Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper: Issue 2

Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper: Issue 2
Publication Date: September 4th, 2019

This seems par the course for “Sonic” comic books. Back in the Archie days, fans would often express disappointment or at least frustration with the main “Sonic” book. Meanwhile, “Sonic Universe” was almost always universally beloved. Even the arcs I thought were bad have some enthusiastic fans. Now that “Sonic” is at IDW, the situation seems similar. Fans have become increasingly impatient with the Zombot plot. Meanwhile, the same people are heaping love on “Tangle & Whisper.” It’s almost as if not having a clueless corporation put inane restrictions on your storytelling makes for a better read. Go figure! Let’s see if the spin-off mini-series remains as strong in its second issue.

The eponymous duo have perused shape-shifting villain Mimic to an old Eggman base. (Identifiable by Eggman’s insistence on slapping his face on everything.) The two know it’s a trap but head inside anyway, as Whisper is determined to stop this guy as soon as possible. Mimic’s shapeshifting makes him a tricky adversary to fight though. Soon, Tangle and Whisper both find themselves caught off-guard by the baddie. It soon becomes apparent that the grudge between the wolf and the chameleonic evil-doer is very personal indeed.

It’s official: I have grown from finding Tangle and Whisper’s night-and-day friendship cute to thinking it’s full-blown perfect. This mission really shows their difference. Tangle likes to rush in and do everything at once. Whisper prefers to take things more slowly. Ultimately, neither approach works real well. But that doesn’t matter because watching these two play off each other is delightful. The opening page has Tangle’s goofiness making Whisper wince. Yet, later, the two connect on a more personal level. Tangle is energetic, not clueless, and she recognizes when someone is in pain. She’ll listen and it’s clear that’s what Whisper needs most of all.

These characters are still relatively new too and this mini-series is allowing them to grow in a number of interesting ways. After getting tricked by Mimic, Tangle is shoved into a giant safe. She comes very close to freaking out, hinting that the lemur might be claustrophobic. Which certainly makes sense for someone so use to swinging around through the air. (And certainly makes more sense than, say, a pyrokinectic who can fly being afraid of heights.) But Whisper is the real grower this time. Yes, she was a part of the same mercenary team as Mimic. It’s clear that her team members were her friends and their death wounded her deeply. Moreover, this makes her especially unwilling to loose Tangle, her newest friend. While the moment where Whisper tries to push her away is easy to predict, it’s still pretty touching.

Most of the new villains introduced by IDW haven’t exactly blown me away. Most have struck me as blatant emulation of long-established “Sonic” characters. (Starline for Snively, Rough and Tumble for Scratch and Grounder.) Yet Mimic sure is making an impression already. Fittingly, this is a villain who delights in tricking people. He shows a truly venomous glee when pulling one over on our heroes. He’s also as capable of wounding people emotionally as physically. When Whisper has him pinned down, he assumes the form of her deceased friends and coldly makes the case that their deaths are Whisper’s fault. What an asshole! And what a good foil for someone as mentally fragile as Whisper. (Though I do wish Flynn hadn’t revealed Mimic’s true form — a cephalopod with that creepy doll face — so soon. That’s a mystery that might’ve been fun to stretch out a little more.)

As you’d expect from a story of a quiet wolf hunting a shapeshifter, “Tangle & Whisper: Issue 2” starts out with fairly low-key action sequences. Whisper is sneaking around the building while Tangle ignores her demand of stealth by leaping around wildly. I definitely should have seen it coming but Mimic tricks Tangle by disguising himself as Whisper. Like, I one hundred percent should have expected that. Yet, somehow, I was caught off-guard by this either because Flynn successfully drew me in with the character’s interpersonal drama, misdirected me by suggesting Jewel would be Mimic’s main disguise, or I’m just having an especially off day. Either way, it’s a good swerve.

Flynn then throws away this subtlety by packing the back half of the issue with explosions and a giant robot. Yes, Mimic throws a giant robot at Whisper before exploding the compound with a bunch of bombs. Only the implementation of the same safe Tangle was locked in waves the heroes from the blast, a clever deployment of Chehkov’s Rule that I also should’ve seen coming. These theatrics strike me as largely unnecessary. I guess Ian figured he had to throw in a Badnik so people would remember this is a “Sonic” book. I guess seven-to-ten year old boys are still the target audience for these comics, even if every “Sonic” reader I know is in their twenties or thirties, so we’ve gotta get some booms and crashes in here.

Still, it’s a minor issue with what is otherwise a pretty good comic book. The artwork is good too, Evan Stanley continuing to do a fine job showing these characters emotions and personalities. I also like the peeks we get at Whisper’s deceased teammates — a shiny cat, a lion who ties his mane into a beard, and what’s either a gecko or a green monkey — and it looks like we’ll see more of them next time. While declaring it overall better than the main IDW “Sonic” title might be a bit premature, “Tangle & Whisper” has definitely had two good first issues. [7/10]