IDW unveils two new Sonic the Hedgehog one-shot issues, 900th Adventure and Endless Summer
Take a look at these new Sonic the Hedgehog one-shot issues from IDW Publishing, scheduled for a summer release.
900th Adventure
This issue, tentatively scheduled for 16 August, will feature various writers and illustrators as the blue blur goes on his "900th world-saving adventure!"
Sonic and his friends are playing a game of hot potato! Only the potato is the Warp Topaz and it could warp the whole world into oblivion. The gang is passing off the Warp Topaz in a relay race to get rid of it once and for all.
Cover A: Tracy Yardley
Cover B: Yuji Uekawa of SEGA Japan
Cover C: Evan Stanley
Cover D: Adam Bryce Thomas
Retailer incentive cover 1:10: Nathalie Fourdraine
Retailer incentive cover 1:25: Richard Elson
Retailer incentive cover 1:50: Jonathan Gray
Endless Summer
"Wave goodbye to the office and say hello to the beach," read the official solicitation. This issue is scheduled for a 30 August tentative release.
Sonic drags Jewel on a well-deserved beach day to spend time with her besties, Tangle and Whisper! But when they all settle in for some rest and relaxation…they realize the Babylon Rogues had the same idea… at the same beach. The only way to settle this is with a totally tubular beach showdown!
Writer: Gale Galligan
Illustrator: Tracy Yardley
Cover A: Tracy Yardley
Cover B: Jack Lawrence and Reggie Graham
Retailer incentive cover 1:10: Tracy Yardley (Monochrome "colouring book" variant of Cover A)
Retailer Incentive cover 1:25: Natalie Haines
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The giant robo-dragon is heading straight for us! – Volume 3: Battle for Angel Island (#9-12)
The last two volumes have set the stage for a major battle the likes of which we usually only see at a game's climax! It's going to take all of Sonic's friends and allies working together to pull this one off.
Neo Metal Sonic, acting as the temporary head of the Eggman Empire, has seized the opportunity to occupy Angel Island and with it, he's taken control of the Master Emerald.
Sonic and the Resistance rally to save Angel Island, and the whole world, from the robotic monstrosity's machinations.
Story
The stage is set. Metal Sonic sits on a literal throne on top of the Master Emerald, self-assured that his victory is now inevitable.
Sonic and Amy rally the Resistance as well as outsiders like Silver and Blaze, newcomers like Tangle and Whisper, and even wildcards like Shadow and Rouge. They lay out a plan for a three-pronged attack focused on disabling the Egg Fleet, neutralizing the badnik ground forces, and of course getting the Master Emerald out of Metal Sonic's control.
Not one to be out-done, Knuckles volunteers to go after Metal Sonic while Blaze the Cat volunteers to take out the Egg Fleet on her own with her super form, Burning Blaze, and the Sol Emeralds.
The plan immediately goes off the rails when the team's airship takes heavy fire and everyone has to bail out on Extreme Gear hoverboards, plus Shadow completely ditches the Resistance and goes straight for Metal Sonic.
Sonic and Knuckles break into the "throne room" and rush for Neo Metal Sonic, who uses the Master Emerald to charge up into a super form, baiting the heroes to "show me what you're made of." Neo then easily overpowers both Sonic and Knuckles and is only stopped by a surprise attack from Shadow.
Coming into contact with Shadow allows Metal Sonic to copy his data, however, giving him the final piece he needs to transform into his monstrous form: Metal Overlord, a giant robotic dragon abomination.
The Resistance rallies together to help the boys fight off Metal Overlord and in the melee, Knuckles is able to remove the Master Emerald from the robot's chest and get it back to the shrine on Angel Island before the island could crash into the world below.
With Metal Sonic neutralized, the team celebrates their victory. Meanwhile, Rough and Tumble return and they're sent by a mysterious Dr. Starline to kidnap Mr. Tinker. Starline uses hypnotherapy and electroshock to try and restore Dr. Eggman's memories to no avail.
Sonic and Tails reactivate Metal Sonic in his original form, minus his weapons. Sonic offers him a truce and asks if they can coexist in the wide world. Metal Sonic, of course, rejects this offer and runs out on them, only to rejoin with Eggman and trigger his awakening, restoring the Doctor who plans to unleash a new terror on the world in retribution for his defeat at the hands of Sonic and the Rookie.
Review
Characters
We have an embarrassment of riches in this story arc when it comes to characters both new and old. While the video games have been content to strip the cast down to as few as possible for years now, the comics shine by giving everyone a role in the big climactic moments like this.
Seeing Amy take on a leadership role in the Resistance was a surprise when I first read this one, but it makes sense the more I've thought about it. The games have needed to do some serious reworking with Amy's character for years now that it's no longer acceptable to just make the girl character's entire personality her infatuation with the male lead. In a world where girls are looking up to more complex characters like Princess Bubblegum and the Crystal Gems, Amy can't just be Sonic's stalker anymore. Plus moving her into a leadership role fixes another problem: Knuckles.
It never made sense for Knuckles to be in charge of the Resistance since his number one priority is and always has been the Master Emerald, as its guardian. Now, Knuckles is free to go back to Angel Island and the status quo has been restored.
Shadow and Rouge are still a little out of character in this volume but it's not as bad. Rouge has gotten involved in team ups like this in the past, but usually while following Shadow's lead, so when they get separated at the beginning of the battle I thought it was strange that she stayed to help Amy and her group.
Shadow charging in to fight Neo Metal Sonic almost felt forced in order to get us to Metal Overlord, but I could buy it either way.
Even our new supporting characters, Tangle and Whisper, had some screen time in the fight but they weren't in this arc very much. More like a reminder that they're around while the main cast took the lead on this one. I definitely didn't expect Rough and Tumble to ever come back, let alone for them to be the ones to get Eggman back into the villain game!
Artwork
Battle for Angel Island has some of the best spreads we've seen in IDW so far. From the Resistance charge against Metal Sonic to the full-page spread of Neo Metal giving his villain monologue while sitting on the Master Emerald.
Especially in issue 11, I noticed that artwork duties were swapping between Tracy Yardley and Evan Stanley from page to page, but I felt that their styles were coexisting nicely. I think they met somewhere in the middle on how they stylize these characters so it didn't distract from the flow of the story.
That said, I actually started to prefer Evan Stanley's art here with the shape of the eyes, the fangs on some characters' teeth, and the expressiveness she brings to the characters.
Writing
Overall I think writer Ian Flynn does a good job of keeping the pace of the battle moving forward. While the scenes cut back and forth between different fronts of the battle, it does so to show us interesting moments like Blaze firing a kamehameha at the robotic wings attached to Angel Island. It's not just cutting back and forth for the sake of it.
I did think the "missing piece" part of Metal Sonic's plan needed to be explained a bit better. I haven't played Sonic Heroes since 2003 so I didn't recall him needing Shadow's data in order to transform, so I felt like the gravity of his mistake was lost on me when it should have been a shocking moment.
The Verdict
We've now finished our first story arc of the IDW Sonic comics. We've seen Metal Sonic's rise to power and the culmination of his plans in an epic showdown that united the entire Sonic cast, something we haven't seen in the game continuity in a long time!
IDW has a talented team of writers and artists who are taking care of this brand and keeping these stories going. I think fans owe a lot to the work these people have put in over the years.
And the story only continues from here, because Dr. Eggman has a new plan ready to go and this next story arc is even longer and the stakes only get higher!
Next week we'll be reading the 2019 Annual, which covers some of the aftermath from this arc and sets us up for what's to come. It might seem optional since it's not in the main Sonic book, but the Annuals are essential reading for fans of the series!
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