Sonic the Hedgehog: Imposter Syndrome: Issue 3

Sonic the Hedgehog: Imposter Syndrome: Issue 3

Publication Date: March 9th, 2022

Sorry for missing an update on Wednesday. As always, the start of the new year has thrown me for a loop, mentally and emotionally. I'm working on it, along with all the other typical real life responsibilities. The result is that I have ended up exhausted early in the evenings lately and unceremoniously passed out before ten most nights. This is why I fell asleep without updating the blog on Wednesday and, presumably, why I completely forgot a new comic came out then. I'll try and stay more on-top of things in the future though I can't guarantee I won't occasionally miss updates. 

Anyway, you didn't come to this blog to see me kvetching about my life. Instead, let's talk about the new issue of "Imposter Syndrome." Surge and Kit go through with their plan to dig into Starline's video archives. What they find are their origins. That they were once normal beings Starline modified, with genetics and robotics. That their minds have been melded through brainwashing and hypnotism, to be his slaves. Surge and Kit come away with a desire to learn about their original identities... And to take revenge on their creator. Soon, the duo have their own villainous plan. 

First off, I want to correct a misconception I've had about this mini-series. From the moment I've begun writing about this spin-off, I have referred to Surge and Kit as clones. Considering Starline had gathered genetic material from the heroes, it seemed natural to assume these two were created in test tubes. Now, that doesn't seem to be the case. Surge and Kit were instead outsiders that were chosen to become Starline's living weapons. They had a past before he made them who they are now. So they aren't clones but modified humans Mobians animals(?), which makes them closer to the MCU versions of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch than the "evil copy" trope.

This issue is front-loaded with exposition and backstory, but I don't actually mind it too much. Using the premise of Starline recording all his research for later reflection/ego stroking is a good visual, active way to infodump on the reader. Flynn also uses this chance to tie together a lot of the story arcs from the comic's first three years. Starline utilized elements from Belle and the Metal Virus to make Surge and Kit, while his encounters and character development in that time influence how his scheme evolved. Like the infamous "Author of All Your Pain" moment in "SPECTRE," it's a bit desperate to link clearly unrelated plot points together in an attempt to make it look like almost everything the comic has done before now has been building to this point. But I'll allow it.

In fact, Flynn even attempts to link "Imposter Syndrome" to the comic's very first ongoing arc. We learn that Starline's entire modus operandi was motivated by being rejected by Eggman at some point in the past. He specifically mentions wanting to belittle Metal Sonic, a clear reference to that robot taking over Eggman's empire at the series' beginning. This scene opens the issue and it recharacterizes Starline in an interesting way. On that first page, he doesn't seem like a calculating, genius supervillain. He seems like a ranting Redditor, incensed that his attempt to gain his idol's respect was rebuffed. Flynn hasn't really ran with the idea that Surge and Kit are a criticism of "Sonic" recolors — and by extension all the toxicity of the "Sonic" fandom — but this scene returns to that idea. It's a moment that says acting like an entitled fanboy is a bad path to go down.

Of course, it's always been obvious that everything Starline does is an attempt to overcompensate for the fact that he's actually a sweaty, awkward nerd. And that, no matter how much he proclaims himself as superior to Eggman, they both suffer from the same major flaw: Egotism. Both believe themselves to be too brilliant to ever fail. This is why Eggman has repeatedly unleashed eldritch abominations on the planet only to realize, too late, that they are too powerful to control. We see something very similar happen in this issue. Surge and Kit successfully turn the tables on Starline, even using his own hypnotism glove against him. (You'd really think he would've made himself immune to his own device!) It's the inevitable "Frankenstein" moment, when a doctor's creation — a manifestation of his own hubris — bites him on the ass. 

Through all the major reveals in this issue, Ian manages to correct a big problem I had with the first two parts of "Imposter Syndrome." He finally manages to make Surge and Kit sympathetic. Before now, these two were on the path Starline created for them, their (possibly intentionally?) one-note personalities given little room to expand. Now that they discover they've been wronged, that Starline stole their actual lives from them, you start to feel bad for this bullying brat and her simp. Surge even tears up a little when describing how her entire identity, as far as she knows, has been phony. And Starline's utter callousness towards her concern definitely makes him seem like the bigger villain. I hope, whenever we found out what their previous lives were, that they were runaway teenagers or something vulnerable, not prisoners or whatever. The irony of victimized people being turned into evil pawns against their wills will make them far more interesting. 

In fact, it would be easy to flip the script altogether. To have Surge and Kit follow the path of a hundred shonen fighting anime antagonists and have them switch sides. Realize that they don't want or have to be bad, that they rebel against the nefarious destiny that was plotted out for them. Instead, Flynn has Surge make the conscious choice to be evil, to burn down the entire system that has led to the situation she's in now. She wants revenge on Starline but she still wants to crush Sonic and Eggman. She plans on letting Starline think he's winning, before undermining him at a later date. If nothing else, this makes Surge and Kit stand-alone villains with an at least varied motivation of their own. They don't want to rule the world, they want to see it in ruins. Nihilists, man. We'll see how it plays out. 

In other words, this is the first issue of "Imposter Syndrome" that feels like it's actually telling a story with forward momentum, instead of just letting its new characters go through the motions. That makes it a decent issue with some solid art from Thomas Rothlisberger. (Though you can really tell when Mauro Fonseca- such a newcomer that he doesn't even have a Sonic News Network Wiki page yet, takes over.) I still feel like the story is moving too slowly, that the duo should've met Sonic by this point, but I'm more intrigued now than I was before to see how this will play out. [7/10]