Sonic the Hedgehog: Imposter Syndrome: Issue 1

Sonic the Hedgehog: Imposter Syndrome: Issue 1

Publication Date: November 17th, 2021

From the minute IDW acquired the publishing rights to the "Sonic" brand, they were obviously aware of how valuable it is. The Archie books ran for almost two and a half decades, gathering a die-hard fan base that was willing to stick with the book through wild ups and downs in quality and major creative overhauls. The Archie book also supported a number of spin-offs over its long run. It didn't take IDW long to follow in Archie's footsteps and produce one-shots and mini-series that tied into the main book. 

Which brings us to "Imposter Syndrome," the third mini-series spin-off in IDW's new Sonic-verse. The latest four-parter is a bigger risk than the previous two because it's the first to revolve around new characters. The book stars Surge and Kit, Dr. Starline's genetically engineered imitators of Sonic and Tails. In a savvy marketing move, IDW has been promoting its star characters for months. It might've been dumb luck but I'm betting IDW is pretty aware of how to sell stuff to the "Sonic" fan base. They know that a lot of "Sonic" fans are basically infants and only need a pair of shiny keys — cool character designs — dangled in front of their eyes to catch their attention. Even though we knew absolutely nothing about their personalities, Surge and Kit became popular the minute images of them were released. This technique made the new characters fan favorites before their debut issue even came out, creating white hot hype and making "Imposter Syndrome" an ensured best-seller. 

But enough of me bitching about how shallow many people (certainly nobody reading this blog) in this fanbase are. Let's talk about "Imposter Syndrome's" plot. After months of research and development, Starline awakens his newest creations. Surge is a lime green tenrec, with electric powers and super speed. She has Sonic's snark and spunk but is unchained from morality. Kitsunami — A+ pun, Flynn —  is a blue fennec with water manipulation powers, who is quiet and submissive. Starline has designed both to replace Sonic and his friends in the public's mind as the planet's premiere heroes. It's all part of his scheme to undermine Eggman, defeat the Restoration, and seize control of the world. Yet, as he goes through the testing stages and begins his plot, Surge and Kit are already proving harder to control than expected. 

In the past, I've commented on Ian Flynn's frustrating insistence on a lack of intertextual depth. I read way too much into stupid "Sonic" comics and cartoons because I get bored with how disinterested kids media is in being about stuff. (And also because I think it's funny.) "Imposter Syndrome" doesn't contain any real world subtext but it's unusually meta about the "Sonic" series itself. The very first panel has Starline referencing a "Sonic Cycle." That's an insightful meme about the never-ending cycle of hype and disappointment that accurately describes fans' relationship with every new "Sonic" game. In the comic, Starline uses the Sonic Cycle to refer to how the blue hedgehog always destroys Eggman's plans. Which, from a certain angle, reads like a criticism of Sega insisting this comic follow the same formula. He builds Surge and Kit specifically to appeal to people, to take the things the public likes about Sonic and Tails but use them for his own purposes. His latest evil deed is all about manipulating the plot people expect, a subversive twist on the crowd-pleasing story beats Sega/IDW wants this series to always follow.

In this light, Surge and Kit immediately being embraced by fans becomes almost painfully ironic. That's exactly what Starline wants to happen in-universe! In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if "Imposter Syndrome" isn't a stealth criticism of the notorious "Sonic" original character phenomenon. Surge and Kit — who, like Starline, are loosely inspired by well-known game sprite glitches — basically look like Sonic and Tails but are different colors. They have superpowers that are technically different from the heroic duo but serve the same purpose, much like any number of unoriginal fan-made characters. They are also shallow imitations of Sonic and Tails as people. Surge is all-attitude but without Sonic's motivating heroism. Kit extends Tails looking up to Sonic to its most extreme point, making him a groveling, pathetic yes-man. Is Flynn using this comic to present the "Sonic" fandom with the things they've always said they wanted and making them understand why they actually don't want these things? 

If this is Flynn's actual objective with this mini-series, "Imposter Syndrome" will go down as the comic's most intriguingly meta moment. But what are my general first impressions of Surge and Kit? Honestly, I think they are kind of annoying. Surge is obnoxiously egotistic, constantly trumpeting her own awesomeness while speaking largely in catch-phrases. She's also overly enthusiastic in her tendency towards violence, in a way that's off-putting. This also manifests as her frequently bullying, and even threatening to murder, Kit. Despite her cruelty, the little fox just wants to please her. This is literally Kit's only personality traits so far, making him more pathetic than sympathetic. 

But I'm not going to dismiss these characters outright and give them the Worst New Character award in January. Because there's room for development here. A key moment in this issue has Surge realizing that she hates Sonic and wants to wreak chaos for no discernible reason. Kit similarly concludes that he doesn't know why he's totally devoted to Surge. Starline hypnotizes them both with his magic glove afterwards, rebooting their brains. That's the second time in this issue he has to do that. It's clear that Starline is in a Doctor Frankenstein situation here, having created life without thinking it all through. He didn't give his O.C.s backstories and they are quickly waking up to that fact, throwing them into existential crises and making them question his authority. Flynn is obviously going somewhere with this and it will, hopefully, justify these two being sort of obnoxious jack-asses. 

As for the issue itself, "Imposter Syndrome No. 1" serves its purpose. Ian Flynn seems to only know one way to begin a story, so this issue is largely devoted to putting the pieces in place for the rest of the plot. Starline is constantly referring to his master plan, making the reader privy to what he's plotting. We see Surge starting the forest fire from the last issue of the regular "Sonic" book. (And the unsurprising spoiler is dropped that Amy and everyone else stops the fire.) We see the villains manufacturing other disasters. It's all a prologue for the bigger things the bad guy — and this comic book — has planned. The character stuff is interesting so a narrative that promises a lot of exciting things are about to happen, instead of just letting those exciting things happen, doesn't bother me too much. 

Flynn has to include lots of action scenes too, least the seven-year-old boy demographic wander off to more explosion-filled pastures. So the book starts with Surge and Kit racing through an obstacle course, smashing a number of Badniks and avoiding various perils. There's a pretty neat sequence where Surge racing through Central City and causes a number of traffic accidents. The artwork makes this stuff more exciting too. Thomas Rothlisberger handles the beginning and end, while Aaron Hammerstrom does the rest. Rothlisberger's work has an exciting, dynamic quality but his character work is a little loose. Or maybe he's still learning how to draw Surge and Kit. Hammerstrom's stuff is more self-assured and dramatic. The forest fire and city sequences are especially well done. 

I have reservations about Surge and Kit as characters at the moment but it's still early. If "Imposter Syndrome" continues to run with its self-reflective criticism of the "Sonic" franchise and its fanbase, then it might prove to be more interesting than this first issue suggest. Taken on its own merits, issue one of "Imposter Syndrome" is intriguing and makes me want to read more, even if it's plotting is simply functional and the jury is still out on its star duo. [7/10]