Sonic the Hedgehog IDW: Scrapnik Island #4 - Preview

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Yeah, unless you aren't aware of SMBZ. And if you aren't,  well then I see even less reason to just automatically assume it's a generic phrase when others are reacting as such to that line.

As has been said, Mecha owes a ton of his popularity to SMBZ. And that's one of his most quoted lines from that show to boot.

[SkyHorizon]

51 minutes ago, DaBigJ said:

I said it already, I thought otherwise cuz the phrase itself is generic. Nothing more, nothingless.

Man... just give up. It obviously IS a reference...

[Darkvizardberrytan]

I must be old as heck or just missed that phase of sonic flash animations cause i see it trending on twitter and I have no idea what smbz is

[Kuzu]

1 hour ago, Darkvizardberrytan said:

I must be old as heck or just missed that phase of sonic flash animations cause i see it trending on twitter and I have no idea what smbz is

*puts on nerd glasses*

Super Mario Bros. Z is, as the name implies, a parody of Dragon Ball with Mario and Sonic characters that was mainly hosted on Newgrounds.com in the mid 2000's.

The series was notable for having very elaborate fight scenes with the sprite based artwork from the handheld games of the respective franchises at that point, with some original art work thrown in too, all in Adobe Flash.

The main antagonist of the series was the Sonic 3 version of Mecha Sonic, but interpreted as a powered up version of the traditional Metal Sonic. He's also the coolest character in the entire series and his most iconic moment was in the 6th episode when he brutally murdered five other lesser villains all to an incredibly metal remix of The Doomsday Zone. The comic page is referencing the line he said before the slaughter.

 

[Darkvizardberrytan]

37 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

*puts on nerd glasses*

Super Mario Bros. Z is, as the name implies, a parody of Dragon Ball with Mario and Sonic characters that was mainly hosted on Newgrounds.com in the mid 2000's.

The series was notable for having very elaborate fight scenes with the sprite based artwork from the handheld games of the respective franchises at that point, with some original art work thrown in too, all in Adobe Flash.

The main antagonist of the series was the Sonic 3 version of Mecha Sonic, but interpreted as a powered up version of the traditional Metal Sonic. He's also the coolest character in the entire series and his most iconic moment was in the 6th episode when he brutally murdered five other lesser villains all to an incredibly metal remix of The Doomsday Zone. The comic page is referencing the line he said before the slaughter.

that explains it. The only thing I know newgrounds for back then was very niche sonic remixs with dancing badgers, and its where castle crashers and alien homind came from I think.

[Slashy]

The last hurrah until I do the smart thing and avoid the main comic and only check back in when a new special or mini is released.

[Johnny Boy]

Man Twitter has been going crazy over the smbz reference.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Good lord, even the YouTube comments in the SMBZ vid are pilling on the reference.

[PublicEnemy1]

It's been awhile since I been here, but I just gotta say...

HOLY. SHIT.

There's no doubt about it... this is the best arc by FAR. I don't know how Mr. Barnes got away with... well, this entire story, but I'm so glad he did. Everything from the muted, darkend colors to the dilapidated setting really brings out the horror vibe. All the callbacks and fanservice that, while definitely present, end up serving the story rather than hindering it.

And just the entire concept of the Scrapniks in general, abandoned murder machines turning over a new leaf, is just so interesting to explore. Let's just say Tails wasn't the only one geeking out in Issue 1. The crittters are cute despite comin off as vengeful zombies at first glance, Sigma is a genuinely friendly dude who made this whole civilization possible, and Mecha Knuckles has the hat. Nuff said.

But then we get to my favorite part of this whole thing: Mecha Sonic and his character arc. Going from a major antagonist of one of Sonic's biggest games to a gardener and a guardian of the Scrapniks is a nice change of pace, showing that even he can move on from villainy. When he does relapse into his former programming, I could even see it being a bit understandable in a sense, resenting being abandoned after one failure and feeling the need to compensate. The little race/battle that Sonic and Mecha S. had was about the highlight of the entire thing...

Spoiler

...but then came the incinerator scene. When Mecha resigns to his fate after being beaten again, and then Sonic stepping in and telling him only he can dictate his purpose and future... I had the feels. Tails and the others pull the out to safety, and eventually rid of the Mechas' remaining protocols, allowing them to not be bound by the past or their failures, having an actual chance to live their life. Sonic's optimistic approach to past foes finally paid off, for once, and proves that it's not completely without merit, resulting in a happy ending for everyone involved (other than, of course, the Scrapniks still being stuck on the island). 

Please, SEGA, for fuck's sake, don't make Mecha Sonic evil again. I know you're fond of your status quo, but it'd not only ruin the deveopment that he had, but it would prove Sonic wrong yet again, and I'm kinda getting sick of that. Also, give Barnes more stories, he knocked it out the park for this one.

TL;DR: Easily a 10/10, we need more stories like it.

[Mauro Fonseca]

He got away with it by asking and being allowed to do it because he wrote the characters correctly. Please please stop painting this story as "wow he got this under Sega's nose tee-hee", it's outright disrespectful and a disservice to a story that should instead be being celebrated as an example of how no, Sega does want good stories done and is happy to collaborate.

 

EDIT: Sorry, don't mean to specifically target you or anything, it's just it's very frustrating to see a really good comic be done, see all the celebrating behind the scenes, and then it's out and most of the response is just "wow he got away with doing this and dumb ol' Sega didn't see it" which just misses the point and how the development went so much

[PublicEnemy1]

53 minutes ago, Mauro Fonseca said:

He got away with it by asking and being allowed to do it because he wrote the characters correctly. Please please stop painting this story as "wow he got this under Sega's nose tee-hee", it's outright disrespectful and a disservice to a story that should instead be being celebrated as an example of how no, Sega does want good stories done and is happy to collaborate.

EDIT: Sorry, don't mean to specifically target you or anything, it's just it's very frustrating to see a really good comic be done, see all the celebrating behind the scenes, and then it's out and most of the response is just "wow he got away with doing this and dumb ol' Sega didn't see it" which just misses the point and how the development went so much

Fair enough. I wasn't trying to imply that he snuck this under SEGA, of course they had to approve it, and there's not really anything to hide. I'm just surprised that they did at all consider that, if it sticks, it could be a big status quo change, something that Sega historically isn't too keen about in the comics. This one brings back a character many thought to be Classic-exclusive (a fan-favorite antagonist of one of the most popular games, at that), has an entire island full of former bad guys that turned over a new leaf, and the ones that do go rogue end up not only living, but even being redeemed. That's actually kinda huge, and has some potential for character interactions in future arcs. Now, I don't really blame SEGA for wanting to maintain a status quo, especially if they are serious about integrating IDW into the main continuity, but it can limit story potential in the long-run imo, if it's used to reverse every meaningful change.

I really didn't mean any disrespect, I heavily commend Mr. Barnes for this story, and I hope he continues to write more. I just hope for more stories like this that push the envelope a bit on how certain characters are brought back and used, because that can create some very interesting dynamics in the future. I'm actually glad Sega approved this, because it shows they are interested in taking more risks and letting characters that they forgot shine anew.

I am very interested in how this miniseries was developed, but I suppose you're not at liberty to disclose that information, which I understand.

[Mauro Fonseca]

End of the day I was only a witness to this, I didn't work on this series beyond one cover. That said there's no big secret to it, it's the same process that has been explained before- a pitch was made, and when approved turned into scripts. Any idea had to be asked of Sega and as Danny said, overall they were enthusiastic and approving of it all. Not hands free- there were notes here or there about some detail or another, but invested and collaborative.

[SkyHorizon]

22 hours ago, Mauro Fonseca said:

(...)Sega does want good stories done and is happy to collaborate.

Ahahahahahahhahahahah

 

....sorry, couldn't help myself