For years, the “Sonic” franchise continued on almost on auto-pilot, it seemed. We got new games on about a yearly basis but rarely did people like them. The comics continued to be cranked out but nobody but hardcore fans were reading those. However, it definitely feels like things have changed somewhat in the last few years. The movies have been box office hits with wide audience appeal. The new cartoon has generated a fair share of new merchandise. In fact, new merch is all over the place now. While I'm not sure a new “Sonic” game is exactly an event, it does seem to attract more attention now than it used to.
You can see that this renewed interest in the franchise is having an effect on IDW's “Sonic” comics. This year, the publisher really started pumping out a lot of “Sonic” comic books. In addition to the twelve standard issues of the on-going series, we got five separate one-shot specials, the last issue of a mini-series, and a reprint of the first issue with a bonus story attached. Really took me back to the hay days of the Archie comic, when all sorts of bizarre “48 Page Specials” were coming out all the time. Where any of these comic books especially good? Well, that is what we have gathered here to decide, isn't it? Assuming my opinion means anything to ya...
The issues covered in this retrospective are:
Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issues 56-67
Sonic the Hedgehog: Scrapnik Island: Issue 4
Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 1 – 5th Anniversary Special
Sonic the Hedgehog: Endless Summer
Sonic the Hedgehog's 900th Adventure
Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy's 30th Anniversary Special
Sonic the Hedgehog: Halloween Special
Sonic the Hedgehog: Winter Jam
BEST COVER STORY:
Daniel Barnes, “Scrapnik Island, Part 4” (Sonic the Hedgehog: Scrapnik Island: Issue 4)
"Scrapnik Island" really feels like it belongs to 2022, since that's when the bulk of the minute series was published. Yet the final issue did come out back in January. And issue 4 of "Scrapnik Island" remains the crowning achievement of IDW "Sonic" thus far. Daniel Barnes' script manages to confront such weighty themes as finding self-worth, fighting through the pain of feeling like a failure, and learning that those who love you are there to help you get pass that. Yes, a comic book about a blue hedgehog fighting a robot hedgehog really did handle some complex, touchy ideas that I think everyone grapples with. And it did it well, being emotional without being mushy and still functioning as an action-packed finale to a compelling story. Through it all, Barnes manages to keep Sonic and Tails in-character, make them interesting, and create one of the book's best cast members in Scrapnik Mecha Sonic. Sorry to the "Endless Summer" one-shot, a really clear runner-up in this category, but issue 4 of "Scrapnik Island" is the best "Sonic" comic IDW has ever published.
WORST COVER STORY:
Evan Stanley, “Urban Warfare, Part 5” (Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 61)
The "Urban Warfare" arc clamors to a noisy smear of various incidents in issue 61. This climax is overly reliant on technobabble-fueled plot points colliding with each other and our heroes stopping the bad guy with special moves. Sonic is sucked into a pocket dimension and then freed a few pages later, off-panel. Shadow just gives himself a power-up and Chaos Controls the problem away. Sonic talks big and dive-bombed Eggman but then just let's him get away. Any sense of heart or character development is lost in this barrage of action beats and plot points, one plot device after another pushing this arc through to its conclusion.
BEST BACK STORY:
Ian Flynn, “Speed Sightseeing” (Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 63)
A pairing we don't see very often in this book is Sonic and Blaze. Yet "Speed Sightseeing," from issue 63, is entirely devoted to the two hanging out. There's not much to the idea of the two speedsters running through a scenic area and talking out their feelings. Yet it ended up working really well. Sonic's philosophy to life is expanded on and we get more insight into Blaze's on-going struggle with work/life balance. There's even a smidge of romantic chemistry here, destined not to go anywhere but adding a little spice nevertheless.
WORST BACK STORY:
Ian Flynn, the B-plot of issue 62 (Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 62)
This is a complete cheat on .y behalf but one I feel justified in pulling. This was right before IDW brought the back-up stories, um, back, but issue 62 already neatly breaks itself into two halves already. Knuckles and Amy returning an ancient Echidnan relic to its proper resting place occupied the first half, even being the plot that inspires the cover image. The second half, meanwhile, deals with the totally unrelated plot point of Clutch talking Mimic into going undercover with the Restoration and everyone just immediately accepting this mysterious "Duo" fellow right into the inner circle. Revealing to the audience that Mimic is Duo, before we even meet Duo, defuses any suspense from that particular plot point. Meanwhile, everyone immediately accepting this new dude into the Restoration without even doing, like, a background check or whatever makes our heroes kind of look like idiots. Do you want moles? Because that's how you get moles.
BEST STORY ARC:
Evan Stanley, “Dinner at Cream's” (Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 65-66)
Well, this is a silly one but ya know what? Sometimes that's what you need. Building oversized action scenes around the utterly mundane task of preparing dinner is a good shortcut to comedic potential. Watching Cream react in horror to Rough and Tumble's break-in also got me to chuckle. Vanilla scolding the villains into repenting is the ideal ending. Yet what makes this bit of slapstick more meaningful is that Stanley makes sure to bake in – pun intended – some touching moments between Cream and Gemerl. Her emotionless robot dad really does love her and wants her to believe in herself! These nuggets of warm-and-snuggly meaning made this bit of fun a stand-out last year.
WORST STORY ARC:
Ian Flynn and Evan Stanley, “Urban Warfare” (Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 57-61)
Considering “Urban Warfare” occupied five complete issues and was, by far, the most action-packed story of the year, one assumes that this was meant to be The IDW's “Sonic” Event of 2023. The story arc has all the makings of a blockbuster, throwing together a large swath of the comic's ensemble into a plot about Eggman's newest, vilest superweapon. And there was an issue, right in the middle, when it seemed like “Urban Warfare” might live up to that hype. Unfortunately, the story totally collapse into sci-fi gimmicks that are rarely justified yet take up far too much space anyway. So stuffed with incident and action scenes, there wasn't much room for the characters or the plot to breathe.
BEST MAIN COVER:
Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 63 – Gigi Dutreix
There weren't too many bad covers this year but there also weren't too many that stood out in a big way. Really nice looking covers like the Amy special, issue 57, or issue 65 were notable more so for their lush coloring than anything else. However, at least one issue really decided to mix things up. Gigi Dutriex's cover for 63 goes in a totally different direction than your standard “Sonic” comic. I mean that literally, as the title runs down the right vertical side of the cover. This, when combined with the visual of Sonic and the gang running down some fire escapes, creates a wonderful sense of motion that draws the eye and gets the reader excited. How expressive everyone's faces are, and the graffiti-style images of Chao and Wisps painting on the wall, add more sugar to the pudding.
WORST MAIN COVER:
Sonic the Hedgehog's 900th Adventure – Tracy Yardley
I almost gave this particular “honor” to the 5th anniversary special for literally just reusing Tyson Hesse's first four covers for the entire series. That is shows some sheer lack of creativity but I guess it gets a pass for mostly being a reprint. What is “900th Adventure's” excuse? Again, a serious lack of creativity is shown in this simple image of Sonic running across a yellow, checker board pattern void. The trails from his legs forming the zeroes in 900 was mildly clever but I still feel like, if you're commemorating nearly a thousand “Sonic” comic books, you could have come up with something a little flashier than this.
BEST VARIANT COVER:
Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – Issue 59, Cover B – Natalie Haines
We had a whole precession of gorgeous or adorable variant covers this year, most of them being Nathalie Fourdraine's retail incentive covers. Yet as soon as I saw this one, I fell in love. Natalie Haines' Cover B for issue 59 has got to be one of the most striking images to ever grace any “Sonic” comic book. There's a stillness, a repose, to Shadow as he crouches, an insolent fury burning in his eyes. The vista of androids bearing his likeness stretching out around him, reaching out and bounding him, is given a suitably otherworldly feeling. When contrast with the barren landscape around them and the painterly, detailed colors, it really gives the impression of an ancient, religious fresco.
WORST VARIANT COVER:
Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – Issue 66, Cover B – Abigail Oz
There was a certain temptation to award the Worst Variant Cover title to Jon Grey's alt cover for the “900th Adventure” one-shot. It certainly has the searing colors and colliding together of far too many characters and scenarios. Yet Grey didn't fall upon his usual strategy of sticking ten thousand faces on one cover, showing a great deal of restraint on his behalf.
So, instead, I turn my critical eye on Abigail Oz' Cover B for issue 66. This simple image of Cream fleeing from Rough and Tumble fast enough to cause her gelatin monstrosity to start to tumble over is rather awkwardly framed. Everyone's poses seems just a smidge unnatural. The proportions seem slightly off, most noticeably in the snow shovel sized area in Rough's groin. There's an overall kind of flat, overly smooth look to everything here, creating a rather bland sight.
BEST STORY ART:
“Urban Warfare, Part 3” – Adam Bryce Thomas (Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 59)
Adam Bryce Thomas is reliably one of the best “Sonic” artist around. With the third part of “Urban Warfare – the only part of that arc I actually liked – he really outdid himself. Thomas really adds an epic scope to many of the action scenes here, such as Shadow opening up some Whoop-Ass on his enemies or Eggman making a villainous proclamation. Yet the little character details he includes are also excellent, the looks people give each other or their body language really adding so much detail and richness to this world.
WORST STORT ART:
“Sonic the Hedgehog's 900th Adventure” – Abby Bulmer (Sonic the Hedgehog's 900th Adventure)
About eight different people did the art for “Sonic's 900th Adventure,” making it by far the most schizophrenic looking “Sonic” comic last year. But most of the artwork was fine, even pretty good. However, Abby Bulmer's six pages really stick out in the worst way. Her characters all look really blobby and cartoonish. As if she's going for maximum cuteness when drawing every single one, even bruisers like Storm or Shadow. Bulmer's backgrounds also seem kind of bland, usually composed of one type of color. I'm not sure Bulmer is the right artist for “Sonic” though she would do great drawing a “Bluey” comic.
BEST NEW CHARACTER:
Hammer Guy
Once again, IDW “Sonic” is stingy with its new characters. Really, the only notable new character introduced this year was Maggie, otherwise known as Lanolin's purple wisp. And I can't say I really count wisps – or the dozen different Badniks that appeared in the book for the first time this year, according to the Sonic News Network Wiki – as distinct characters in their own right.
So, in order to find something to qualify for Best New Character, I have to cheat. Because the still unnamed character I am calling Hammer Guy wasn't technically introduced this year. After all, the entire point of his appearance in “Familiar Territory” is based on the brief interaction he had with Sonic all the way back in issue one. Yet Hammer Guy actually got a personality in his second appearance here, getting to detail his history and showing the effect Sonic's one act of heroism had on his life. There's something touching about that idea. That Sonic does shit like this all the time, to the point where it doesn't make much of an impact on him. Yet, to the people he saves, their lives have been changed forever. It's like a positive version of M. Bison's “For me, it was Tuesday” speech. This book doesn't exactly need another fawning Sonic fanboy so who knows if Hammer Guy will appear again. (And if he'll ever get an actual name.) But he definitely ended up with one of the best actual bits of character development this year.
WORST NEW CHARACTER:
Herschel
The only other proper new characters we got in IDW “Sonic” last year were the mischievous pranksters in the Halloween special. The names Brady, Noah, and Rowdy aren't likely to make much of an impression on any “Sonic” fan... But I'll remember Herschel. First off, because he's named fuckin' Herschel. Secondly, because this asshole in a Dracula costume is probably the main reason I didn't like the Halloween Special more. How do you do a Halloween special and make the villain a dweeb like this? We could've had Sonic fight a real vampire! Or literally anything cooler than some theater kid jerk-off who folds the minute the good guys get their hands on him. Disappointed!
BEST IDEA:
Return of the Back Stories
Outside of the annuals and the rare one-shot, IDW “Sonic” almost never featured back stories before this year. This year saw the tradition of a “Sonic” comic containing more than one story return for several issues. And do you know what I like about this, aside from it giving buyers more bang for their buck? If gives the characters and their world a little more room to breath. I don't think it's a mistake that the back-stories tend to be more character-driven than the cover story, allowing for slower conversations between our heroes and more chances to flesh out their interior lives. That's always a welcomed addition and I hope the book makes a habit of including back-up stories going into 2024.
WORST IDEA:
Filler
Throughout IDW “Sonic's” entire run, it has been fairly easy to break the series down into various sagas. Metal Sonic, the Zombot crisis, Starline, and now Surge and Kit have emerged as the central antagonist throughout the years. 2023 was not so focused and it let to an unfortunate side effect: Most of the comics published last year felt like filler, stories without too much of a meaningful impact on the book's world, published to pad out the series before it's time to launch back into the next proper arc. The entirety of “Urban Warfare” was very much an example of a standard Sonic vs. Eggman story. It remains to be seen whether Clutch sending Mimic to infiltrate the Restoration will amount to much. Yet, in-between Surge disappearing at the start of the year and returning at the end, it really felt like the comic was just doing whatever the hell it wanted. That's never a great feeling for an on-going narrative to have and left most of last year feeling directionless and unfocused.
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