Spoiler: Fang #3 It's the opposite, actually. The Heavies are playing with something they really don't understand. They're teleporting the ship, but they have no control over it (other than deactivating the machine hooked up to Warp Topaz to stop it altogether), hence the ship blipping out in a predictable pattern (props to Fang for figuring that out with just a cursory glance of readings in Eggman's base honestly). Starline's extensive research allowed him to open portals at will to wherever he wanted and knew that Super Sonic juicing up the thing would have some real kickback (though he did overstate it). Starline was also much more creative with it than the Heavies, who've just hooked it up to the ship and called it a day, whereas Starline was able to use it to clown Sonic and Silver in his first encounter with them. Honestly the real savant here is Sonic, who was able to do at-will portalling as Super Sonic during his first time using the Topaz (though maybe that was due to getting lucky in a do-or-die situation, given he didn't have all that much control over it in 900th Adventure. Anyway, while it being the Topaz is obvious in hindsight, I'm really appreciative of it tying the classic and modern settings together into a linear continuity, which we've known for the while is a case but hasn't really been represented in the comics since the Archie book. I really hope this is another step towards having the currently classic-exclusive characters in the modern setting someday so they can get to appear on a more consistent basis.
So since I don't read IDW, why has there been no regular series issue since January? EDIT: Or is it the IDW usual of trying its best to off itself?
Spoiler: Fang #3 Very much liking these. I believe the Warp Topaz is really the first thing that has really appeared across the Classic & Modern series. The Anniversary issues have normally never had anything to truly tie them to the modern series. Since the Hooligans nor the Hard Boiled Heavies appeared in Modern times (Games or comics). Heck, even the Chaotix haven't appeared in Classic games or comics, and Espio was IN the dang Fighters game
Fang #4 is out. Spoiler So it looks like Fang had the Warp Topaz all through Superstars and up to an undetermined point when it then found its way into the cave where Starline found it. Did any of Fang's boss fights involve any warping? I don't think they did but I don't remember much specific about a game so mediocre. Would be some neat connective tissue.
Spoiler No, there was really nothing Fang does that would suggest he has the Warp Topaz. Fang has a stage or two where he attacks you in his vehicle, and at the end of Trip's story he fights in a giant Fang mech. Neither Eggman or Fang have anything to do with the final boss either. It at least gives a nice reason as to why the Heavies are not involved in Superstars. I mean maybe this is working towards a Superstars Plus DLC where the Warp Topaz comes into play? Doubt it, but maybe.
Sega’s chief business and brand officer Ivo Gerscovich made an interesting comment about future IDW comics in a recent interview: “So much will soon be announced, including teaming up with IDW to create a robust slate of new comics, taking Sonic and friends on various fun new adventures.”https://www.licenseglobal.com/entertainment/sega-blue-blur-and-beyond Ivo was talking heavily about the promotion for Sonic Movie 3, so we can assume there will be movie tie in comics. That said Ian Flynn recently made a patreon post that suggests their could be more new IDW stuff than just movie tie-ins: “I have many a Sonic comic project in the works. Some of it Modern Sonic, some of it Classic Sonic. Some you could probably guess, others you'd never dream of. I hope you'll enjoy it when it all as it rolls out.” https://www.sonicstadium.org/news/c...ojects-gives-updates-on-non-sonic-work-r2200/
I'm not sure what ideas for a Sonic comic could even qualify as "never dream of" at this point. People have talked about everything from bringing back Archie stuff to Fleetway StC to alternate continuity spinoffs to game adaptations to old manga stuff. What ideas haven't been conceived of?
Flynn’s probably being a little hyperbolic. I’ve absolutely dreamt of the freedom fighters coming back and/or Sonic the comic being reprinted. But there is the possibility that how he’d go about bringing sally and co back is different than I would have imagined it. Or it really could be a totally new and great idea unrelated to Satam or Fleetway. Alternatively, it could be disappointing. I’ll be honest though, my hope is that we may finally get the freedom fighters back. I didn’t want to be the one to raise that possibility… but gosh-durn-it I can’t help myself :p
I mean I'd love that, but I don't think he would say we "never dreamt" of a thing he talks about wanting to do all the time. My guess is that it's the year of Shadow and they're doing a full-scale comic project for Shadow. Either adaptations of his earlier content, or maybe a full spinoff.
Slightly off-topic I suppose, but would there be any potential legal issues with resurrecting the Freedom Fighters? I was never huge on any media that actually featured them, but the sudden discontinuation of the character usage from an outsider's perspective is very odd. I assume it was just Sega getting cold feet after the Archie Comic lawsuits were a legal nightmare? That's the only thing that seems plausible to me since Genesis Spinball got a re-release back in 2022 without any edits. I chalked up Sally's minor cameo in the Forces comic as Adam sneaking it underneath everyone else's nose rather than 'Hey we can still use this character and she might come back'.
The thing about the Freedom Fighters is that they're not owned by Archie. They were made for the DiC cartoon, and Archie used them in turn. I know Sonic the Comic was at one point preparing to introduce Snivley from the DiC cartoon because they thought it'd be mandated, until they weren't and designed Grimer in his stead. So the Freedom Fighters are perfectly fine legally, but I assume they stopped using them so they can have a completely fresh start and remove all the excess old baggage from the 90s.
I figured that was the case. To me it seems like a mixage of wanting to abandon 90's baggage and the Archie situation being enough of a headache that they just urged IDW against using the characters, but weren't directly told 'absolutely not', if that makes sense? Sally's cameo was more of a playful wink and Sega was unaware of it when the comic made it to publication. The cancellation just seemed like the best opportunity to 'start fresh' and every party involved sort of mutually agreed to it.
Indeed. I wouldn't mind them, and the Sonic the Comic cast, being reintroduced to the IDW world as one of the Resistance Cells during Sonic Forces. Maybe on Westside Island, as a winkwink, nudgenudge?
From everything Ian and co have said over the past few years, the ball is in Sega's court, not IDW's. If IDW were allowed to use the Freedom Fighters they would have done so by now.
I think, in terms of comics, my white whale is seeing the Sonic Underground ending comic that Sonic Universe #50 was originally going to be before Worlds Collide came along and scuppered that (still a great story though). I think I remember reading or hearing somewhere that the thing was basically done and ready to go before the change happened, and the preview from Spaz looked phenomenal. I don't have anything against the Freedom Fighters and Fleetway characters, but I don't think it'd be a good idea to bring them into the IDW book as a permanent fixture. There are already some who complain about game characters being underserviced in favour of the IDW OCs, and I think adding these old casts will lead to a situation where either the main cast + IDW OCs are being neglected, or these returning characters are, given that we'd be talking about dropping in around seven characters at once (Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, Nicole, Tekno and Shortfuse). My more realistic hopes would be for a full-scale Shadow project to make him a compelling character again and finally pulling the trigger on bring Mighty, Ray and the Hooligans into the modern setting. We know that the canon explanation for their absence at this point is that they're just off doing their own things, so it'd be so easy to just rope them into a story at this point. Frankly, I think it'd be weird if Fang weren't itching to take another crack at Sonic.
I think it would make sense to do a big long arc featuring a bunch of the old comic/cartoon stuff localized to a single location, say a large country, and it's not a place the heroes regularly return to or anything, but just a place we can check in on sometimes after it's all taken care of. Or, fuck it, mix these ideas together and make an alternate continuity starring Shadow as the leader of the Freedom Fighters against Naugus, Metallix and Eggman Nega or something.
Ian said that they had to get special permission from Marza for the Night of the Werehog ghosts' cameo in the comic. Even though Marza is owned by Sega Sammy. Ian also recently mentioned that Sonic X characters are completely off limits. He didn't go into details as to why, but did say it was something he learned by the by, he wasn't pitching something with those characters at the time. So I wouldn't hold my breath for Sonic the Comic characters. (Which ones would they use anyway? You don't need Tekno when Tails is the tech genius, you don't need Brutus when you have Heavy King, you don't need Metamorphia when you have Mimic, you don't need Shortfuse when you have about half a dozen Eggman-robots-turned-good.) The DIC cartoon characters seem more accessible (in the 1990s we had merchandise and video games using those characters that didn't have to mention DIC in the copyright), as do the 1992 manga characters (since concept art appeared in Sonic Origins). Even then there could be complications we'd have no way of being aware of.
I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if we got something like a Sonic Elseworlds, where we'd get alternate universe storylines in a largely anthological manner. SatAM continuations, Underground continuations, OVA continuations and so on. I would be extremely surprised if the success of stuff like Transformers '84, Batman '89 or X-Men '97 is something that Sega and IDW have paid no attention to.
