Tag: Matt Herms

Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #50

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

Apologies for this one being as late as it is. I was out of town when the issue came out and all I got out of the trip was a lousy case of Strep Throat that’s left me sick and exhausted for well over a week now. Still, you can’t keep a Sonic fan down for long! Whether it’s illness, delays, or crappy games, we always come back for more; which is the operative word here because they went all out and made this an extra lengthy issue to fit in everything they wanted for the big celebration! Does this double-sized issue live up to the months of hype surrounding it, or will it land with an extra loud thud now that they’ve made it twice as long? Let’s find out!!

The issue begins where the last one left off as our heroes race to Eggman’s capital city as its being sieged by Dr. Starline and his two protégés Surge and Kitsunami. From here the story breaks down into three fights as Eggman comes back to take out Starline, Surge catches Sonic by surprise and drags him to a fight for survival, and Tails is left befuddled to deal with the sad fox with water powers and a particularly sinister look in his eyes. We’ll tackle these fights one at a time starting with Eggman and Starline which I consider to be the best of three as both characters are really allowed to stretch their muscles and give us a clash of personalities worth getting invested in. The biggest problem with these two is that, despite some solid characterization and a few ingenious plots here and there, they feel a bit underwhelming as threats and can lean too hard into goofy territory when they have to fend off the furry brigade and the unstoppable power of friendship. Here, the winner is going to be determined not by Main Character Powers or the heart of a champion, but by who can last the longest without dying as the two try to smash each other to bits with giant robots! What I found particularly satisfying about this (even more so than the giant robots) is the depths of Eggman’s ego as he would rather risk destroying everything than have any aspect of it not under his supreme authority and Starline (despite being the one who kidnapped and brainwashed two innocent critters) ends up sounding like the reasonable one.

“If I put you as the denominator in my calculator, it gives me an error message! Do you know why!?”     “… is it because I’m zer-”     “IT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE ZERO!!”
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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #49

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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 ACTUAL Sonic comic and not a tie-in to a movie that I still haven’t seen yet. Hey, I’ll get around to it soon enough, but having moved the week it came out and with so many other movies out there, it’s kind of fallen down the priority list. This comic on the other hand, I made sure to pick up as soon as it came out to get my thoughts to you as soon as humanly possible. Admittedly not as fast as hedgehog-ly possible, but either way we are speeding towards the fiftieth issue and IDW wants to make it a big event. Does this penultimate story provide the perfect lead in to whatever Issue 50 is going to be, or will we once again be turning to the spin-offs for great comics? We’ve still got one more Imposter Syndrome is all I’m saying! Anyway, let’s find out!!

We begin the issue with Tails and Belle working on a way to turn Badniks into Good-niks (which is one step above a Beatnik), and while I could focus on the morally questionable aspect of rewriting the code of a seemingly sentient race of machines (*cough* Mass Effect 2 *cough*), I think the more immediate concern is Sonic. He’s there to serve as bait for the Badniks once the brain-worm signal is emitted, and he seems to be taking his job perhaps a bit too seriously…

“Oh my, the very THOUGHT of a badnik getting the best of little ol’ me sends chills up my spine! It would just be SO NAUGHTY if one of you were to try and overpower me”     “Yeah, take it down a notch, buddy. Also, what’s wrong with your hands? Did you buy skintight gloves for this?”
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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #47

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

The forward march of time is an unrelenting constant in all of our lives, and this January has definitely proven that with just how far behind I’ve fallen with everything on this site; the least of which being these most recent issues of the IDW Sonic comics. The first issue of Imposter Syndrome turned out to be a breath of fresh air and ended up being one of the best issues the series had produced in a while, but we’re not here to talk about the follow up to that one as the mainline Sonic issue came out first and we’ve got to bring this rather tedious arc to an end before we can get to the good stuff. Does the Forest Fire arc manage to end on a high note, or does it intend to finish as it started; thoroughly mediocre? Let’s find out!!

The crisis as the end of the last issue where Belle, Tangle, the lost boy, and the friendly Bad-Nik were all falling to their death, gets resolved rather expediently as they manage to wrap themselves around the giant log with Tangle’s tail. I don’t really want to get hung up on this because it is an endearing quality of Tangle’s design, but I’m curious if the idea is that her tail is always that long or if it stretches out like she’s got Plastic Man powers on one specific part of her body. They’ve only gotten more and more exaggerated with it over time, but it’s an example of one of the series’ strengths which is its carefree attitude and prioritizing fun over practicality. Sadly the series will occasionally get in the mood to go overly serious and spend a year watching characters miserably trudge their way through a Zombie Apocalypse, but the adventure and carefree spirit are what really hold my interest in this comic.

Tangle would go missing three months later after a failed attempt to take a modified bottle rocket to the moon.
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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #44

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

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’ve never been that big of a fan of the Zeti, so the prospect of another story arc focusing on them wasn’t exactly a welcome proposition.  Fortunately, after a pretty rough start, they did manage to give us something interesting in the last issue and now we’re moving on from them to the more interesting story of whatever it is Dr. Starline is up to!  Is this a great jumping off point for the new story following the solid ending to the Zeti arc, or will I be begging for them to come back by the end of this issue?  Let’s find out!!

Now I DID say we’re moving on from the Zeti but we do have a bit of cleaning up to do and some loose threads to tie up, so the issue begins with the Zeti being force marched by Tails and Sonic to return to their… actually, where are they from?  Space?  I mean they’ve got a rocket ship there, but I think it’s more like a cloud city than another planet; just a bunch of floating hexagonal islands in the sky that they somehow can’t escape from once they’re put there.  Heaven forbid they ever figure out technology like parachutes or REALLY long ladders, but in any case it seems clear that they’re not going to be a threat for a while if Serious Tails and Sassy Sonic have anything to say about it!

Not sure if this variation on Good Cop Bad Cop is gonna work. Then again, it’s not like the Zeti get due process or anything!
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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #42

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

So after catching up on an issue that came out last month, I can look downright timely by reviewing an issue that’s just under a week old, right?  Sure, I like to get these things out within DAYS of their release, but with so much going on with the website (not the least of which being my WRESTLING PODCAST WHICH YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO RIGHT AFTER FINISHING THIS!), the latest issue just kinda flew under the radar for me.  I’ll make sure to do better next time (which is the same promise I made for half a dozen other projects I was working on) but for now let’s see where this whole Deadly Six storyline is going!  Do they find an interesting direction to take this storyline after the less than stellar opening chapter, or will this arc be one giant bore from start to finish?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins with everyone in place for the upcoming Zeti attack as The Chaotix are in Sunset City, Tails is in Central City, and Sonic is in Winterberg; all of which are names you PROBABLY shouldn’t give to a city.  Sunset City sounds like where Michael Bay films his movies, Central City will always be a relative concept, and what the heck do you do with a town called Winterberg in the summer months?  Does it change its name to Heatville!?  Now the last issue was a lot of exposition to simply explain why characters are in certain locations without any really interesting dialogue or clear character motivations.  Right off the bat things are much better here as Tails is working on a plan to stop the Zeti when found and Sonic is in a somewhat dark mood despite doing his best to chillax before whatever big fight is upon them.  It helps with investing us in the struggle itself because of how it affects the characters who are stuck in the middle of it, and since we know things are gonna go wrong as this is all a ruse set up by the Zeti there will no doubt be some high emotional stakes once things hit the fan.

“The one thing I can’t outrun is my own hatred for the Deadly Six. It’s such a silly and awkward name too! DANG IT, they suck!”
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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #41

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

Now I reviewed the fortieth issue of this series back in June and was like, WELL THAT’S IT FOR SONIC THIS MONTH!  Little did I know that a mere ONE WEEK after that issue came out that the next issue was released, which is on me I suppose but why did IDW do that!?  We needed four months to tell the Matrix rip off story arc, but there was just no time to lose when in getting a new Zeti storyline started?  In any case, I’m here now ready to take a look at this issue and I sure as heck will be covering the next issue as well which came out only a few days ago, so look forward to that as well if you haven’t already moved on from it!  Is this the start of a fun new story arc, or are the Zeti as uninteresting here as they were when they got shoehorned into the Zombat saga?  Let’s find out!!

 The issue begins as almost all Sonic stories do with Sonic and Eggman in the latest of their battles to the death where neither side truly wins or loses for that would require altering the status quo and let’s face it; neither one of them would know what to do with themselves without the other to spur them on.  Well okay, that’s not EXACTLY what’s going on here but in my defense we’re entering this scene in-media-res and so what other conclusions are there to draw?  Eggman is ACTUALLY looking for the Zeti as Zavok attacked one of his web servers (Bad Guys Issue 3), but I’m not sure how razing a town to the ground in a giant mech is going to help him find the guy so Sonic seems well within his rights to try and stop him!

Yeah, well you didn’t stab Mr. Tinker in the head when you had the chance AND you let Metal Sonic go instead of turning him into scrap metal, so I think the chicken/egg argument here lands on YOUR tiny blue shoulders, buddy!
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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #39

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 3 Comments

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

The next issue is finally here, and not to sound ungrateful or anything but does anyone know why this took so long to come out?  It was originally scheduled for the end of March but we’re just getting it now a month and a half later without any explanation from IDW; at least not as far as I can find!  Oh who am I kidding, whether it’s one month, two months, or TWELVE months, I’ll be here all the same to tell you all about it, so let’s not waste any more time and jump right it!

Since it’s been an eternity since the last issue, a bit of a recap!  Sonic, Tails, and Amy went to some sort of Eggman outpost in the middle of the ocean that seems to have been causing weather issues, but instead of finding some sort of doomsday device they tumble head first into a pocket dimension of sorts that looks to be a testing area for Eggman to work out the kinks on his new robot designs.  Unbeknownst to everyone though, Belle managed to convince Tangle to follow them and they arrived shortly after to find the place crawling with badniks and no Team Sonic to be found.  This issue picks things up with Tangle and Belle having stumbled upon the disturbing world of Pokémon Bootlegs as Eggman’s robo-bros are sending whatever horrific creatures they can after Sonic and his friends in their little pocket dimension.  Truly the most sinister thing about the Egg Empire!

Half Ekans, half Scyther, ALL terrifying!!
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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #38

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

Things certainly got a bit out of hand around here as I’m still reeling from moving places a week ago, and in these uncertain times it’s always good to look at the constants in our life to keep us grounded!  For me it’s wrestling shows and Sonic the Hedgehog comics, so it’s a perfect time for IDW’s latest issue to come out now that things are starting to settle, but will they follow up the last issue with an interesting story that dovetails with Belle the Puppet’s mysterious past, or would I rather be hauling even more boxes up staircases than seeing where this story goes?  Let’s find out!!

We begin the issue with Sonic, Tails, and Amy falling through an infinite void of bizarre geometry with no clear direction or any real way to control it.  No, they didn’t find their way into Sonic R, but the whole place definitely gives off an incomplete video game level vibe as it appears to be some sort of pocket dimension that Eggman uses to test whatever his latest Sonic Killing devices are, and probably a lot of other things that I don’t particularly care to think about…

“There’s a door over there labeled Punishment Room. I wonder what’s in there?” “You know Tails, I’d rather not find out…”
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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #32

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

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

Welcome back to even more Sonic goodness as we continue to get further and further away from the Zombot arc!  The last issue had some great character moments and gave us a fascinating new setup with Sonic out of the picture and I REALLY want this series to explore that idea a little bit more and maybe give Sonic a bit of dimension as he realizes his heroism is a lot more reluctant than he thought now that he has time away from it!  However, if the cover is anything to go by, it doesn’t look like this team of talented professionals will be taking the advice of one annoying critic on the internet and Sonic will be returning a lot sooner than I was hoping.  Still, do they manage to make his return to Mobius (I’m gonna keep calling it that AND YOU CAN’T STOP ME!) interesting and compelling in its own right or are we simply sprinting as fast as we can back to the status quo?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins with Eggman crashing the party; piloting a giant robot with Omega strapped to the front of it like Mad Max in Fury Road.  I suppose it makes the robot stronger, but I thought the whole deal with Omega is that he WASN’T a particularly unique creation of the doctor and was just another drone who someone found a conscious.  Okay, MAYBE not so much a conscious as a RAGING HATE ON for Eggman, but six of one half a dozen of the other, and the bigger point is that I figured he could just MAKE a better giant robot than trying to attach a smaller robot for the additional RAM.  This is all needlessly nitpicky though and to the issue’s credit, it DOES do what I wanted this issue to do… sort of.  We’ll get back to the SORT OF part of this, but a good chunk of this issue are about the heroes trying stop Eggman’s giant robot without the help of Sonic the Hedgehog.  Oddly enough, the one who steps up to the plate is Vector, and I’ve got to ask again; ARE SEGA PLANNING ON DOING SOMETHING WITH THIS GUY!?  Maybe it’s just me, but for the last year or so Vector has been getting a higher profile in the Sonic universe; and not just in the comics!  That recent Team Sonic Racing game had him as the leader of one of the teams and he was certainly present in that Sonic Forces game, but then again it’s been going on for a while now and nothing BIG has happened yet.  If we’re building up to something with this character like his own game or something, I think they need to just get it over with instead of keeping us guessing for the next three years.

“EVERYONE!  MOVE OUT!!”     “You’ve got it, boss!”     “Whoa, whoa, whoa!  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.  I’m just exploring my options and haven’t committed to anything yet.”
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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #31

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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 even more Sonic goodness, and sadly I have not lived up to the principals of my one true idol.  I have not in fact been “Going Fast” recently as I’m a good month behind on this book, though it is somewhat fitting that I’m taking a somewhat lackadaisical pace at reviewing these issues since the book itself is in something of a lull after completing the Zombot arc.  Yeah, let’s pretend I meant to do it like this.  ANYWAY!  With Sonic in another dimension and peace having been restored to his home, what will our heroes do now that they have some well-earned vacation days on their hands?  Let’s find out!!

Much like the last issue, this is mostly about reestablishing the status quo now that we’ve finally come to the end of the story arc, but where the last issue was a bit overstuffed with new conflicts this one manages to find the right balance between story progression and character building; starting off of course with Sonic who has found himself in the Sol Empire.  It seems that the cool blue dude lost his memory after crashing into the ground at what should have been terminal velocity, and so Blaze has to sit here trying to get him to explain not just who he is but how IMPORTANT he is and why he needs to get his memory back sooner rather than later.  What’s fascinating about this is that despite being told he’s essentially the woodland critter chosen one, he seems cagey and aloof in a way that clearly indicates how little he wants anything to do with whatever it is he’s expected to do now.  It definitely goes with the character as he’s been established as the first few issues of this series were about him trying to avoid responsibility and being free to go wherever he wanted before the return of Eggman eventually made that impossible, and I’m curious just how far this amnesiac version of him will go to refuse a call to action.

“Seriously; Sonic the HEDGEHOG?  What about me looks the LEAST bit like a hedgehog?”
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