Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 47

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 47

Publication Date: December 22nd, 2021

Man, the cover for issue 47 of IDW's "Sonic the Hedgehog" comic unlocked a forgotten memory for me. Does anybody else remember what a thing whitewater rafting was in the early nineties? Something of an extreme sport, the activity of floating a tiny raft down a rough river was the popular activity de jour among yuppies eager to prove their manhood. Simulated versions of the activity, stripped of all real risk, popped up in water parks and the sport was even the topic of a big budget thriller starring Kevin Bacon and Meryl Streep. And then it just stopped being a big deal after a while, with more youthful "x sports" like BMX or skateboarding becoming popular. What does this have to do with "Sonic?" Not a goddamn thing!

Anyway, issue 47 brings the "Trial by Fire" three-parter to its conclusion. Tangle and Belle careen down the river on a broken log, missing child Ashe, his wisp friend, and Helpful MotoBug clinging along. They are soon carried to safety, arriving in the main part of the park alongside Amy and Jewel. Together, the heroes develop a plan to quell the fire, evacuate the park, and keep the rest of the forest from burning to the ground. As our heroes go about their heroic activity, they come to personal revelations as well.

The final part of "Trial by Fire" is essentially devoted to watching the good guys do good guy shit. Instead of getting action scenes where the heroes beat up the villains, Evan Stanley engineers some more neutral theatrics here. Tangle and Amy work together to fam the stream, only so they can unleash the water later on at an important moment. Belle rushes around in her new MotoBug friend, saving people where they can. Jewel discovers her inner strategist as she directs the rescue efforts around her. It's nice to watch the cast working together to do good things and I applaud Stanley for meeting this book's action scene quota without relying on stale old fisticuffs. 

However, I wish watching this shit happen was a little more exciting. The way this issue undermines its own tension is apparent in that opening sequence. The last issue ended on the exciting cliffhanger of Tangle and the others plummeting off a cliff towards the stream below. Disappointingly, this issue skips right pass how they survived that fall, beginning with the image of everyone riding the log down the river. Which could've been exciting on its own. Instead, that plot thread ends with them safely floating to a stop. Even after they dangle over a waterfall or two! You never feel like anyone is in any real danger, so there's not much in the way of dramatic tension. 

Similarly, everyone comes together to control the forest fire too easily. Jewel cooks up a plan in a few minutes but it all works. The strategy this jewelry shop owner with no experience in forest fire mitigation thinks up in a panic is exactly what was needed in this moment. Wouldn't it have been more exciting if the attempts to stop the forest fire were inconvenienced by the fire's unpredictable nature? Imagine what a cool moment it would've been if the fire broke through the barrier Amy set up, forcing the heroes to think fast to resolve it quickly. The stakes are there too, since a crowd of innocent park-goers are right there in the center of the fire. 

The blaze is never actually put out, by the way. Instead, Jewel thinks up a plan that will merely contain the damage, not defeat it all together. This is realistic, I guess, but it doesn't make for a very satisfying conclusion. The lack of a dramatic sequence devoted to stopping the fire is, perhaps, a result of "Sonic's world" completely lack of any sort of fire department or park ranger organization. The Restoration should work on that next. Overall, this entire issue just lacks a certain spark, its resolution coming too smoothly and not feeling properly climatic in the way you'd expect. 

Maybe the action scenes are underwhelming because it's not what Evan Stanley is most invested in anyway. This issue continues the focus on character development that we saw in the last two issues. None of the "Sonic" cast that stars in this story are in the exact same place they were when the arc started. Jewel comes into her own as a leader. Amy slots back into the roll of hammer-wielding supporting player. Belle grows more confident and Tangle decides her place isn't with the Restoration exactly. You can debate how effectively this is handled. I'm still not one hundred percent sold on Jewel's growth or Belle's shift from sad-sack to heroine-in-training. But Stanley earns points for continuing to push the characters forward. 

As has been increasingly the case with this book lately, I find myself far more excited by what the individual issue implies about the future than what actually happens in this comic book. "Trial by Fire" ends with Tangle breaking away from the Restoration, at least temporarily, in order to seek out Whisper and help her in her quest. Hell yeah, I love Tangle and Whisper's relationship and definitely want to see more of it. The moment where Jewel and Tangle gratefully part ways, understanding each other's emotional needs, is definitely among the highlight of this issue. 

Similarly, Belle gets a cute moment where the other characters invite her to participate in a team-building group high-five. Is this the end of Belle's defining characteristic being her fear of never being accepted? It might be, as this issue suggests a future goal for her. The discovery of Helpful MotoBug suggests to Belle that she's not a single aberration. Other Eggman creations are capable of rejecting the destructive programming they've been built with. Is this going to lead to a plot thread of Belle running around the planet, trying to free other Badniks from Eggman control? Probably not but that would be cool if it happened. 

(It's also notable that Sonic had so little to do in this arc. It seems the next arc is going to focus on the Chaotix, at least partially, so the book may continue to sideline Sonic's main character status for a while longer. I'm really not against this either.)

The fact that I'm so much more interested in where this story could go, instead of where it actually is, suggests a certain weakness in Evan Stanley's writing. Maybe she should go back to focusing on art for a while, as that's typically excellent here. "Trial by Fire" started out strong, when just focused on these characters hanging out and screwing around, but it ultimately proved unable to fuse character development and action-driven plotting in a satisfying way. [6/10]