Sonic the Hedgehog IDW Comic Megathread

It's so bizzare in a way. After all this time reading the Archie comics with its universe and characters this seems so empty. I mean I get why, and I know it won't always be that way but it's a bit bizzare seeing just Sonic and Tails.

 

^ April will have 4 comics, 1 each week. Kind of a way to speed up intro stuff and a "sorry there hasn't been a new comic in over a year" kinda thing.

That's another reason I found this issue bizzare, but there were subtle differences. These pages for example were far less busy than Archie's layouts.

It's also weird seeing Egg Pawns and actual game badniks beyond like, Sonic 1 badniks. Even towards the end the Archie series was a Sega/SatAM hybrid, so there were like Egg Swats (basically a swatbot mixed with an Eggpawn) and foreign elements. This is all Sega stuff with gaps filled in like that particular village Sonic was in.

It's also funny no longer seeing those boxes that were like *see issue 230. I mean, obviously, but still funny. Also yes I liked how Tails was characterized. Not sure how I feel about Sonic being super beloved everywhere he goes. I mean it makes sense, but those villagers were a bit too into him. Maybe that was just an issue 1 thing.

How long do you think it'll be until fringe characters show up like Mighty, Ray, Fang (will they call him Fang this time?), Bean, and Bark? Will they keep their Archie characterizations/designs (particularly Mighty and Ray who received redesigns later in Archie, although Ray had like 3 redesigns throughout the series).

 

1st off, I loved that Enerjak thing, I read that issue the other day.

As for the obsessive fan boy all around the world thing, that may be true, but one of the things I liked about Archie's series was that some of the citizens sided with Eggman, while some worshiped Sonic, and then some were just kinda there. Yes, Sonic saves the world from Eggman all the time, but there's no need for that level of fanfare. I felt like later Archie had a good balance. Sonic was a hero, he was admired but not worshiped by everyone, and some sided with Eggman out of fear because he was a true threat (I feel like roboticizing/forced cyborging with bomb implants is a pretty dire threat, normal Eggman seems to just blow things up and put small, barely sentient animals into robots). Now to be fair, there is the other extreme of this that's even more stupid and that's Sonic Boom, where Sonic saves the citizens every week and they not only not acknowledge that, but in at least one case some of the citizens work with Eggman because they feel like it (different rules, different universe, Archie interpreted Boom Eggman as having a dimensional portal with an insignia of Eggman blowing bubbles, yea I get that universe is weird). But again, this is the 1st issue. There is no lore anymore. It's just games and eventually Tangle the Lemur. Everything else is just Sega which, if you go by the games, then yes Sonic is likely considered a universal hero (although I'll admit, cute nod to the avatar in the 1st issue. Probably the best way they could have gone about that).

But it's very early in this series and this is weird territory. The 2 prior comics that existed were from a time where the lore was loose and they had to fill in the gaps. Sega's much stricter now and unlike those comics that were created in 1993, these have years of lore and history attached to them. While I loved the things the post soft reboot of Archie did with the series, I really loved what Flynn did in the post Penders era. I thought it was all brilliant, and he combined Sega and SatAM elements into a really fun story, and he had all those elements to work with. Then shit went down and half of it was eliminated, and now all of it is. So now we get the comics as told by Sega up until 2018. Not that that's bad, but it's weird. This comic will take some adjustment too.

My only real critique is how they're introducing the characters. From the sound of it, the whole 1st year is character introduction. It's one thing if the character never existed (Tangle), but the rest of them have existed for qutie a while. Is it worth going through this slow process of introducing Amy, then Knuckles, then Blaze, then Tangle, then Shadow and the Chaotix, then Eggman of all characters who won't pop up until issue 5. Maybe it's just weird for me, I think I've read every Archie issue and a fair chunk of Fleetway issues (I'm not going to lie, both got weird at certain times, Fleetway especially). But who knows, I'll guess we'll see.

 

Where was that confirmed? I don't think they'll be locked away forever, I just don't know when and how they'll be introduced. I just don't imagine they'll be introduced early on since there are more vital characters (although they're getting them out of the way fairly quickly. By issue 6 we'll have Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Eggman, Shadow, Blaze, Rouge, and the Chaotix and that's kind of the core I guess).

It'll honestly be a bit bizarre seeing the comic focus on Sega characters. The Freedom Fighters in the Archie series had a lot more screentime than every other character with the exception of Sonic, Tails, Eggman, and eventually Amy, although early in that comic's life she was hardly ever used. Also there was that weird period in Archie where Eggman was dead and kept coming back with different bodies. But what I want to know is, will there ever be an issue again where Sonic goes back to high school for some reason :v:/> (Yes that was an actual Archie arc, it was weird. Issues like 90 to 140 were just very strange)

EDIT: Oh! I just realized, if the freedom fighters aren't off limits that means Snively isn't either. I hope they bring him back, I loved his post reboot characterization and they didnt get the chance to use him in any significant way.

 

I bet that is Robotnik in that chair, they're just saving him for a big reveal. We know he's the big bad but let's keep him hidden for a few issues because suspense.

And oh yes, I do remember that Tails and the unicorn strip. That was really weird, actually all of Tails' sub plots were weird.

That being said, the fleetway arc where Robotnik gained God powers from the chaos emeralds? Best Sonic story ever.

 

Fair. What do you think Tyson will this comic have that? With all the Archie nonsense and the pre-existing lore is there room for that weirdness?