Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 72

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 72

Original Publication Date: August 28th, 2024

 

I often refer to "Sonic the Hedgehog" as a multi-media franchise because that's exactly what it is. The fast blue rat exists as a video game series, a comic book long-runner, various animated adaptations, popular blockbuster movies, and a horde of merchandise. The nature of this multi-branch structure sometimes means "Sonic" stuff ends up competing with other "Sonic" stuff for the audience's attention. I had completely missed that a new issue of IDW "Sonic" had come out last Wednesday. I assumed this was simply because I was knee-deep in preparing for my two month long horror movie marathon over at my other blog. Upon second thought, I had seen zero chatter about issue 72 in the various "Sonic" fan communities I participate in. What other hedgehog news happened this week? Oh yeah, the trailer for the star-studded, multi-million dollar new movie. I'm sure the new comic being released two days after the "Sonic 3" trailer was a complete scheduling fluke. If IDW was hoping hype for the new film would draw eyeballs to their comic, it seems the opposite is true. Any discussion of issue 72 has been totally overshadowed – pun! – by the trailer drop. Luckily, there's always time to catch up. 

Where is the Phantom Rider/Clean Sweepstakes story arc taking us this month? Surge and Kit express their desire to quit Cleansweep to Clutch, who essentially laughs their announcement off. This enrages Surge so much that she generates a massive lightning storm above, at the same time a horde of flying car traffic is passing by. Coincidentally, Sonic is lurking around in the same traffic jam, his disguise malfunctioning. The Babylon Rogues swoop in, redirecting traffic in the storm and playing hero in hopes of rehabilitating their own public image. At least until Jet spots the Phantom Rider and that hyper-fixation takes over. Sonic is rescued by an unexpected ally: Nite the Owl and Don the Rooster, who also happen to be in this same traffic jam. 

In my review of issue 71, I referred to the current on-going arc as a collection of subplots all acting in their own lanes. Perhaps Evan Stanley was feeling that weigh on the plot too, fearful that it might collapse under the weight of so much happening at once. Her solution to bring some of these threads together in this issue is inelegant. Surge getting mad at Clutch results in a thunderstorm, that Sonic and the Rogues and Sonic's rescuers all happen to be caught in too. If this was depicting as Surge's atmospheric freak-out being so powerful, it stretches over an entire metropolitan area, that would be one thing. Instead, it seems almost all the current plot lines come together in the same spot by sheer coincidence. What makes this massively convenient fluke more frustrating is that it does little to push the overall arc forward. The last issue felt like the buffer between the middle of the arc and the finale. This issue feels like... More of that buffer. How much longer are we going to watch these various divergent plot lines bounce around each other before they come together for some sort of satisfying whole? 

This frustration is most felt in Sonic's portion of the issue. What does the blue hedgehog actually do this month? He lurks around a traffic jam, trying to hide his face. He has a brief interaction with Jet before getting yanked into Nite and Don's Space Winnebago. They talk and, after Don patches up his Henshin-A-Go-Go gadget, then he leaves! While forcing Sonic into a double life was interesting at first, now it's clear that isolating the hedgehog from his friends has also isolated him from the flow of the rest of the story. This issue feels as if everything is happening around the hedgehog. Which is not a great position for the titular hero to be in. 

If I were to be cynical for a moment – something I never am – I would say this sequence is only in the issue for strictly commercial reasons. First off, you've got to have Sonic the Hedgehog do something in the book with his name on the cover. The fans who complain about the comics being nothing but the author's O.C.s doing stuff will get mad otherwise. This sequence also allows an issue otherwise focused on character development to have an action beat early on. The minute Jet sees the Phantom Rider, he deviates from his plan and chases after the guy. It's the briefest struggle and there's a longer fight scene in the issue's back half. The feeling that Stanley is trying to make Jet and Sonic's rivalry a major lynchpin in this arc is starting to become a little sweaty. She wanted to do a racing arc and, if you're doing that, the Rogues have to be there. But the Rogues aren't that interesting on their own, so Stanley has seized on Jet's obsession with Sonic to beef up that particular corner of the story. However, you can always tell where Stanley's interest actually resides. And it's not with Jet's raging hate-on for Sonic. 

The rambling point I'm making here is... This scene feels like it's in this issue because it has to be. There has to be an action scene within the first few pages. Sonic has to do something. If the Babylon Rogues' dedicated plotline, of trying to reinvent themselves as heroes the way Surge and Kit have, went anywhere, this would feel less intrusive. It doesn't though. Jet is still determined to chase Sonic until the ends of the Earth and the hedgehog is more annoyed by it than anything else. The moment where Wave feels unappreciated that ego maniac Jet never allows her to take any credit for her ideas is the sole moment here that catches my eyes. Will that go somewhere? Will Wave become so fed up with Jet's bullshit that she leaves the team? That would be a good end to this story, Jet's obsession growing so great that the closest people he has to friends abandon him. I kind of doubt that will happen though. Would Sega allow Stanley to break up the band, even temporarily? Feels like that would violate their unified brand vision or something.

While you can feel the author struggling to make compelling fiction out of this part of the story, she's clearly more invested in other parts. Namely, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the comic exclusive characters that she's more-or-less defined. Surge continues to be the beating heart of this saga. Last month, an enthusiastic fan made Surge realize that she didn't have to be bad to be loved. This month, she stands up to Clutch, tells him to take this job and so on. He immediately fires back that the public coming around to love Surge was his work. He gave it to her, he can take it away. Being the angsty little marshmallow she is, Surge immediately has to have a temper tantrum about it. Has to bemoan how someone is always trying to control her. Kit gives her a big hug and it's absolutely fucking adorable. I do wonder why Surge wouldn't just shock the shit out of Clutch and call it a day. I suppose his villainous monologue is very convincing to her. Considering part of her thundering rage involves screaming how no one can tell her what to do, hopefully she will find a way to rebel. Still, I love when this unhinged psycho bitch shows her soft, squishy, vulnerable insides. There's no doubt in my mind at this point that Surge is one of the most psychologically fleshed-out characters in this entire series. 

This scene serves another purpose too, besides making all of us want to give Surge another hug. The longer the Clean Sweepstakes event goes on, the clearer it becomes what one of Stanley's big goals with this narrative were: To properly establish Clutch as a major villain. He's been floating around the sidelines for a while, being all untrustworthy and shit. Now he's making his big plan to rob the Restoration. The scene with Surge and Kit, meanwhile, show personally devious this guy is. He manipulates Surge perfectly with only his words, looming over her and breaking her will with a simple statement. When Starline would monologue at Surge like this, it worked. He "created" her, after all. I still don't 100% buy Clutch as a mastermind, high-ranking bad guy. He still seems like a petty crook trying to break into the big leagues. The comic needs to have him do some real bastard shit – engineer a public crisis, kill someone, run for public office – for me to see him as a truly S-tier antagonist. The comics have yet to develop him much beyond mildly foppish crime boss. Stanley clearly wants Clutch to be the Kingpin of the IDW Sonic-Verse but he still strikes me as more like the Crime Master or Big Man or whichever D-list Spider-Man villain best fits this metaphor. The narrative supports the idea that Clutch has graduated from wannabe to major threat but he still feels more like the latter to me. 

This issue also provides a chance for Evan to write two of her other creations into this on-going. Nite the Owl and Don the Rooster have been present since the Metal Virus Saga. Previously, I had no strong feelings about them one way or another. Don's grumpiness is mildly endearing. Nite's indefatigable peppiness is slightly annoying. However, these two didn't seem to fill any role other than a radio DJ and his sidekick. They added some color to the world but I didn't have any desire to know more about them. Why couldn't Kit the Capybara been the minor supporting character to take off? This latest appearance does give us a peek into Nite and Don's lives. Turns out the owl is a secret informer for the Restoration and they own a van together. (No word yet on if it resides down by the river.) I guess that means we'll be seeing more of these two guys in the near future, not only when Nite comes out of a goddamn up-tempo record when he has to talk about a fucking dog dying. 

Oh yeah, also, they're gay. Speaking of coming out! I mean, I guess Nite referring to Don as “my dear” could be totally platonic but the goo-goo eyes he gives the rooster in the same panel suggest otherwise. I had some vague recollection of some word-of-God confirmation that these two are lovers but doubted it would make it into the actual comic in any significant way. Revisiting the Tumblr post where Evan dropped this lore nugget confirms that these two are canonically a couple and have been from the beginning. As far as representation goes, this is still very subtle. It's not like they are pressing their beaks together in an awkward attempt to replicate kissing.. Considering how coy the comic has been with confirming Tangle and Whisper's really, really obvious relationship, it's nice to see these two being out and proud. That gay characters are allowed to exist in this universe without anyone drawing attention to it. (Though did Stanley consider the implications of making the “Sonic” universe's first confirmed bara a literal cock? Lol.)

Somehow, this does not cover all the fucking subplots in this issue. I still am not sure what timeline Tails, Amy, and Belle are operating on in comparison to the rest of the events. However, here they rush towards Jewel's office only to be stopped by the Cleansweep mascots, soon revealed to be Rough and Tumble in disguise. There is one adorable moment here, when Belle puts two-and-two together and realizes she's made a big mistake. However, this particular series of events still feels like it's being dragged out way too long. That Jewel doesn't hear the fisticuffs going on right outside her office is explained by her having some headphones on, which is very contrived. I'm beginning to think Evan is not great at actually pacing out her storylines, especially when there are multiple threads to juggle. 

Despite having some big problems, I still enjoyed this installment. Once again, the little character interactions end up saving the day. Surge having her wangsty cry session and Kit comforting her – and even Nite's tiny act of affection towards his boyfriend – make these convoluted action/adventure events feel a lot more meaningful. I would rather the forward momentum of the plot and the emotional events of the cast feel intertwined... But considering all the bad “Sonic the Hedgehog” comic books I've read over the years, I'm simply pleased that one of those elements exist. It looks like IDW is going to stretch this particular arc out for at least three more issues. Guess I better get used to complaining about all these subplots competing for time and attention. [6/10]