DC X Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 3

DC X Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 3

Publication Date: May 21st, 2025

I've spent a lot of words lately describing why corporate crossovers and collaborations are so common these days. Ya see, kiddies, when two massive international conglomerates love money very very much, they get together and have a Fortnite skin or a SquishMellow or whatever. I suppose this raises a second question, of why they used to be uncommon. "DC vs. Marvel" was considered a seismic, once-in-a-lifetime event in 1996. (Though it wasn't and seems unlikely to be the last...) The string of crossover games Capcom made with various Marvel characters were perceived as a weird fluke, not a blueprint for countless titles to come. I suppose the thought was that these companies were in competition with each other. To shake hands on any sort of temporary team-up would compromise market share dominance. In the 21st century, we are long past the point of companies pretending there is anything fair about capitalism. Most mega-corps are now owned by even more gargantuan networks, monopolies being de-facto. DC Comics and Marvel Comics are merely peripheral organs, clinging appendix-like to the bloated monoliths that are Warner/Discovery and the Walt Disney Company. Tossing out a fun little team-up is a mild discomfort now, one that will sell some t-shirts and push a stock margin a teeny tiny bit higher. 

You have to be cynical about this shit because entities like "DC X Sonic the Hedgehog" are determined to flash-bang blind you with the childish joy of seeing your favorite superheroes and your favorite video game stars appearing in a comic book together. Let me point out the obvious then: When this collaboration was first revealed, we knew it wouldn't merely see the Justice League and Sonic and pals hanging out together. From the get-go, we were presented with slick artwork of Sonic dressing up as the Flash, Shadow cosplaying as Batman, Tails partially roboticized into Cyborg, and so forth. Was this an exciting comic storyline or a launch event for exclusive new "Sonic: Speed Forces" skin? You could buy a T-shirt of Shadow the BatHog two seconds after they announced this thing. It's not as if I'm immune to the blatant manipulation going on here. If they do make action figures or plushies or whatever of Knuckles as Superman, I'm going to buy them. Yet it is hard to shake the feeling that "DC X Sonic" exists less because it's a story that needed to be told and more because it served the corporate interests of the cyberpunk dystopian future we are living in. 

That becomes especially obvious on the third part of the mini-series. Not only because it's the debut of those nifty, extremely marketable mash-ups of Sonic and the gang. This comic book also features a notable appearance from Mr. Terrific, as the guy who watches the Watchtower when the rest of the Justice League is out of town. Despite the not-that-impressive on the surface title of being the Third Smartest Man in the World, DC Comics is pushing Mr. Terrific a lot lately. Not the least bit because he's got a plum supporting role in the new "Superman" movie that comes out in a few weeks. Once you notice that, you also notice that Hawkgirl – who is also in the upcoming big budget reboot – is also in this comic book. She appears alongside Supergirl, subject of another upcoming movie forming the foundation for the retrofitted DC Cinematic Universe. These are all long established heroes in the comics, of course, so it's entirely possible that their appearance here is a mere coincidence and not cross-promotional synergy with a movie WB has a lot riding on. At the same time, it wouldn't shock me if Flynn got a decree from on-high to specifically incorporate these characters somewhere in this crossover. Instead of allowing him to give a spotlight role to Zatanna or Plastic Man or Space Cabbie or whatever weird favorites he might have. 

But you are probably sick of hearing me complain about how corporate this whole endeavor is every time I bring it up. Once again, I must ask if "DC X Sonic" can overcome this impossible-to-miss surface level cynicism. Issue three sees Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, and Silver stranded on the JLA Watchtower. Mr. Terrific makes it know that their world seems to have blinked out of existence, taking the Justice League with it. Now that this Earth is without its resident team of protectors and our furry friends don't know the current status of their own home, they decide the best thing they can do is take up the Justice League's mantle for the time being. Silver becomes a Green Lantern, Sonic begins racing through Central City. Knuckles flies around Metropolis in the cape and tights. Shadow assumes the role of the grim guardian of Gotham. Amy dons Diana's tiara and mini-skirt to safeguard Washington DC, because God forbid the woman gets her own cool fantasy city. As they start tangoing with the resident supervillains of this world, they quickly notice that the bad guys have gotten their hands on Chaos Emeralds. They realize this means their world didn't vanish forever, that the Justice League must still be alive... Rescuing them also means bringing Darkseid back, a risk the gang has to take. 

I've been saying the whole time that "DC X Sonic" seems to be getting by on fun factor and novelty alone, not having much room for depth in-between all the crossover crisis confrontations. Issue 3 begins with an extremely depressing bit of news: The world that Sonic and friends have always called home, that they've fought to defend countless times, where everyone they love and care about lives, is seemingly gone. Likewise, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other icons you probably have some attachment to are missing-in-action. Now, Sonic, Tails, and Amy are all too plucky and optimistic to truly believe their world is gone forever. Obviously, we the reader is all too aware that DC Comics didn't kill off their most famous characters in a crossover with "Sonic the Hedgehog." Nor that Sega is giving up their own universe for the sake of this brief mini-series. This lack of stakes and tension is a constant problem in superhero comics, where the status quo is inevitably restored and all drastic losses are merely temporary. Furthermore, despite the "13+" rating on the cover and Mr. Terrific saying "DAMN" in one panel, the target audience for this comic book is most likely within the six-to-ten demographic. Itty bitty little baby children who probably would be overcome with sadness by such irreversible death and destruction. At the same time, it would've been nice if the book could've taken a second to acknowledge what our heroes have lost here. We get one whole panel of Shadow brooding over whether protecting this other world is what Maria would want him to do. Sonic and the others seem to let the news that all their friends are dead slid right off their backs. 

Because that would be sad. And this crossover isn't about being sad, of contemplating loss and the grim inevitability of the end of all things. It's about how marketable cool Sonic and friends look dressed up as the Justice League! Once again, I have to admit to being part of the problem here. Flynn has five brief issues to cram in as many DC Comics cameos as possible. This is presumably how we ended up with Silver talking with Ch'p and Amy doing some mild asphyxiation on Gorilla Grodd. I can't lie and say I don't get a thrill out of this. Of seeing Sonic outsmart Eobard Thawne or Knuckles chit-chat with Lois Lane. It is fun and there is an evident joy in these sequences. 

It's only with a mere minute of reflection that one begins to question why Knuckles had to put on Superman's duds or what benefit Sonic gets by activating the Flash's costume ring. Would the locals be scandalized to see these cartoon animals exposing themselves to the general public? I mean, Mr. Tawky Tawny does wear pants after all. Silver fitting himself into Green Lantern's tights makes sense as those guys Moon Prism Power Make-Up the minute they slip the ring on. What benefit does Shadow get driving around in the Batmobile? Why is Amy's car suddenly able to turn invisible like Wonder Woman's jet? Does Sonic have to wear the Flash's uniform because air friction is suddenly a problem on this world? Professor Zoom wonders if being stuck on this planet somehow gives the hedgehog access to the Speed Force, that plot contrivance that allows DC's speedsters to casually break the laws of physics whenever they want. That remains as a suggestion though. Did Tails willingly agree to turn himself into a Cyborg just so he could hang out with Raven and Starfire? Did I miss the panel last time where Wonder Woman handed Amy her tiara and lasso or are these spares she had lying around? 

I've made no secret of how much I despise the obsession with power scaling that a lot of people have. Having said that... I do think some of the gang are a little in over-their-heads here. Knuckles is not as strong, fast, or overall as powerful as Superman. I'm not sure Amy Rose is capable of doing some of the things Wonder Woman has to do during her daily adventures, such as decapitate a monster or suplex Solomon Grundy. This issue has Tails spit-balling about inter-dimensional travel and string theory, which is quite a leap from him simply being a really gifted mechanic. There's been much debate over the years about whether Sonic is as fast as the Flash or capable of some of the same ridiculous feats. I don't feel like tearing that claim apart but the way he easily defeats Professor Zoom here strikes me as a bit on the unlikely side. Dropping Sonic and friends into the DC Universe is a fun idea and would be a way to explore a lot of the limitations of these guys as crime fighters. Instead, "DC X Sonic" continues to function on cool factor alone, never asking any deeper questions about what would happen from such a switch-a-roo. 

Listen, I'm not saying I didn't have some fun with this. The best thing about this crossover continues to be the parallels and differences the writer has found between these two sets of characters. Yes, the way Superman protects Metropolis can be compared to how Knuckles protects Angel Island. Amy swinging her heart-generating Piko Piko Hammer while dressed as the Warrior of Love is a nice bit of metaphorical symmetry. However, the differences between these guys is also highlighted in ways that prove far more amusing. Lex Luthor, another bald super-genius, attempts to mislead Knuckles and, thankfully, he doesn't fall for it this time. When that doesn't work, the villain produced a Chaos Emerald that he's mistaken for Kryptonite. Obviously used to Superman peacefully flying away after an attempt on his life, Lex is startled when Knuckles swings back around and beats him. Similarly, Shadow the Hedgehog somehow proves even more humorless than Batman by swatting Joker aside the head with a rocket skate without saying a single word. 

Such encounters between our superhero-ified Team Sonic and the various native villains and allies of this world is, in fact, what composes most of this entire issue. Silver clobbers Sinestro alongside some of the better known Green Lantern Corp members. While Gorilla Grodd is the enemy that Amy pummels in the District of Columbia. Tails references fighting off Brother Blood alongside the other Teen Titans but we don't see that play out. That speaks to, once again, the hyper pacing of this entire story arc. The compromise is clear: Flynn clearly had a hundred ideas and scenarios he wanted to showcase during such a crossover as this. He only got five issues to explore them all, forcing the issue to rush through a bunch of scenarios that are clearly only a small selection of what has been going on during this time. 

Honestly, this entire issue feels a little bit like Flynn is simply happy to play in another sandbox for once. Sinestro and his Chaos Emerald charged Yellow Lantern summon some Parallax looking dragons. Gorilla Grodd descends on our nation's capital with a fleet of psychically controlled super-gorillas. The Joker, clearly in more of a wacky agent of mischief than mass-murdering demon-clown mode, rides around on a Joker-Mobile looking go-cart with a matching rocket launcher. Flynn even sneaks in a one-page appearance from Beast Boy and has the good guys hanging out at the Hall of Justice. You can tell that he's truly enjoying the chance to touch on all these beloved characters and elements. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if this entire mini-series wasn't a backwards scheme of Flynn's to maybe get hired by DC and write about something other than blue hedgehogs for once? 

Not that I think Flynn has anything but love and admiration for the “Sonic” cast and universe. He includes his fair share of in-jokes and shout-outs here. After Beast Boy turns into a green echidna to mock Knuckles, Sonic quibs that Knuckles would look awful in green. Yes, there's no way that's not a sideways poke at the much-loathed Chaos Knuckles arc, making this the first time an official piece of “Sonic” media has recalled the Archie series since it ended. The fanboy-ing out is a two way street, as well. You can tell the writer had a good time getting to include outrageous characters like C'hp, Grodd, or have Tails shout “Boo-yeah!” I never detected much influence on Flynn's “Sonic” writing from traditional superhero fair but it's clear he must be a reasonable fan of D.C. Comics shenanigans if he's casually dropping Sojourner Mullein or King Solovar into this crossover. 

If Flynn is relishing the chance to play around with an I.P. bigger than Sonic, you can tell Adam Bryce Thomas is as well. His take on Grodd, the Green Lantern Corps, Supergirl, and Hawkgirl all look pretty damn great. He was clearly especially happy to get a chance to draw the Joker, who is extremely animated and exaggerated looking on his pages. He brings his own approach to Lex Luthor too, who is a bit portlier and more Kojak-looking than he has been recently. Say what you will about the gimmickry of having Sonic and the gang dress up like the Justice League, there's no doubting that the costumes look cool as shit. The scenes of Shadow pursuing the Joker through traffic or the action beat with the Green Lantern Corp and Sinestro are as dynamic and smoothly illustrated as we've come to expect from this guy. IDW clearly did find the right man for this job, one of the few artists out there who can make both Sonic characters and human beings look bad-ass.

All along, I've been asking if “DC X Sonic” will rise above the novelty of its premise and actually provide a compelling story in its own right. More than half-way through at this point and I'm starting to realize that's not happening. I don't think this crossover is running on any idea deeper than it being cool to see these two universes interact. For sure, it absolutely is cool and I'm enjoying the unlikeliness of that. However, once again, I come away from another issue of this event wishing it was a little less breathless in its approach. Would've been nice to take a little more time to explore these circumstances and root what happens in a bit more heart. At the same time, Knuckles the Super-Echidna punches Lex Luthor through a glass window and across his desk and I'm not going to piss up your leg and claim I don't love that. Smashing your action figures together is fun but I do wish there was slightly more depth than that. [7/10]