Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 75

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 75

Publication Date: December 18th, 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, and the “Sonic” franchise hits another big milestone with the release of its third theatrical big budget movie, a much smaller part of the multi-media franchise has another reason to celebrate. The IDW “Sonic the Hedgehog” comic has reached 75 issues, being in publication for over six years. Once you factor in the various mini-series and one-shots, IDW has definitely published over a hundred “Sonic” related comic books. That’s no small feat for a licensed comic book in this day and age, when the non-DC/Marvel publishers can easily go under and books can get unceremoniously canned for whatever reason. In other words: Assuming there are no massive fuck-ups on IDW’s behalf, or the entire American comic industry goes kaput, the “new” “Sonic” comic is well on its way to being as much of a long-runner as the old “Sonic” comic. I can certainly complain about how IDW’s comic still doesn’t seem as fleshed-out or expansive as Archie’s universe did by this point… By now, however, I’m willing to chalk this opinion up to me being old. The kids who are growing up with IDW “Sonic” probably consider this series as beloved and compelling as I did with the nineties comics at that age. 

Issue 75 is also the much long await – by me anyway – conclusion to the Clean Sweepstakes story arc, playing out over a double-length issue. Deep within the heart of Clutch’s air ship, Tails, Amy, Belle, the Chaotix and a few other people attempt to escape the engine room as the entire vessel is on the verge of exploding. Sonic races to the deck of the ship to face Clutch one on one, soon being joined by Surge, Kit, and another unexpected ally. The Babylon Rogues lead an impromptu rescue mission to prevent the massive ship from crashing right into Central City and killing untold numbers of people. The Diamond Cutters, meanwhile, realize that “Duo the Cat” is actually the shapeshifter Mimic, Lanolin finally putting aside her differences with Tangle and Whisper. It all wraps up in a giant fireball at Restoration HQ. 

Issue 75 starts with a decent idea. The self destruct sequence on the air ship has been started. This means all of the heroes aboard the boat have an ever-shrinking window to escape before it explodes. That’s a good way to keep the suspense high in the final leg of a storyline. Unfortunately, Evan Stanley does not stop there. This is a flying ship after all, meaning it’s plummeting towards the city. Before the issue is over, the flying race-track also begins to fall out of the sky. In the last third, the focus turns towards Sonic and Jet racing to get as many people out of Restoration HQ as they can before it also blows up. In other words, issue 75 begins with the characters on one deadline before continuously adding several more. It plays like a desperate attempt to keep the intensity rising. 

What it mostly ends up doing is making this comic book feel like it’ll never end. Typically speaking, a dramatic countdown to a big-ass explosion marks the story heading towards its most exciting moment. That’s what it meant in “Alien,” for one prominent example. However, this comic book repeatedly trying to outdo itself mostly means the story feels like it has about three different climaxes. Sonic, Surge, and Kit have a big fight with Clutch aboard the deck of the ship. Would that be where you’d expect this story to end? Instead, the threat of the air ship crashing and exploding takes precedence. Surely, that would represent the end of this particular plot? What’s more exciting than a big-ass thing going up in a big-ass explosion? Instead, the focus then shifts towards the rescue mission of all the Restoration staff, which hits a few snags of its own. 

Maybe Stanley giving this issue multiple logical end points before moving on to another is because issue 75 isn’t only the conclusion to the Clean Sweepstakes arc. In a lot of ways, this installment feels like the writer trying to put as many plot points to rest as possible. After what feels like far too long, “Duo the Cat” is finally discovered to be Mimic. Before we’re done, Evan also has Belle repair her little MotoBug friend. I have the creeping feeling that editorial demands this storyline get stretched out to conclude in the anniversary issue. At the same time, I feel the same force demanding this one feature some big reveals, hence the above events. Obviously, in order to cram all this shit into one comic book, it means Stanley resorts to her worst habit as a writer: Having far too many characters involved in far too many situations, constantly cutting back and forth between them as much as possible. It does not make for the most organized feeling read. 

What further causes issue 75 to feel double-stuffed is that the comic isn’t only resolving multiple plot points across a story that keeps barreling towards bigger pyrotechnics. It also shoves in a few twists and teasers. Eggman inserts himself into this story, after being absent since the first part, in an extremely gimmicky fashion. Yeah, turns out the hovercraft he built Sonic is a fucking Transformer and this was all part of a long con to get back at Clutch. Meanwhile, Surge and Jet both separately promise to Sonic that they’ll resolve their rivalry at some unspoken future date. This occurs after Surge deploys a big special move of her own. Because that’s exactly what this storyline needed: More characters and more superpowers. It’s almost impressive that this particular arc has managed to feel both far too long and not nearly long enough. It’s dragged on for multiple issues while also shoving in one event and reveal after another, none of them feeling properly fleshed out.

At least it has an ending though. As much as the structure and pacing of this issue bugs me, at least we won’t have to deal with a few stupid plot points anymore. First off, all that convoluted Phantom Rider business and the corresponding race is finally, thankfully done for. This issue also puts the extremely dumb Duo the Cat storyline to bed. Not that the Diamond Cutters finally figure out the very obvious deception at play here. “Duo” forgot to turn off his cell phone and Clutch refers to him as “Mimic” in front of everyone, blowing his cover. This sequence also involves Lanolin realizing that she’s been acting like a bitch and apologizing. Whisper apologizes too, though I’m not really sure why she felt the need to. In fact, this comic has Surge and Jet both coming to agreements of sorts with Sonic. Somehow, time is also found her to have the Hippy Orangutan Mechanic be nice to Belle and presumably settle any tension between them. As if Stanley is desperate to have the fandom stop hating these characters that they’ve been trashing lately. (Okay, I don’t know if anyone else but me dislikes “Chief Mechanic” that much but, still, the point stands.) 

The end of the issue also seems to see Rough and Tumble joining the Restoration, or at least promising to be less evil in the future. If Stanley was going out of her way to provide some sort of redemptive moments for characters that have behaved badly, she does not extend that gesture to two other characters. No, Mimic remains as incapable of redemption as possible. Clutch, meanwhile, is painted as more of a bastard than before. He somehow proves to be a physical threat to Sonic and Surge, at least via implementing firearms of varying size. He also references having killed other heroes in the past. IDW has constantly emphasized the idea that nobody is beyond rehabilitation in Sonic’s eyes, to the point that he’s allowed Eggman to escape capture in the past. Surge and Kit are clearly working their way towards heel-face turns too, though they aren’t quite there yet. However, it seems that Stanley considers professional assassins and businessmen/mob bosses particularly beyond redemption. She wants you to know that these two son of bitches are too ruthless to ever change their ways.  

That these two villains are utterly unforgivable does feed into what is, I think, the moral of this particular issue. Jet and the Babylon Rogues don’t move the falling air ship single-handedly. They direct a bunch of citizens to pitch in, using their own flying vehicles to pull the ship out of the path of the city. There is an extremely awkward line of dialogue, where Nite declares “Power to the people!” This goes hand-in-hand with the final sequence, of Jet rushing into the burning base to rescue whoever he can. The obvious idea is, anyone that is willing to help other people can be a force for good. That means the average person can be “powerful” and a former scoundrel can turn over a new leaf. It’s a nice idea and all but feels somewhat shoved into an already overstuffed issue.

Let’s go back to Surge for a minute. Her progression, from villain with a grudge who wants to see the whole world burn to someone realizing it’s possible for them to be loved, has been the brightest spot among all the racing and double-crossing. The payoff to that particular arc ostensibly occurs when Surge helps beat the shit out of Clutch, after announcing that she’s quitting. She’s no longer going to let assholes talk her into doing stuff that’s against her heart, the same conclusion she came to after Starline bit the dust. However, Surge awkwardly exits the story after that incident and she’s not even the one who takes Clutch out. Instead, it seems as if Jet gets the moment that logically should be her’s. He puts aside his own petty goals – of beating Sonic in a race – for the greater good. He leads the charge to redirect the falling, about-to-explode cruiser from above the city. Sonic appeals to his ego and goads him into helping save everyone in the Restoration. In other words: Jet stops acting selfishly and starts doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. It feels like that’s the direction Surge should have been going in, instead of limping away half-way through the issue. 

With all the talk of explosions, murder, and possible death, issue 75 strikes me as mostly a fairly grim one. Perhaps Stanley was aware of this too. To counter that, several scenes of wacky comedy is inserted throughout. Rough and Tumble realize they’ve been staying inside a cage that was already unlocked. Sonic splays against the windshield of the air ship. Clutch’s security team insists they are on their break when called to action before abruptly quitting. None of these moments made me chuckle. In fact, they struck me as feeling extremely out-of-place. When things are as intense as they are in this issue, wacky slapstick and jokes about the big dumb guys being dumb do not feel especially needed.  

It’s a frustrating end to what has been a frustrating storyline. Min Ko Him’s art is good, with lots of flowing action scenes and expressive faces. You can tell he really loved to draw that giant robot that randomly appears for a few pages. He also includes what I assume are more fan-made O.C.s in various crowd shots, including one that looks an awful lot like Old Man Owl from the OVA. The final page sets up events for the next issue to follow, presumably setting up the next storyline. Hopefully that one won’t stretch on for six issues nor be bogged down by the need to both include as many characters as possible and have them all contribute to the story somehow. We know “Sonic” has a hundred characters. We don’t need to see them all! Frankly, I’m glad to be done with the Clean Sweepstakes. Let us put away our Extreme Gear for a while, please. [5/10]