Sonic the Hedgehog: Spring Broken!

Sonic the Hedgehog: Spring Broken!

Original Publication Date: June 26th, 2024

I don't know about you guys but, here in my corner of the world right now, it's way too fuckin' hot. It's actually been hitting 100°F and up lately which, no, is not normal. Thanks, climate change! Despite it obviously being summer now, IDW has just published a comic book called "Sonic the Hedgehog: Spring Broken." Aside from being a pun that took me way too long to process, the comic is also wildly out-of-season. Of course, that's because the issue was supposed to come out back in April but suffered another one of IDW's famous last minute schedule slips. And then another and another, the issue finally working its way out in June. I guess it must be spring somewhere in the world. Let us dive into "Spring Broken" then. 

It's certainly spring in the world of Sonic the Hedgehog as this comic book opens. Tails is super excited to attend the Spring Festival, a local carnival and event that arrives every year. Among the attractions is the Annual Flower Frolic Festival, where the community's best gardeners gather to present their most beautifully groomed and grown flowers. Amy is acting as a judge this year, with Silver, Espio, and Jewel in competition. Also Rough and Tumble are there. Silver is very nervous to show off a flower he's worked extra hard on growing but, when it's unveiled on-stage, the plant is on fire. This is the beginning of a mystery, Tails and Vector following a convoluted series of clues to figure out who sabotage Silver's carefully grown flower.

As with last year's Halloween special, "Spring Broken" sees a new writer entering the IDW "Sonic" fold. This story was penned by Josh Trujillo, who has worked on some fairly high-profile DC and Marvel titles. He's currently writing the latest "Blue Beetle" on-going, for one example. Trujillo is also quite experienced with licensed books, having worked on tie-ins for "Rick & Morty," "Adventure Time," "Dream Daddy," and "Bill & Ted." He should be used to playing in other people's sand boxes. This is his first "Sonic" comic, however. Much like Mark Bouchard's "A Very Chaotix Halloween," it seems Trujillo took the idea that "Sonic" is an all-ages, kid-friendly title a little too far. "Spring Broken" is another story that seems aimed at the youngest of fans. There's no fighting and very little action. No one's lives are threatened. No egg-shaped robots are deployed. 

This is, in and of itself, not necessarily a problem. I'm fine with a "Sonic" story just being a fun little hang-out piece. Yet the low stakes pair with a childish tone, that features simplistic takes on the cast. Amy is upbeat and girly, the moment when she reveals Silver's burning flower and gets high-strung being the only colorful moment she has. Vector is defined solely by his status as a detective. Rough and Tumble are simple-minded bad guys which, okay, fine. Charmy is reduced to being such a little kid that he comes off as kind of dumb. Tails being super excited for the Spring Festival is fine, though it would've been nice if his sudden interest in botany was explained in some way. I found myself feeling that way about how a lot of the heroes are written. Silver has shown an interest in gardening in a few IDW issues but mostly of produce and not fancy flowers. Espio and Jewel being into this hobby comes out of nowhere. In general, the script makes the characters feel less like fully fleshed out living beings and more like pawns for a story the writer wanted to tell. 

The only character here that seems truly himself is Sonic... And he doesn't have much to do. In fact, during the presentation of the different flowers, Sonic yawns. The only exciting moment the hedgehog receives is to chase after a possible suspect, a moment that lasts for two whole pages. Instead, the meat of the story focuses on Tails and Vector, working together to solve the mystery of who killed Silver's flower. I like it when characters that don't interact often are paired up. Brainy Tails is certainly a fine pick to work as a detective anyway, with his attention to detail and talent for brilliant solutions. Still, it does feel a little weird that the best thing Sonic does is scarf down a jumbo sized chili dog. 

The kiddie tone is really noticeable in the central mystery. I don't expect the Chaotix to be investigating homicides or drug smuggling operations. The days of their cases starting with a kid dying of an overdose are long since gone. However, there's no denying that the stakes here are as low as possible. "Someone ruined my fancy flower!" sounds like the kind of thing Sherlock Hemlock should be looking into, not the Chaotix. As the end of the story reveals, it's debatable whether a crime was even committed. I can't help but feel that, if you're going to involve the Chaotix in the story and frame your narrative as a mystery, you should probably have something a little more exciting than a dead plant be the kick-off to the investigation. 

Given the simplicity of the story being told, it will not surprise you to read who exactly is behind this quasi-crime. From all of the characters gathered together, which is the shiftiest and most underhanded? Trujillo's script is seemingly aware of how foregone this exact conclusion is. In order to further delay the inevitable, a bunch of goofy twists and false leads are thrown in. The mystery seemingly solves itself twice before the heroes come close to uncovering the actual truth. The result is a seemingly simple event being the result of a rather convoluted series of events. Whether you find that to be a compelling conclusion I guess depends on whether you prefer these stories go in a straight line or a series of zig-zags. I, personally, found it a bit irritating. 

My biggest problem with "Spring Broken" is not the kids-glove tone, the simplistic take on the cast, the non-mystery or the attempt to make that more interesting. All of this would be acceptable if this light-hearted and ostensibly amusing premise actually had some... Ya know, jokes. The only laughs to be found arise from the oversized reactions the characters have to the various not-so-exciting events. Otherwise, there aren't any gags or one-liners. Comic books like this really needed Sonic being a smart-ass, to bring along some of that nineties 'tude. Instead, he grabs a broom and cleans up some trash, doing his civic duty as a superhero. What an inspiration to the kids. Sonic Says Don't Litter! 

The issue features a few cameos from established "Sonic" characters. Big the Cat shows up briefly, having gotten some ice cream flipped on his head. Nite the Owl is the co-presenter of the contest and Don the Rooster pushes the prize – a humongous gemstone – on-stage. Cream and Vanilla have cameos. I gotta tell you, sometimes I have this fear that the "Sonic" comics will eventually become only an excuse for the most dunderheaded fans of this franchise to point at a page and say "There they are! My favorite character! Yay! Serotonin activated!" You must do something with these guys if you actually want to get a pop out of the reader. Having them appear on-panel is not enough. That kind of thinking is how we got a 200 million dollar "Flash" movie seemingly built around a twenty-second cameo from a CGI Nicolas Cage. 

Also, you're telling me that there's a big shiny rock in this story and Rouge didn't show up? Not a single glimpse of Tangle and Whisper? And during Pride Month too... For shame! If you're going to pander to the reader with cameos of random cast members, at least include the random cast members I like! I'm joking but also I'm not because the reveal that Rouge was the one behind poisoning Silver's plant just so she could get her hands on a super-duper geode, only to get talked out of being villainous and giving the rock to Jewel's museum at the end, would be a way better story than this! That's a character arc, guys. Or maybe the gem is secretly some power source that Eggman is after... Not to dissuade anyone's interest in slice-of-life plots involving these characters but so much more could have been done with this set-up. I can't avoid the conclusion that Trujillo's heart simply wasn't in this one, due to either a lack of interest in this world, a lack of time, or weird editorial demands. 

The more I write about this comic, the less I like it. Here, have some positivity. The artwork is great! Adam Bryce Thompson is back on pencils and, as we've come to expect from him, his work is excellent. It's entirely possible that the best moments in this issue – Amy clenching her teeth, Silver's freakout, Vector invading Tails' personal space, Sonic's spit bubble – were entirely his work. Artist add details like that of their own volition sometimes. Obviously, ABT's talent for hyper-expressive faces and his ability to add a dynamic sense of movement to panels where not much is happening are the highlight here, outshining the script. Thompson's obsessive attention to background detail is nice too. The various crowd scenes are full of lovingly designed characters. I know Thompson has a habit of sneaking his friend's OCs into crowd scenes. I suspect that's what some of these faces are. A fox-like female wearing an Egyptian headdress of some sort definitely feels like one of those. As self-indulgent as you could call this tendency, I think it actually adds a lot more color to this world, allowing us to imagine that even the random critters on the street have their own histories and complex personalities. 

Ultimately, "Spring Broken" doesn't have any punchiness as a comedy. No intrigue is produced by its goofy, simplistic mystery. The characters are so reduced to their basic attributes that you don't get much joy out of watching them interact. This produces the most important question of all: What was the point? IDW using these seasonal one-shots as a testing ground for new "Sonic" writers is a good idea. However, this is the second time a newbie has produced mediocre work. Where's Daniel Barnes when you need him? I mean, "Spring Broken" isn't the worst thing. It's too harmless for that. However, it's been a while since I've read a "Sonic" comic so easily forgotten the minute you closed the back cover. [5/10]