DC X Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 1

DC X Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 1

Original Publication Date: March 19th, 2025

Childhood play sessions have no respect for the boundaries of international copyright laws. There's nothing stopping little Billy from slamming Optimus Prime against Cy-Kill. When toy boxes are emptied out onto bedroom floors, Cobra Commander and Skeletor can get drinks together at the Mos Eisley Cantina. Leonardo can hang out in Barbie's dream house while Prime, Goku, and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake compare bulging pectorals on the second floor. Most kids don't understand the complicated contractual agreements and red tape that keep such wild meetings from happening in real life. Those that do still have little interest in abiding by them. I was this way as a kid too, The Power Rangers and the Street Sharks teaming up to keep Godzilla from eating my Lego city is the kind of shit I got up to in the early nineties. When children see a bunch of wacky, unrelated, colorful characters, it's only second nature that we want to see them interact. Especially if the combination is so bizarre as to be extremely unlikely to occur in real life.  

That's what kids used to do anyway. I don't know if they do that today. They're probably too busy learning how to make a blood sacrifice to Mr. Beast from the TikToks or whatever now. While the habits of actual children are beyond me now, the millennials are the generation that has refused to put away childish things. Adult collectors are aggressively marketed to by toy corporations today, sometimes to the exclusion of actual children it seems. Moreover, late stage capitalism has made all of our wildest childhood crossover ideas more possible than ever. Every publisher and company getting scooped up to become a part of one massive corporation means lots of different intellectual properties are houses under the same umbrella. Similarly, it seems to have become common knowledge that crossovers benefit everyone, drawing more eyes to different series and making more money for everyone. Or, at least, the people who sign the checks. Certainly not, say, the original writers or whatever. 

In other words, massive brands are now more than happy to make the playtime daydreams of middle-age man-children actually come true. Video games really pioneered this approach, with "Super Smash Bros" and "Marvel Vs. Capcom" making many a gamer realize that the roadblocks to unexpected crossovers might not be as Byzantine as they thought. Now, guest characters and crossover promotions are standard practice for most triple-AAA titles. The Terminator is in both "Call of Duty" and "Fortnite" now, after previously showing up in "Mortal Kombat." He can dab next to John Wick and Chun-Li, if you want. There are "Final Fantasy" characters on "Magic: The Gathering" cards. Pokemon are everywhere. Obviously, it goes without saying, that superheroes have been at the forefront of this growing IP-ifacation of all media. I think the case can be made that Disney buying Marvel is probably what flew open the floodgates for all of our culture becoming like this now. 

Comic books, of course, pioneered weirdo collaborations like this. There used to be a goofy charm to them. If Alien Versus-ed Predator or Charles Xavier and Jean-Luc Picard got to compare domes, it happened because somebody thought it was a fun idea. Only a maniac would pitch "Ape Nation" or "Jason Vs. Leatherface." Now, a lot of these crossovers seem algorithmically generated. Every day, I hear about how Godzilla is going to stomp the Fantastic Four or the Justice League or the Power Rangers. We are so used to these things that Red Sonja fighting the "Mars Attack!" aliens or the Ninja Turtles meeting Naruto no longer generates any awe. It's commonplace. This is all the more frustrating for me because, as a kid, I loved this shit. I can recall getting excited to watch Scooby-Doo meet the Addams Family simply because different universes bumping into each other really amused. 

"Sonic the Hedgehog" is a nostalgia property now, meaning it too has been subjected to this brave new world of weirdo crossbreeds. My beloved blue hedgehog has become a Lego, a Transformer, a Smash Bro, a Roblox, and a, uh, Fall Guy, I guess. On the comic book side of things, however, we haven't seen unexpected cross-brand synergy since the Archie days... That changes now. Where once before "Sonic" comic readers had to be satisfied with appearances alongside Sabrina the Teenage Witch or the Maxx, the hedgehog is now a recognizable enough of a comic mainstay to grace the pages with the big boys. As in Superman and Batman, the names literally synonymous with the medium and two of the most popular fictional characters in the world. Now that was a crossover suitably unhinged enough to awaken me from my complacency. I don't know if this means Sonic, as a character, is comparable in popularity to Superman now or if DC Comics is simply desperate enough to move some product that they'll agree to any sort of stupid bullshit. Either way, the kiddie video game comics I love being acknowledged by the capeshit market leaders is one I never expected. The crossover is simply entitled "DC X Sonic," putting Sega's crew on equal footing with the entire DC Universe. I don't think this means the Chaotix will be cracking cases with Detective Chimp or that Brother Power the Geek will join the Restoration but they all exist in the sprawling multiverse now. What a time to be alive. 

Now, how exactly does one go about getting Sonic and friends in the DC Universe and vice versa? Ian Flynn doesn't waste any time in Part One of "Chaos Crisis." Sonic, Amy, and Tails are chilling at Never Lake when a vessel that looks a little like Jack Palance's face busts through an interdimensonal wedgie hole. A horde of winged assholes named Parademons fly from the ship and go on the attack. Yes, Darkseid – the New God of Tyranny and high villainous poo-ba of the DCU – has set his sights on the Chaos Emeralds. After destroying the Master Emerald and Angel Island, they move on to Sunset City. Sonic and friends are not alone in fighting back these strange new invaders. The Justice League – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Cyborg, and Green Lantern Corp member Jon Stewart – appear to assist the furry little heroes. During an ebb in the invasion, the different heroes pair off to cover more ground. Sonic and the Flash race over to the hedgehog's most familiar stomping grounds to see that Darkseid has already gotten his mitts on one Chaos Emeralds. 

As I said above, back in my youth, I enjoyed a good crossover every now and then. Mostly in the form of fanfiction, which used to be the only way for stories like this to exist. While you couldn't say that all of them began with a tear of the fabric of reality opening in the sky and some jerks from a different universe dropping, some of them definitely did. We want to see these two otherwise unrelated groups interacting as quickly as possible, so why waste time with a whole lot of set-up? Similarly, Flynn went with the most obvious route when finding a story for this crossover. Darkseid, always in search of new worlds to conquer in his quest for the Anti-Life Equation, has now staked out Sonic's World. The Chaos Emeralds, the go-to plot device, are what he seeks. The Justice League follows through the exact same portal as the bad guys, since Cyborg's origin story is tied up with the New Gods mythology these days. As far as cosmic crossovers go, this is the path of least resistance. 

The funny thing is... It's very easy to imagine a Sonic/Justice League crossover set in the hedgehog's world beginning with the heroes, sitting around having a picnic. It's a lot harder to imagine the same story beginning this way on the DC side of things. That is a big reason why this particular crossover is unexpected. Sonic has tangoed with world-shattering threats over the years, sure. While Superman and Batman have been sold to babies for far longer. Yet Sonic's archenemy is a somewhat whimsical egg-shaped mad scientist. Batman's archenemy is a psychopathic clown that a beat a child to death with a crowbar once. The Flash, famously, went to trial for murdering his nemesis. One could make the comparison between Robotnik using the Roboticizer to strip away people's free will and Darkseid looking to subjugate all life in the universe to him via Anti-Life but it seems to be of a magnitude greater. Ya know, Elongated Man's wife got raped on the JLA Watchtower by Doctor Light once. When Cyborg was on the Teen Titans, the guy they fought the most was an actual pedophile. It's a little weird to think that Sonic the Hedgehog is that close to having an adventure in the same world as that shit. 

Okay, yes, it's not that any of these events happened to these versions of the Justice League, about whom we know very little. Like I said, iterations of the DC Comics universe that have all their harsh edges completely sanded away have been running alongside the comics for decades. Right now, there's a cartoon for toddlers where the various vehicles in Batman's garage have personalities and learn lessons about friendship together. Generally though, it is fair to say that Sonic and the Justice League are grappling with different levels of threats. Yes, Eggman is a tyrant who has surely caused plenty of death and destruction over the years. He's probably technically as bad as Lex Luthor or the Joker. However, "Sonic" media has usually – usually, mind you – refused to show people actually dying. Maybe Darkseid, intergalactic space Hitler with his dominatrix shock troops, are a little above Sonic the Hedgehog's pay grade. That brings up another good point: War, specific real world wars, exist in the DCU. Poverty, class inequality, corrupt politics, sex slavery, sex in general, pornography, racism, genocide, and sketchy businessmen all canonically exist in the DC Universe. It is difficult to imagine Sonic the Hedgehog tussling with crisis on infinite Earths that contain that kind of misery and suffering. 

I suppose I am, in typical fashion, overthinking it. Ian Flynn was no doubt aware of how grim and gritty mainstream superhero comics can get. Especially in comparison to the light and colorful world of Sonic and his pals. Rather than try and bring either universe up and down to these mutual levels, he instead smartly focuses on what these universes have in common. Sonic and the Flash are both super-fast smart-asses. Of course, in the middle of their adventures, they stop to debate who is faster. Knuckles and Superman are both lone survivors of their kind – except for when they aren't, of course – with a special relationship to green, glowing rocks. Tails and Cyborg are both young techno-geniuses. We get scenes of the different teams bonding over their similarities and they are reasonably amusing. Such as Amy fan-girling over Wonder Woman being able to fly or Silver and Green Lantern comparing power sets. In one sequence, Flynn zeroing in on how these two sets of heroes are cut from the same archetypes becomes surprisingly moving. Shadow isn't a team player and skips away to brood early on. Ever perceptive Batman immediately recognizes in the so-called Ultimate Lifeform a kindred spirit. Namely, someone else who has watched the person they love most in life die right in front of them, be helpless to save them, and promised to make sure nobody else ever feels that pain. It's a brief moment and exists largely so that Shadow can believably be written interacting as a team player. Yet it's a moment that zooms in on some essential truths about these characters, why they are iconic, and why they endure. 

Most of the rest of "Chaos Crisis, Part One" is too preoccupied with setting up its premise to leave moments like that. Like I said, crossovers like these are often about mashing your different action figures together. The fun factor is inherent in seeing these two unrelated cast interact. Shadow riding his chopper alongside the Batcycle is cool. Sonic and the Flash racing is fun. Superman being his wholesome heroic self around Knuckles is cute. There are expected moments designed to make the reader bubble up with nerdy glee. Such as Cyborg saying "Boo-yah!" Or the Flash mistaking Sonic for Krakkl, the pre-existing homage to Sonic within the DCU. (No word on if this Flash is Barry or Wally yet, though.) On that level, I do think issue one of "DC X Sonic" is successful. The novelty of seeing these two entities bounce off each other is certainly enough to make this an entertaining, easy read. I'm glad I read this comic book and that it exists in the first place. 

Mostly, I think this crossover was created to make power scalers scream in abject horror. The varying fastness of Sonic and the Flash depends greatly on what the writer wants them to be able to do at any given point. I think applying hard rules or limits to cartoon superheroes is very silly. On the other hand, the Flash is obviously waaay faster than Sonic is traditionally depicted as being. Superman is, without a doubt, much stronger than Knuckles. And yet, in this comic, we see the Blue Blur and the Scarlet Speedster keeping afoot of each other. We see Knuckles floor Kalibak, Darkseid's eldest son and one of Superman's more physically imposing antagonists, with a single punch. It's not uncommon for power levels to get greatly increased or softened in order to make crossovers such as these possible. Considering how much of the internet is now consumed by people arguing over which cartoon character is faster or stronger, these moments feel like Flynn intentionally fucking with us. 

If this crossover was going to work at all, the folks at IDW and DC needed to do something very important: Find a "Sonic" artist who can draw decent looking superheroes or find a superhero artist who doesn't totally suck at drawing "Sonic" characters. There's no doubt that artists more akin to one style over the other other have struggled when ask to make the leap. Luckily, Adam Bryce Thompson was available and he's pretty damn good at both. Obviously, he's very good at drawing Sonic and friends. Since this first issue is mostly action scenes, we get a lot of flashy, dynamic panels of them zipping around and displaying their powers. The Justice League look good too, if not as good. I like that Thompson gives them nice heroic builds that aren't unbelievable, preposterously swole or stacked. You can tell that this isn't the kind of thing that ABT usually draws. Batman or the Flash maybe look a little weird in one or two panels. Mostly, it looks pretty damn good. No complaints. 

Also, Flynn has what seems to be Darkseid's version of the Death Egg called the Ragna Rock, which definitely feels like the kind of wordplay Jack Kirby would have come up with. Like I said, I was cynical about "DC X Sonic" when it was first announced. Few crossovers such as this live up to the hype for me. DC Comics is another hyper-nerdy interest of mine that I have way too much investment in, if perhaps not to the degree I do with "Sonic." It would have been easy to fuck it up. Flynn approaches both universes with respect and seems to have a good grip on them. He also doesn't avoid the very safe middle ground you'd expect for such a crossover. This is nearly a very bland comic book that subsist mostly on the novelty of its premise. I guess we'll see how this plays out over the next few issues, if it can ever rise above that level. Mostly, I liked it... Except for there being no Aquaman. Come on, Ian, how are you going to do a DC/Sonic crossover and not include the Arthur Curry, the King of Atlantis? If there's not a scene of Sonic sinking into some water and nearly drowning just to be plucked out of the deep by Aquaman, I will instantly declare this entire enterprise a failure. [7/10]