Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 39

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 39

Publication Date: May 12, 2021

In the two months since the last IDW related post on this here blog, there's been some interesting news related to the comics. First, among a flurry of really neat merchandise announcements, there was a pretty creditable rumor that Whisper may be turned into an adorable plush you can buy and snuggle. Shortly after that nugget sneaked out, an official line of Tangle and Whisper related merchandise – shirts and pillows and a weirdly expensive blanket – popped up on Sega online store. This makes Tangle and Whisper the first comic exclusive characters to ever be merchandised. (Though they also showed up in a mobile game last year, so I guess they aren't strictly exclusive to the comic anymore...)

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, Tangle and Whisper are really cool and I think it's great that Sega is embracing them. Honestly, I'm shocked and amazed that Sega is acknowledging anything that isn't from the mainline games. At the same time, I can't help but feel a slight sting. Archie Sonic ran for twenty-four years and never received so much as a nod from Sega. Sally and Julie-Su walked so Tangle and Whisper could run. I can't help but be slightly peeved that Sega merely begrudgingly allowed the original comic to exist but is now happily embracing its follow-up. As if this is a corporate acknowledgment that the new thing is better than the old thing I've spent my whole life obsessing over. I guess that's more my problem than anyone else's. The old, bitter nerd in me is talking. 

Anyway, none of that has much to do with the actual focus of today's post. Let's talk about part three of "Test Run." Sonic, Tails, and Amy remain trapped in Eggman's weird pocket dimension. The villain turns the gravity off, causing our heroes to float towards the sky. Sonic races upward into the void, egging Eggman on to try out some new boss machines on the good guys. Which doesn't exactly work out for them... Meanwhile, Tangle and Belle interrogate Cubot and Orbot in hopes of helping their friends.  

Last time, I applauded Evan Stanley for taking her story in increasingly weird directions. At first, part three of "Test Run" continues to operate in this more surreal direction. Cubot and Orbot pump monstrous Badniks out of a machine, each one an unholy abomination mashes together from different parts. Inside the pocket dimension, Sonic can't even trust the basic fundamentals of psychics like gravity. Our heroes are sent floating off into space. It continues the fun sense that anything can happen in this story. 

Which makes it all the disappointing that this is all a prelude to another simplistic boss battle. The trio floats upward until Eggman forms a room out of thin air – okay, cool – which becomes the place to test out his new death machine. It looks a lot like "Sonic Adventure 1's" Egg Viper and later splits into three smaller machines, each one with mastery over a different element. (Stanley might have stolen this from an old issue of the "Sonic X" comic, though it's a pretty basic idea too.) It's just another battle between Sonic and an Eggman vehicle with an easily identified weakness. We've seen this exact scenario a hundred times before and it's disappointing that, after stretching its imagination last issue, we are back to the usual Sonic business. 

The B-plot, last time, was devoted to Belle questioning her humanity, wondering what it meant for her that she was an Eggman creation. It was good character development. That is also put aside here, as the Tangle and Belle scenes are largely devoted to humor. It's not all bad though. Tangle attempting to psych out Cubot and Orbot, tricking them to reveal crucial information via increasingly wacky techniques, is funny. There's room for humor in this comic book about cartoon animals fighting robots. And watching Tangle be a goofball is always delightful. 

Even if this is an issue that takes some steps backwards, Stanley still finds a few emotional moments. When Tangle decides to leap into a portal, to save her friends, Belle tries to talk her out of it, that the risk isn't worth it. It's an interesting development, showing how much Belle cares about her friend but also showing there's a limit to her heroics. If Stanley takes this character in the direction I think she might, with Belle eventually joining up with her "dad," this could be an intriguing angle to explore.

Also, there's no doubt about where Stanley's shipping interests lay. Once again, Amy shamelessly flirts with Sonic even as they leap upward into the sky. It should be well known that I'm no fan of Sonic/Amy but, mostly, I'm just bugged that Amy's character development has receded so much recently. I really liked tough, field commander Amy from the book's first year. Seeing her backswing more and more towards fawning fan girl is a little underwhelming. I loved Amy's characterization in the "Chao Races and Badnik Bases" arc, so I guess I just prefer her interacting with other girls. 

On the artwork front, Stanley and Bracardi Curry continue to split duties. Evan draws the Tangle and Belle scenes, while Curry does everything deal with Sonic, Tails, and Amy. Both are very good at what they do. Curry really gets to show off his skills at sketching action scenes here, during the big showdown between Sonic and Robotnik's new robots. I especially like the way he frames the reveal of one machine splitting into three. Stanley, meanwhile, is a pro at this point at mining humor and personality out of simple dialogue scenes. Her Tangle is always so sassy and personable.

All together, it's an issue I'm not too sure how to feel about. It seems like this arc is taking a step back just when it was heading in some really interesting direction. Couldn't we had held off on the inevitable boss battle next time, to enjoy some low-key weirdness a little more? I guess we'll see if Evan can pull it all together next time. [6/10]