Sonic X Shadow Generations announced, releases Autumn 2024

I have no hopes for the quality of any written Shadow material. I don't think anyone knows what to actually do with him these days. I can only hope that whoever directs the cutscenes does a good job and gives us some cool scenes like Super Sonic got in Frontiers. From the trailer so far, it does look pretty dope.

 

I don't imagine the game will have much of a story. Generations had minimal plot and Shadow Generations is presumably going to follow its lead. I also imagine its not going to be on the scale of Frontiers. Its a bundle in game to sweeten the deal on a remaster. Ian Flynn is involved but then he also wrote the story for Origins. I think realistically the game will have a few largely inconsequential cutscenes establishing Shadow's Cyberspace adventure and nothing serious will happen other than a few cool action sequences and exposition for the sequence of events. It'll probably feel fairly non Canon.

 

Honestly I think the reason Shadow was at all interesting in his debut appearance was because he was a subversion of his own archetype. He's cocksure and edgy on the surface, but when you peel back the layers, underneath it all he's just a sad little guy who's motivated by trauma and tampered memories. I think Flynn himself actually extrapolated that pretty nicely with his use of Shadow in his Archie appearance, where he flipped the ultimate lifeform stuff on his head and used the expectations of that moniker to give Shadow insecurity and something to strive for, rather than it being a reason why he's the coolest by default. That shouldn't be on display full time, and there are very few moments where we should get to directly see Shadow's vulnerability imho, but I think it's an aspect that they should bring back, rather than the stoic and brooding bore that we have now who's badass and edgy because that's his archetype. Can't say I expect the totality, or even really any of that, to show up in this game, but I would like Shadow to have nuance and actual character depth again, and I do trust Flynn to make that happen, so long as he's given the slack to do so.

 

People buy digital comics too…like we’re living in an age where it’s easier than ever before to get your hands on a comic no matter where you live. Even if that weren’t the case, the collected volumes are continuing to see translation and release in Japan.

 

[citation needed]

 

The IDW comics are being released in many countries, not only the US and Japan. With that said, there's seems to be a not insignificant amount of disinterest in Sonic comics outside of the english speaking community. Almost all of my friends are Sonic fans to some degree, yet very few of them have actually read these comics. I don't think that will stop IDW stuff from appearing in the games, nor do I necessarily think that it should, but as a videogame series, it is expected that most people would prefer to skip different forms of media

About Shadow Generations itself, I unironically hope this has less than 20 minutes of cutscenes. I can't imagine that they'd manage to write something decent with Shadow at this point, so the best case scenario is probably having a nothing story just like Sonic Generations itself

 

The IDW comics are also published in Barcelona by ECC Ediciones, in Brazil by Novo Século and in Mexico by Kamite. Tunué will be publishing it in Italy starting next month.

Mana Books released it in France, but seem to have stopped after the fourth graphic novel.

 

But do people in Japan care about IDW Sonic? I don't think so...

 

We should ask the only five Sonic fans that exists in the entirety of japan

 

Hence the minority.

 

Wise Publishing has released the first 7 graphic novels in Japan so far. They wouldn't have gotten to book 7 if the earlier books weren't profitable.

Point is, they're published in several countries outside of the US, in several languages. The notion that it's a US product that is only available in specialist import shops outside the US is incorrect.

They obviously sell in smaller numbers than the games, the video game industry is bigger than the comic industry, but that's not a USA vs. Everywhere Else distinction.

 

I imagine it'll be a recap of Shadow's backstory for newcomers, ahead of the new movie. Sonic Adventure 2 isn't available on PS4/5 or Switch, and Sonic Heroes and the Shadow solo game aren't available on any current gen (or previous gen) platforms.

 

It makes sense that Shadow would be missing his development from SA2 at the beginning of his game. He had amnesia by that point and didn't remember the events of SA2. That's why he was surprised when he remembered his "death" from said game.

Personally, Ian's Shadow didn't feel like Shadow. At least from the stories I read; I never got around to reading his post-reboot Archie stuff.

Granted, some people (especially Shadow haters) would say that not feeling like Shadow is a good thing. And I'm not a huge Shadow fan myself. But Ian's take (at least pre-reboot) just felt awkward to me, rather than an extension of the Shadow from SA2 (or any Shadow for that matter).

That's not to say that I'd want him to be just stoic and edgy. I'd like to see something like his characterization from Sonic Battle and the Sonic Channel wallpaper cover stories, where he acts aloof and uncaring but it's all a facade, and Sonic can see through it. I enjoyed their dynamic there.

Him acting cold toward everyone and pretending not to care also goes with his backstory, given the "character who lost a loved one becomes withdrawn and pushes others away out of fear of losing them too" trope.

 

According to IDW's website's Foreign Rights catalog, the comics have been published in French, German, Italian, Hebrew, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish (not sure whether Latin or Spain, maybe both), Thai, Turkish, and yes, Japanese. It also used to be published in Russian and Ukrainian, but, uh...

However, AFAIK Archie never published Sonic outside the U.S. and Canada.

 

SEGA: The comics are canon!

Comic Haters: No they're not! Comic-original characters don't show up in the games!

SEGA: Here's Tangle and Whisper in Sonic Dash. They're canon.

Comic Haters: No they're not! Dash isn't a main series game!

SEGA: Okay... Frontiers is really only about the core 4, but Sonic'll talk about the comic characters a bit. They're canon.

Comic Haters: No they're not, because IDW is dying!

IDW: We're not doing great, but our financial situation is improving... and they are canon because SEGA said so...

Comic Haters: Oh... well... they're not canon because they're not sold outside the US!

IDW: Actually, we sell them in many countries and languages...

SEGA: ...also, they're still canon, here's a TailsTube talking about it...

Comic Haters: Yeah, but-

Seriously, people are moving the canonicity goal posts so far the Green Hill Zone Act 1 goal plate would be halfway though Labyrinth Zone right now. The IDW Comics are canon because SEGA said so, regardless of how much you do or don't like it. If SEGA released a TailsTube tomorrow where Tails died from a cocaine overdose, and Sonic stood upon his corpse and declared that Crazy Frog is now his new best friend, and then Crazy Frog showed up and Sonic and he sang an acapella duet of Axel F... that's now canon.

You can choose to ignore the comics, you can dislike the comics, but until SEGA declares otherwise: they're canon.

They're just extra stories for people who want more Sonic stories, and sometimes they get to clarify details that aren't something SEGA wants to focus the next game on.

 

Very interesting that just because I don't want the comics, that aren't very popular, to be canon to the much larger games means I hate the comics and want them to or IDW to fail. I'm just glad certain things might be happening to correct this.

It's especially very interesting because you referenced my posts but ignored that I said I have no problem with comic characters becoming canon as long as they're reintroduced as new in the games like what the Classic Disney shorts did with Donald's Nephew's and Scrooge Mcduck from the Carl Barks Donald Duck Comics.

The only reason this image doesn't have the most recent volumes is because my local comic store moved an hour away and I haven't had the time to get to it. I own the 30th anniversary comic, Tangle and Whisper, and the Bad Guys mini series as well but didn't feel like grabbing them for this photo.

I support comics whenever I can and want the industry to succeed.

Way to make assumptions.

 

I mean that post clearly references points made by various users and isn’t all about you, my dude…

 

Well perfect then I can use this as an example to show that not everyone who disagrees that the 10000 or less an issue selling IDW Sonic comic should dictate the canon of the million selling games hates or doesn't want the comics to succeed.

This is just something I've never seen any other franchise do ever and for good reason. I'll still support the IDW Comics as they come out.