Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 26

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 26
Publication Date: March 4, 2020

Throughout these IDW reviews, over the last year, I’ve done pretty nothing but bitch about when the Metal Virus Crisis will be over. Point of fact, I’m tired of being tired of it. Say what you will about the first year’s Neo Metal Sonic saga but, once it got going, the pacing was extremely strong. This story arc has officially been going for a year now. It’s only been in the last few weeks that an actual end is now in sight. It’ll be over by Issue 30, which should come out in May, assuming there are no further delays. So Flynn looks to be wrapping this shit up in two months, via three issues. Which might explain why the pacing is finally starting to move again...

In fact, you know the end is neigh for this particular plot point because issue 26 is the start of a four-parter. “Sonic” comics love four-parters! “All or Nothing, Part One” has the remnants of the Restoration, now aligned with it’s greatest enemy, thinking of a strategy to take the Chaos Emeralds back from the power mad Deadly Six. Tails and Robotnik successfully reverse-engineer a portal generator from the Warp Topaz. The team splits up in two different sets, each heading off against the different Zetis. Sonic and Knuckles stay behind to keep an eye on Eggman, who is definitely planning something.

On the surface, issue 26 is yet another comic devoted to brass tacks narrative construction. Flynn spends a lot of time on detailing what characters will be headed in which directions. Tails and Amy take on Zomom. Whisper and Silver go after Zor. The Babylon Rogues face off with Master Zik. Espio goes after Zazz, after Knuckles decides to stay on the island. Gemerl is suppose to take on Zeena alone but Cream runs ahead of him. Rouge, meanwhile, is abroad the Faceship and sneaking around behind Zavok’s back, with Orbot and Cubot trying to distract him. In the abstract, that sounds pretty fucking tedious.

Yet, this month, Flynn remembers he has a fairly lovable cast of characters in a dynamic situation here. A lot of issue 26 focuses on character interaction and it ends up saving an otherwise perfunctory plot. During a moment when refugees are setting up camp on Angel Island — reminding us that, yes, everyday folk are still being affected by this — Espio and Knuckles have a brief talk. While still maintaining his stoic exterior, Espio makes it clear that the loss of Vector and Charmy is weighing on him. That he has lost many, and many more are in danger, and everything is riding on this one mission. Knuckles, in turns, tries to build his friend up. It’s one panel but the acknowledgment that these characters have anxieties, fears, and feelings helps a lot.

Also surprising is how, for the first time since introducing them in this comic book, Flynn makes me care about Cream and Gemerl. Despite being written like an emotional machine up to this point, Gemerl shows actual affection to the little bunny. When he says he’s going alone, she demands to come. Which cause him to respond that she has already proven her bravery, that she means too much to him to loose her. That’s... pretty sweet actually. When Cream leaps into the portal first, it’s a ballsy move from a character that has spent way too much time being nothing but a trauma sponge over the last year. Granted, this plan immediately goes wrong, seemingly because the Restoration forgot Gemerl is a robot, but that moment of emotion counts for a lot.

By far the juiciest interaction is the one with the least effect in the plot. Eggman builds Sonic a treadmill, to further stave off the ever-encroaching Metal Virus. This leads to a conversation, possibly hinting at how the characters’ motivations have evolved. The Mr. Tinker persona showed Sonic that there is good in Eggman. So now the hedgehog hopes to redeem, instead of merely defeating, his enemy. (This is very different from Archie Robotnik, who was proven to be irredeemable more than once.) Eggman, meanwhile, turns the table and tries to convince Sonic there’s something bad inside him, as he’s been helping spread the Metal Virus with his endless running. Whether Flynn plans on building on this idea — Eggman isn’t all evil, Sonic isn’t always heroic, and they both know it — remains to be seen.

While I’m obviously bias to character development, that’s not the only thing that improves the pacing this time around. Instead of ending on the obvious cliffhanger of everyone heading off to face their various enemies, Flynn has the issue stick around a little longer. We actually see the good guys scuffle a little with their chosen Zeti. In other words, Flynn isn’t just setting up the plot movement, the plot actually starts to move. Granted, I care about some of these scenarios more than others. Tails and Amy trying to outsmart the very not-smart Zomom provides some comic relief. (There’s actually a bit of much needed humor in this issue, with Knuckles’ confusion and Sonic’s obvious distrust of Eggman.) Espio sneaking around Zazz is mildly tense. On the other hand, the Babylon Rogues taking on Master Zik is so tedious. It’s the least interesting “good” guys, if you can call them that, taking on the most boring Zeti. For whatever reason, Flynn gives that fight the most page time here. Maybe the fans who actually give a shit about the birds would have a different reaction to that scene...

The artwork is also slightly uneven. Evan Stanley draws about half of the issue and does typically good work. Her facial expressions are especially strong, just exaggerated enough to give us a sense of the extreme emotions our characters are feeling. Priscilla Tramontano handles most of the Zeti related strengths. It’s clear Tramontano is still fine tuning her skills here. Her action scenes are somewhat awkward, everyone coming off as a bit stiff. Rouge bends in a weird way in one panel. Silver, Zor, and Zik all look kind of goofy in their fight scenes. It’s clear there are some “Sonic” cast members she draws a little better than others. I think she’ll keep improving as she continues to work on the book though.

Flaws and all, this is one of the better issues of the comic recently. I wish Flynn could balance character development, plot, and action this well more often. I’m actually looking forward to what’s happening next month! Though that may just be because this thing is finally almost over... [7/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 22

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 22
Publication Date: October 23, 2019

As I’ve noted in the past, the “Sonic” franchise doesn’t reference Halloween nearly as much as a major horror buff and October 31st devotee like me would prefer. However, IDW devoting almost all of 2019 to a zombie-themed story arc has made their “Sonic” a kid-friendly horror book right now. So, fittingly, the end of October didn’t go by without some notice. Issue 22 features a plot appropriate for its October 23rd release date. Even better, a variant cover has the “Sonic” gang dressed-up for trick-or-treating. Omega is a giant jack-o-lantern, Shadow is a vampire, Knuckles is a mummy, Tails a mad scientist, Amy a gothic Lolita, Silver is Nights, and Sonic wears a Werehog hoodie. Bats and pumpkins and candy are present. You have no idea the sheer joy this image brings me.

But that has nothing to do with the issue’s actual content. (Which is a shame, as a story about the gang just going out and having some spooky fun would probably be great right about now...) Instead, “The Last Minute Part 2” shows us how Restoration HQ fell to zombots, as referenced last time. Amy freaks out about the state of the world and Vector argues with Gemerl about dragging the zombified Charmy into the room. This is all a prelude to a random citizen revealing himself as infected. Soon, Zombots have taken over the entire building, claiming both Vanilla and Vector. Only a few make it away.

Like any other popular genre, the zombie movie has its familiar cliches. Flynn has clearly studied these movies and TV shows but doesn’t seem interested in reflecting on their tropes very critically. He indulges in two of my least favorite zombie story stereotypes. First is when people, locked in a location as the world falls apart outside, start bickering among themselves. Gemerl is still learning not to be an asshole, though Vector probably should be criticized for bringing an infected individual, contained in a fragile glass bubble, into a crowded base. But the issue’s main sin is the truly played-out plot twist of an infected person somehow making into a quarantined area and hiding their infection until it’s too late. I can’t believe Flynn plays that one, the hoariest of zombie cliches, so straight.

The noble self-sacrifice is another zombie cliche and “The Last Minute Part 2” does that as well. Throughout this story arc, Flynn has repeatedly referenced Cream keeping a joyful, upbeat personality during this crisis. To the point where I’m sick of everyone praising Cream’s childishly naive attitude. (Yes, I know she is literally a child.) She’s doing this to combat her reoccurring nightmares and the general atmosphere of entombing dread. But Flynn has hammered that same point several times now and I’m bored of it and bored of the character. Instead of throwing the little bunny to the glittery masses as I’d hoped, her mom pushes her daughter away for her own safety.

So, yes, the emotions are high and the situation is downbeat and I’m really ready for the heroes to get a win now. But, ya know, as least it feels a little more humane when compared to the last few issues. Flynn earns points for focusing on characters and their emotions in this moment. Vector is allowed to be unerringly attached to his buddy, even if he’s a zombie now. Amy is allowed to be overwhelmed. Cream is allowed to cry and Vanilla is allowed to be grateful her daughter is safe, even as she’s being turned into a Zombot. There’s a token stop over in Lost Hex, Zavok planning on betraying Eggman naturally, just to remind readers that plot point is still a going concern. But the people (animals?) are given precedence over the grinding, crushing mechanics of the narrative and that’s the way it should be.

One of the most unexpected joys of IDW “Sonic’s” second year has been Flynn redeeming Vector as a character. The Chaotix I love to hate got to be a convincing bad-ass a few issues back and gets to do the same again here. Yes, dragging the infected Charmy back to HQ is some, shall we say, typically Vector-esque planning. Yet there is something noble about his refusal to abandon his friend. Fittingly, Charmy ends up contaminating Vector. Just as they are escaping, the bee flies through the door. The crocodile bear-hugs him, saving the others but infecting himself. Calmly, even coolly, he walks into the zombie zone, never threating about the nanite ooze spreading over his body. He even slickly tells Espio he’s in charge of the Chaotix now as he goes. Goddamn, Ian, stop making Vector cool! It’s fucking up my processors!

After filling in for a few pages last time, Priscilla Tramontano gets to do an entire issue this time. It shows the typical growing pains of a new artist getting use to the “Sonic” style. Tramontano’s action sequences are kind-of stiff. When Amy hammers herself into the air or Vector kicks down a door, it just looks awkward and hard-to-follow. Her characters look a little too geometrical in general, too round in some spots and too straight-lined in others. I wonder if the two pages she contributed to the last issue were drawn after this? Those had a sense of motion and dynamism, while these panels are seriously lifeless.

Vector going against all previous display events and being awesome proves to be the main highlight of another ho-hum issue. After a strong start, the Zombot Crisis has fallen into repetitive or cliched plotting. I never thought a relentlessly bleak run of “Sonic” comics like this would tire me out. I read and loved a lot of relentlessly bleak “Sonic” fan fiction as a teenager! But the book is really needing a change of pace, location, or story in the very near future. (But we won’t get it, because this story arc is scheduled to go on for at least another three months.) [5/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 21

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 21
Publication Date: October 2, 2019

Something that’s starting to disappointment about the Metal Virus saga is that it’s so urban thus far. Just going from the games, Sonic’s world is one full of diverse locations. We are talking dessert, beaches, mountains, polar icecaps, enormous casinos, etc. instead of dropping a Zombot horde into the surreal spiraling landscape of the Green Hill Zone, the saga has mostly been content to display the Mecha-zombies overtaking various, nearly identical looking cities. I get this, from a narrative perspective. Eggman is focusing on densely populated areas, to spread the Infection more. That’s where the most people, that need protecting by the good guys, are gathered. But, as issue twenty-one touches upon the exact same set-up as the last few issues, it’s starting to get boring.

This is “The Last Minute, Part One.” The city — that looks like all the other cities — this time is Central City. That’s where Tails’ workshop is located. Eggman jizzes another dollop of grey goop from his Faceship and soon the city is overrun with Zombots. As the zombies spread, Tails toils away in his laboratory on a cure. He finally cracks a cure but just as the infected make it inside, forcing a speedy retreat that looses him his research. Tangle and Whisper also arrive to do what they can, save people, and contain the outbreak. But soon another city has fallen to the shiny tide.

You might notice that synopsis above doesn’t mention Sonic at all. Yes, Flynn gives the titular hero a break in this one. He’s out running as fast as he can, providing Tails with the data needed to engineer a cure, and only appears in one panel. So Tails, Tangle and Whisper are our heroes this time. That’s kind of cool. Even if this zombie outbreak is getting increasingly same-y, it is sort of cool that Flynn is giving us peeks at other corners of the world during this apocalyptic time. Now how about we see what the fuck Knuckles and Angel Island are doing during all of this, Ian? Just standing back and watching his friends suffer?

Anyway, this issue also has Flynn returning to one of his more peculiar characterization. That of Tails as a hyper-capable bad-ass. After the Zombots break in to his workshop and smash the hard drive containing the newly designed cure, Tails jumps into the Tornado 2 from “Sonic Adventure 2.” Instead of using this airplane to, ya know, fly above the encroaching zombie masses, Tails blasts his way out with machine guns and races through the city streets. He then has to self-destruct, tearfully one must add, to make his final escape. On one hand, I guess this makes sense. (Tails being an action hero, not Flynn’s insistence and adding a shoot-out and car chase to this issue.) He can fly, is as fast as Sonic, and also a super-smart engineer. But does someone who talks to his airplane/car/death-bot like it’s a person and cries when he abandons it also need to be a super-cool hero? Isn’t this kid like ten?

Despite potentially being an intimate story about what folks are doing to survive during the zombie outbreak, “The Last Minute” mostly exist to further push the plot ahead. Tails might loose his research but that he invented a cure once suggests he can probably do it again. Meanwhile, a sequence in the middle of the book has Starline recruiting the Deadly Six, in his plan to take control of the Zombots behind Eggman’s back. The Zetis, of course, plan on betraying him as soon as possible. It’s all machinations to move this arc into its next phase. Which is fine but I do wish Flynn had saved room for a little more character interaction, considering these events are so heated, instead of focusing mostly on plot and action.

While I’ve overall applauded the darker direction this comic has taken in 2019, I’m starting to get a little exhausted with this increasingly dire situation. Tails has a cure in his grasp but then it’s yanked away at the last minute. He’s rescued by Amy Rose and an airship, only to learn that Restoration HQ has fallen. (The events of which will be depicted in the next issue.) Maybe only one or the other should’ve happened. This is starting to feel less like natural story developments and more like contrivances to keep the plot, that should be heading into its last act by now, going on longer. Considering we already know the Metal Virus arc will last into the next year,  the 25th issue, that’s really what I’m expecting.

Another odd thing about issue 21 is that the art situation. I recently learned that Tracy Yardley will be taking an extended break from the “Sonic” books. This required a last minute artist change for this issue... Or artists change, I should say. Three people had to be brought in to make up for Yardley’s sudden absence. Archie vet Lamar Wells teams with someone named Reggie Graham to pencil the first ten pages. Wells and Graham do fine, though their work isn’t as kinetic as what we’ve gotten use to. The action is slightly stiffer and characters aren’t as expressive, with weirdly thick lines. Jennifer Hernandez handles most of the rest of the book, her work having slightly more personable faces. (Tails’ reaction to the Zombots getting into his workshop is funny.) Weirdly, two random pages — depicting Tails’ escape and the Tornado blowing up — are handled by Priscilla Tramontano, who has mostly done covers up to this point. Tramontano’s work is slightly looser than Hernandez or Wells but also a little more dynamic, which might be a fair trade-off.

So I think it’s fair to say the Metal Virus saga is officially in a rut now. Instead of exploring the horror and tension inherent in the zombie outbreak situation, Flynn has fallen back on repetitive plotting and action. With some questionable plotting decisions, issue 21 is maybe the weakest edition to the arc yet. [5/10]