Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 9

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 9
Publication Date: September 19, 2011

Now that we’re well into September, we are coming up on the end of the first year of IDW’s “Sonic” books. Though my feelings about the series are still very mixed, I will continue to point out that Ian Flynn learned some lessons during his years at Archie. At least at the moment, he’s not needlessly dragging shit out for forever. The mystery around the new villain was answered quickly. Now, it looks like we are already heading towards the climatic confrontation between Sonic and his new end boss. After the first four issues, I was really worried we were heading back into “Shattered World Crisis” territory.

We head into the “Battle for Angel Island” arc here, which looks like it’ll occupy the rest of 2018. Amy rallies the Resistance, including Shadow and Rouge. Neo Metal Sonic has taken over Angel Island, the Master Emerald is under his control, and the good guys figure that’s probably bad. After heading towards the Island, the group breaks off into several teams. While most of the gang fight off Metal’s army of Badniks, Sonic and Knuckles take the fight right to the big man himself.

There’s been some debate in the Archie Sonic fandom recently about whether or not Flynn actually liked the Freedom Fighters. Which is a totally asinine argument, as Flynn did more than anyone to build those characters up and fought for their inclusion in the reboot. In fact, I actively suspect that Flynn misses the Freedom Fighters even now. The Resistance in the new comic play a similar role. They operate out of an underground but high-tech base. They have a female leader, Amy slotting into a Sally-esque tactician role surprisingly well. The gang even have a spiffy airship they can pile into, though the Battleship lacks a catchy name like the Freedom Fighter Special. Most importantly, Sonic and his friends remain underdogs, fighting against a villain with more power and more resources.

While Flynn’s previous four-parter was devoted to repeating the same formula four times in a row, it looks like he’s actually using the space afforded to him by that length this time. The first part of “The Battle for Angel Island” isn’t just set-up for the rest of the story. We see the Resistance talking and hanging out on the ship, as they head into battle. Sonic and Tails make chit-chat, that reemphasizes their bro-ship and the anxiety they feel over the forthcoming conflict. Shadow wonders if Whisper can be trusted. Most charmingly, we see Silver, Tangle, and the Chaotix play some cards, in hopes of taking their minds off the possibility they could die today. (Tangle displays some shifty playfulness here, the lemur continuing to be a highlight of the new book.)

Little character moments like this makes the cast look more like real people. It gets us more invested in the conflict to come. Flynn, in fact, focuses a lot on the character’s doubts and fears here. Knuckles spends most of the trip brooding. The echidna really feels like he fucked up. He left his Island behind to assist the Resistance and now Metal Sonic has control of the planet’s most powerful plot device. And I’ve gotta agree with Knux on this one. He did fuck up. See, this is why it helps to have a supporting cast to Emerald-sit while you’re out cracking open cold ones with the boys. Still, I like that Flynn is allowing Knuckles some depth and angst.

He gives Blaze a similar treatment, for reasons I’m still not sure of. Similar to Knuckles, she’s worried about leaving her home dimension to assist her friends. An extraneous page is devoted to her asking if she can just go Burning Blaze and just melt Metal’s army to slag. Tails has to explain why they can’t do that, for convoluted reasons. That moment really feels like Flynn beating nit-picky fans to the punch. I really hope he’s going somewhere with this, a theme of being pulled between friendly loyalties and personal responsibilities, and not just setting up some dumb plot turn involving the Sol Emeralds. The little moments, where Blaze reflects on how she lacked friends once or swallows her fear of heights before jumping out of the Battleship, are way more compelling.

When Neo Metal Sonic was re-introduced, I actively wondered if a new(-ish) villain determined to slavishly follow the old villain’s schemes was worth it. However, Flynn has made some steps to distinguish Metal Sonic from Eggman. Lacking the Doctor’s eccentric personality, Metal Sonic comes off as much more ruthless. When Sonic and Knuckles confront him here, he calmly explains how he’s going to turn them into black marks on his floor. That’s a genuinely intimidating moment and it builds towards a solid cliffhanger. I like Metal Sonic’s insistence on physically breaking his greatest rivals personally.

Tracy Yardley provides the pencils this time. I wonder if the long-time “Sonic” artist was actively jealous of the critical praise Adam Bryce Thomas has received on this book. Because Yardley really steps up his game here. He adopts a more cinematic style than usual. He opens with two impressive double spreads, showing Metal Sonic’s grip on Angel Island and the entire Resistance at HQ. The shots of Blaze flaming on are given a lot of moody attention. In fact, a focus on shadows here really helps distinguish this issue visually. Especially in panels devoting to Knuckles’ angst or a possibly “Dark Knight Returns” inspired panel of the Resistance, silhouetted by a flashing lighting bolt, as they leap towards the Island. It’s a really good looking issue.

While I’m not sure where Flynn is headed with Blaze’s concerns, or if he’ll continue to balance character and action so well throughout the rest of this arc, I liked this one a lot. Taking the time to let everyone’s personalities breath a little, especially right before they head into war, was a really good idea. Matched with some above-average artwork and an effective villain, this proved to be a good read. I hope the rest of the arc is just as strong. [7 10]