Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 70

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 70

Publication Date: July 3rd, 2024

Sometimes it can be hard to engineer a mystery. Comic books being what they are – a monthly publication where new installments are advertised via solicitations sent out months in advance – it's not uncommon for planned secrets and upcoming reveals to be spoiled long before people even have the issue in hand. This is such a common occurrence that I can't blame some writers for not even bothering. When the cover for issue 70 of IDW's "Sonic the Hedgehog" was first shown off, it proudly trumpeted the introduction of this "Phantom Rider." Normally you'd expect the reveal of this masked man to be something held off on... Instead, it was instantly shown that this is Sonic. Now that I've read issue 70, I see that the book wastes no time in confirming this. I mean, we probably would've guessed that was the case anyway. Perhaps Evan Stanley should be lauded for cutting right to the chase and avoiding a tedious Charlie Brown from Outta Town type deal. But I don't know, man. Kind of feels like a missed opportunity to me.

Anyway, issue 70 continues the Clean Sweepstakes racing story arc. On the second day of the competition, the track has been outfitted with a number of deadly traps that seem like they probably shouldn't be legal. Sonic decides to provide a big ol' distraction by swooping down onto the track as "The Phantom Rider," an interloper with a bad attitude that challenges Jet and generally mucks up everything for everyone. The Restoration security team, which includes shifty Duo and enthusiastic Surge, is right on his tail. Speaking of which, Tails and Amy use this chance to sneak aboard the floating gear shop and figure out if their stuff was tampered with. They uncover more than they anticipated. 

In my review of the previous issue, I had mostly negative things to say about Stanley building an arc around an Extreme Gear race and foregrounding Sonic and Jet's rivalry. This was based on my lack of interest in the "Sonic Riders" spin-off series and my opinion that Jet is a rather shallow, uninteresting character. The second part of this storyline – which seemingly doesn't have an official name yet, so I'm calling it the Clean Sweepstakes arc – manages to catch me off-guard by making both of these plot points interesting. Mostly this is thanks to introducing this "Phantom Rider." A guy jumping down onto the track, who races simply for his own glory and doesn't care about respecting the rules, totally shifts the focus away from the droll question of who will win this meaningless race. Instead, now we have a random supervillain speeding through and causing massive collateral damage along the way. And that's way cooler! I might actually watch NASCAR if the Green Goblin showed up in the middle of a race and started blowing shit up. (That's a lie. I still wouldn't watch NASCAR.) 

Meanwhile, Stanley manages to make Jet way more interesting with simply two panels. The first occurs after the Phantom Rider stymies him with a smokescreen. Later, after Surge comes the closest to taking the interloper down and takes attention away from Jet's victory, we see him narrowing his eyes in consternation. This moves past Jet's obsession with beating Sonic on the racetrack, the limitations of which is destined to forever make him the most boring of Sonic's rivals. Now, he's an obsessive glory hound, a narcissistic egomaniac, who can't handle anyone taking the spotlight away from him. That adds more depth, causing the reader to speculate on why Jet is so determined to prove he's the very best, like no one ever was. Nobody is that obsessed with winning unless they are compensating for a lack of self-worth. Has Jet built his entire personality around his status as a "winner?" If so, that status being challenged might as well be a deep personal insult to everything he thinks himself to be. And that raises an even darker question. If he's that obsessed with winning, if it's that deeply rooted in his psyche, he's willing to do anything to do it. I doubt a children's comic will explore any of that but, nevertheless, I'm finding myself interested in Jet for pretty much the first time. 

Stanley might've squandered some intrigue by immediately revealing that Sonic is the Phantom Rider. It literally happens on the first page. However, giving Sonic's perspective as he goes through this deception becomes interesting in its own right. See, Sonic is playing a role here. The Phantom Rider is an obnoxious bastard, who jumps in only to mess up everyone's good time. That means Sonic must cause some senseless mayhem, which goes against his natural instincts as a hero. And if he stops and helps anyone, it'll blow his cover. This might be the same inner conflict that occurs anytime a comic book does a story about a hero going undercover... But it's such a common trope for a reason. Sonic is challenging himself for the greater good, reminding himself several times that he can't help out. This results in an amusing panel where he does save a falling racer, before genuinely asking them not to mention it. This proves Sonic's heroic bonafides – he truly does help people just to help people – while also putting him in the fascinating bind of bit being able to publicly show them That's good storytelling. 

I also whined that the previous issue felt like such a blatant first act, the writer clearly putting all the gears in motion for the story they actually wanted to tell. That's still true but... In this case, anyway, Stanley pulled it off. Everything she set-up last time proves much more compelling now. While Sonic being a very visible public distraction, Tails and Amy sneak aboard the gear shop ship. You know why stealth levels are so common in video games? Simply because the good guys sneaking around, hiding from detection that is always right around the corner is a cheat code for generating suspense. Even if the security guards Tails and Amy are hiding from seem more comical than intimidating – they bicker about their own vigilance and the exploded status of Prison Island – this still manages to build-up some tension of the set-up. (The guards also wear black T-shirt with the word "SECURITY" written across their chest in big letters. I'm aware this is something actual security guards wear but it still reminds me of the henchman on the old "Batman" show.)

That subplot also climaxes in a truly unexpected way that delighted me. Maybe I just have horror movie fanboy brain rot. It's entirely possible. Yet anytime I see a disembodied hand skittering around on its fingers like a big ol' spider, I immediately think of "Evil Dead 2." Or at least "The Addams Family." (Or "The Beast with Five Fingers/"The Hand"/"The Crawling Hand"/"And Now the Screaming Starts"/"Dr. Terror's House of Horror"/that one episode of "Angel." It's a common trope, is my point.) The creepy-crawly hand then leaps onto Amy's face, "Alien" style! Considering this sequence is heavy on the shadowy art direction, features a close-up on Amy's screeching face, and is preceded by a creepy moment is something shifting behind a pile of junk... Yeah, I'm going to say this is an intentional spooky-scary moment. It's July, happy Halloween. 

The scary hand shenanigans quickly get silly, as scary hand shenanigans often do, before revealing a captivating final twist to end the issue on. Truthfully, the final set of pages here present a series of intriguing moments. As soon as Duo showed up, I've had a problem with the Restoration allowing this total stranger into their ranks. Especially since Duo is so obviously suspicious. After a little tea party with Jewel, where the purple cat guy confirms that nobody has seen Amy, Jewel leans back in her chair and furrows her brow, while Matt Froese lays on the shadows. Does She Know? If Jewel has had doubts about Duo all along, it'll go a long way towards redeeming a mildly dumb plot point. 

It's an issue full of interesting events but none of the above are even my favorite. Surge joined the Restoration as a spy for Clutch... Yet, all along, there's been this suggestion that the villain might actually enjoy being among the good guys. Surge is the one who rams the Phantom Rider and seemingly runs him off. After the race, she is praised for her actions. This results in a jubilant panel of Surge, beaming to the point that light is radiating off her, huge smile on her face, as she declares "WE'RE HEROES!" It's been evident for a while that all of Surge's villainous acts have been born out of her traumatic background twisting a basic desire to be loved and accepted. Here, in this panel, we see her getting that validation without setting any fires or blowing something up. She did something right and people love her for it. Gee whiz, you guys, is it dusty in here or what? As a chronic fuck-up myself, I know how euphoric it is to finally feel like you didn't do something wrong, to receive praise and attention, and maybe even love, just for doing something on instinct. 

The result is a memorable issue, brought to life with some lively artwork. This being such an action-heavy installment clearly gives Aaron Hammerstrom to flex a little. There's a lot of really dramatic panels of the heroes crashing into each other or racing around. Sometimes this backfires. One gets the sense that Hammerstrom has been instructed to clearly depict the race track, so as not to confuse the reader. The result are some lay-outs that are a little bland. And I still ended up having to re-read the page where the Phantom Rider/Sonic crashes through a glass tube. Yet any flaws are more than redeemed by those wonderful facial expressions and, as I mentioned early, some very atmospheric ink work in the latter half. 

Being an issue devoted to a large sporting event, with many additional racers and a crowd of spectators, provides another opportunity for the artist. He's gotta fill all the crowd shots and scenes of the Phantom Rider zooming around other competitors with faces. And we all know how much "Sonic" artists love to design some O.C.s. I'm not shocked that fans would latch onto one of these background designs. What I find funny is which one seems to be speaking to people. In just the last three days this issue has been out, I've seen multiple Discord comments and Twitter posts demanding to know more about the black furred racer, wearing visor sun glasses, a puffy red jacket, and riding a red hoverboard. It seems to me that this guy is clearly meant to be a generic figure. Lanolin might've started out as a background extra but a lot of work had clearly been put into her design, making her transition to named cast member easy to understand. I don't get that impression from Red Guy at all. But I guess something about his aura has caught the public's eye. "Sonic" fans are not immune to a bad boy in sunglasses and a leather jacket, it seems. Maybe Aaron should've thrown in a backwards baseball cap, some nunchucks in his pocket, while he was at it... Can we rastafy Red Guy by ten percent? Is this a racer who gets biz-zay, consistently and thoroughly? 

For the record, I think the monkey we see riding a nimbus cloud in one of the race scenes is a cooler design. Then again, maybe one Sun Wukong homage is enough in the world of "Sonic" comic books. Stanley has written compelling middle chapters in longer stories that had middling starts and go in to lame endings. She could still fumble this. Yet the improvement seen from the first part to the second is impressive. The teases here for future events get me excited, not bored. Most importantly, a surprising amount of character development is sneaked in between action beats, which makes them all the more involving. I may not care about "Sonic Riders" but I do care about these characters. Emphasizing the latter is all you really need to make any idea into a good comic book. [8/10]