Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Meta77]

I'm loving the bleakness of this arc. Makes up for the lackluster story of forces. If course they will win but its like dawn of the dead where things are beyond bleak till the surprise ending

[Big Panda]

• Am I the only one who’s imagination is running absolutely wild with the lore surrounding the Warp Topaz? It’s basically a portable Genesis Wave button.
• ABT is absolutely killing it again with Whisper’s expressions.
• The Babylon Rogues’ introduction was really lame. Why would Amy even have a way to contact them?

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

Spoiler

Saw a spoiler, Big confirmed zombot'd, will likely explain how that went down in the 2020 annual.

 

[Razule]

Are they not able to use the Master Emerald

Spoiler

as if it's all seven in this continuity? I don't know if I'm missing something or not, but it feels like they're standing right next to an instawin button and they're choosing to use it. Sonic and Silver (how does he know he can do that?) could Chaos Control into the past and stop the Metal Virus from being invented (..wait, why doesn't Silver use his unknown method of travel to do that?). Or if that isn't a thing that will be acknowledged, couldn't Sonic use it to go Super Sonic and warp the Deadly Six to them or use the Warp Topaz right then and there to erase the virus?

 

[MetalSkulkBane]

#25.... I wanna say it was worth the wait, but...shrug. It has nice art, interactions, etc, buuuuut.

My biggest problem is that it's a setup issue. Flynn loves sitting people in round table and having long conversations over what they should do, (probably so no one points out plotholes to him) and it never meshed with me. And this is double size and he still managed to do it. It also makes it an average milestone, but I suspect it suppose to act as a "jump in" point for new readers.
 

Spoiler

Let's start with Zeti taking over. Can I just say that they succeeded to easily? I didn't expected a battle (Eggman is unequipped to fight Zeti), but Zavok didn't really proved his strategic genius by outsmarting Starline, he just got lucky. And Starline used conch in same way Eggman did in Lost World.
And now they just continue with his plan, just like last time... kinda lame. And I'm no the fan of them accessorizing, we been there in Unite. Is Flynn just really unsure how strong they suppose to be?
It is funny that Rouge didn't stole Emerald before, but my guess is she hoped to find cure and that's a little more important.

Afterwards it's talk, talk, talk. Planning, plothole covering (And BTW, I still found one: why not power Warp Topaz with Master Emerald?) , Firing Starline surprised me, I didn't saw that coming. But frankly Starline has good points, should Sonic go with insane reality destroying plan like that? (Still, I still believe there is 50/50 chance that Starline will go back to working for Eggman. Just maybe).
Also, Babylon Rouge are in the main book. Not in back-up story, off-panel, Sonic Universe or annual. This is first for them.

And lastly few panels of Zeti. Could been cut or just 1 panel/per Zeti, but I suppose if Flynn had to 2-3 filler pages, it makes sense to "flesh out" Zeti, as little as this means.

Now I just wander how long Flynn can stretch it out. Probably 4 issues at least, maybe 5.

 

@Ryannumber1gamer two answer your both complains
 

Spoiler

1) Eggman had to act now. He had literally nothing else to throw and Metal would be taken over anyway. We knot Zeti have pretty good range, since in Lost World they control all Badniks. So Metal was lost anyway, only reasonable strategy was hoping that Metal's AI is immune or that he'll be fast enough to take down Zeti or (most likely scenario) he'll buy Eggman 3 seconds so he can run and come up with something brilliant.
2) Well, they do have Eggman database. Or maybe Eggman rounded they before. Or you know, writing convenience.

 

[Diogenes]

21 minutes ago, Big Panda said:

  Hide contents

• Am I the only one who’s imagination is running absolutely wild with the lore surrounding the Warp Topaz? It’s basically a portable Genesis Wave button.

 

Spoiler

I'm actually not that big a fan of it being some (potential) huge deus ex machina. It'll be kind of lame if they have someone snap their fingers and just undo everything this arc has done, especially this soon into the comic's lifetime. Though on the other hand I'm sick of the Resistance/Restoration and the setting being in a constant state of war/recovery so if it gets us a better status quo I might overlook it.

12 minutes ago, Razule said:

Are they not able to use the Master Emerald

  Hide contents

as if it's all seven in this continuity? I don't know if I'm missing something or not, but it feels like they're standing right next to an instawin button and they're choosing to use it. Sonic and Silver (how does he know he can do that?) could Chaos Control into the past and stop the Metal Virus from being invented (..wait, why doesn't Silver use his unknown method of travel to do that?). Or if that isn't a thing that will be acknowledged, couldn't Sonic use it to go Super Sonic and warp the Deadly Six to them or use the Warp Topaz right then and there to erase the virus?

Remember that IDW Sonic is basically the game continuity as of Forces; the only time we've seen the ME grant a Super form was Mecha Sonic back in 3&K, which was an unstable form that needed constant recharging, and may not even be considered canon anymore anyway. It might see some use by the end of this but it's (rightly) not going to solve everything on its own.

[Red Hot Jack]

Spoiler

I'm assuming changing reality with the Topaz will end up making more shenanigans and wild changes, creating new threats? I think that's the purpose, so I'm honestly down with it. It's Super Sonic who is the deus ex machina, but that sorta works too because they have to earn it... by facing the Zeti at the same time and winning. It's a reward for a tough task.

I actually liked the Deadly Six here, not so generic, they need their time to shine eventually... Zavok still stands as superior. Ian added new little things, and improved some others by putting larger focus, obviously they have an easy win for now because they are revealed as "superior twist villains" of the situation. Eh.

Babylon Rogues felt shoehorned in IMO. Still fun but unnecessary.

Am I the only one who liked Amy in the issue? She felt a lot more furious and energetic than usual in the comic, I like that!

Big ended up like that off-screen... No way, so lame. But I liked the final pages.

Starline... Nope, not that either, like his plan, his ending wasn't well executed, he was really thrown down the garbate lat the last minute, really cruel but rushed, I wanted it to be even more cruel, just kill him off on-screen... Oh, I am sure he is dead now but they should have made it more clear IMO. Then bring him back via the warp topaz with a different version of him.

So these are my thoughts on it. Overall great but there are various minor things I'm not okay with.

[MetalSkulkBane]

50 minutes ago, Razule said:

Are they not able to use the Master Emerald

  Reveal hidden contents

as if it's all seven in this continuity? I don't know if I'm missing something or not, but it feels like they're standing right next to an instawin button and they're choosing to use it. Sonic and Silver (how does he know he can do that?) could Chaos Control into the past and stop the Metal Virus from being invented (..wait, why doesn't Silver use his unknown method of travel to do that?). Or if that isn't a thing that will be acknowledged, couldn't Sonic use it to go Super Sonic and warp the Deadly Six to them or use the Warp Topaz right then and there to erase the virus?

 

 

7 minutes ago, Diogenes said:

  Reveal hidden contents

I'm actually not that big a fan of it being some (potential) huge deus ex machina. It'll be kind of lame if they have someone snap their fingers and just undo everything this arc has done, especially this soon into the comic's lifetime. Though on the other hand I'm sick of the Resistance/Restoration and the setting being in a constant state of war/recovery so if it gets us a better status quo I might overlook it.

Remember that IDW Sonic is basically the game continuity as of Forces; the only time we've seen the ME grant a Super form was Mecha Sonic back in 3&K, which was an unstable form that needed constant recharging, and may not even be considered canon anymore anyway. It might see some use by the end of this but it's (rightly) not going to solve everything on its own.

Actually Neo Metal Sonic used it too, remember? Of course he was right next to ME whole time, so maybe he needed constant energy flow.

With that said, my best guess is: too many unknown variables. Won't they create time paradox? Does Sonic even remember how to time travel? Can ME be used as substitute for 2 Chaos Emeralds? Just to many "maybes".

 

[Diogenes]

1 minute ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Actually Neo Metal Sonic used it too, remember?

Ah right, I forgot because it was kind of dumb and even the comic rushed past it. But yeah that's basically Super Mecha Sonic again, I don't think it's quite the same as a "real" Super form.

[Meta77]

I hope SL is ok

[Ryannumber1gamer]

1 hour ago, Razule said:

Are they not able to use the Master Emerald

  Hide contents

as if it's all seven in this continuity? I don't know if I'm missing something or not, but it feels like they're standing right next to an instawin button and they're choosing to use it. Sonic and Silver (how does he know he can do that?) could Chaos Control into the past and stop the Metal Virus from being invented (..wait, why doesn't Silver use his unknown method of travel to do that?). Or if that isn't a thing that will be acknowledged, couldn't Sonic use it to go Super Sonic and warp the Deadly Six to them or use the Warp Topaz right then and there to erase the virus?

 

Spoiler

They consider using the ME to neutralise the emeralds and depower the D6 but Knuckles didn’t want to risk the island falling, but someone using a super form via the ME was only a thing in Archie, bar Super Mecha.

 

[DabigRG]

Issue 25 was okay; it's mostly brisk setup for the four-partner obviously. The delays may or may not hurt it, depending on how you look at things, but s'alright.

Not much to say, but I'll use a spoiler tag anyway.

Spoiler

There's a number of nice-ish character interactions sprinkled around, with Cream and Whisper(plus Omega) probably being the somewhat crammed highlight. Jet, Storm, Zeena, Zor, Zazz, Eggman, and Orbot also get some neat moments. 

If I can criticize a little though, I kinda feel like main plot itself wasn't that great. This entire issue is indeed setting up the fights & stakes of the climax and the Resistance & Eggman do get a good amount of time dedicated to brainstorming, deliberating, and finding compromises heading into them, but that's about it. The Zeti themselves don't get much plotting or to an extent interplay in comparison--it's almost straight To The Pain with them.  I definitely like having them together again and the three I named got some good showing in particular, but it's still abundantly obvious that they're primarily here to be the last minute fights representing oblivion so that Eggman doesn't.

Speaking on that note, I find myself concurrently worrying more & more as to how this arc will be followed up on or better phrasing, continued from. Eggman here is more straightforwardly culpable and redhanded than he's been in most things & even with the [Preboot] Archie example we previously brought up, he's generally been hard to get a hand on, but not invulnerable as a balance to the scale--Julian did basically get wiped from existence after his years of destroying lives and had to be replaced by an alternate Robian(Robolander?) version of himself who's been through the wringer numerous times. Not only that, but you got characters like Cream, apparently Amy, and maybe Sonic himself realistically never being quite the same again because of all this. Where can the comic go from here and how it handle being the even more game-based Sonic the Hedgehog comic gracefully?

Other things that can be said:

• Knuckles doesn't get much of a rundown or rather reaction here, compared to something like Mecha Sally. Which is a bit of miss since this situation no doubt warrants it.
• As I said before, Zeena and even Zomom have a bit more menace here than they generally do, while Zazz and Zor are about as merciless as ever. Master Zik and Zavok had the shorter end of it, but than they were ones with the most credibility anyway.
• I honestly didn't notice Metal going into the portal as well. I thought he'd still be with Zavok, but then I guess this does make sense.
• I recall seeing a comment opining out how some of the Deadly Six's buildup in previous issue probably could've trimmed before their debut last issue to keep at least that element from feeling dragged out. While I usually don't think much of those, I saw an area of what point they had here--Zavok's declaration at the end was fairly similar to his exchange with Zik a few issues ago. So I'm kinda having a different takeaway now--some of their previous focus could've been combined into either a single backstory or two OR been saved until this issue if it was possible for them to spare/salvage a few more pages so their side of things could've have more time here. 
• Starline's hand looked somewhat damaged under the glove. Could be a story to that even with the obvious testing he had to do.
• Looks like we've got some Rouge vs Zavok tension brewing in addition to the Shapebots(who were apparently in touch with her to begin with!) .
• So how bad do you think Amy's gonna fuck up?

 

[Big Panda]

Random nitpick:

Are we supposed to assume Silver has the same “time traveller’s immunity” he had in Archie Sonic? Because I can’t help but question how this current future timeline the world is set on wouldn’t just outright erase him from existence.

[DabigRG]

13 hours ago, thumbs13 said:

 

  Hide contents

Big got infected offscreen. It's no secret that he's my fave character, so seeing him be an afterthought like this is bad, and waiting 25 issues and two years to see my favorite character and it's not even him is bad. I might be overreacting, but whi knows. 

 

Spoiler

Guess we know how his story in the annual might end, eh?

9 hours ago, caitash said:

 

  Hide contents

Good issue, looks like things are exploding towards a longer climax over the next 5 or so issues than the conclusion of the first arc. And hopefully only 3 weeks to wait for the next issue, assuming no further delays.....

 

Actually, 4.

6 hours ago, Kazhnuz said:

That's was really cool.

  Hide contents

We really are getting the IDW version of the Genesis Wave, aren't we ?

It's possible. It's one of the only ways they could rationally continue on from this arc.

6 hours ago, Kazhnuz said:

Spoiler

I especially liked how Flynn showed the D6 as a legitimate threat while using stuff that where in lost world, just by varying what was shown here. I'll be dumb : i didn't see coming that they would use the Chaos Emerald for themselves xD I just didn't thought of that.

Guess you avoid the solicits when you can.

6 hours ago, Kazhnuz said:

Spoiler

The whole "Orbot and Rouge cooperating together" is really cool (especially as it makes). I really like how the comic manage to make Orbot kinda usefull (more than in the ArchieSonic era, for me, even if I miss the Egg Bosses). And I like how they handled is "not caring" personna. 

 

Archie mainly worked with the fact that he(and by extension Cubot)'s essentially SA-55.

Guess you could also say they're borrowing from Boom as well.

6 hours ago, Kazhnuz said:

Spoiler

 And I hope that Starline being sent into his own portal is the begginning of his next arcs. I think that all this can have great potential for future arcs.

I do have to wonder where he ended up.

6 hours ago, Kazhnuz said:

Spoiler

That's a bit sad that Infinite seems to be off limit, because we could have had Infinite, Rough+Tumble and Starline as "ennemies that have worked for Eggman and that Eggman kinda betrayed" (For Infinite it's how he didn't seem to care about Infinite's fate in the end of the story).

 

Probably because he's responsible for his fate.

6 hours ago, Kazhnuz said:

Just one funny thing

  Hide contents

At first I didn't read correctly "Please don't, Miss Whisper" and read "Please don't miss, Whisper", and I was "wut ?".

 

[SBR2]

Spoiler

What if Super Sonic does use the Warp Topaz but instead of a complete cosmic retcon like the Genesis Wave instead "season 3" is about its use causing a bunch of varying alterations that Sonic and crew have to stop?

Like reality is in Flux and we can see variations on Sonic's world throughout the arc an in miniseries. 

 

[DabigRG]

6 hours ago, Kuzu said:

Feels like forever since the last issue hasn't it. 

  Hide contents

Ok, so while I didn't mind this issue overall, I do think it falls kind of flat on what's supposed to be the series` first milestone. Now I know that's not really a fair comparison given the previous comics' first milestones weren't exactly notable either. But they were at least self-contained stories and not part of a larger arc like this one is. 

That's true as well.

 

Quote

So the issue starts with the restoration landing on Angel Island and once again, has a huge tease of Sonic going full zombot before it cuts to Eggman's faceship. I really wish they'd stop teasing this so much at this point, because it's kind of obnoxious now. Either turn Sonic or just cure him already, because this constant bait and switch they've been doing ends up not having any real impact.

I think it's there to hammer home the personal stakes going into the final fights for him.

Quote

On Eggman's ship, the inevitable happens and the Zeti turn the tables and force Eggman and Starlene to retreat. I find this sequence kind of weird since I was under the impression that the Zeti had some sort of plan to overcome the Conch, but no they just...take it. I know the point is to show that Starlene is similarly as shortsighted as Eggman, but I feel it's kind of contrived.

I did like the touch that, in addition to Starline not being nearly the windbag Eggman is, he tried to pull rank on Zazz of all Zeti within reaching distance.

Quote

Spoiler

And the Zeti...just carry on Eggman's plan. I have very mixed feelings about this, because it's a similar problem I had with the Zeti in Lost World; one, they just kind of crib of off Eggman's plan...again. It doesn't really help set themselves apart from him at all. And secondly, their motivations are still as generic as ever. I'll applaud the art for making them look good, but hopefully later issues can do a better job at fleshing them out more.

 

It probably doesn't help that Zavok talks like it's basically tradition.

Like, I get that they're opportunistic conquerors and that's essentially how America came to be, but still.

Quote

 

Spoiler

Oh and Rouge is there too I guess...how long was she there for? She couldn't have stolen the emeralds at any time ? Eggman said that she could. Guess that's not important.

 

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Spoiler

It is funny that Rouge didn't stole Emerald before, but my guess is she hoped to find cure and that's a little more important.

 

.

She was apparently about to when Starline warped in the Zeti.

Quote

Spoiler

 Whisper is the only who has the completely justified reaction to just try and shoot the guy before being talked out of it. I want to stress that in a vacuum, this scene here between Whisper and Cream (and Omega I guess) is good as well as Silver's feelings of failure...but as I've pointed out constantly, the lack of buildup and proper development just makes the entire thing feel more melodramatic than anything. I get what these scenes are trying to go for, I really do, but that's exactly why I'm stressing how proper buildup is needed to make these scenes hit like they're supposed to.

I do kinda feel like that could've run smoother with animation and/or a select few more panels at least.

Quote

Spoiler

 Starline is naturally reluctant to this strategy, but as Eggman says, he has no say in the matter as is swiftly robbed of his tech and dumped right out of the plot. I...don't like this, Starline was one of the few characters who had any kind of buildup and dynamism in this arc, so it's disappointing to see him just unceremoniously removed like this and everyone is just...fine with it.

 

He is basically the reason this all happened.

Quote

Spoiler

So the plan is set and Amy decides to call for backup in...the Babylon Rogues. I mean, sure alright. It's nice to see them in some type of prominent role given the games aren't going to do anything with them. Pretty convenient how Amy has them on speed dial though.

 

,

3 hours ago, Big Panda said:

 

  Hide contents

 

• Am I the only one who’s imagination is running absolutely wild with the lore surrounding the Warp Topaz? It’s basically a portable Genesis Wave button.
• ABT is absolutely killing it again with Whisper’s expressions.
• The Babylon Rogues’ introduction was really lame. Why would Amy even have a way to contact them?

 

.

That is a little odd, now that you mention it.

Quote

Spoiler

So yea this was uh....alright I guess. The writing has the same issues it's always had; as a light Sonic affair, it's serviceable enough on its own and the art is as nice as ever, with some great character dialogue. But I still don't really care about this conflict due to the lack of development on the characters or setting, and the Zeti aren't really any more interesting here than they were in Lost World. Starlene, one of the few characters I did care about, has been removed from the plot and now we have three more characters added to the Heroes side because we needed more padding  I guess?

 

They had a hard time finding someone to pit against Master Zik I guess.

6 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

My biggest problem with the issue was

  Hide contents

Eggman dashing Metal Sonic into the Zeti. I thought they were going to reveal Eggman had managed to find a way to make Metal resistant to the Zeti’s control over robotics, but nope. He just sends Metal Sonic, his deadliest robotic enforcer...directly towards the Deadly Six, who swiftly take control of him and use him to nearly kill Eggman and force him to leave.

 

I half expected that as well.

Ah well, get's it gives him personal motivation for his fight.

5 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Also...

  Hide contents

While it was a cool as hell shot, am I the only one who found it a little weird how Zavok knew which zombots specifically to control to use against Sonic? I mean, you could probably fart out a few excuses for Shadow, but Vanilla and the Chao, and Big?

Y’see, it would’ve made sense if Eggman had been the one to set that situation up to mess with Sonic and the few survivors remaining, but how the hell did Zavok know which characters to specifically set up against the group? Hell, he had to know in advance since while a large bulk would’ve turned inside Resistance HQ, Tangle would’ve specifically had to have been moved.

Also, Tangle is in the same stance as she was when she turned, before drooping into just another zombot. Nothing wrong with that, just a fun fact.

 

I don't think he did, I think they just congregated together overtime for whatever reason--maybe it was Eggman. Especially since I expect them fight to be deployed for each of the thematically appropriate fights.

That said, this issue seems to (apparently unintentionally) run with the TSR explanation that Zavok among the other Zeti has indeed been periodically attacking Sonic and his friends for a while, so perhaps he is aware of them.

2 hours ago, Razule said:

Are they not able to use the Master Emerald

  Hide contents

as if it's all seven in this continuity? I don't know if I'm missing something or not, but it feels like they're standing right next to an instawin button and they're choosing to use it. Sonic and Silver (how does he know he can do that?) could Chaos Control into the past and stop the Metal Virus from being invented (..wait, why doesn't Silver use his unknown method of travel to do that?). Or if that isn't a thing that will be acknowledged, couldn't Sonic use it to go Super Sonic and warp the Deadly Six to them or use the Warp Topaz right then and there to erase the virus?

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to question that! 

Apparently, it needs to have either some proximity to them or at least have them be near each other. Trying to remember the times it was used for anyway incongruity there.

[StaticMania]

Convenient Treadmill...

Sonic needs all the exercise he can get, while staying near everyone...

 

[DabigRG]

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

 

  Hide contents

Let's start with Zeti taking over. Can I just say that they succeeded to easily? I didn't expected a battle (Eggman is unequped to fight Zeti), but Zavok didn't really proved his strategic genius by outsmarting Starline, he just got lucky. And Starline used conch in same way Eggman did in Lost World.
And now they just continue with his plan, just like last time... kinda lame.

The difference is supposed to be that Eggman found a lethal snag in his plan that he intended to work out and they decide to use it anyway as a handy FU to him, but I can see what you mean.

They also don't have a stated follow up plan this time either.

 

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

And I'm no the fan of them accessorizing, we been there in Unite. Is Flynn just really unsure how strong they suppose to be?

I mean, Unite wasn't originally intended to happen and they weren't in it initially, so maybe its just something he had in his pocket that got trotted out much sooner than it was supposed to.With that said, I don't anyone's really sure about their power level.

 

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Flynn loves sitting people in round table and having long conversations over what they should do, (probably so no one points out plotholes to him) and it never meshed with me.

Afterwards it's talk, talk, talk. Planning, plothole covering

What do you mean?

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

(And BTW, I still found one: why not power Warp Topaz with Master Emerald?)

I did think of that, given the Warp Rings.

Of course, that still falls under Starline's previous explanation.

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

And lastly few panels of Zeti. Could been cut or just 1 panel/per Zeti, but I suppose if Flynn had to 2-3 filler pages, it makes sense to "flesh out" Zeti, as little as this means.

It's less fleshing them out and more just giving that moments of tyranny while establishing their playing fields(waitaminute...).

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Now I just wander how long Flynn can stretch it out. Probably 4 issues at least, maybe 5.

Spoiler

It is 4.

 

 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

2 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

 

@Ryannumber1gamer two answer your both complains
 

  Reveal hidden contents

1) Eggman had to act now. He had literally nothing else to throw and Metal would be taken over anyway. We knot Zeti have pretty good range, since in Lost World they control all Badniks. So Metal was lost anyway, only reasonable strategy was hoping that Metal's AI is immune or that he'll be fast enough to take down Zeti or (most likely scenario) he'll buy Eggman 3 seconds so he can run and come up with something brilliant.
2) Well, they do have Eggman database. Or maybe Eggman rounded they before. Or you know, writing convenience.

 

Spoiler

Eggman had enough time to see who was coming through the portal, shout at Starline about being a traitor, and then sending Metal Sonic at them. The Zeti came through with zero weapons, and Starline had the conch on top of that. He had far better options that just immediately sending Metal Sonic out to be controlled. He's also well aware of the range Zeti has control over, because he saw it first hand when the Zeti broke free of his own control and immediately took control of his robot army.

Handing someone the keys to your greatest and most deadly killing machine was an absolutely bafflingly idiotic move. Metal Sonic is fast and deadly. Eggman had no clear escape route, and any time bought to make a run for it would immediately be nullified by Metal Sonic now being under Zeti control. The only reason Starline and Eggman had any chance to run was a mixture of Starline using the conch, which immediately led to getting his face caved in by Zazz, and Metal Sonic shoving his way into the portal in an attempt to kill Eggman. 

Literally immediately running, or trying to get Metal Sonic out of control distance would've been a far greater decision than just immediately deciding to send him at the Zeti and hope maybe the Zeti would be dumb that day and forget they can control robots. At least if he tried to keep Metal out of sight, or get him away from control distance that the Zeti would have to use their own strength and hands to kill Eggman instead of handing them an actual fast as light death machine to do it for them.

Eggman survived on pure luck, and nothing else. This is the same dude that Ian wrote back in Scrambled as being so cunning and over-prepared that he had back up plans for his back up plans, and was able to nullify every single attempt by Snively to counter him, and even when he didn't have a back-up plan, he could think quick enough to find another way out a situation, and here he is making such utterly idiotic decisions like this for the sake of establishing the D6 are capable of controlling the zombots, like Starline theorised, something that again could've been acomplished just as easily, and without making Eggman look like a complete numbskull if the Deadly Six had just entered his base without Eggman knowing, and taking control of Metal before Eggman could react.

 

[ShadowSJG]

This arc has been too long and the  Deadly Six Hijacked it? Good issue overall but shame we won't see Shadow fight. Also, why does Sega love the Deadly Six

Also, Silver's future was ruined cuz of Zombots?

[DabigRG]

2 hours ago, Jack at the Cinema said:

  Hide contents

I actually liked the Deadly Six here, not so generic, they need their time to shine eventually... Zavok still stands as superior.

Ian added new little things, and improved some others by putting larger focus, obviously they have an easy win for now because they are revealed as "superior twist villains" of the situation. Eh.

 

Spoiler

Yeah, as cool as it was to see them react to the Zombots, I was hoping they'd collectively be reintroduced in an arc of their own brewing.

2 hours ago, Jack at the Cinema said:

Spoiler

Am I the only one who liked Amy in the issue? She felt a lot more furious and energetic than usual in the comic, I like that!

Spoiler

Pride before the fall?

2 hours ago, Jack at the Cinema said:

Spoiler

Starline... Nope, not that either, like his plan, his ending wasn't well executed, he was really thrown down the garbate lat the last minute, really cruel but rushed, I wanted it to be even more cruel, just kill him off on-screen... Oh, I am sure he is dead now but they should have made it more clear IMO. Then bring him back via the warp topaz with a different version of him.

 

Spoiler

Fear not, princess. He's not dead. ....Yet.

I do think if reality is gonna go apeshit, he could've tried to plead with Eggman only to be met with a Scrambled-level oneliner.

53 minutes ago, Big Panda said:

Random nitpick:

 

  Hide contents

Are we supposed to assume Silver has the same “time traveller’s immunity” he had in Archie Sonic? Because I can’t help but question how this current future timeline the world is set on wouldn’t just outright erase him from existence.

He kinda has to.

36 minutes ago, SBR2 said:

  Hide contents

What if Super Sonic does use the Warp Topaz but instead of a complete cosmic retcon like the Genesis Wave instead "season 3" is about its use causing a bunch of varying alterations that Sonic and crew have to stop?

Like reality is in Flux and we can see variations on Sonic's world throughout the arc an in miniseries. 

 

Spoiler

So Genesis Portals/Nexus with Sonic Advance 3?

 

8 minutes ago, ShadowSJG said:

This arc has been too long and the  Deadly Six Hijacked it? Good issue overall but shame we won't see Shadow fight.

His Zombot'll get his turn.

8 minutes ago, ShadowSJG said:

Also, why does Sega love the Deadly Six

They might've been part of where they originally wanted to take the franchise before Forces in addition to adding to the Rogues Gallery or conceptualized/designed by someone very important to them.

However, they have little to do with their presence this time--they(or at least Zavok) was in the original plan for Archie.

8 minutes ago, ShadowSJG said:

Also, Silver's future was ruined cuz of Zombots?

Yup. They're expired by then, though.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

4 minutes ago, ShadowSJG said:

This arc has been too long and the  Deadly Six Hijacked it?

1. The arc has only been slightly longer than the first arc of the series. It's not even reached the full length of the first arc as of yet. You need to keep in mind that this arc didn't start until a few issues after #12 - where we got a few one shot issues with Sonic and co dealing with some Eggman antics and Starline, while Eggman teased developing the metal virus in the background. 

The first introduction of Zombots, and more specifically - Sonic's infection doesn't happen until Issue #15, and even at that, it happens at the end of the comic. The Metal Virus arc doesn't fully start up until #16 where it shows Tails studying Sonic's infection, and deals with Eggman having completed development, and starting distribution everywhere. We haven't even hit the ten issue mark yet.

The reason the arc feels longer is because of delays, and it's not fair to hold that against the comic, or Ian. IDW has been a shit-show with their comics coming out on time, and Sonic isn't the only book hit by it, as even just last year, TMNT Shredder in Hell - what was intended to be a five month event with an issue per month ended up taking nearly as long as the path between TMNT #90 and #100. On top of that, we had more comics relating to Sonic coming out this year compared to Year 1 - where we got both the Annual, and Tangle & Whisper.

2. The Deadly Six didn't hijack it. They didn't just randomly pop into the story and take it over out of nowhere. The Deadly Six have been set up for multiple issues now, and make sense to have them featured. They present the best way to push the story narrative - Eggman is not willing to find a solution to controlling the Zombots, causing Starline to become totally disillusioned with him. The zombot virus was deadly enough before, but now with the Deadly Six being far more chaotic and destructive than even Eggman would be, and are fully capable of total control over their victims, they have heightened that risk even further. The Zombots are deadly and dangerous before, but now that their power can be controlled, that makes them even more dangerous.

This story was building up to this happening. Eggman's ego and lack of foresight meant this was almost definitely going to be the case, that he'd lose control of the situation, and Starline would bite them both on the ass because he didn't think things through. It's hard to argue that the D6 just randomly popped in out of nowhere and hijacked the arc when everything has been logically building to this point - Eggman's increasing casual attitude and non-care to ensuring he and Starline could control the Zombots, or be immune to them, Starline's disillusionment with Eggman due to his lack of foresight, and Sonic's attempts to reach Mr. Tinkerer inside Eggman. It was all building to this moment where both Eggman and Starline's individual problems backfired on them. Eggman is now at risk because he's on the ground where he can easily be infected, especially with the Zombots now being controlled by the D6, and Starline bit off far more than he could chew, and led to making things worse.

16 minutes ago, ShadowSJG said:

Also, why does Sega love the Deadly Six

Ian writes the comic's storylines. SEGA don't. Ian obviously saw merit and value in bringing the D6 into this arc, which makes sense since their skillset is best equipped to take advantage of the situation. On top of that, this is the first time Ian gets to write the Deadly Six proper without other shit interfering. He never got the chance to do his Lost World story in Archie, and they were mind-controlled by Sigma in Worlds Unite, and the LW prologue story he wrote didn't feature them much at all. The Deadly Six being present here makes far more sense than Zavok in Team Sonic Racing, or a good few of SEGA's projects.

19 minutes ago, ShadowSJG said:

Also, Silver's future was ruined cuz of Zombots?

Silver's future was rewritten from the original destruction by Iblis, but it ended up leading to the exact same fate, if possibly worse because the Zombot virus wipes out humanity, and leaves only a few roboticised plants remaining. It's hard to tell, given 06's role as total non-canon thanks to being written out of the timeline, but I'm fairly certain this is the case - the original thing he travelled back to correct was fixed, but it just led to something worse happening.

42 minutes ago, StaticMania said:

Convenient Treadmill...

Sonic needs all the exercise he can get, while staying near everyone...

 

Being fair, it looked like it was fairly primitive, so it's likely Tails just whipped it up using whatever materials on the island he could find. I'm nearly sure the wheels were made out of stone too.

1 hour ago, Big Panda said:

Random nitpick:

 

  Hide contents

Are we supposed to assume Silver has the same “time traveller’s immunity” he had in Archie Sonic? Because I can’t help but question how this current future timeline the world is set on wouldn’t just outright erase him from existence.

Spoiler

To me, it seems like he's always had time traveller immunity, something akin to how Doc and Marty can travel to different timelines in Back to the Future. It depends on the timeline changes, but even that's fairly inconsistent. Doc and Marty can live in the rewritten 1985 timeline in BTTF1, but in BTTF2, Doc mentions several times that they could be erased if the timeline catches up to them, and it's implied there is a version of Marty in the Hell Valley timeline that co-exists with the original Marty, but he's in a boarding school. 

Honestly, unless SEGA even specify, it's probably just best to assume that Silver's time traveller immunity is in effect, because it's the only explanation that really works. I think the only thing that would wipe Silver out is if he did something that tampered with his own birth, like how Marty stops his parents from meeting in BTTF1.

 

[ShadowSJG]

8 hours ago, Kazhnuz said:

That's was really cool.

  Hide contents

We really are getting the IDW version of the Genesis Wave, aren't we ?

 

I especially liked how Flynn showed the D6 as a legitimate threat while using stuff that where in lost world, just by varying what was shown here. I'll be dumb : i didn't see coming that they would use the Chaos Emerald for themselves xD I just didn't thought of that.

Everything around Eggman was pretty interesting. The stance about why Cream agree with the plan (that saving people is more important) and stop Whisper. The whole "Orbot and Rouge cooperating together" is really cool (especially as it makes). I really like how the comic manage to make Orbot kinda usefull (more than in the ArchieSonic era, for me, even if I miss the Egg Bosses). And I like how they handled is "not caring" personna. I also liked his whole dispute with Starline. That Eggman is accepting that "it's over, we loose, let's save ourselves", while Starline is persuaded that he can still win. And I hope that Starline being sent into his own portal is the begginning of his next arcs. I think that all this can have great potential for future arcs.

That's a bit sad that Infinite seems to be off limit, because we could have had Infinite, Rough+Thumble and Starline as "ennemies that have worked for Eggman and that Eggman kinda betrayed" (For Infinite it's how he didn't seem to care about Infinite's fate in the end of the story).

I'm pretty interested about the final stand against the D6, to see how it'll be.

 

The "are we okay about that ?" moment made me laugh xD It was simple yet pretty funny to me. The few of Omega we got was really fun too.

 

Just one funny thing

  Hide contents

At first I didn't read correctly "Please don't, Miss Whisper" and read "Please don't miss, Whisper", and I was "wut ?".

 

Why would we get the Genesis Wave?

[Ryannumber1gamer]

2 minutes ago, ShadowSJG said:

Why would we get the Genesis Wave?

Spoiler

The plan discussed for curing the Metal Virus is essentially that there is no cure. Tails' cure was their only shot and it was lost. Super Sonic could potentially cure Sonic, but no one else. 

So they decided to use the space/time warping abilities of Starline's Warp Topaz, along with Super Sonic's chaos control to effectively try to make a makeshift Genesis Wave and use that to get rid of the virus.

 

[Dr. Detective]

I just got Issue 25 and my blood is up. It's pumping and going and I feel like bouncing off the walls right now. This is how Sonic should make me feel all the time dammit. 

- So I gotta thank my local comic shop first and foremost. I've only been with them for as long as this comic has existed but as soon as I walked in, the man in charge asked one of his employees if they had the Sonic issues and the variants for me. It felt great getting that awesome Deadly Six variant cover. Adam Bryce Thomas is still great with his art and Matt Herms is still the master of colors.

- I know it's sacrilege or whatever but I really gotta say this; I think I'm done flip-flopping on my opinion of the Deadly Six. I really like them. When it gets to the point where I'm pretending that I am them and reading their lines out loud like a maniac, like I do with Eggman, it's time to settle in on the truth. I'm just a sucker for eccentric villains I suppose. The set-up for what they're doing is actually incredibly brilliant and, once again, I'm left jealous that I didn't think of it.

The fact that all six of them are scattering and using the chaos emeralds to cloak themselves in energy strong enough to control the metal virus and the zombots is cool enough but seeing how they're utilizing their stranglehold on the planet is great. Zomom especially has got this hedonistic, fat king vibe going on where he's demanding food from the peasants in rags and have barely anything they can offer. The instant one tells him he's only got a little bit of food, he feeds them to the zombies.  It's so dark and mean and I love it.

- My favorite bat girl, Rouge, showing off how awesome a spy she is and how she gets it done. I do like how her disappearance was set-up and the follow-through with it here was great. 

- I'm glad the Rogues are here and I'm also glad I got to see Sonic stomp all over his ego by sucking up to Jet like that but I do gotta admit, their entrance did feel a little quick. I suppose it would have been a bit much to waste space on a more bombastic entry when being quick and to the point helps move things along. We're clearly in the Endgame now and it's successfully got me amped up so it's thankfully easy to let slide.

- The way Dr. Starline and Dr. Eggman's manner of handling a situation is being pitted against one another is very interesting. Starline's methods sound more pragmatic and obvious but the dangerous, erratic, impulsive nature of Eggman's desire to get things done quick is sort of, kind of being showcased in a more positive light in this instance...? Kind of? The danger is still laid out but assuming this IS the plan they're going with, if it turns out it's the plan that works then it would be an example of how Eggman's manner of risk taking could be used to his benefit. If so, it's a neat little thought experience. Obviously, it won't excuse the recklessness of his desires to just create something and push it out to the world as fast as he can but it would go to show that there is, however small, a method to the madness.

- Small aside, I actually don't agree that there was anything wrong, story-wise, with Eggman reacting to the Deadly Six by impulsively sending out Metal Sonic like that. In situations where you're taken off guard, the fight or flight response isn't necessarily rational. A problem that I do agree with, however, is the little thing at the end where Zavok somehow found all the people directly connected to Sonic and is sending them after him... or at least that's what's been implied. If so, I'm hoping for a tiny blurb of an explanation there, like, he's doing fast research on one of Eggman's computers about Sonic's friends or something. Otherwise, that's a little too convenient. Appropriately dramatic, but still a bit hard to buy. It's a minor nitpick though. This decision is one I do feel is ultimately better for the sake of a more thrilling story. I can't wait for all the anime battles to start. Scary, evil Charmy is demolishing my soul. 

- Don't know what to think or feel about Starline's firing just yet, if only because I really like him and I want him to stick around. I hope we find out how he deals with this sooner rather than later. This has got to be one of the more harsh, "Never meet your heroes" stories ever.

- Holy shit, Whisper was ready to put a cap through Eggman's head. At least wait for Omega to regain his body so he can bite his ankles off.

- Silver's future apparently is one that changes depending on which dangerous plan is being hatched in the past. So when he goes back, I'm assuming that it's never stable for him. If so, that's a horrifying existence. It's amazing he doesn't have Shadow's personality like they originally intended. 

That's all. I love Sonic. I love Sonic comics. Feed me more comics, daddy.