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. The comic series has received generally positive reviews, with most praising the story.
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 would begin with a four-week long event where the first four issues will be 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.
In April 2020, it was announced that the artist Evan Stanley would be writing for the series.[7]
On June 28, 2020, two characters from the comic series, Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf, were announced to appear in the Sonic mobile game Sonic Forces: Speed Battle[8], with them doing so in July 2020 along in Sonic Dash.
Synopsis
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (July 2020) |
The events of the comic begins shortly after the events of Sonic Forces.[9] Doctor Eggman has gone missing following his defeat by the Resistance, but the remnants of his Badnik army continue to attack small villages around the world. When the robot attacks suddenly become more coordinated, Sonic must work together with his friends like Tails, Knuckles and Amy, along with new allies like Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf, in order to protect the innocent, fight against Eggman's robots, and find out who is controlling Eggman's forces. Along the way, they also battle Rough and Tumble, a pair of skunk mercenaries who took over a village during the war; the villainous duo quickly vow revenge on Sonic and his allies. Sonic eventually discovers that Eggman has sustained amnesia after their last battle, taking 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 ends up having to convince Shadow of the same.
It is later revealed that Metal Sonic is leading the Eggman Empire in his master's absence, intending to eventually restore Eggman to his proper place. He eventually conquers Angel Island, leading the heroes to take him on. Utilizing the powers of the Master Emerald, Metal Sonic assumes a Super Mode to battle Sonic and Knuckles; when Shadow intervenes on their behalf, he copies his bio-data to transform into the stronger, monstrous Master Overlord. Through a combined effort by the Resistance and their allies, Metal Sonic is thwarted and Angel Island liberated. In the aftermath, Knuckles decides to resume his vigil over the Master Emerald.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tinker is kidnapped by 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 killed 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 had done to her team. After imprisoning Mimic, Tangle and Whisper separate paths, but promise to meet again soon.
As Eggman begins spreading his 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. Despite the best efforts of Sonic and his allies, the Metal Virus quickly spreads around the globe out of control. Tails' attempt to create a cure using data gathered by Sonic is thwarted when Zombots destroy Tails' lab and Sonic loses the data while confronting Eggman and Starline. The Restoration, a successor to the Resistance led by Amy, is driven out of their base as it and all other strongholds against the Metal Virus are overrun. Worst of all, many of Sonic's allies are infected and turned into Zombots, including Tangle, Shadow, Big the Cat, all of Team Chaotix except for Espio, and Cream's entire family except herself and Gemerl; additionally, E-123 Omega is decapitated by Shadow after the latter becomes a Zombot. With only Angel Island left untouched by the plague, the demoralized survivors take shelter there with Knuckles' permission.
Meanwhile, Eggman himself loses control of the Zombot plague, but shows little interest in regaining control of it, instead planning to abandon the planet for another. Starline, disillusioned with Eggman, secretly devises his own plan to control the Zombots using the Deadly Six, despite knowing of their grudge against Eggman and Sonic after the events of Sonic Lost World. Seeing a chance to get revenge, the six Zeti pretend to accept Starline's offer and Starline later warps them aboard the Faceship. Anticipating a double-cross, Starline tries to control the Zeti with a Cacophonic Conch, but his lungs give out, rendering the conch useless. The Deadly Six soon chase Eggman, Starline, and Metal Sonic out of the Faceship onto Angel Island, where they are captured by Sonic and the other survivors. The Deadly Six then steal the Chaos Emeralds on board and devise a plot to conquer and terrorize the world; five of them taking over various settlements while their leader, Zavok, commandeers the Faceship. Rouge, who recently infiltrated the Faceship, overhears this and secretly notifies the Restoration. Forced to strike a truce with Sonic and the Restoration, Eggman and Metal Sonic fire Starline and confiscate the Warp Topaz gemstone he uses to create portals. The group then prepares to collect the Chaos Emeralds from the Deadly Six, intending to combine the Warp Topaz with the power of Super Sonic and destroy the Metal Virus. Needing additional help, Amy hires the Babylon Rogues.
Eggman and Tails build a multi-portal generator using the Warp Topaz, and the Restoration splits up to confront each Deadly Six member simultaneously, while Sonic remains behind to slow his Metal Virus infection using a treadmill. The Zeti are defeated one by one and the Restoration obtains five of the seven Chaos Emeralds. However, Cream is infected and Gemerl drop outs to take care of her, while the Babylon Rogues are marooned amidst a crowd of Zombots. The remaining survivors return to Angel Island just as Zavok finds them, and Rouge steals the emerald powering the Faceship, causing it to crash. An enraged Zavok uses his emerald's power to transform into a giant and throws most of Sonic's infected allies onto Angel Island; Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Eggman are infected during the ensuing fight, with Knuckles becoming a Zombot. Down below, Sonic, Silver, and Metal Sonic confront Zavok, who takes control of Metal Sonic but fails to stop Sonic from obtaining the final emerald. Sonic and Silver then become Super Sonic and Super Silver, purging the virus from Sonic's body and curing him. After the pair defeat Zavok, Silver uses his psychokinesis to rid the world of the virus, while Sonic destroys it by sending it into the sun via an enhanced Warp Topaz portal. Finally cured, the heroes happily reunite, but true to Starline's prior warnings, the super-hedgehogs' power overloads the Warp Topaz, and it explodes before Sonic can dispose of it through the portal. Silver returns to Angel Island, but Sonic is nowhere to be seen.
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. |
| 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 | September 16, 2020 | — | Miniseries and spinoff of the main series centered on Dr. Starline and other recurring villains. |
Others
| Title | Issue(s) | Start date | End date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Sonic Racing | One-shot | 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. | ||
Reprints
- Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 1-4 Box Set (June 27, 2018) (collects issues #1-4)
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper Box Set (December 4, 2019) (collects issues #1-4)
- 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: Tangle & Whisper (April 14, 2020) (a reprint of Tangle & Whisper issues #1-4 including the 2019 Annual)
- 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)
- 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 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 (October 13, 2020) (a reprint of #25-29)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 8: Out of the Blue (February 9, 2021) (a reprint of #30-32 including the 2020 Annual)
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."[10]
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.
- ^ "Sonic the Hedgehog Gets New Writer, Miniseries". Comic Book Resources. April 14, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ "Sonic Fans Are Thrilled That Two IDW Characters Are Coming to the Video Games". Comicbook.com. June 28, 2020. 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/
- ^ 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.