Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Publishing)
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 Promotional artwork from New York Comic-Con by Tyson Hesse (2017) | |
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| Schedule | Monthly |
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| Publication date | April 4, 2018–present |
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Sonic the Hedgehog is an American comic book series based on the Sega video game franchise, published by IDW Publishing. It is the third licensed comic book iteration based on Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog intellectual property, after Fleetway Publications's Sonic the Comic and Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog series.
Publication history
On July 21, 2017, IDW Publishing announced a deal with Sega to produce a new series of Sonic comics following the cancellation of the previous Sonic the Hedgehog series by Archie Comics after a 24-year run.[1] The new series began with a four-week long event where the first four issues were released each week in April 2018, followed by a monthly release of subsequent issues starting in May 2018. Archie Sonic writer Ian Flynn was later confirmed to return as the series' lead writer, alongside artist Tyson Hesse.[2]
During New York Comic Con 2017, Ian Flynn confirmed that characters old and new would be featured in the series, hinting that characters from the games and the original comics might possibly return.[3][4][5][6] In January 2018, IDW revealed that Tracy Yardley, who originally worked on Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics, would be one of the pencillers for the IDW series. Several other artists from the Archie Comics series have also contributed to the IDW series.
On April 14, 2020, it was announced that Evan Stanley, one of the series' artists, would be writing for the series.[7]
On June 28, 2020, two characters from the series, Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf, were announced to appear in the Sonic mobile game Sonic Forces: Speed Battle.[8]
Synopsis
The events of the comic begin shortly after the events of Sonic Forces,[9] in which Doctor Eggman has gone missing following his defeat by the Resistance, but the remnants of his Badnik army continue to attack around the world. After the robot attacks suddenly become more coordinated, Sonic, while investigating the cause, discovers that Eggman has sustained amnesia and taken on the friendly persona of "Mr. Tinker" in the village that found him. After observing Mr. Tinker's work, Sonic decides he is truly reformed, although he has to convince Shadow of the same. It is revealed that Metal Sonic is leading the Eggman Empire in his master's absence, intending to eventually restore Eggman to his proper place. He conquers Angel Island, where the heroes fight him. Metal Sonic with the Master Emerald assumes a Super Mode, then uses his biodata to transform into the stronger Master Overlord. Through a combined effort by the Resistance and their allies, Metal Sonic is thwarted and Angel Island liberated. In the aftermath, Knuckles disbands the Resistance, which Amy later reorganizes into the "Restoration".
Meanwhile, Mr. Tinker is kidnapped by two criminals, Rough and Tumble, at the behest of a new villain: Dr. Starline, a platypus who has become enamored by Eggman's work. With some help from Metal Sonic, Dr. Starline restores Eggman's memories, being rewarded with a position as the doctor's head assistant. Eggman then develops the Metal Virus, a contagion that turns organic material to machines under his control, and prepares to unleash it on the world from his new "Faceship" flying base. He tricks Rough and Tumble into infecting themselves during a battle with Sonic and Amy; the hedgehogs defeat the newly coined "Zombots", but Sonic is infected in the process.
In the Tangle & Whisper miniseries, Tangle finds Whisper chasing after who appears to be Sonic, revealing to be a shapeshifting octopus named Mimic. She offers to help her track down Mimic, in which Whisper reluctantly accepts. After being nearly killed by Mimic's bombs while investigating, Whisper shares her backstory and explanation of her trauma in which she and Mimic were part of a mercenary group named the Diamond Cutters, and Mimic betrayed and helped Eggman kill the rest of her team in a trap. Tangle and Whisper then find and successfully defeat Mimic, but Tangle dissuades Whisper from killing him, not wanting her to do what Mimic has done to her team. After imprisoning Mimic, Tangle and Whisper separate paths, but promise to meet again soon.
As Eggman spreads the Metal Virus across the world, Sonic learns that he can keep his infection at bay by running. Eventually, however, his speed loses its ability to counter the virus, as revealed by Cream the Rabbit's robot aide, Gemerl. Sonic and his allies find themselves powerless against the virus despite their best efforts; most of them become Zombots and E-123 Omega is nearly destroyed fighting the hordes. With only Angel Island still unaffected, Knuckles allows the demoralized survivors to take shelter there. Eventually, the virus mutates beyond Eggman's control, having been unleashed in an imperfect state. A disillusioned Starline secretly recruits the Deadly Six to regain control of the Zombots. Aware of their grudge against Eggman and Sonic after the events of Sonic Lost World, Starline tries to control them with a Cacophonic Conch after warping them aboard the Faceship; however, his lungs give out, rendering the conch useless. The Zeti soon chase Eggman, Starline, and Metal Sonic out of the Faceship, then steal the Chaos Emeralds on board and plot to conquer and terrorize the world. Rouge, who recently infiltrated the ship, witnesses the Zeti leader, Zavok, commandeer it and secretly notifies the Restoration. Forced into a truce with Sonic and company, Eggman and Metal Sonic fire Starline and confiscate his portal-generating Warp Topaz, stating that combining its power with the Chaos Emeralds' can eradicate the virus.
Joined by the Babylon Rogues, the Restoration splits up to confront each Zeti simultaneously, while Sonic remains behind to slow his Metal Virus infection using a treadmill. As his fellow Zeti fall and their Chaos Emeralds are taken, Zavok discovers Angel Island, but Rouge steals the emerald powering the Faceship, causing it to crash. An enraged Zavok morphs into a giant and sets Sonic's infected allies on the survivors, but Sonic and Silver manage to claim the final emerald, and their transformation into Super Sonic and Super Silver cures the former. After defeating Zavok, Sonic and Silver cure the world and destroy the Metal Virus by sending it through a portal to the sun. Everyone happily reunites, but as Starline had forewarned, the emeralds' power overloads the Warp Topaz, and it explodes before Sonic can dispose of it through the portal, teleporting him to the Sol Dimension where Blaze lives. In his absence, Silver returns to the future and the world starts to recover from the plague, while Eggman and his robots return to their normal plans of villainy. Eventually, an amnesiac Sonic has his memories restored and returns to his home dimension.
In the Bad Guys miniseries, Starline, planning to conquer the world and surpass Eggman to regain his respect, breaks into a prison and frees Eggman's former assistants, Rough, Tumble, Mimic, and Zavok, to recruit them for his plan.[10] As part of the plan, they raid one of Eggman's bases for the Power Cores, artifacts which amplifies one's ability. Fearing the other villains are too dangerous to let free, Starline plans to kill them after he has finished using them, but Mimic and Zavok learn of his deceit. After raiding another of Eggman's bases, the two turn on Starline, expose him to Rough and Tumble, and force him to erase Mimic's Eggnet data, preventing Eggman from tracking the shapeshifter.[11] Starline escapes using his new Tricore, which can amplify multiple abilities at once, and the villains part ways, with Zavok planning to reunite with his group and Starline planning to conquer the world for himself, disavowing Eggman entirely.
To rebuild the still-damaged Omega, Sonic and Tails search one of Eggman's abandoned bases, while Amy, Rouge, and Cream compete in Chao races to obtain parts from a champion Chao racer known as Clutch.[12] Shadow, who is in the area, discovers that Clutch is abusive to his losing Chao, locking them up in a cage, prompting Rouge's team to devise a rescue plan. Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails come across a wooden marionette-like robot named Belle, who accompanies them to Clutch's residence at a mountain chateau. As Clutch unleashes his collection of Badniks on the group and escapes, a hooded figure, who turns out to be Starline, kidnaps Tails and Rouge to experiment on them and triggers an avalanche to distract Sonic and Shadow. Belle frees the captive Chao, who help the girls and Gemerl defeat the Badniks. Starline confronts Tails and attempts to kidnap him again, but fails and takes the full force of the avalanche. Omega is successfully fixed thanks to Belle's reading of Eggman blueprints, which leaves Tails suspicious. Unknown to them, Starline has taken a sample of Tails' fur, which he deems enough for his new plans.
Sometime later, Sonic and Tails take Belle to the Restoration's new base, hoping to find a place for Belle to work as well as find her missing creator.
Comics
Main
| Title | Issue(s) | Start date | End date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog | 1– | April 4, 2018 | — | Began weekly publications in April 2018 and then it became monthly in May 2018. Features Sonic, Tails and friends battling the forces of Doctor Eggman and other foes. |
| Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper | 0–4 | April 24, 2019 | December 11, 2019 | Miniseries and spinoff of the main series featuring the adventures of two original fan favorite characters from the main series, Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf. A prequel comic was released in April 2019 and the series debuted in July 2019 and lasted five issues in total. |
| Sonic the Hedgehog: Bad Guys | 1–4 | October 7, 2020 | December 16, 2020 | Miniseries and spinoff of the main series centered on Dr. Starline and other recurring villains. |
One-shots
| Title | Publication date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Team Sonic Racing | December 5, 2018 | A prequel story for the 2019 Sonic game Team Sonic Racing. |
| Sonic the Hedgehog: Annual 2019 | May 1, 2019 | An annual edition comic which contains 5 new stories. |
| Sonic the Hedgehog Halloween ComicFest 2019 | October 26, 2019 | A Halloween ComicFest special edition comic which contains a reprint of Fallout Part 1. |
| Sonic the Hedgehog: Annual 2020 | July 8, 2020 | An annual edition comic which contains 6 new stories set during the events of the Metal Virus Saga. |
| Sonic the Hedgehog: 30th Anniversary Special | June 23, 2021 | A one-shot comic book special in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. |
| Sonic the Hedgehog Free Comic Book Day 2021 | August 14, 2021 | A Free Comic Book Day special edition comic. |
Graphic novel
| Title | Publication date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Celebration: Deluxe Edition | October 6, 2021 | A graphic novel starring Classic Sonic as part of the franchise's 30th anniversary. |
Reprints
- Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 1–4 Box Set (June 27, 2018) (collects issues #1–4)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 1: Fallout! (September 18, 2018) (a reprint of #1–4)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 2: The Fate of Dr. Eggman (February 19, 2019) (a reprint of #5–8)
- Team Sonic Racing Plus Deluxe Turbo Championship Edition one-shot (May 22, 2019) (a reprint of the story featured in Team Sonic Racing One-Shot, which also includes bonus features)
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Bonds of Friendship (2019) (a Scholastic-exclusive collection of several reprinted issues in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 3: Battle For Angel Island (July 23, 2019) (a reprint of #9–12)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 4: Infection (September 3, 2019) (a reprint of #13–16)
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper Box Set (December 4, 2019) (collects issues #0–4)
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper (April 14, 2020) (a reprint of Tangle & Whisper issues #0–4 including the 2019 Annual)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 5: Crisis City (February 11, 2020) (a reprint of #17–20)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 6: The Last Minute (June 23, 2020) (a reprint of #21–24)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 7: All or Nothing (December 8, 2020) (a reprint of #25–29)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 8: Out of the Blue (March 30, 2021) (a reprint of #30–32 including the 2020 Annual)
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Bad Guys (May 11, 2021) (a reprint of Bad Guys issues #1–4)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 9: Chao Races & Badnik Bases (November 9, 2021) (a reprint of #33–36)
The IDW Collection
- Sonic the Hedgehog: The IDW Collection, Vol. 1 (June 8, 2021) (a reprint of issues #1–12)
Reception
Bleeding Cool gave the first issue a score of 6.5/10, praising the art and creativity of the story but criticizing Sonic's characterization: "Sonic is an insufferable character... He's smug, annoying, and radical in that 1990's sense."[13]
References
- ^ "SEGA® and IDW Publishing Dash Forward with Partnership Deal". IDW Publishing. July 21, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
- ^ "New Sonic the Hedgehog™ Series Will Launch in April 2018 with a Four-Week Event". IDW Publishing. October 8, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
- ^ "Sonic IDW NYCC Ian Flynn"./
- ^ "New 'Sonic The Hedgehog' Comics Revealed".
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Sonic the Hedgehog Speeds Into the IDW Era with Two New Covers". 23 January 2018.
- ^ "Sonic The Hedgehog Returns to Comics in 2018 - Nerdist". 23 January 2018.
- ^ Jennings, Collier (April 14, 2020). "Sonic the Hedgehog Gets New Writer, Miniseries". Comic Book Resources. Valent Inc. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ Deschamps, Marc (June 28, 2020). "Sonic Fans Are Thrilled That Two IDW Characters Are Coming to the Video Games". Comicbook.com. Comicbook.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ https://www.gamesradar.com/what-the-new-sonic-the-hedgehog-comic-pulls-from-the-blue-blurs-history-and-what-it-leaves-behind/
- ^ Meyer, Evelyn (20 October 2020). "Sonic the Hedgehog Unleashed the Most CHAOTIC Villain Breakout Ever". Comic Book Resources. Valnet Inc. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ Foster, Devon (28 November 2020). "Sonic the Hedgehog's Biggest Wild Card Is Finally Back on the Loose". Comic Book Resources. Valnet Inc. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- ^ Meyer, Evelyn (22 October 2020). "Your Favorite Sonic Adventure Mini-Game Just Made an ADORABLE Comeback". Comic Book Resources. Valnet Inc. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ Davison, Joshua (April 5, 2018). "Sonic the Hedgehog #1 Review: Creative Action Scenes Make Up for an Annoying Lead". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
External links
