I finally got caught up on all of IDW and I gotta say, I think this last arc was my least favorite overall, I really just am not invested in Surge and I can’t figure out why. I’ll try to think on it and compose a more well thought out opinion but, it just feels like everything you could hate about Sonic’s personality in a single character.
https://twitter.com/Danny8bit/status/1615370452565889024?s=20&t=uUs2v9bWeXv9Jt-uLqyugA [Scrapnik Island #4 spoilers from preview pages, full issue out tomorrow] Now everybody say thank you to Mr. Barnes.
I know, but still though. Such words could’ve ended up there by coincidence. Not this time apparently but “I’ll crush you” isn’t exactly a memorable catchphrase. Neat though I guess I liked SMBZ back in the day (wish it got finished)
Barnes sounds absolutely like the kind of dude that watched and enjoyed SMBZ. This ain't no coincidence. It's absolutely a reference.
Honestly, it's incredible that SEGA allowed IDW to give Mecha Sonic a new design, character development, and everything. I know he was just a boss fight with no personality in the game itself but you'd think they'd be a little more protective of Mecha since he is an incredibly popular character despite the odds against him. Glad they did give Danny and the crew of the comic as much creative freedom as they did.
I'm honestly surprised they're allowing the classic era to be used with the modern cast, considering SEGA seemed adamant that the Classic and Modern Worlds remain separate for 'branding'. Of course, they used the modern designs of Sonic, Knuckles and Robotnik for Mecha Sonic's memories, so... Actually, a thought occurs, in Issue #3, Sigma says ""Mecha Knuckles' original Eggman directs compelled him to defend the Master Emerald from intruders" ...why? Why would Robotnik make a robot to protect the Master Emerald while they were on Angel Island? The only thing I could think of is he was using the Master Emerald's power to charge the Egg Rocket you climb up afterwards, and the Master Emerald was just off screen during the fight with Mecha Knuckles, but that's pure headcanon. EDIT: or perhaps he was collecting the Master Emerald before the group stumbled upon him, perhaps? Might ask the writer, see if there's anything more noted behind the scenes.
Well “protect it” is pretty vague directions so it could be protect the master emerald interpreted to stop sonic and Co from even getting close to It.
Okay, but still, why? It would be easier to just program "Destroy Sonic and friends", and the Master Emerald has no plot relevance in Sonic Advance as far as we all know. It's just a weird little detail...
To be fair, Advance is generally a bit of an excuse plot. I don’t even think it’s explained why Knuckles is off the island in the first place. My interpretation is that Eggman started his latest operation on the planet below to bait Knuckles off the island, while simultaneously sending Mecha Knuckles to lock down the Emerald until Eggman got into a position to take it without outside interference (suppose a jewel thief or group of hooligans heard the Master Emerald wasn’t under guard, for example…). Anyway, on the book itself: Spoiler A great finale to be honest. I was a little bummed when I saw the previews that immediately resolved the cliffhanger of part 3, but the mind transfer plot point ended up being great setup for Sonic really getting into Mecha’s head to empathise with him, not to mention allowing the two to still communicate once they begin to fight. The climax was nothing short of fantastic. Given the whole thing was a sendup to the OVA, I was convinced Mecha would die in that furnace, so the swerve to save him was a genuine surprise and it leaves me excited for the future of this character and a potential Metal vs Mecha showdown in the future (which the latter may or may not die horribly as a result of). While Overpowered is great as a character study, I think Scrapnik Island is probably my favourite Sonic story of 2022, given the unique premise and what it achieves in terms of bringing the past back into the present. I really hope the commentary at the end is right about this not being the last time we see the Scrapniks.
Given that Metal Sonic is the de facto evil Sonic robot nowadays, I'd imagine Sega are more lax towards characters they don't use anymore. Highly doubt this would have been approved if this was Metal Sonic instead.
Those preview pages look fantastic, and I'm stoked to see Mecha Sonic return in some capacity. I've been collecting the paperback volumes, so it'll be a bit before I read through this arc, but man, I'm definitely excited. Question- Where/when does Imposter Syndrome take place? I need to pick it up but I don't want to read it out of order if I'm not up to that point yet.
Reading order is going through the "Trial by Fire" paperback in full before the "Imposter Syndrome" one, but they take place simultaneously/in-between each other. It's kind of like SA2's hero/dark story, where it expects you to do the hero side first to set up some questions, and then the dark side after with answers to those questions.
@Sonic Warrior TJ IDW has started adding a handy dandy reading guide to the end of issues, so I’ll probably post these as they get updated from now on for the benefit of folks like yourself.
Thanks @_Sidle and @Starduster , I appreciate the info! That chart looks great, I love that they're making something handy like that to help guide folks along.
I really liked Scrapnik Island, it was pretty fun to have another story that is mostly detached from the overall narrative so far. Spoiler I especially am found of the idea that Badniks can break their original directives either through flaws or self actualization. This feels like a full expansion on those ideas that were introduced with the defective Motobug earlier in the series. I'm excited for a potential Mecha Sonic cameo in the main line now.
