Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 41

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 41

Publication Date: June 16th, 2021

We are getting back to the IDW "Sonic" comic sooner than we usually do. What with June of 2021 being Sonic's 30th birthday month, IDW became determined to pump out as many blue hedgehog-related comic books as possible. Last week, we had the final part of Evan Stanley's recent arc. This week, we have the first part of Ian Flynn's return to the book. Next week, this year's annual (and anniversary special for the entire franchise) will come out. It's nice to get a triple dose of Sonic shenanigans this month but I'm glad this is not the usual release schedule. 

We begin in Winterburg, the snowy town we visited back in "Chao Chases and Badnik Base." Eggman is currently attacking it and Sonic is currently protecting it. The doctor is looking for the Deadly Six, who have been missing since the end of "Bad Guys." It turns out the Zetis are planning something. Zavok recoups from his previous defeat and decides to get the band back together. He gathers up the members of his pack, wrecking havoc wherever he goes in his quest for revenge and conquest. Jewel hires the Chaotix to figure out who is behind the attacks and they immediately deduce the Zetis are responsible and that Winterburg is there next target. 

After letting Evan Stanley drive for two whole arcs, Ian Flynn is back in the driver's seat. And his plot heavy writing returns with him. "Zeti Hunt, Part One" is one of those issues devoted entirely to setting up the rest of the arc. Within the span of these twenty pages, the Deadly Six are shown getting back together and then get on the war path. Our heroes prepare to react and... That's the end of the issue. This is an entire comic book made up of inciting incident, with no room left for character development or personal interaction. 

What dialogue we do get is also focused on setting up the plotting. The opening fight between Sonic and Eggman has them trading lots of banter but they mostly trade exposition. I guess Flynn expects the 30th anniversary advertising push to bring in some new readers, because the two characters breathlessly recount the pertinent plot points. Or maybe he's doing this for his own benefit, as the scene really feels like Flynn reminding himself of where the Deadly Six, Starline, Eggman and Sonic where when he last left them. (Which is emphasized by the multiple editor's boxes, pointing readers back to the recent issues.) There is, disappointingly, no references to anything that happened during Stanley's run. Has this script just been sitting on a shelf for eight months? 

About the only crumb of character development we get this time is establishing Zavok's motivation. His defeat in "Bad Guys" has left him deeply humiliated. After moping for a moment, he rededicates himself to revenge. When he meets up with Master Zik, it's implied that conquest and fighting are the cornerstones of Zeti culture. Zavok says destroying your enemies or dying in combat are the only two ways to live life. This is why his defeat pissed him off so much. He didn't just loose. He was dishonored. This Klingon/bushido thing is the most insight we've gotten into the Zetis' actual value system in all the time they've been featured in "Sonic" comic books. 

If this is a prologue to a deeper exploration of Zeti honor, the rest of the issue doesn't let us know. Because the colorful ogres spend the rest of their page time just wrecking shit. They go from town to town and raze them. Zavok, for some reason, blames the Restoration for his failures and wants to undo everything they've done. The resulting destruction reminded me of the role the Deadly Six played during the Metal Virus, where they were just huge assholes determined to destroy and conquer for no particular reason. Zavok's characterization as a scheming master-planner in "Bad Guys" was much more compelling. It definitely feels like the character is backsliding some. 

But let's get back to the Restoration for a minute... In this issue, we see that the various towns and communities ravaged by the Metal Virus have, more-or-less, been restored to their pre-pandemic status quo. The Restoration is credited with this. It's funny how the Restoration has been doing all this restoring completely off-panel. How much time has passed since the Zombot crisis ended? A couple months? Weeks? That's a lot of restoring in not-a-lot of time. Once again, we are told how much of a difference the Restoration has made without actually seeing them do any of the fucking work. Similarly, Ian Flynn also continues to show a willingness to just move on from the year-long arc he wrote by essentially pretending it never happen. Seriously, Flynn, why did you spend so much time on the Metal Virus saga if you were just going to sweep it under the rug the minute it was over?

We know that the Metal Virus storyline was originally planned for the later period Archie 'Sonic” series. And now that Flynn is done with that, I'm getting this increasingly strong suspicion that the dude is just simply out of ideas. The two-parter immediately following the big storyline's conclusion felt similarly exhausted, characters reduced to their Sega-approved archetypes and the plot mechanically moving forward without much passion, personality, or wit. Is it possible, after writing “Sonic” for two-plus decades, Ian Flynn is just worn out? I don't know but the beginning of this latest arc doesn't exactly get my hopes up. 

Then again, I've been wrong before and this certainly wouldn't be the first time a story in this comic had a weak start, before becoming something more interesting later on. Maybe things will perk up if Flynn brings Belle and Starline into things. If nothing else, Adam Bryce Thomas' artwork is typically great. The panels of Zavok going into a revenge-fueled rage or Sonic's fight with Eggman's snowman shaped machine are wonderfully expressive and dynamic. I wish the boring script was up to the standard of the exciting illustrations. [5/10]