allows for named comics to exist.

 

[Kellodrawsalot]

6 hours ago, DabigRG said:

 

 

Is that really a surprise?

Sonic Team used to have little to no connections or contact with the staff of different Sonic Media franchises, if am not mistaken when it came to spin offs like Sonic Underground, , early days of Archie, for example newly introduced characters or concepts were hardly approved or looked over by anyone from Sonic  Team

[DabigRG]

6 minutes ago, Kellodrawsalot said:

Sonic Team used to have little to no connections or contact with the staff of different Sonic Media franchises, if am not mistaken when it came to spin offs like Sonic Underground, , early days of Archie, for example newly introduced characters or concepts were hardly approved or looked over by anyone from Sonic  Team

That was in the early days, though. Ever since the reboot(or quite possibly before that), they've been keeping a closer eye on spinoff materials in order to make sure they adequately represent the series.

[Sega DogTagz]

6 hours ago, Marco9966 said:

Every Sonic IDW issue sold higher than the Archie issue, yet Archie still had Sonic Universe too.

IDW should do that, since sales are high.

 

Sonic carried Archie's action branch of Comics tho. Doubling down on the IP with as many books as they could get away with them boosted up a weak part of their portfolio.

Even if the new series is selling well, IDW doesn't have that same problem thanks to a tragedy of riches when it comes to other IPs they could dangle out there. There is less incentive to lean on the Sonic brand until they know for absolutely certain what they need to do with it. There is no top-down pressure.

[knuckles20]

4 hours ago, DabigRG said:

That was in the early days, though. Ever since the reboot(or quite possibly before that), they've been keeping a closer eye on spinoff materials in order to make sure they adequately represent the series.

Can you explain how you define that phrase because I got into the Archie comics because they revitalized what I love about Sonic and whenever I hear to “represent the series” or “make the comics more like the games”  here’s where’s my mind goes:

-Green Hill Zone/Classic era imagery at every opportunity

-make everyone incapable of doing anything without Sonic

-the stories has become so simple and safe that they feel uninteresting to me

-Eggman being so non threatening, little Suzy Johnson from Phineas and Ferb could take him with little problems 

-the removal of everyone sans Sonic, Tails and Eggman made the world felt empty

The IDW series while operating different from Archie, it still maintains the energy and feeling of what got me in to Sonic in the first place. Maybe I’m overthinking this and know we’re talking about an completely different medium of entertainment but the more I hear this stuff, especially with how SEGA has a tighter grip with the series the more I worry that SEGA will do to the comics what they did to the games: doing everything I listed to the point I no longer care for Sonic anymore

[DabigRG]

2 minutes ago, knuckles20 said:

Can you explain how you define that phrase because I got into the Archie comics because they revitalized what I love about Sonic and whenever I hear to “represent the series” or “make the comics more like the games”  here’s where’s my mind goes:

 

Characters look like Sonic characters, the main and someof the major cast mostly act like they should, and the stories ultimately abide by certain key limitations within reason. All within SonicTeam's vision at any given time period.

[knuckles20]

Just now, DabigRG said:

Characters look like Sonic characters, the main and someof the major cast mostly act like they should, and the stories ultimately abide by certain key limitations within reason. All within SonicTeam's vision at any given time period.

Ok that’s reasonable.

This might sound weird but not once did I look at any original Archie character and said “this person feels awkward here”. The closest I would say would be Dulcy the Dragon.

[DabigRG]

10 minutes ago, knuckles20 said:

 

The IDW series while operating different from Archie, it still maintains the energy and feeling of what got me in to Sonic in the first place. 

I mean, that's probably also because they literally have the same head writer and some of the artists carryovering, but yes.

[Silvereyes]

9 hours ago, Psycho_Jack said:

I think that commercially and strategically, it's best for them to do a lot of miniseries, that way they will have a lot of #1 issues that will sell like hotcakes, and each miniseries will be treated like a special event or something, instead of a regular thing.

Not sure how I feel about that idea. It does feel like a very cynical way of doing it when you put it like that. I suppose as well the mini series would have significant gaps inbetween them, unlike the regularity of Sonic Universe. I don't claim to have any real knowledge of the comics industry or how it works, but is 2 books running really that much to ask for? Sonic may not be Batman big or franchise big like Star Wars, but I would of thought Sonic was big enough and seemingly selling enough to justify 2 books, not to mention Archie running Sonic X and then immedietly afterwards Sonic Universe for something like 13 years.

Again, don't claim to have any knowledge of how these things work. Just saying my opinion that I would be disappointed if the plan is merely just to have the main Sonic book, and then just do constant mini-series.

[Red Hot Jack]

7 hours ago, Silvereyes said:

Not sure how I feel about that idea. It does feel like a very cynical way of doing it when you put it like that. I suppose as well the mini series would have significant gaps inbetween them, unlike the regularity of Sonic Universe. I don't claim to have any real knowledge of the comics industry or how it works, but is 2 books running really that much to ask for? Sonic may not be Batman big or franchise big like Star Wars, but I would of thought Sonic was big enough and seemingly selling enough to justify 2 books, not to mention Archie running Sonic X and then immedietly afterwards Sonic Universe for something like 13 years.

Again, don't claim to have any knowledge of how these things work. Just saying my opinion that I would be disappointed if the plan is merely just to have the main Sonic book, and then just do constant mini-series.

No, look, I'm not trying to defend IDW, I'm just thinking the way they probably think. By the way, they probably don't want to push too many stories, because having a miniseries each year is a 4 part story besides the main season of the regular book, if you have another regular spin-off, then it's a lot more work because they need to do 3 four part stories in total. They could technically do it, actually I would LOVE a second book, it's really up to them, but I guess that making them a special yearly thing is more convenient to them.

Anyway, seems like IDW Sonic will be at SDCC, here's the Tangle and Whisper raw cover:

Does this mean that Tangle and Whisper 1# will be released at Comic Con BEFORE July 31? Fuck, the partecipants will be lucky if that's the case.

Also, did you notice Tangle has a piece of paper in her hand? I wonder that's up with that.

[Big Panda]

Issue 18’s recap page xD

[MetalSkulkBane]

This map has so much more personality that any location we seen so far.

IDW must hire Cream as new artist.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

There's also the raw covers for issues 17, 18 and 19

My favourites are 17 and 19.