Why You Should Read IDW Sonic Comics (CANCELLED)
(CANCELLED VIDEO SCRIPT)
Hello everybody, it has been a while hasn't it? I mean I uploaded this very mediocre reaction video that got much attention as I expected.
* guy screaming meme *So I said to myself, I have to make a new analysis video like the fnaf one. And here we are now.
IDW Sonic is a very interesting part of the overall Sonic franchise. Veterans of the franchise know that 2 very wildly different sonic comics with their own plots and characters were a thing in the 90's. IDW in contrast is still kinda new. It has recently reached it's 50th issue and after this frankly embarressing video I edited a long time ago, I wanted to talk about once again. For starters, IDW takes place right after Sonic Forces, the newest modern Sonic game at the time of the book's release. But then it starts a new canon seperate from the games. So it's basically an official AU like the other two. While the other two frankly went bonkers with the material they were given, IDW is still tied to the game characters with some new faces exclusive to the comic. That makes this universe way more grounded in that sense when compared to the rest. And don't you worry, Archie and Fleetway will also get their time to shine. But as for now, IDW Sonic is the main topic of discussion. So without further ado, here's why you should read the IDW Sonic comics.
IDW Sonic starts in a rather interesting way. It basically reintroduces nearly all of the game characters and also introduces us to the new comic original character in its first 8 issues. I honestly think this is a really good setup for this comic in particular. It's great to have some refresher on these characters for old and new fans alike. Issue 7 is the most interesting out of all because it introduces the main villain for the first arc of the comic, that being Metal Sonic. It's interesting how the book has Metal as the villain at first instead of Eggman. It makes the dynamic way more interesting. The first arc of the comic is called ''The Battle for Angel Island'' so it's about we got the point where we have a battle on angle island starting from issue 9. Also while we are at the start of the review, I have to talk about how the characters are handled overall. Let's start with the title hero...
Knuckles!
I appreciate how Knuckles not being with the master emerald for this long is adressed in this arc. So many of the modern games just ignore that aspect of his character in favor of the iconic Sonic trio to be working together. And surprisingly, after this arc ends Knuckles doesn't show up that often... because he now resides in Angel Island. I actually kinda appreciate that. He doesn't always have to be with the crew and that's ok. Also glad he gives up his position as leader after this arc concludes. Forces made it so he was in charge of the whole resistance which makes absolutely no sense. You mean to tell me this isolated shy guy is in charge of all this when they have people like Vector around? Yeah I didn't think so. That position goes to Amy after his departure as forshadowed in issue 2. Oh yeah, about Amy...
Earlier on the comic's life, people compared this version of Amy to Sally Acorn. Specifically her Archie incarnation. I mean yeah, I can see the similarities. But as time went along, majority of the fandom just accepted this version of her character. Me personally, this is a great version of Amy. Mostly because this Amy's personality isn't just ''omg I love Sonic so much'' I mean she still likes Sonic no doubt and probably in an alternate universe SEGA allowed them to be in a relationship, it would have worked out. Sonic also has feelings for her still but they have mutual respect for each other now as allies rather than it being a one sided love story. Big fan of that narrative. Ok, who else is there... oh yeah, Tails!
After Tails was bastersized hard in Forces, the main writer, Ian Flyn, had to fix that problem. Instead of Tails being this coward that couldn't get anything worthwhile done, he is back to his Sonic Adventure roots as a semi confident hero. You can tell that's what the writer was going for, even back in the first issue. Tails gets a lot of time to shine in the later storylines as well.... Am I missing someone?
Oh yeah, Sonic.
I avoided this topic as long as I could but we have to talk about Sonic's portrayal here. And how I don't really that much of a problem with it. He is still the fun loving blue blur with his quirky one liners. But something is different. He both seems more mature and tired of the world around him. This is emphasized more later on in the comic's life. I'm well aware that most people aren't a fan of this interpertation of the character but I kinda like it. It's an interesting take on his character. I didn't hate any of his scenes nor dialogue aside from this which just looks so edited that it hurts. Another point people don't like about this incarnation is that he spares his enemies too much. Which I don't really get the argument for. If Sonic didn't spare anyone in his past adventures; Knuckles, Shadow and Silver would either be dead or locked up. So yeah, shitty argument. Ok I'm done talking about this now, let's hope Twitter doesn't get mad at this fun. Because as we all know Twitter is the most reliable place for internet opinions. * wink wink *
Oh yeah, Battle for Angle Island. It's a good arc, the characters have great interactions, metal poses as a great villain and the way he gets defeated makes sense with his ego. The new characters, Tangle and Whisper are pretty good as well, they have nice dynamics with the rest of the gang. Oh and yeah, a new character named Starline appears and he is like a big fanboy of Eggman. It's actually kinda incredible how Starline changes throughout the story as it progresses. He was one of the reasons I kept up with the comics even in their lowest points.
Next up, we have a miniseries featuring the two new characters Tangle and Whipser. It mostly works as a spinoff to get to know these guys more. And yeah, it's pretty good. Whisper's tragic backstory combined with Tangle trying to get her back into shape is really interesting. Probably the best part about this spinoff is Mimic in my opinion. He is a shapeshifter that at least has killed 5 people so that's fun. I wish we got to see more of him tho. For being the titular villain of this spinoff, he sure doesn't appear much. At least it isn't like Vanny from FNAF who appears in like 2 cutscenes but I'm getting ahead of myself.
The next arc on the other hand is just something else. It's the amount of dark content I want the Sonic franchise to use to it's advantage. A zombie apocalypse story that has actual has stakes, drama and certainly isn't an unfunny mess seems like an amazing story idea. And it is.... to some extent. It's like the True Colors of IDW Sonic. Aka the peak of the comics. Yeah talk about a comparison... First of, I will say that making Sonic infected was a bold ass choice that I'm happy was taken. It makes the story more suspenseful since it shows how the main hero isn't safe either. And dude, the character ''deaths'' were super well done, except Shadow. God I don't even wanna bore myself by talking about this version of Shadow so I will just move on. This arc also introduces Cream's family tree and Omega. Omega is still hilarious as always. I loved him in the games so seeing him go batshit insane in this environment was so funny. Cream's family getting introduced in the middle of a zombie story is a problem however. Part of me wishes they included them sooner so it would have been more impactful for the main audience. Like I give a shit because I grew up with these characters but what will people with no knowledge of these guys feel about this? At least the others had an issue to their own to introduce themselves to the new audience. But that's a minor complaint at best. Ok now let's talk about Gemerl now. Words can't describe how glad I was to see this guy back. He is basically not used by Sonic Team at all. He appeared at the end of one GBA game and then never mentioned again by Cream and her mom. But now, he returns like he was always a part of the crew and it's amazing. I always thought Gemerl had potential to be a very good character and sure enough, he's great. This wouldn't be the last time they would do a deep cut anyways. But back to the main plot, almost every character gets to be a part of this storyline including the villains. Starline gets more development in the background, Sonic loses hope every passing day, the Resistance struggling to save more people, it's all great stuff. I personally don't want to spoil a lot of major stuff from this arc specifically because it's just so good. The arc kinda becomes tedious towards the end with the inclusion of the Zeti and the frankly goofy Kaizu battle but overall combined, this is one of the best Sonic stories I have read. This just made me so excited to see what they would do next-
Bad Guys, aka the 2nd spinoff series is just ok. If you don't really care about Starline it's really boring. Zavok is surprisingly great here to the point I wish he was stuck being solo cuz he's such an intimidating villain with an interesting idealogy. Mimic returns as a good side villain and... (I just realized I didn't even mention Rough & Tumble once) so uhh... these two return from the main books and they are pretty fun at the very least. I don't have anything notable to say about those two, they are just fine. Starline on the other hand is more interesting than ever. His realization in the course of the miniseries is very well done. I kinda wish it was a little longer for more interactions between these guys but it's what it is. Let's see how they will top the Metal Virus arc in the main book-
Oh, well that's a tonal whiplash. Chao Racing & Badnik Bases is really good despite not being a great continuation of the Metal Virus. I feel like Zeti Hunt is a better continuation of it but I'm getting ahead of myself. This arc mostly focuses on the girls while Sonic and Tails discovers a new friend in the form of Belle. Belle is... probably the best and worst aspect of the post Metal Virus stories. I will get more into detail later on. The girls have amazing chemistry with each other, I especially like how Rouge is purposefully being a bad role model for Cream. This version of Amy also shines here with her interactions. Sonic and Tails are great as always. Shadow.... is actually better than the Metal Virus arc ut just barely. I like the teases for future stories at the end as well. Starline coming back after a whole miniseries dedicated to him isn't that surprising but I still like him here.
Test Run feels like the beginning of the end when it comes to the overall direction the comic. Instead of having a lot of characters being the focus, we are now going on a character driven route with Belle as our focus. In terms of her development, the book really takes its time to explore her mentality which is a pretty good thing. Test Run also has another plot in the form of Sonic, Tails and Amy getting stuck in a maze essentially. And it's decently entertaining. I slightly prefer the second plotline overall because of the creepiness factor of the town area. That part is actually very well done. Overall not bad at all...
But then we get the worst story of the entire book so far... Ok I don't want to be that harsh but a 4 issue story entirely about the zeti is really boring. Even more boring than bad guys because that one had Starline growing as a character. It has Sonic beating the zeti again and starline capturing belle on the background. That's it. That's the entire plot summarized in one sentence. To be fair, there are still moments where I chuckled, like the legendary Chaotix scene but this is by far the worst story in this series so far. Honestly thinking of how hard the book fell off after the Metal Virus kinda hurts in a way.
Trial by Fire is fine but it's solitications ruined it. It made it so that this 3 issue long camping story didn't end until half a year passed which just sucks. Because this story is generally pretty good when read back 2 back. But when you wait 2 months just to see the continuation of this fairly relaxing story, it ruins the pace a lot. I will talk about WHY they did this in a second tho. The part that saves this arc are the other two issues; 48 and 49. 48 is a great mystery story featuring the Chaotix, my favourite faction in the entire franchise. It's just a very well paced story that fits seemlessly well into the overall plot and narrative. And 49 is a great segway into the Battle for the Empire arc. 49 sort of ends Belle's character development as well, making that whole build up worth it in retrospect. While I would have still wished they focused on other characters other than belle for the 3rd time, I'm glad it payed off at the end.
And for the final miniseries that has been released at the time of this video's release, the imposter syndrome... (yes get your shitty memes out of your damn system right now.) was shockingly good. After being severely dissapointed with the last two arcs of the main book I was kinda starting to lose hope with this subfranchise but this miniseries proved me wrong. It's an amazing origin story for these two new characters who are basically Starline's henchmen. Both of them are great from a design and character point. And they seemlessly show up in the main book right after this as well, making it so much more organic. Surge is kind of a nutcase with a lot of conflicted emotions while Kit is this lovable kid with a shit ton of trauma. The book uses all 4 of it's issues to make the audience connect with them which honestly works better here than tangle & whisper's miniseries.
At the time of writing this script, the battle for the empire is the latest story to come out of the book and wow. It was honestly worth the wait. Issue 50 is comparable to the best of the metal virus saga which I didn't even think was possible given the comics' current problems but gosh dang it, they did it. They actually did it. There's so much to love in this arc. The SATAM vibes, Sonic's idealogy being tested. Sonic and Tails finally encountering their replacements, Belle having some sort of closure with Eggman and so much more. Issue 50 made me fall in love with the comic once again.... Issue 51 was kinda mid in contrast. The most memorable part of it is that people on twitter actually got pissed because of sonic saying ''big oof'' which is just so funny and fucked up at the same time.
Oh yeah, I lost track of time for a second. So that's it. We are completely caught up with the comic now. Here's my personal tierlist of all the arcs in the comics. Granted this series isn't as developed as Archie yet but I would strongly advise you check it out anyways because trust me, if you are even slightly interested in modern sonic stories, you will love these. Unless you are a shadow fan, cuz in that case I'm so sorry.
(This was cancelled mostly because of a lack of motivation, I was honestly really excited to talk about this topic that I loved but it was on hold for so long that I lost focus. I was gonna discard it at first but then I realized that sending it to my blogpost was a better choice overall. I hope you guys enjoyed this ''script'' Have a good day everyone!)
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