Tag: IDW

Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #5

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 2 Comments

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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 Sonic X-Machina, though it’s still unclear how much of a reboot this is rather than a direct continuation of whatever the heck you’d even CALL the Sonic canon at this point.  We’re also on a monthly schedule now instead of getting weekly issues which HOPEFULLY means we’ve burned through all the necessary introduction and are kick this story into high gear; just like our good ol’ pal Sonic!  Will this be all that and a bag of chips, or is this latest entry as underwhelming as my “cool guy” vernacular!?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins with Sonic and his best friend Espio the Chameleon on some sort of robo-killing adventure!  Yeah!  Espio the Chameleon!  Everyone’s favorite character from the Chaotix Detective Agency that hasn’t been playable in a game since… I don’t know, Sonic Heroes?  Sigh… you know, if this is supposed to entice ANYONE other than die hard Sonic fans approaching thirty, MAYBE you shouldn’t throw in references to games that haven’t been available for a decade BEFORE they were even born because as much as Sega has been tossing their games on every system imaginable, you STILL can’t find digital version of Knuckles’ Chaotix!   Tails Adventure which is a Game Gear game no one has heard of is on the 3DS!  You can get Sonic Drift 2, a sequel to a handheld cart racer that was only released in Japan, yet Sega still won’t sell you the one game staring The Chaotix… and somehow they find their way into this series.  Sure.  I mean, if you only have so much to work with and are PROBABLY under strict orders not to add TOO much interesting lore to the series (like some other person who sued them a decade ago did), then I suppose relying on the D List Sonic characters is a safe bet.

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MAKE WAY FOR THE CHAOTIX, SON!!  That’s… that’s still a thing people say, right?

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #4

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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 Sonic Empire, though hopefully THIS comic book shakeup won’t try throwing Nazis in to seem edgy.  It’s also THE LAST issue they’ll be putting out on a weekly basis as every issue going forward will now be released monthly, so this is the last chance they have to hook new readers in (and old readers of the Archie books) before things go back to a more realistic schedule.  Not only that, but this is also the issue where we get introduced to an original character for this series, so on top of keeping Sonic the Hedgehog relevant in the world of comics, they also have to sell us on something new for the Sonic franchise, and we all know how often THAT works out (*cough* Silver *cough* Sonic Boom *cough*).  Can IDW tie everything together as they wrap up this month long sales pitch to fans new and old?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins as these invariable do with the always fast yet perpetually late Sonic the Hedgehog happening upon yet another town mid-besiegement by an army of Ruthless Robotic Rabble Rousers; though this one seems to be the worst yet by a large margin as there’s a freaking imperial star destroyer (or at least a dropship that big) raining a deluge of ticked off robots onto the unsuspecting and barley coordinated masses!  Things seem pretty grim as Sonic EVENTUALLY barrels his way through the city gates, but don’t lose hope just yet!  There appears to be at least ONE fighter within their midst!

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A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!!

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #3

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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 The Blue 52 (I can probably come up with ONE more comic book continuity shakeup puns before I’m totally tapped out) which sees our old friend Sonic the Hedgehog getting used to his new spot in the IDW family after leaving Archie Comics under less than amicable terms!  Did you know they STILL haven’t put the Archie Comics back on ComiXology yet?  You’d think SOMEONE would’ve gotten on that already.  Still, the relaunch of this character in the world of comics has been a rather smooth one so far with two decent issues under their belt, but can they keep the momentum going through issues three and four as well?  Well we’ll have to wait a week to find out about four but as far issue three goes, let’s find out!!

The issue begins once again with Sonic happening upon a town besieged by jerk-bots, though this time around he may have been a little late to the party (GASP!) because Knuckles is already elbow deep in the cybernetic guts of one of the bigger metal monstrosities.  As it turns out, he’s basically pulling a Sonic of his own; what with the robot smashing in nearby villages rather than taking part in a more coordinated effort with the rest of the resistance.  Seems like an odd decision to make THE LEADER into a flakey and self-righteous free spirit, but it’s doubly weird that neither one of those identities feels like a good fit for Knuckles.  Making him either a leader of any sort or a wander without roots seems to go against the usual characterization of the guy.  He’s a total loner and overly serious compared to everyone else, AND he’s charged with protecting the Master Emerald which means he’s stuck in one place with a sacred duty.  Now sure that hasn’t ALWAYS been his characterization (I’m looking at you AGAIN, Sonic Boom!) but it still seems like an odd choice to make HIM in charge instead of Amy who actually seems to WANT the position.  It’s also possible that I’m jumping on this aspect of the story too early and it will be addressed later on, so for now we’ll just go with it.

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“So… you DID get someone to guard the Master Emerald while you were away, right?”     “… OH CRAP!!”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #2

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 3 Comments

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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 Sonic Rebirth!  The new series that is TOTALLY different from what we had before (but maybe not depending on what the writers want to keep) and seemingly WASN’T caused by a speedster going back in time (though I wouldn’t discount that as a possible story line at some point).  ANYWAY, after the inaugural issue turned out not to be quite what I was looking for, it falls upon this second issue to pick up the slack and get the ball rolling on what this series will truly be about and whether or not we’ll want to continue on this journey with the snarky hedgehog.  Does it succeed where the last one stumbled?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins much like the first one with Sonic tearing his way through hordes of evil robots; snidely remarking and stylishly posing as he does so.  This first scene is actually pretty impressive in terms of scope as Sonic is fighting a giant mechanical spider , but I had a bit of trouble following the action beats as it took me a good three tries to fully grasp what’s going on.  Apparently he climbs up the spider (fair enough), spin dashes off of its head which causes an explosion for some reason (um…) and follows that up with an absurdly high jump (okay…) so he can come back down to smash himself through the machine’s core.  So not only can he generate his own downward velocity (I doubt gravity alone would accelerate him fast enough to pierce steel), but he is ALSO completely invincible while in ball form as the sudden impact of hedgehog to spider didn’t immediately liquefy his internal organs.  Well I guess that’s ONE way to make a cartoon animal look like a total badass, but organ liquidation though is not ENTIRELY off the table however because while Sonic is too busy basking in the glow of his adoring fans for destroying the robot menace, it turns out the machine had one more trick up its sleeve and… I think it’s gonna shoot a laser?  I don’t know, the artwork isn’t really clear here as to what’s ABOUT to happen (maybe it’s getting up?) but before anyone can worry about it, Amy comes in like a bat out of hell and bashes its robo brains in with her over-sized hammer!

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I’d be less sarcastic around her if I were you, Sonic.  Did you SEE what she can do with that thing!?

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #1

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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

Sonic The Hedgehog from Archie Comics was the longest running comic book series based on a video game, and while I’ve only looked at a small fraction of the issues they released, I do consider myself to be a fan of the work they did in that book; especially in bring some real depth and naunce to the Freedom Fighters as well as how fearless they were to expand the world and take us to new and interesting places. Sure it didn’t always WORK *cough* Nerbs *cough*), but the overwhelming scope of what they managed to accomplish cannot be ignored. It’s with a certain amount of reservation and glee that I waited for IDW to start their own Sonic the Hedgehog series once they got the rights from SEGA, and while I’m still VERY unhappy about how the Archie Comics have been treated since the licenese switch, Iam more than happy to give this new one a shot and see what directions they’ll go in now that we’re rebuilding it all from sctach. Do this first issue manage to succeed in continuing the legacy of such a momenumental work? Let’s find out!!

The first thing worth noting about this book is exactly who’s behind it. While the front may say IDW, half of the staff here migrated directly from the Archie Comic series, including Ian Flynn as the head writer, Tracy Yardley on pencils, and Jim Amash and Matt Herms on inks and colors respectively (I’m gonna prented I know exactly what those jobs mean). Hopefully this will be a good sign of things to come, though I doubt that much of the material they were working from back at Archie can even be MENTIONED in the new book. Then again, the issue begins in medias res (I PROBABLY know what that means) as we picking up this story after some sort of climactic battle between Dr. Eggman and Sonic the Hedgehog where the not so good doctor disappeared afterwards and left his robot army to wander aimlessly around the countryside. The bad news is that despite them acting without much sense of structure or coheision, a bunch of pissed off robots with heavy weapony are still nothing to sneeze at as the citizens of one unnamed village are about to find out. The good news is though that their unorganized assaults are PERFECT opportunities for Sonic to show off his skills and fuel his massive ego by racking up some easy victories!

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TOO SOON, pink cat lady! The bodies of the critters who Sonic DIDN’T save are still literring the city streets!

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Jumping the Soapbox: Gotta Hide Fast! – Where Did All the Sonic Comics Go!?

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series and all its spin-offs) are owned by Archie Comics and Sega of America

All other copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

If you’ve followed this site for any period of time you’ll know that I sporadically review the Sonic the Hedgehog comics from Archie Comics Publications, and while I haven’t gotten NEARLY as many of covered as I’d like to, it’s been fun to go back and see a whole new side to this franchise and to watch it grow over time; exploring new ideas and taking more and more chances with each passing issue. Seriously, if you’re disappointed that the Sonic SAT AM series was cancelled after 2 seasons, then you couldn’t ask for a better continuation than what they did with the comics, and it is FASCINATING to watch the continuity established in the show slowly start to fold in elements from the game series that went in an entirely different direction while also expanding its own world and lore. It can get a bit messy at times to be sure, but they’re still really fun to read and a refreshing reminder of what CAN be done with this character from a storytelling perspective. Sadly the series came to an end back in December of 2016 with issue 290 (making it the longest running comic book series based on a video game character) and the license has been moved to IDW to start a whole new series. Sure, I’m a bit sad that such a long running series eventually came to an end, but I’ve always liked IDW as a publisher and am excited to see what they can do with the series. And it’s not like the original comics from Archie are just going to up and disappear on us! Right!?

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WHAT HAPPENED!?

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Within the last few months, ComiXology (the largest marketplace for digital comic books) has removed every single Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series from their service. If you haven’t purchased them already, you can’t purchase them now and as far as I can tell they were the ONLY digital comic distributor who was selling them meaning that there is currently no way to purchase these books (over TWENTY years of issues) in a digital format, and if you look now all you will see is listings for the upcoming IDW Sonic the Hedgehog series. The exact details of these licensing deals with SEGA are not privy to the general public so it isn’t clear who has access to what now in terms of reprinting and selling digital copies of the original Archie comics. PRESUMABLY they’re still in Archie Comic’s hands considering they published the darn things, but with their SEGA deal having ended it’s unclear if these comics will ever see the light of day again; either digitally or physically. That’s a real shame considering that once again, Sonic the Hedgehog is the longest running comic book series based on a video game and ran for an astonishing twenty-four years, and all of it could be gone for all anyone knows at this point.

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