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[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

Sonic Frontiers sold 3 million copies.

For comparison’s sake, Sonic 06 sold 800k, Sonic Unleashed sold under 2.5 million copies, Sonic Colors sold 2.1 million copies, and Sonic Generations sold 1.8 million copies. Sonic Lost World sold 700k and is one of the lowest selling main games in the Franchise and yet the Zeti are prominent in the comic. Sonic Forces sold a pitiful in its first week and we may never know exactly how much Sonic Forces actually sold(and it having 5 million plus on players on PSN+ is not any indication of a sale since it was free.) Yet somehow the comic takes place directly after Forces. Sonic Mania sold just over a million in case those hardcore Sonic classic fans want to open their mouths. While I’m at it, Sonic Adventure sold 1.3 million and SA2 sold 1.7 million. Sonic Rush sold 1.3 million and its sequel,which suffered after 06 tarnished Sonic’s reputation, sold 300k. The first Sonic game sold 15 million copies and before Retro fans start talking shit, note that is the only game in the franchise that sold that amount and it was in the golden age of gaming. You could sell a wet fart in an Nintendo cartridge and it would have made a million easy. Sonic 2? 6 million. Sonic 3? 1.03 million. Sonic and Knuckles? 1.3 million. Sonic CD? 1.5 million. Shadow the Hedgehog? 2 million. And Sonic Heroes and probably the biggest offender as to why Sonic Team stopped giving a shit about quality or effort and more about that Christmas grind? 3.41 million in 2 years.

Sonic Frontiers sold like gang busters in the couple of months it’s been out.

If you think Sage or any Frontiers elements won’t be referenced or be in the comic, you are bugging. Especially given that one of the main writers of the game writes for the comic. If that’s what is keeping you from saying IDW Sonic is on the same canon as the games and not what Iizuka says or what Flynn has stated several times, you are bugging. You are kidding yourselves if you think IDW can’t possibly put in those elements from the game in their comic.

If you don’t consider Tangle or Whisper to be game character in spite of them appearing in two mobile games that have been downloaded and played more than any Sonic game and have been created with the help of Sonic Team’s own character designer, fling yourself into the Nile River and cope and seethe. Tangle and Whisper have merchandise in the Sega Shop.

TailsTube shorts? Written by Flynn. That little Amy Rose Tarot Card set that is coming out soon? Written by Flynn with art created by one of the many IDW comic artists. This comic series has well over 50 issues including 4 different 4 part miniseries. It sold out in Japan! It’s consistently IDW’s top selling comic beating both the Transformers and Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles. It has sold over 10,000 copies an issue in a world where comics aren’t widely recognized unless it’s in the Marvel or DC. What they said in the beginning about it being diverged from canon no longer applies. Shit changed. It’s a new goddamn world. IDW Sonic is the only medium that actually uses your beloved obscure characters like Silver and Blaze. Like Cream. I don’t know what Flynn has done to make you turn up your nose at him but get over it. And the days of Sega pimping out Sonic to whatever Western media content creator and not caring what they churn out are over. The only exception to this is the movie verse(and because Iizuka has explicitly said it’s in a different canon)and honestly I have a tougher time trying to grasp how Sonic Prime is canon than I am with IDW. But regardless, it’s a new day. You are in a renaissance of Sonic and for once Sega gives enough of a shit about lore to want to make it all gel together and avoiding SATAM or Sonic Underground or Sonic the Comic or Archie Sonic the Hedgehog. Get the fuck over it.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

No the fuck the she wasn’t.

She was very much like exactly how I described all the way to the Super Genesis Wave. The difference between Flynn and Penders regarding Sally is that Penders often made Sally give in to her Royal role as Princess and submit to characters like her father or Geoffrey, creepily. Penders often undermined Sally whenever he could via sexism. Sally was the romantic item of desire in his writing. But often, she pulled rank under both of their pens.

In fact, the entire reason as to why the Council was created was to give Sally a political obstacle of sorts and a rival in Hamlin. Sally was the leader of the Freedom Fighters. She dictated the direction of the group. Why do you think Mina went off on Sally when she unilaterally chose to keep Nicole in control of Mobotropolis after Nicole basically went GLADOS via Iron Queen on the citizens of Knothole? And this was under Flynn. It was Sally that negotiated the creation of the Council in the first place after Tails’ parents protested peacefully against the Monarchy for rightful reasons and while Sonic the Bootlicker justified their imprisonment in front of Tails. Sally took point on almost every operation and was the one who often facilitated the plans. Which by the way, none of the girls mentioned above aside from her have never been that level of narrative importance. Even in the latest issue, Tails is the leader of the reinforcement squad and not Amy. Tails. Part of the reason why Hamlin and the Substitute Freedom Fighters resented Sally was because she dictated on when they could be used and she never used them.

That’s not Amy. We see that Amy takes in help whenever she can get it. We see that Amy doesn’t plan out the missions or is even seen as a strategy person. Amy’s greatest strength as leader of the Resistance and Restoration was that she was a people person something Sally had issues with since she very much was high and mighty holier than thou Princess who got screeched at by Mina for not sympathizing with the little people’s concerns.

That’s not Jewel. Jewel knows she isn’t a combat oriented person. She can delegate funds and handle the paperwork and build a coalition, but she wilts under pressure of dictating action. She defers to Vector, and after Restoration HQ gets attacked and Belle gets kidnapped, Jewel doubts her ability to be in charge. She learns to delegate roles outside of her expertise to Sonic, Team Chaotix, and Tails. Unlike Sally whose final storyline beat before SGW was that the Freedom Fighters were useless without her when she was roboticized. Which was under Flynn.

That’s not Lanolin who recognizes that she is bossy and inexperienced. Whose entire purpose in creating the new Diamond Cutters was that she didn’t want to be unprepared again. Sally wants to reclaim, and, after she reclaimed it, defend her Kingdom from any and all enemies. Not just Eggman/Robotnik. Lanolin’s desperate to be secure. Sally is fighting a war. Lanolin is leading a team of proven Badasses and she feels overwhelmed. Sally is made to feel like she is just as capable as Sonic in her own way with the power of pointing and telling others what to do. Lanolin leads because Tangle and Whisper aren’t leadership-type of people. Sally leads because she is the Princess and the Freedom Fighters are her knights.

Sally was written in the role of strategist, diplomat, and overall Monarch. Because of that, she had an all-encompassing role as the Hero and Leader of the team. Say what you want about IDW, but no character is given as much plot importance as Sally did in Archie except Sonic. And even I argue he has too much plot importance for stuff he shouldn’t be involved in(the decision to free Metal Sonic being número uno). In spite of all that, almost every character has their own agency and importance. Sally is three IDW characters rolled up in one.

It’s mildly insulting to both Sally and Lanolin that people who don’t remember Archie are saying Lanolin is the new Sally. And I say this as someone who hates Sally Acorn.

Honestly, it’s tiring that anytime there is a leadership role given to a woman in this series, people immediately assume said character is ripping off Sally. Sally was bossy, and obnoxiously commanding. Sally was girl boss princess. Sally will let you know she is in charge and it’s not a question who is in charge.

Amy’s leadership of the Resistance was way more diplomatic as she gave Sonic a lot of more leeway than Sally ever did in Archie pre-Wave. Amy Rose accepted Sonic’s decision to operate independently of the Resistance and Restoration almost immediately. Her tenure was marked with community rebuilding projects that she self-admittedly states were beyond her. Sally would have relied on Nicole for rebuilding projects while she operated the military and field missions with impunity. Sally was the person who connected with Freedom Fighters around the world. She was the point person and absolutely would not have let Sonic just willy-nilly do whatever the fuck he wanted. Even in peacetime, Sally, infamously and not unjustly given Archie’s setting, wanted to tie Sonic down.

Jewel is more of a supervisor than leader as she is far more likely to delegate positions towards others to prevent centralized authority. Sally is literally royalty and frequently butted heads with the council and her own father, the King, anytime her decisions were challenged. Sally in Jewel’s position absolutely would not have let Tangle go do her own thing. She wouldn’t be satisfied with desk work. She would have had a conniption.

I can’t speak to Lanolin’s character yet as we only have so little but people are pointing to her butting heads with Sonic being similar to Sally’s interactions with him. First off, Sally’s Freedom Fighters were not volunteer based. She vetted every single one of the members save for Tails whom she thought was too young. Lanolin’s volunteer squad seems to be a revolving door situation in terms of participants so as the organizer and leader of the team, she has to lead off of the approval of the team. Throughout the issue, Lanolin is seeking coordination and cooperation. Sally would not have bothered because the only uncooperative element on the Freedom Fighters was, you guessed it, Sonic. He was the one that she and Antoine had to reign in. Sally would have relayed to the team immediately that this was a stealth mission. Lanolin assumed that they knew that it was a recon mission and Sonic and company would act accordingly. The Freedom Fighters are Sally’s Knights/Royal Guard/City Watch. Lanolin’s volunteer team is the Restoration’s proactive offensive force.

If Sally led the Diamond Cutters and IDW/Games Sonic, it wouldn’t have been Tangle yelling at Whisper for thinking of going solo. It would have been Sally as she does this with Sonic frequently in Archie. Sally wouldn’t be discussing with Sonic in terms of tactics. She would be arguing with him. And Sally would have been a lot more fed up with Tangle’s shit. And more importantly, the narrative would have agreed with her versus Lanolin whose discussion with Sonic is more, “Well, they both made great points and neither aren’t entirely wrong.”

If I could some up the girls’ leadership styles.

Amy Rose - community leader/influencer

Jewel - Community Organizer.

Lanolin - Neighborhood team leader

Sally Acorn - Commander-in-Chief/General.

If anything, Sally has more in common with Sonic Rush 1 Blaze which makes sense since they are both Princesses. The difference between those two is that Blaze is fully capable of leading her own charge and had to be convinced to ask for help sometimes versus Sally who would never even need to be reminded of such.

Sally should not be the ubiquitous girl leader in Sonic the Hedgehog.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

…

We can play this game of whether gacha games are games but it’s being played more than than the console games. But sure, make another arbitrary goal post of them showing up in a mainline Sonic game when one was already mentioned. You look silly and sound silly.

IDW Sonic Fun Fact #505:

Whisper the Wolf is canonically incapable of catching

A FREAKING BREAK

look, I get it, Sonic guys aren't meant to change or develop far from the tropes they represent, but GEEZ ya don't gotta traumatize her every time, I'm pretty sure she's set for the rest of the continuity

don't get me wrong, I too(for lack of better words) enjoy characters suffering, but

if it's the same character, every time, back-to-back, it's gonna loose its affect

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

Whisper.

Approved and created by Sonic Team.

Uses a mechanic from several Sonic games.

In a Sonic game and is being marketed along with Tangle.

Not a game character?

Suuure, Buddy. Hear the Nile is getting overflowed these days.

IDW Sonic Fun Fact #505:

Whisper the Wolf is canonically incapable of catching

A FREAKING BREAK

look, I get it, Sonic guys aren't meant to change or develop far from the tropes they represent, but GEEZ ya don't gotta traumatize her every time, I'm pretty sure she's set for the rest of the continuity

don't get me wrong, I too(for lack of better words) enjoy characters suffering, but

if it's the same character, every time, back-to-back, it's gonna loose its affect

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

IDW Sonic Fun Fact #505:

Whisper the Wolf is canonically incapable of catching

A FREAKING BREAK

look, I get it, Sonic guys aren't meant to change or develop far from the tropes they represent, but GEEZ ya don't gotta traumatize her every time, I'm pretty sure she's set for the rest of the continuity

don't get me wrong, I too(for lack of better words) enjoy characters suffering, but

if it's the same character, every time, back-to-back, it's gonna loose its affect

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

Where would Sonic Frontiers fit in IDW Sonic?

I know Ian said don’t think about it, but oh well. He created Starline and that permits me to think about his work anyway I want. And it’s easier to think about than Sonic Prime.

I think the prerequisite for this is to find a place in the comic where Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy aren’t too involved in anything and Eggman isn’t doing anything significant. With the Tailstube ep. 3 being the real catalyst of Frontiers. I’m betting on it being between #40-50.

Luckily, Eggman has not been too active in the comics. In fact, he has been reactive to either Starline or Surge. Since Test Run(#37-40), Eggman doesn’t get too involved until #50 or Imposter Syndrome #4. And I guess the Bad Guys mini. Most of it is Starline’s scheming. So we have 10 issues where Eggman could have been on Starfall Island. Most of the time in Bad Guys, Eggman seems to be preoccupied with something else or building something only to be alerted when Starline and company draw his attention. So it’s plausible that Eggman attempted scheme during the ruckus Starline was causing until Starline eventually attacked him.

Sonic, Tails, and Amy are a bit trickier. After Zeti Hunt, Sonic and Tails went on a mini break with Belle hanging around in Tails Workshop after Trial By Fire. So we are talking 3 issues. Not even 3 issues really because Sonic and Tails go and investigate what’s going on with Eggman in #49. Amy is free after Trial by Fire to join Sonic and Tails.

So issue #48 seems to be the only plausible time where Sonic Frontiers happened as all necessary parties aren’t doing anything that would take them out of play for a couple of weeks at most. Why not at any other time? Eggman was either inactive for all of the Neo-Metal Sonic arc or very much too involved in the Metal Virus arc. Sonic unsurprisingly has only taken two breaks in this comic: after the battle for Angel Island with Neo and after Zeti Hunt. And Sonic Frontiers taking place before Angel Island battle contradicts with the fact that Knuckles was not on the island until after said battle and Eggman clearly wasn’t on Starfall Islands when spreading the Metal virus. So issues #1-32 are out. Sonic and Tails are too busy to do anything in Starfall Islands as they are helping finding repairs for Omega and Emerl and are actively hunting the Zeti.

Why 48 given what happened in Sonic Frontiers? It explains how Starline got the jump on Eggman for one or anyone. While yes, Starline made mistakes of revealing himself to his enemies and putting himself on notice, Sonic wasn’t too involved in hunting him down. Neither was Eggman. And he had an ample amount of time in creating Surge and Kit. The thing about Starline is that for all of his bluster about planning and his meticulous posturing, he really did not investigate his enemies too much. Also why Tails not being home during Imposter Syndrome when Starline tried to break into it kind of makes sense. And also, I can see how Eggman was so woefully unprepared if Sonic Frontiers just happened. He lost a “daughter” after a couple week term in a cyber prison. He comes back and tries to collect his bearings and bam, a weird Tenrec and Fox are attacking his base of operations and suddenly Starline took over one of his mechs and is waiting outside his throne room.

Why didn’t Eggman implement Sage yet? He didn’t have a reason until Starline, using Eggman’s own network, hijacked his entire amada. Starline even stole an entire base without Eggman noticing. I can see that after the Overpowered arc, he needs another set of eyes on his network.

Then there is the final characterization of Tails in Sonic Frontiers which I admit contradicts with IDW. But I’d point to how he handles Kit and how he seems to be more independent from Sonic instead of his sidekick. Yes, I get that Sonic and Tails had the same conversation all the way back in issue 3 that they had in Frontiers but I’d say that one in Frontiers is more in-depth. Tails, after essentially defeating the Zeti and saving Sonic’s hide, seems to be operating independently of Sonic and only seems to be called upon or just hanging out with his brother. Tails is independently working with the Restoration on his own accord and between Sonic and Tails, Miles is the only one who has a day job, homes, and a few workshops. The resolution of what Tails will become is best handled in a game and not a comic but we can see the effort of him growing up and becoming hero we all knew he was kind of takes place during Imposter Syndrome. He faces the personification of what he fears he has become to Sonic in Kit and the Fox isn’t shaken at all. He is making a turn into whatever the goal is for Tails and think the argument that Sonic Frontiers took place during 48 supports it.

Then why haven’t they mentioned it yet? Not every adventure that Sonic and company goes on is so remarkable that it constantly needs to be brought up unless it’s related to whatever it’s happening. The reason why Sonic Frontiers isn’t mentioned is because it’s really a contained situation that happens on 4(yes 4, Chaos Island is attached to Ouranos) islands between 5 characters. It wasn’t a world breaking global news awareness kind of thing like SA1 or SA2 because I don’t think Sonic is throwing out press releases of every time they stopped Eggman. In fact, you can argue that is what Tailstube is. It’s Tails telling his world about Sonic and their adventures and his friends while answering questions like it’s the Just Chatting section on Twitch. Unless someone noticed Starfall Islands which they shouldn’t have since it’s four secluded islands, then yeah, no one cares. And the same can be said as to why Sonic not Eggman mention Metal Virus in Sonic Frontiers. It’s not related to what’s happening in the game so why remark upon it. Is Metal Virus arc so out of left field that it needs to be referenced compared to what happened in Sonic CD or Generations or the Advance Series? Or Sonic Rush Adventure? Those games weren’t referenced in Frontiers either but we don’t assume they didn’t happen either since Amy came from CD, Cream was mentioned in Frontiers and she debuted in the Advance Series, and Generations clearly happened as some of the Cyberstages are based off them.

But I digress. If Sonic Frontiers is to fit within IDW somewhere, I’d put it near #48 ish.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

Calling it right now

Sage is running Eggperial City. Something is up.

First, it’s mighty strange that Eggman has not shown up at all while he is being attacked by 5 heavy hitters(Sonic, Silver, Blaze, Shadow, and Omega). Mind you that 4 of these characters have a super form or an alternate in Blaze’s case. Eggman is used to Sonic and maybe one of the other attacking him. All five of them at once all proactively attacking Eggman and we haven’t seen him once? In fact, even the response doesn’t seem characteristic of him. Eggman is bombastic. This entire response during the Urban Warfare arc just feels off. We expect Eggman to be in that tower. But then you have to remind yourself since when has Eggman been content to just sit and wait for Sonic in a tower? That round man has personally intervened with Sonic and friends company in the conclusion of every act, has personally engaged with Sonic himself several times when maybe just sitting down and waiting is probably the right move. He didn’t even send Metal Sonic to check out the commotion. But this does align with Sage’s style. She observes from afar while collecting data on her opponents. While she was initially hostile with Sonic for reasons that annoyingly make sense, she does operate in a manner like we’ve seen in this arc.

Second, Whisper, Tangle, and Lanolin are in a version of a Cyberspace from Sonic Frontiers. Just like in Starfall Islands, the Cyberspace is integrated into reality. Whereas the Eggperial City allows its occupants to roam around freely but unable to engage with reality. Eggman himself did mention wanting to recreate a Cyberspace as expensive as the ancients and Sage was created as an amalgamation of Ancient tech and Eggtech. Eggman at the end of Frontiers basically resurrected a version of her.

And finally, meta wise this arc does not make sense for how long it is to not be something as major as Sage’s comic debut. It’s 5 issues. This is the first time we are re-centering Eggman as the chief villain since Test Run and it’s focused on actually destroying something of his instead of being reactive and he is not going to show up? We don’t get a scheme, a monologue, and not even an appearance in the first two issues of said arc? Not one page or panel of Eggman speaking through his robots? Because he has to know Sonic and company are there. Naw. Something is off with the whole narrative structure. It’s set up as if there is going to be bait-and-switch in the end when we find out that the Doctor isn’t in the building. Sure, it makes sense that comic is focusing on Lanolin and the Diamond Cutters at the expense of Eggman, but we really don’t need Lanolin’s backstory as we essentially already seen it via funny background appearances. We witnessed her growth from scared civilian to dutiful member of the resistance. We only needed a motivation from her and we got it in the first ten pages. If this was a trap set by Eggman, he would have made his presence known after Sonic and company sprung it and some of them fell for it. It doesn’t make sense for Eggman to not have made his presence known at this point.

I won’t say that is what is happening but something feels off.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

It’s mildly insulting to both Sally and Lanolin that people who don’t remember Archie are saying Lanolin is the new Sally. And I say this as someone who hates Sally Acorn.

Honestly, it’s tiring that anytime there is a leadership role given to a woman in this series, people immediately assume said character is ripping off Sally. Sally was bossy, and obnoxiously commanding. Sally was girl boss princess. Sally will let you know she is in charge and it’s not a question who is in charge.

Amy’s leadership of the Resistance was way more diplomatic as she gave Sonic a lot of more leeway than Sally ever did in Archie pre-Wave. Amy Rose accepted Sonic’s decision to operate independently of the Resistance and Restoration almost immediately. Her tenure was marked with community rebuilding projects that she self-admittedly states were beyond her. Sally would have relied on Nicole for rebuilding projects while she operated the military and field missions with impunity. Sally was the person who connected with Freedom Fighters around the world. She was the point person and absolutely would not have let Sonic just willy-nilly do whatever the fuck he wanted. Even in peacetime, Sally, infamously and not unjustly given Archie’s setting, wanted to tie Sonic down.

Jewel is more of a supervisor than leader as she is far more likely to delegate positions towards others to prevent centralized authority. Sally is literally royalty and frequently butted heads with the council and her own father, the King, anytime her decisions were challenged. Sally in Jewel’s position absolutely would not have let Tangle go do her own thing. She wouldn’t be satisfied with desk work. She would have had a conniption.

I can’t speak to Lanolin’s character yet as we only have so little but people are pointing to her butting heads with Sonic being similar to Sally’s interactions with him. First off, Sally’s Freedom Fighters were not volunteer based. She vetted every single one of the members save for Tails whom she thought was too young. Lanolin’s volunteer squad seems to be a revolving door situation in terms of participants so as the organizer and leader of the team, she has to lead off of the approval of the team. Throughout the issue, Lanolin is seeking coordination and cooperation. Sally would not have bothered because the only uncooperative element on the Freedom Fighters was, you guessed it, Sonic. He was the one that she and Antoine had to reign in. Sally would have relayed to the team immediately that this was a stealth mission. Lanolin assumed that they knew that it was a recon mission and Sonic and company would act accordingly. The Freedom Fighters are Sally’s Knights/Royal Guard/City Watch. Lanolin’s volunteer team is the Restoration’s proactive offensive force.

If Sally led the Diamond Cutters and IDW/Games Sonic, it wouldn’t have been Tangle yelling at Whisper for thinking of going solo. It would have been Sally as she does this with Sonic frequently in Archie. Sally wouldn’t be discussing with Sonic in terms of tactics. She would be arguing with him. And Sally would have been a lot more fed up with Tangle’s shit. And more importantly, the narrative would have agreed with her versus Lanolin whose discussion with Sonic is more, “Well, they both made great points and neither aren’t entirely wrong.”

If I could some up the girls’ leadership styles.

Amy Rose - community leader/influencer

Jewel - Community Organizer.

Lanolin - Neighborhood team leader

Sally Acorn - Commander-in-Chief/General.

If anything, Sally has more in common with Sonic Rush 1 Blaze which makes sense since they are both Princesses. The difference between those two is that Blaze is fully capable of leading her own charge and had to be convinced to ask for help sometimes versus Sally who would never even need to be reminded of such.

Sally should not be the ubiquitous girl leader in Sonic the Hedgehog.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

She didn’t lose.

She got away. Sonic and Eggman invaded their base, got thrashed, and Sonic nearly got killed. Mecha Sonic got defeated in Scrapnik Island. They survived her. And Sonic fucking knows it.

Like you people think this is a W?

There was no triumph. It was barely bittersweet. Only thing Sonic succeeded in was getting the Wisps back and who is to say Kit isn’t able to fix that Dynamo Cage and take other Wisps.

She still terrorized the city and both she and Kit got away with it along with the Dynamo Cage. She thrashed Whisper, Sonic, Eggman, and Metal Sonic.

Surge went on a reverse hero’s journey where she literally climbed out of the garbage chute from being succinctly defeated. She sought more power and got it and went on a tear. She went in a 2-on-1 fight against both Sonic and Metal Sonic alone and not only held her own, she depowered one and overpowered the other. Sonic lucked out and to act like that’s nothing, then I’m sorry but you lost the plot. From the gitgo, we are told she works better with Kit and for each fight prior to the third, she went at it alone. And when we finally see them work together, she isn’t as erratic. She is focused and reassured. And she is better.

First fight she was outclassed and lacked the experience. Second fight, she was too enraged. Third fight, she out maneuvered them and outthought them. She used strategy. Why do you think they hid in that room filled with water containers in the first place? She and Kit got that win and earned it.

All Surge wanted was her fade and she got it. And that is the point.

So if they can't be redeemed what do you believe Surge and Kit's fate to be? Just show up as recurring villains with the same "I reject the world" shtick or death like Starline?

I am sorry that I am late in answering this.

It's simple: Be nihilistic villains.

They do not have to die or be "redeemed."

Look, in all of Sonic's rogues galley, we have characters like Blaze, Shadow, Knuckles, Jet the Hawk, and Metal Sonic. Knuckles was misled and now fervently on the side of the good guys, but you'd be lying if you said the character did not lose his appeal when he made that transition to merely disliking or tolerating Sonic. Metal Sonic can't verbalize and even when it does, it's just Eggman as Sonic anyway. shadow literally is what Surge would become if turned good and thus would be redundant. Jet is already the cocky Sonic but actually a criminal thing going on, but not as evil as Eggman or Zavok. And Blaze already fills the niche of an alternatively good Sonic in her own dimension and the cast. Sorry, Surge and Kit must stay antagonists and actually bad guys because that is their lane that makes them different from anyone else. They don't want to conquer the world. They want to destroy everything. In between villain characters that are world conquerors like Eggman and the Zeti and kingpin-esque characters like Clutch or straight up criminals like Rough and Tumble, that is a great niche to have,

Part of the appeal of Surge is that she is evil or in the case of Surge, she is an sympathetic but nonetheless a villian. Venom of Spider-Man was haphazardly redeemed as an anti-hero and as a Spider-Man fan, I can tell you that took a lot of the edge away from Eddie Brock. His best work was when he directly antagonized Peter Parker and redeeming him via excusing that the reason he was after Peter Parker in the first place was because Daredevil with Spider-Man correctly identified a serial killer vigilante in hold-up while Eddie tried to lie and withhold the identity of the serial killer for clout which the serial killer that Eddie turned in was just a copy cat. Eddie was at his best when he was villain. When he was up in Peter's shit. Another example is Harley Quinn. Part of her appeal aside from her design and concept was that she was evil like Joker, but writers hammed up the domestic abuse angle and that is now her identity. That is all she is known for aside from being in a throuple with Poison Ivy(who is also redeemed but time and overall view of politics redeemed her so that is different).

As much you want to redeem characters like Surge, that is the point. You want to redeem her, but you can't. That is Arcane's and LoL's Jinx. That is Juri Han from Street Fighter. You are supposed to look at characters like Surge who have something off about them and think, "Okay, how can I make her worse?"

Surge puts on the most visually engaging fights with the titular character since the fight with Neo-Metal Sonic. She is the one character outside of Metal Sonic who will throw hands with anyone without the slightest provocation. And it is always with malintent. Not some misunderstanding or whatever cop-out to just make her one of Sonic's friends. She wants to kill them and dammit she won't stop until they are dead. If Surge sees Blaze, we are going to have a fight. If Surge sees Knuckles, we are going to have a fight. If Surge sees Cream, best believe she will throw hands with the rabbit and her Chao.

Why make her like everyone else when she can be her own thing? She destroys cities, burns down forests, damn near killed Sonic, and her justification for it all is society let her down.

Y'all look at this and think, " Let's save her."

She don't wanna be saved. Same with Kit. They made their stance clear. It's not because Starline conditioned them to do it(Surge actively gives herself her own purpose to hate Sonic when Starline failed to provide for her and Kit does the same with the bonus of hating Eggman). It's not because she and Kit don't know who they are before Starline. They don't care. It's the fact that it happened to them in the first place that makes them so angry and they believe the heroes and Eggman only care about them to only fortify their own ideological positions. This is deeper than Mecha Sonic or Metal Sonic. This is deeper than Shadow's memory and past directly his enmity because it's their lack of past and the lack of connection to anyone that cares for them prior to those horrific experiments that drives them. It's the fact that she and Kit were specifically made to be Sonic's and Tails' doppelgangers and that eats at them and unlike Meta and Mecha, these are people. Can you imagine the existential grief of knowing that you had your life ruined to validate the existence of another person. That is different from cloning. That is different from being created to be evil. You were altered to be more like someone else. These are characters that Sonic can't make amends with. And that is what makes it great. Because for once, Sonic and the fanbase that likes this comic are on the same page. You want to redeem her and Surge and Kit don't want to be and any attempt to do so only makes it worse.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

So if they can't be redeemed what do you believe Surge and Kit's fate to be? Just show up as recurring villains with the same "I reject the world" shtick or death like Starline?

I am sorry that I am late in answering this.

It's simple: Be nihilistic villains.

They do not have to die or be "redeemed."

Look, in all of Sonic's rogues galley, we have characters like Blaze, Shadow, Knuckles, Jet the Hawk, and Metal Sonic. Knuckles was misled and now fervently on the side of the good guys, but you'd be lying if you said the character did not lose his appeal when he made that transition to merely disliking or tolerating Sonic. Metal Sonic can't verbalize and even when it does, it's just Eggman as Sonic anyway. shadow literally is what Surge would become if turned good and thus would be redundant. Jet is already the cocky Sonic but actually a criminal thing going on, but not as evil as Eggman or Zavok. And Blaze already fills the niche of an alternatively good Sonic in her own dimension and the cast. Sorry, Surge and Kit must stay antagonists and actually bad guys because that is their lane that makes them different from anyone else. They don't want to conquer the world. They want to destroy everything. In between villain characters that are world conquerors like Eggman and the Zeti and kingpin-esque characters like Clutch or straight up criminals like Rough and Tumble, that is a great niche to have,

Part of the appeal of Surge is that she is evil or in the case of Surge, she is an sympathetic but nonetheless a villian. Venom of Spider-Man was haphazardly redeemed as an anti-hero and as a Spider-Man fan, I can tell you that took a lot of the edge away from Eddie Brock. His best work was when he directly antagonized Peter Parker and redeeming him via excusing that the reason he was after Peter Parker in the first place was because Daredevil with Spider-Man correctly identified a serial killer vigilante in hold-up while Eddie tried to lie and withhold the identity of the serial killer for clout which the serial killer that Eddie turned in was just a copy cat. Eddie was at his best when he was villain. When he was up in Peter's shit. Another example is Harley Quinn. Part of her appeal aside from her design and concept was that she was evil like Joker, but writers hammed up the domestic abuse angle and that is now her identity. That is all she is known for aside from being in a throuple with Poison Ivy(who is also redeemed but time and overall view of politics redeemed her so that is different).

As much you want to redeem characters like Surge, that is the point. You want to redeem her, but you can't. That is Arcane's and LoL's Jinx. That is Juri Han from Street Fighter. You are supposed to look at characters like Surge who have something off about them and think, "Okay, how can I make her worse?"

Surge puts on the most visually engaging fights with the titular character since the fight with Neo-Metal Sonic. She is the one character outside of Metal Sonic who will throw hands with anyone without the slightest provocation. And it is always with malintent. Not some misunderstanding or whatever cop-out to just make her one of Sonic's friends. She wants to kill them and dammit she won't stop until they are dead. If Surge sees Blaze, we are going to have a fight. If Surge sees Knuckles, we are going to have a fight. If Surge sees Cream, best believe she will throw hands with the rabbit and her Chao.

Why make her like everyone else when she can be her own thing? She destroys cities, burns down forests, damn near killed Sonic, and her justification for it all is society let her down.

Y'all look at this and think, " Let's save her."

She don't wanna be saved. Same with Kit. They made their stance clear. It's not because Starline conditioned them to do it(Surge actively gives herself her own purpose to hate Sonic when Starline failed to provide for her and Kit does the same with the bonus of hating Eggman). It's not because she and Kit don't know who they are before Starline. They don't care. It's the fact that it happened to them in the first place that makes them so angry and they believe the heroes and Eggman only care about them to only fortify their own ideological positions. This is deeper than Mecha Sonic or Metal Sonic. This is deeper than Shadow's memory and past directly his enmity because it's their lack of past and the lack of connection to anyone that cares for them prior to those horrific experiments that drives them. It's the fact that she and Kit were specifically made to be Sonic's and Tails' doppelgangers and that eats at them and unlike Meta and Mecha, these are people. Can you imagine the existential grief of knowing that you had your life ruined to validate the existence of another person. That is different from cloning. That is different from being created to be evil. You were altered to be more like someone else. These are characters that Sonic can't make amends with. And that is what makes it great. Because for once, Sonic and the fanbase that likes this comic are on the same page. You want to redeem her and Surge and Kit don't want to be and any attempt to do so only makes it worse.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

Oh here we go? The Surge loses dialogue. She beat Eggman to the point she was going to kill him before metal Sonic intervened.

She beat Whisper.

In this issue, she tricked Metal by going after Eggman and defeated it. And she had Sonic dead to rights. Sonic didn’t win. And Eggman didn’t get her nor the Dynamo Cage which may be broken but she is still in possession of. She had Sonic running for his life again while he was not injured. She and Kit are threats(and I like how you all isolate Surge as she alone is supposed to take on Sonic and company). They failed this arc. The only issue is that Surge and Kit did not get a full sweep and kill Sonic, Tails and Eggman.

Maybe read the material before you criticize.

read idw sonic issue 56 and it seems like they're going the anti hero route for surge and kit like i thought. i'm... okay with this?? i like how they aren't on the good side immediately. surge was built to destory sonic. in her mind he's the reason why she's like that. so of course she's not gonna be swayed over by him easily. and the only reason kit stoppes attacking tails is because he said surge was hurting herself. you cannot say that surge and kit are on the good side but they also aren't evil. i would've liked for them to be redeemd because i want them to be happy but they're abused and traumatized kids and that shit doesn't go away easily. if they were redeemed in this issue it would've felt rushed. i have a feeling this isn't the last we'll see of surge and kit so fingers crossed that in their next appearence they can get a little better

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

Anti-hero? They specifically still are both omnicidal nihilists. They still want to destroy everyone and everything. They aren’t even anti-villains since that implies they are doing bad for good reasons like Poison Ivy or they are forced. What makes them great villains is that you feel bad for them but unlike Shadow, Chaos, or Knuckles, they specifically will not be the good guys. And that’s actually needed since this comic needs villains like Surge and Kit who aren’t all-encompassing world conquerors like Eggman and Zavok, who are actually a threat to Sonic unlike Mimic and Clutch who are secondary villains, and who can actually rival characters like Sonic and Shadow.

Redeeming them ruins the point of them. Surge is villain in the same vein as Jinx. Personally I think Jinx is in the right to terrorize Piltover and give them a taste of what their oppression and classism created but that’s ideological and beside the point. Surge won’t be saved and Kit refuses to be. And it’s narratively better for them that way.

read idw sonic issue 56 and it seems like they're going the anti hero route for surge and kit like i thought. i'm... okay with this?? i like how they aren't on the good side immediately. surge was built to destory sonic. in her mind he's the reason why she's like that. so of course she's not gonna be swayed over by him easily. and the only reason kit stoppes attacking tails is because he said surge was hurting herself. you cannot say that surge and kit are on the good side but they also aren't evil. i would've liked for them to be redeemd because i want them to be happy but they're abused and traumatized kids and that shit doesn't go away easily. if they were redeemed in this issue it would've felt rushed. i have a feeling this isn't the last we'll see of surge and kit so fingers crossed that in their next appearence they can get a little better

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

Out of curiosity, what are Flynn’s worst writing tendencies based on what you’ve had to read from him, and how could they be mitigated? Asking as a jack-of-all-trades artist, master of none.

He uses characters as mouthpieces to tell the themes of the story instead of showing you the theme of the story. So you get scenes like Sonic going on a monologue about his philosophy of redemption(which I agree with and is in character) when it doesn’t need to be stated or Starline’s monologue about the flaws of Eggman. Sure, that could be just their opinion, but it becomes a whole other thing when the narrative yields to that character’s thinking and it affirms them over and over again. Which isn’t a Sonic issue, so much as a pre-reboot Sally and Starline issue. It creates characters that people like to call Mary-Sues but in actuality what the trope is referring to is the unnatural gravitation to a character which is especially prevalent in character driven stories like this one.

Flynn does this with blank slate characters and gives them unnecessary prevalence. The best solution for Flynn is to take that toy away. Don’t let him have that soapbox of a character and diminish that character’s screen time.

I hope this answers your question.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

Let me explain my point of view because it’s become apparent that a bunch of anti-IDW Sonic fans are agreeing with me. That’s fine but don’t mistake me with them. I’m not overly critical and I agree with most of the things in IDW like Sonic’s characterization, the setting, and,something that is really going to set them off, that IDW is canon to the games. Especially given that Flynn and Stanley are heads of the Sonic lore team and Sonic Team keep all Sonic media in line, and Sonic Team themselves have created or had a hand in creating characters like Tangle, Whisper, Surge, and Kit.

But I am able to criticize and critique what I’m reading as well as defend it. If I’m coming off as too anti-IDW, we’ll yeah. Sorry. If I don’t like something, I say it. But also don’t conflate me with a hater. I’m not. I just bought my nephews and niece 3 volumes of this comic along with Sonic Frontiers for Christmas. You can say that I hate Archie because yeah, I was not a fan of Sally Acorn or Acorn Kingdom. I think IDW Sonic the Hedgehog is a good video game licensed comic book. It’s a good comic book in general.

But when I see bad writing decisions that give the haters ammunition like Dr. Starline’s entire being up until the character’s death, I call it out. I love Surge and Kit. Belle is growing on me. I love the little minor villains. And so adore Tangle and Whisper. But Starline and the few writing decisions associated with him caused this dialogue. Nearly everything that is off about IDW Sonic has something to do with him.

And I’m glad he gone. Just like Sally, Starline became a vehicle for Flynn’s worst writing tendencies. I, as a fan, can finally move on. But I can’t help but reflect on Starline’s theme and cringe a little. It was a mistake. That is all.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

Actually Surge’s defeats rectify the Starline problem because she was getting her ass handed to her. If she actually managed to defeat Sonic or even Metal Sonic in any way, that would have been a problem. Instead, the comic did not insult Sonic’s capabilities. It acknowledges that Surge wouldn’t be the first doppelgänger he tangled with. And Surge does not have the experience that he has. Which again shows flaws in Starline. I would have rolled my eyes if Starline actually succeeded. Starline did everything he accused Eggman of doing. He didn’t plan for the long term as he created Surge and Kit with a more reliable control or leash. He didn’t think of giving his own self-thinking creation an exigency for their purpose. He underestimated Sonic, Tails, and Eggman and paid the price for it without it being anyone’s fault but his own folly. Issue #50 fixed a lot of shit that his initial presentation created. And I’m okay with that.

Starline for all his flaunts and bravado did not consider the lived experience factor in creating biological androids. At least Metal Sonic has not only experience in fighting Sonic but also data about Sonic. Shadow was the Ultimate Lifeform and had enough natural ability and power to be more than a match for Sonic. Blaze is seemingly Sonic’s alternate dimension counterpart. I could go on. Surge has none of that. And she rightfully got trounced because Starline’s own arrogance failed both her and Kit.

As for whether Surge is terrible, I disagree. She is the underdog villain. Everything from her backstory to her personality to her ability was presented to be better or superior to Sonic by Starline and no one else. Yes the solicitations hinted that Starline, Surge, and Kit would have been a match for the whole of Eggman, Sonic, and Tails but the comic beautifully subverted that. For all of Starline’s observations about them, he failed to see his own flaws like his inability to recognize lived and experience or be empathetic. Starline is a smartass know-it-all critic that thinks they know everything that doesn’t.

What makes Surge and subsequently Kit interesting is that they start where Starline should have started. It’s about the growth of them. Surge and Kit may not be a match for them now but they will be and she will keep trying because she loathes everyone and everything. They created a villain that will remain a villain. She won’t turn the other cheek. She won’t recognize her own faults(hence why she blames Sonic instead of Starline or Eggman). She rejects Sonic’s entire being. She is Star Wolf, Sylux, Wario, Tiny, and etc. and it works because unlike Metal Sonic, Surge can actually speak on her own terms and from the perspective of someone who has their own thoughts.

And you speak too broadly. Surge has beaten Whisper.

And that’s not a small feat. If I had to guess, Whisper is on the same level as Tails in terms of combat ability. She is capable of beating a Zeti at least. Now you can say that she only managed this because of the Dynamo Cage, I don’t think so. The Dynamo Cage was draining Surge’s power prior to her absorbing the Wisps.

I personally think she would have beaten Whisper without the Dynamo Cage as she was effortlessly dodging Whisper’s attacks and was more caught off guard because she had no idea what she was up against. And while she had help, she did at least defeat Metal Sonic.

And Sonic absolutely was taking her seriously the second fight.

And just before the aforementioned trip…

The issue with Surge here is not bad writing or her being a terrible character. The issue is that she is blinded by rage and cannot think straight. Sonic’s entire being sets her off and she makes mistakes because of it. It’s a character flaw which unlike with Starline, it’s actually present and constantly accounted for.

Yes, I agree that in the beginning, Starline was a villain sue and have written as much. My issue here isn’t that Starline was incompetent. He always should have been presented as not as good as Eggman. That he was too successful in places where he shouldn’t have been i.e. almost defeating Sonic and actually beating Shadow.

The worst scene in IDW

I hate this scene. I hate this fight. I hate how it paints Sonic and Eggman.

I think what bothers me about this is that Starline was too successful. This is when he started showing too much competence for no real reason. Look, if Metal Sonic, Shadow, Blaze, an entire military, two gods, and temporal anomaly couldn’t stop Sonic, a bomb in a building Damn sure can’t either. But this scene, somehow, Starline nearly managed just that.

This is where I started resenting Starline. Because he made Sonic look weak, Eggman look incompetent and stupid, and every villain that ever opposed Sonic look weak sauce. It’s the fact that Starline just conveniently had a bomb in the facility that he was taking things out of and Silver, for some reason, decided to just go in said facility this creating this scenario.

But what happens next makes it so much worse.

This is where I get pissed with this depiction of Eggman. Eggman has tried to carpet bomb Sonic multiple times. And it didn’t work. Now you can say that Eggman is puffing himself up and downplaying Sonic for the sake of his own ego, but this scene isn’t treated as that. It’s treated like Eggman has a complexity addiction. Like he is the Riddler or some shit. And we get stupid and inane questions like “why doesn’t Eggman just shoot Sonic?” like he hasn’t already tried that with his multiple endless armies of robots. Like GUN hasn’t tried that already. “Well, I don’t know, Charlie. Maybe because he runs at the speed of Mach 1 and can and frequently has broken the sound barrier, run on water, routed entire civilizations’ worth of armies.”

Starline should not have been allowed to succeed as much as he did. He should not have been able to get an upper hand on Sonic at all. In fact, the same could be said when he faced Shadow. No way in hell should Starline ‘beaten’ Shadow even with his dinky Tricore just to get Hulk smashed by Eggman.

I am glad Starline is gone. Because we can relish in the fact that he is wrong, was wrong, and has been wrong. Sonic is that powerful and warrants elaborate schemes to defeat him. The only justification for his easy success was luck. Pure and simple. He got lucky. The real tragedy is that Sonic didn’t get a chance to really go up against Starline, but I’ll settle on Sonic handedly defeating Surge, his magnum opus.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

The worst scene in IDW

I hate this scene. I hate this fight. I hate how it paints Sonic and Eggman.

I think what bothers me about this is that Starline was too successful. This is when he started showing too much competence for no real reason. Look, if Metal Sonic, Shadow, Blaze, an entire military, two gods, and temporal anomaly couldn’t stop Sonic, a bomb in a building Damn sure can’t either. But this scene, somehow, Starline nearly managed just that.

This is where I started resenting Starline. Because he made Sonic look weak, Eggman look incompetent and stupid, and every villain that ever opposed Sonic look weak sauce. It’s the fact that Starline just conveniently had a bomb in the facility that he was taking things out of and Silver, for some reason, decided to just go in said facility this creating this scenario.

But what happens next makes it so much worse.

This is where I get pissed with this depiction of Eggman. Eggman has tried to carpet bomb Sonic multiple times. And it didn’t work. Now you can say that Eggman is puffing himself up and downplaying Sonic for the sake of his own ego, but this scene isn’t treated as that. It’s treated like Eggman has a complexity addiction. Like he is the Riddler or some shit. And we get stupid and inane questions like “why doesn’t Eggman just shoot Sonic?” like he hasn’t already tried that with his multiple endless armies of robots. Like GUN hasn’t tried that already. “Well, I don’t know, Charlie. Maybe because he runs at the speed of Mach 1 and can and frequently has broken the sound barrier, run on water, routed entire civilizations’ worth of armies.”

Starline should not have been allowed to succeed as much as he did. He should not have been able to get an upper hand on Sonic at all. In fact, the same could be said when he faced Shadow. No way in hell should Starline ‘beaten’ Shadow even with his dinky Tricore just to get Hulk smashed by Eggman.

I am glad Starline is gone. Because we can relish in the fact that he is wrong, was wrong, and has been wrong. Sonic is that powerful and warrants elaborate schemes to defeat him. The only justification for his easy success was luck. Pure and simple. He got lucky. The real tragedy is that Sonic didn’t get a chance to really go up against Starline, but I’ll settle on Sonic handedly defeating Surge, his magnum opus.

[idw-sonic-fan-blog]

I hope Ian dropped his promise to not write Shadow anymore just so I can see Surge vs Shadow. But that would be so dope.

Like Shadow would mop the floor with Surge and if you thought Sonic beating her messed with her mental, Shadow absolutely would not give her any leeway. He would absolutely beat her down and actually condescend to her. And I’m not saying this because I hate Surge. Quite the opposite. I just want to see her reaction.