Tag: Ian Flynn

Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #28

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

Do you know how long it’s been since the last Sonic comic came out?  It was March twenty-fifth; back in the halcyon days where we thought we could “prepare” for the virus and that we were going to take steps that would ACTUALLY make a difference instead of just delaying the inevitable backlash from the MY FREEDOMS crowd.  Needless to say, it has been a rough three months and having Sonic back is certainly something I’m happy for to distract me from the horrors of the world even if we’re still stuck in the Zombot arc which frankly feels a bit TOO relevant considering the way the world has changed but I’m frankly too exhausted to get mad at it anymore.  At least I HOPE it’s not bad enough for me to get mad at it again!  Is this issue a fun and fulfilling distraction that gets us closer to the end of the arc, or will I be begging them to wrap this nonsense up now more than ever?  Let’s find out!!

Where we last left our heroes, they were in the midst of a massive guerrilla attack on the Deadly Six who have taken the Chaos Emeralds for themselves and are underway in taking over the Zombot blighted world.  Amy and Tails got the emerald held by Zomom which went well enough, but despite Cream and Gemerl getting Zeena’s emerald as well, they were essentially lost in the battle.  This issue covers the rest of the teams getting their emeralds so thankfully they aren’t mercilessly dragging these fights out like I had feared, and for the most part, they’re fun little action set pieces with a variety of tactics and character moments.  First up is Silver and Whisper taking on Zor; the resident Goth of the Deadly Six.  Zor is fast and it’s taking all of Silver’s power just to keep him occupied while Whisper and her Wisp buddies set the trap.  Apparently, Whisper’s gun fires a REFRACTABLE beam of energy, and so the wisps surround Zor holding crystals to essentially encase him a flurry of lasers; one of which hitting the Chaos Emerald and detaches it from him.  Without missing a beat, Silver grabs the emerald and takes them all back through the portal to Angel Island; leaving Zor to his fate that he seems a little TOO pleased about.

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“Gosh, why didn’t I just lose in the first place!?  This is WAY better than enslaving the world!”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #27

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

Welp!  They’ve finally done it!  After months of repetitive drama and convoluted storylines clogging up this series, we FINALLY have an issue that I didn’t hate!  Sure there’s a bit of bitter irony in the fact that this series finally decided to lighten up a bit at the same time the world decided to turn into a nightmare (I give it six months before Death Stranding’s science fiction becomes more than speculative), but how have they managed to put a smile on my face after spending this much time so firmly hitched to the Walking Dead bandwagon?  Did they finally realize their error and went off in an entirely new direction, or have they found an angle within this miserable story arc that actually had some appeal to me?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins with Tails and Amy working their butts off to outsmart, or at least outrun, their chosen Zeti opponent Zomom who is proving to be more difficult than they were anticipating.  It’s a fine chase with a few good twists and turns but I’m not too keen on the constant big foolish fat guy jokes, though I guess IDW has to work with what Sonic Team gives them and it’s not like Zomom showed much depth of character when he was swinging that hoagie around in Sonic Lost World.

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This guy has even less dignity than The Greedy from that Raggedy Ann movie.  At least that dude could sing!

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #26

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

Are we still in the Zombot story arc?  Yup!  Do we now have to fight the Zeti who are showing up at the last minute?  Yup!  Do I still not particularly care about this story; especially since we’ve been dealing with it for so long now?  YUP!!  Is it better than the Sonic movie?  Well… we’ll have to see about that.  Let’s get started!!

The issue begins with Eggman and Tails using their Smart Brain powers to cobble together a multi-teleportation device using the Warp Topaz that they… “borrowed” from Dr. Starline who is shall we say… temporally displaced at the moment.  The master plan here, which I can only assume (and hope) is the final confrontation of this arc, is to battle with the Zeti to get back the chaos emeralds so that Sonic can go SUPER SONIC which will wipe out the Zombot virus… somehow.  I don’t know, they’re the Chaos Emeralds!  You could tell me they can bake a perfect soufflé and it’d be far from the least believable or most outlandish power we’ve seen them have!  Speaking of which, why doesn’t Knuckles protect them as well as the Master Emerald?  What, keeping an eye on the BIG rock takes up so much time and energy that he can’t look after the little ones too!?

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“Oh will you relax?  Worst case scenario, we’d just us the Chaos Emeralds to wish for a new island!”     “THAT’S NOT HOW CHAOS EMERALDS WORK!”     “Jeez, Knuckles!  When did you become so cynical?”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #25

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

Honestly, I’d much rather be talking about that Sonic movie right now than force myself through another issue of Sonic of the Living Dead.  Heck, I’d rather watch that movie with the ORIGINAL DESIGN than have to read any more pages of these characters being miserable rather than doing anything fun, but this is the storyline we’re stuck with and we’re getting ever so close to the end of the arc; so screw it!  Let’s put on our game face and make get through this together!!

The issue begins with what PROBABLY should have happened eight issues ago which is the remnants of The Restoration (and the survivors) going to Angel Island to crash at Knuckles’s place until the main characters sort this all out.  Sure it’s more dramatic for them to go through all those tragedies instead of going to the safest place possible, but there needs to be a REASON why they didn’t try that right off the bat and one is never given.  It wouldn’t even be that hard as Knuckles could have said that they couldn’t risk exposing the Master Emerald to the virus, but that’s simply not the case since Sonic is right making himself at home!

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“Some would say overly long and pedantic, but let’s worry about one thing at a time.”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #24

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

I had NO idea that this issue was coming out which I feel is rather understandable since IDW decided to release it on Christmas Day, and I only found out after Ian Flynn sent a tweet about it.  The tweet ALSO promised that this is the last issue of utterly agonizing misery (my words, not his) before our heroes start to rally and bring this zombot saga to a close.  You know what?  Fine.  I’ll muster through one more of these and hopefully I can start enjoying this series again in 2020.  Can the end of the bad times be of any more interest than the last half a year’s worth of interminable issues, or does this arc plan to end as it started; by annoying me in a very repetitive way?  Let’s find out!!

Once again we find Sonic in yet another town being overrun by Zombots while The Resistance (or Restoration?  I don’t even know anymore) tries to evacuate survivors; saving comrades in need with his super speed, thinning out the Zombot hoards with his OP powers, and putting out fires wherever they crop up.  He’s more or less the player character in the most depressing version of Dynasty Warriors… so basically Dynasty Warriors 9.  HA!  Take THAT, game from two years ago!!

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“It appears that our fellow officer has been defeated.”     “Yikes!  I can feel my morale dropping already.”     “Too soon, Sonic.”

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Super Comics: Tangle & Whisper – #4

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Tangle & Whisper as well as Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

And so we come to the final issue of the Tangle & Whisper series; also known as THE ONLY THING KEEPING THE SONIC COMIC RELEVANT WHILE THEY LABORIOUSLY WORK THEIR WAY THROUGH A DULL AND DERIVATIVE ZOMBIE STORY.  It’s a much more descriptive title to be sure, but I don’t think they had enough room to put it on the cover so they went with the shorter one.  It’s definitely been a fantastic ride as each issue showed us more and more of Whisper’s backstory as well as the growing relationship between her and Tangle which I hope to see more of in the future, but for now we’re here to see how it all comes to an end with their final confrontation against that jerk Mimic!  Will it be a satisfying end to a fantastic mini-series, or will the culmination of Whisper’s story arc end in a disappointing fizzle rather than a satisfying bang? Let’s find out!!

The issue begins on a quiet yet intense moment with our heroes preparing for the coming confrontation on the remains of Whisper’s home from long ago.  Tangle is keeping a watchful eye out for Mimic’s arrival while Whisper steels her nerves for the battle ahead; adjusting her weapons and ensuring their effectiveness as a way to pass the time which seems to stand still in the middle of this quiet ocean base.  By the way, if the MGS references weren’t obvious enough with the one female sniper in this series being named after both female snipers from that series, the base in question looks suspiciously like a stripped down Mother Base.  Someone’s certainly a Kojima fan, and I’m bracing myself now for the scene where Whisper has one of those wisps inside a giant test tube strapped to her chest.

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“GAH!  IT’S METAL SPHERE!”     “Metal Sphere?”     “The deadliest and roundest weapon in Eggman’s Army!”     “Eggman’s Army?”     “Okay, are going to repeat EVERYTHING I say?”     “Everything you say?”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #23

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

It’s been no secret that I have been nonplussed by this arc in the Sonic Comic because of just how much it drones on and on with zombie trope after zombie trope as if they weren’t already beaten to death in the wake of Shaun of the Dead.  The last few issues in particular have been particularly stagnant as we can’t even move forward temporally with each issue following a different character on the same day so we know where everything ends up even before starting the next tedious zombie ridden chapter!  We’ve already covered Tails, Amy, and now it’s Sonic’s turn to tell us how his miserable day went miserably just like every other day since the apocalypse began, but will they find a way to at least make HIS side of it any more interesting?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins with Sonic continuing to run his butt off so that the super Fit Bit Tails had given him can collect data that may be able to produce a cure for Eggman’s Zom-bot virus that has swept the globe and made everything so dreadfully repetitive around here.  Luckily for him though, he JUST SO HAPPENS to pass by one of the many deserted villages and sees Eggman in his little hover thingy along with Dr. Starline who are trying some new techniques to regain control of the Zombot army.  The two are bickering incessantly which is more than enough of a distraction for Sonic to get in nice and close!

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“Why can’t you be more like HIM, Starline!?”     “You’re mortal enemy?”     “AT LEAST HE BRINGS PASSION INTO MY LIFE!!”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #22

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

We’re back with another issue of ZOMBIES!  JUST ZOMBIES!  NOTHING BUT ZOMBIES, ZOMBIES, AND MORE ZOMBIES!!  When you can’t think of an action set piece, ZOMBIES!  When your characters just aren’t sad and miserable enough, ZOMBIES!  When you’ve got nothing better up your sleeve or need to kill about eight issues in a go nowhere story arc, FREAKING ZOMBIES!!  Can this issue somehow find a way to make yet another story about zombies the least bit interesting?  Probably not but let’s find out!!

I’m gonna keep this one pretty brief as frankly I’m pretty much done with anything zombot related in this story arc and they decided to go back and show us the stuff we REALLY didn’t need to see from the last issue.  If you recall, that one ended with Tails, Tangle, and Whisper being picked up by Amy who informed them that there was an outbreak at Restoration HQ, and so they’re down to whoever is left on that ship.  Seems simple enough and not something we’d need to see in pedantic detail, but I guess someone at IDW thought differently and this issue is… well, everything I just explained.  We start with Amy who’s trying to keep things coordinated and under control at Restoration HQ with only Cream on hand to provide any sort of levity.  I guess I don’t want to harp TOO hard on this since they’re actually taking time to let these characters talk instead of simply reacting to more zombots, but whatever characterization is still tied directly with the current situation instead of feeling like something that will carry over beyond this story arc, and frankly we just saw a better version of this in the last Tangle & Whisper issue.

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“Our society is crumbling and rations are getting short, but darn it we NEED those Sonic cookies!  If we can’t save the cookies, then what are we even saving!?”

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Super Comics: Tangle & Whisper – #3

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Tangle & Whisper as well as Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

We’re back with another issue of the GOOD Sonic series!  Okay, that’s a bit harsh as the main Sonic book has been fine if overly repetitive, but there’s zero doubt as to which one of these I look more forward to reading when they come out because in the scant few issues we’ve gotten so far, they’ve given these two a lot of characterization and pathos which I find WAY more interesting than yet another zombie drama.  With only two issues left to go (they REALLY need to make this a regular book once their done with the mini-series!), does this offshoot of the new era of Sonic Comics continue to impress?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins with Whisper finally telling us about her TRAGIC BACKSTORY which involves her former mercenary group.  Those were the good ol’ days where committing war crimes was an activity best shared with friends!  Hey, they’re the one’s calling themselves mercenaries and remember that Mimic had that giant knife in the first issue!  These guys must have gotten up to some SERIOUS BUSINESS!

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“Have you heard of the Eggman Nuclear Weapon Program?”     “The what?”     “Exactly.  Billions of lives saved and only nine dead scientests.”     “Wait, WHAT!?”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #21

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

We’re back with another issue of Resident Evil with Furries, and guess what!?  WE GET EVEN MORE ZOMBIES!!  Oh IDW, you spoil us with your endless issues of Sonic fighting Zombots over and over again!  Yeah, the formula has gotten real stale over these last six issues which may not SEEM like a lot, but that’s half a year of me having to read about INSERT CITY NAME HERE on the brink of  collapse while Sonic and INSERT CHARACTER HERE fight them off.  Will they mix it up for this issue and give us something different!?  Probably not, but let’s find out!!

The issue begins with a bit of a lurch admittedly as we’re following Tails this time instead of Sonic as he is heading to his lab in this gigantic city (how can he afford the rent here!?), and is flanked on both sides by Tangle & Whisper who are here for reasons; the most likely of which is promoting their mini-series which by the way I’m ALSO recapping on this website!  What, all of a sudden shameless self-promotion can’t be mutually beneficial!?

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“And you can be good at teamwork too by reading our book!  Visit your local comic book shop to learn more!”

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