Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 56

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 56

Publication Date: January 4th, 2023

Something I both love and merely tolerate about this fandom is how "Sonic" comic readers can't agree on anything. I have seen two reactions to the 2023 kick-off issue to IDW's "Sonic" book. One of which was in a Discord server I hang out in, where someone said issue 56 is Evan Stanley's best writing yet. On Twitter, meanwhile, I caught a glimpse of someone saying the issue was a major drag, that they were sick of Surge and Kit, and found the entire storyline melodramatic. This fandom contains multitudes, doesn't it? This is just a further testament to how no two "Sonic" fans can agree on what they want this franchise to be. (Or maybe it just speaks to how Discord is a place for community and bonding while Twitter is a place for vomiting your worst opinions out into the void.) 

What of issue 56's actual content? The admittedly overlong "Overpowered" arc concludes this month by continuing the battle royale that started last time. Sonic, Tails, Surge, Kit, Eggman and Metal Sonic duke it out within an old Starline base. As Surge pushes her superpowers to their absolute limit, she tears the base around them apart. Sonic and Tails are aware of the Imposters' traumatic origins now but can they convince them to give up their fight? 

The "Overpowered" arc has been extremely uneven, ping-ponging between tedious fight scenes based around new superpowers and further exploring the mental illnesses that have led Surge down her villainous path. Evan Stanley admittedly finds a strong dynamic to build the last installment on. On the second page, Tails immediately tries to connect with Kit. Even when the kitsune has his red eyes of psychotic determination glowing, Tails manages to level with him sidekick-to-sidekick. Being the more empathetic of this duo, it's easy to imagine Kit switching sides. He's already kind of done it. Thus, this issue manages to mine a decent bit of tension out of the question of whether Kit will make the right decision. Will he continue to be driven solely by his programmed devotion to Surge? Or will he do what's right and abandon senseless violence? 

I guess some might be disappointed by his eventual conclusion. No, Kit does not challenge everything we know about his character up to this point. His love for Surge is too great to abandon her. Yet his reasoning does strike me as compelling. Kit has come to believe that neither Sonic nor Eggman – or, in the past, Starline – give an honest goddamn about him or Surge. They only want to use them as weapons to further their causes. To make this seem even more petty, Kit phrases it this way: These parties only court the Imposters to prove that their beliefs are the correct one. Isn't that what drives most conflict here in the real world? A conviction that you are more right than the other people? 

What makes Kit's conclusion here especially powerful is that I don't think he's wrong either. Obviously, the book that is named after him is going with the logic that Sonic the Hedgehog is the morally correct party here. Stanley makes sure to include a scene in the last part of this book, of Tails and Sonic selflessly supporting and helping each other. To emphasize that friendship, a desire to help the common good, and genuine empathy for each other is what drives Sonic and the Restoration. Yet Sonic does want Surge and Kit to fight against Eggman and Starline's programming. Sonic does believe that his way is the morally correct way. 

The book definitely understands that Surge's mission to murder their oppressors and burn down the world is needlessly destructive, not to mention self-destructive. But I've got to applaud Stanley for continuing to take Surge and Kit's dilemma so seriously. These two have been used their entire lives. Nearly everyone they've known, certainly everyone they've ever looked up to, has done nothing but manipulate them for their own causes. Of course, they aren't going to trust anyone easily. Moreover... Maybe a third option should exist. Surge and Kit have been wrong and they do have the right to be angry. There are flaws in the binary system that Sonic and Eggman are stuck in. Some outsiders, anti-heroes that are truer anti-heroes than whatever the fuck Shadow is right now, are probably necessary. 

I know this is a children's comic that owes a lot of its narrative style of shonen action anime, where villains eventually defecting to the side of good are extremely common. Surge and Kit will probably end up redeemed and among the good guys eventually. If not, it's just as likely that one or both of them will be destroyed or defeated by their own actions, much the way Starline was. Yet I sincerely hope Stanley and Flynn stick to their guns on this, of Surge and Kit recognizing a need for something outside of the system – in this case, the system being the unending conflict between Sonic and Eggman – to exist. That would add so much more complexity to the comic's world. This book is always in need of just that.

On a more analytical level, this issue is good because everything that comes out of Surge's mouth is the hardest shit ever. When Sonic says he got off on “the wrong foot” with Surge, she responds by saying her foot should be on his throat instead. When attempting to hold Sonic underwater and drown and/or electrocute him, she grunts out a hell of a monologue that ends with the sentence “There is no freedom for me... Not while you're still alive!” She's just casually dropping stone cold lines like that left and right in this issue. Also, she swings Metal Sonic around by the wrist which reminded me of Rama Rao swinging a motorcycle as a melee weapon in “RRR,” so that's awesome too. If this comic just becomes Surge owning people as harshly as possible, I would support that.

Like most of the rest of this story arc, this issue is almost entirely made up of one long action sequence. While the effectiveness of such a narrative can vary, this one handles it nicely. Probably because the action keeps constantly. Keep in mind, that panel of Surge whipping Metal Sonic around like a rag doll occurs in the first few pages. From there, she then turns herself into a living fireball and explodes those glass tubes full of green water. The heroes tumble through a huge hole in the ground, the threat of drowning and electrocution appears, and everything wraps up with the entire building collapsing around everything. The pace is relentless and furthers the frenzied feeling that grips this entire issue. It helps that Sonic is so clearly flummoxed by Surge's increase in power, his face panicking beautifully. All very much a positive.

Though the artwork could've been a little cleaner. This is not any shade on Evan Stanley's pencils, which are actually really good. The opening splash page is bitchin'. The panels devoted to Kit looking sinister or Surge being unhinged and intimidating are great. Sometimes the action gets a little uncertain to follow. I don't know if the comic has done a great job of making me understand what the extent of Surge's powers are, because that's when I tend to get confused. When she's glowing like a rainbow with radiant bad bitch power, some of the leaps and wrestling that follows takes a couple of looks for me to grasp what's going on. The scene involving Metal Sonic's force field doesn't flow the smoothest either. The same is true of the moment when the Dynamo Cage is overpowered and cracks. Maybe I'm just bad at following this stuff, as this is a complaint I've made before. 

If I have any problem with this issue at all, it's that Eggman is written as maybe too much of a goofball. He mostly just hangs out on the sidelines, shouting at Metal and Surge. Pumping up his own genius, lobbing softball insults at Sonic. The exchange where he saves the hedgehog from electrocution is mildly amusing. Yet, by the final set of pages where he's comically climbing out of the wreckage, wet and humiliated but seemingly unharmed, I felt maybe his status as the series' primary villain had degraded a little. This is a bit of a bummer, especially after Flynn did such a good job at making Eggman actually intimidating for the first time in a while during issue 50. 

That's a minor complaint though, one that borders on a nitpick. “Overpowered” probably could have been broken into two story arcs, especially since these last two issues form much more of a coherent whole than the ones that proceeded it. I'm not going to do a takes-backsies on declaring it the weakest story arc of 2022. Yet this issue is still a fairly strong one. Mostly, whenever Stanley focuses on Surge's growing psychological problems and emotional resentment, or Kit's unhealthy fixation on her, it's good. That's way more compelling than whatever new superpowers the bad guy has this week. I continue to be very interested in seeing where all this is going. [7/10]