kinopioa

[kinopioa]

I saw your work rewriting a few pages from Issue 42. They were pretty funny! What would be your take on these panels?

If it were me, I’d make Zik exactly what Jet describes his as: a “senile old fool”

Goodness the art downgrade

Zik isn't dumb in LW so I disagree, but the bigger issue is Flynn making the Rogues stupidly get close with their gear knowing they can warp tech. Similarly, randomly having Gemerl get close against Zeena. It's part of his issue of escalating stakes via char stupidity

This is a power everyone should be aware of when Tails made plans, but nah. Let em be stupid I guess

[kinopioa]

>Sees the mobile card game datamine showing Archie chars

Tf-

>Rovio devved this

Ah

[kinopioa]

(different anon) what makes the whole "IDW fix tails" all the more eyebrow raising worthy is that they recreate that one scene from forces in the zombot arc and no, the context is literally the same no matter what and yet people defend that one panel.

I'm sure there's disagreement on what I just said but hopefully you get what I mean on that.

Ah but you see Anon, Tails got infected by the goo on his tails. Clearly he was stuck

...what do you mean right before he was seen haplessly being chased by zombot Chao that as established by the comic, shouldn't able to use their full potential in flying due to Zombot virus not letting them use their brain? And what do you mean Tails still had functional legs?

It's so annoyingly transparent...

[kinopioa]

Idk but I would argue Forces did instant damage to Tails, my little brother used to love Tails, but said after Forces he finds him lame, didn’t even want the Tails toys anymore.

I find the execution of that scene shit, but acting like IDW fixed anything is dumb, same for ignoring that it's Tails that exploited the P.Ruby's weakness

Tails already was starting to be hated around Sonic 4's campaign, and people were mad at his 2 second ego for Lost World. I think people really only liked him to be a literal Sonic 2.0 that's cute, and AU future fics unfortunately tend to be that, or inversely just coddle him and make him barely above a plushie

He suffers similarly to Shadow where "fans" don't treat him like an individual, acting like he peaked only in SA2

[kinopioa]

The stupid DC x Sonic crossover comic reminds me of the godawful days of Archie Sonic, particularly the ones where he crossed over with Image Comics and other comics

On one hand

>This having them cosplay for no reason and pacing is arguably worse than the old Archie crossovers, cuz they at least realized that the original chars should be distinct

On the other hand

>At least it doesn't have...this tension

Or the horrendous Sailor moon refs...

Either way, this collab feels very archaic

[kinopioa]

Being a Tails fan in the IDW age is suffering. Other characters may fare worse in actual characterization, but Tails has had nearly jack shit of worth during the entire comic's duration. Oh well, at least the comic treats Eggman with respe-oh wait, no it doesn't.

It's frustrating cuz he's arguably the most in char for Ian (even then shutting down his own ideas is regressive to char dev), but the most misused in favor Sonic talking over him, or just excluding him

The most he's done is slam Neo Metal with the fleetship, use the Tornado walker once in Zombot, and send the Zeti away in a ship. The rest is just him following Sonic, note 1 thing, then get ignored or do nothing

I liked that he calmed down Kit when they met, but Ian/Evan insists on Kit randomly being aggro and being jealous of his relationship with Sonic, thus ruining any attempt of diffusing tension. And again, IDWSonic just had to blab to Kit "Your Surge is deeeeaaad. She's deeeaaad" when Tails is like "bro it's not even a day..." (exaggeration but you get my point)

It's such an awkward position, moreso than Jewel admitting not doing much, or Knux being absent for 90% of IDW after Zombot

I feel this is consequence of Ian wanting Tails/Sally to "steer Sonic" (agh, this trope), but because the narrative rewards Sonic's dumbass decisions all the time and Flynn got used to that, Tails' say is effectively nothing

[kinopioa]

Now the whole thing

1st preview of the first 4 pages: https://www.tumblr.com/kinopioa/783740505280348160/preview-cuz-this-wont-be-out-till-the?source=share

It actually surprised me how...the preview is just immediate. No time to tell the Sonic chars where the DC villains are, no explanation outside Silver for costume changes, nothing

It's so artificially tacked on, it's amazingly mid writing

Anyway, as Silver beats Sinestro, he finds an emerald

We also have him stumble for team member names cuz of course, Ian needs him to dork

It's eerily convenient, but this is a 4-5 issue crossover so

We cut to Amy dealing with Grodd, donned as Wonder Woman

Tbf to ABT, this is very cute

But as I mentioned in the earlier post, none of the DC Heroes gave the Sonic chars their weapons last issue. It's a contradictory retcon just for the Green Power Ring to be in Silver's possession, the Lasso of Truth being in Amy's is even more bullshit/unexplained

This all would've been prevented if this was simply a "Sonic chars simply being directly cosplayed" and not "these are actually Sonic and DC chars separate", like what was advertised....

Side note, noticed Flynn lately has actually tried to write Amy more bubbly and outward unlike before

It's hit miss, but better than a good chunk of IDW under him where she is "pink Sally"

We cut to Knuckles and-

How much did Superman tell Knux in issue 1? All of this is just off screen knowledge Knux is never told of

And Lois Lane just bluntly telling Knux of Clark's secret identity is uhhhhhh, ok.

Similarly I feel Knux and Shadow would be the least likely to cosplay, but whatever

This...

Why is he chubby!? Like his chin/neck is disappearing some panels, wut. ABT why?

"don't flaunt powers" Ignoring that most wouldn't if not for hacky writing, when did you have surveillence setup? Like these are new chars entering your dimension, how long would it take to recognize and detect em? Logistics logistics

This is so immensely dumb on Luthor's end. Just unfathomably dumb for him to assume the other dimension animals are equally sharing Superman's weakness. Literally am surprised DC fans don't call this blatant idiocity out

Anyway we move on to Shadow/Joker. This is an extremely one sided fight so I won't say much. I mentioned it briefly in another post, but Joker would be beyond PISSED to find someone else cosplaying as his hubby Batman. Batman is HIS trophy to beat, not to be mimiced

One thing that gets me is how extremely wacky he's drawn in this encounter as well, going from weirdly pretty to pencil necked. Not really a fan, but one can argue how Joker is the most fitting to be drawn like that, so ehhh

Also Shadow really went to get the Batmobile and trash it for no reason, Bruce is gonna be pissed

Now I hate that I'm agreeing with Reverse Flash

The petty ego Issue 1-2 was nauseating, and Ian's Sonic overall is way more focused on appearing good than actually dealing with shit, nor would Sonic randomly cosplay as a friend if it's not needed or inspired. Like Reverse Flash should be wrong (especially since meta wise he also is a loser cosplaying as his hero), but he is righ-

Ah fuck, SA2 lines

Like it's obnoxiously become a crutch for Flynn

Anyway, Sonic contacts the others and they meetup at the Earth based Hall of Justice

We...literally do not see anything for Tails/Teen Titans, ok. Offscreen I guess

Feel like ABT paneled this awkwardly, it's Silver that said "but how, Mr. Terrific" etc. Also "Booyah" Tails

Anyway it's revealed that Darkseid's machine simply fucked up, but then we have Shadow randomly be a killjoy

"I'll ignore that leaving Darkseid there means he'll fuck over our planet, and that we actually have been helping this planet here"

Goodness, the lack of emotional and practical intelligence compared to Game's Shadow is astounding. The Justice League is also more than just the ones stuck in their dimension, like...

I do like Knux's speech, but man...

So then they use the emeralds to track the last one, then go. I feel Sonic shouldn't be the one to note how it's locking in, but the way his spines are drawn is getting me...

Overall more substantial than the previous 2 issues, but the shoddy foundation is extremely present here. Luthor and Joker are pretty OOC, and Tails is unfortunately sidelined in execution

Anyway, nitpicking over for now

[kinopioa]

Joker would be beyond PISSED to find Batman gone, much less a poser cosplaying as him. Like it's THE toxic yaoi codependancy of all time

The height diff gets me, but it's technically correct (6'5). Joker is tall for modern incarnations

But otherwise I will rag on this soon TM

[kinopioa]

Preview cuz this won't be out till the 21st...

Have a feeling Ian planned for him to be sheepish instead of blunt, but ABT's art is more faithful. This is still incredibly dismissive for Silver

But the main thing is Tails. A. You have no idea what Darkseid's machine does, you never analyzed the tech, and B.

Why would Darkseid nuke himself?

Like that should be the obvious question

Oh well, let's not consider motive

Regardless once again Ian doesn't have much for Tails besides him going "I can't..."

And Shadow again cannot be his own person that can move on. Could've just had him mutually agree

More importantly, Silver having the ring is bullshit. Green Lantern literally sent everyone away in a bubble last issue, there was no time to give it to him, and taking off the ring would prevent him from casting this bubble to begin with

And of course we get a 2006 ref, cuz Rivals 1/2 and Colors DS don't exist. Forces I need not mention

Silver also shouldn't know of the chant to use the ring if we go by strict depiction. It'd have been a good opportunity to establish John telling him this Issue 1, but nah. We had absolutely rushed introductions instead

But hey, at least the Sonic chars are now masquerading as DC heroes, execution incredibly haphazard aside

[kinopioa]

Hey I have a question : do you think the failure of rise of lyrics affects the budget for sonic team and sonic forces ?

I was thinking about that recently and would like to be sure.

The Wii U exclusivity deal did not help. Lost World was ported immediatedly in 2015 to recoup sales

[kinopioa]

Whenever I see IDW Sanic be an asshole, and in addition to the Shadow Chao also be an asshole while getting "humorous" comeuppance in the Chao Tales shorts, I cannot help but somewhat think that Flynn is still sour over not wanting to write Shadow similarly.

Him writing Sonic like an asshole is unrelated. It's from his understanding of Satam, where he is a dick. Been an issue since day 1 of his Archie writing, and something I genuinely think he can't deprogram fully

The Shadow Chao thing is odd, cuz the Shadow Chao comic it was simply heroic. Yet these shorts it's heavily untrusted and talked down

Like it's *HIS* char basically, how is he fucking it up?

Edit: Apparently Evan wrote Chao Tales? This is getting silly

[kinopioa]

This is something that I weirdly notice in Classic Sonic fangame circles, they really want to treat Eggman like Bowser. And I mean in terms of civility/being sidelined

Like they'll replace him with Fang as main villain (lol, lmao, Fang literally is a joke canonically), have him randomly buddy with Sonic or co (moreso a diss to Ring Racers' Tutorial), Metal Sonic (OVA nostalgia strikes again), or someone else. They seem to not realize he can be both comedic AND evil in charge

It's weird, and while I can partially blame none canon spinoff media in the 90s treating him like a joke kinda like Wile E. Coyote (CG Sonic Ride, Sonic: Man of the Year), the games he's fairly straightforward. Like he likes cutesy/silly aesthetics, but will firebomb a forest and teraform a planet horrifically with no hesitation. He is authoritarian evil to the max

It's ironic cuz these same "fans" accuse later game fans of doing the same thing

I theorize that both are tricked by aesthetic making him humbler than he seems, which happens frequently in the fandom. But I also theorize...the classic Sonic fandom hasn't let go of Satam Robotnik being "the boss" subconsciously, even if they hate the rest of Satam

The devs for Mania aren't really helping honestly, Hydrocity's boss and the bottom of Egg Reverie was incredibly sad, and Mania Adventures is mixed

[kinopioa]

Girl just wants to satiate her bloodlust and is sick of everyone's bullshit, but her GF keeps preventing her...

[kinopioa]

How would you say Lanolin's "apology" stacks up in the YouTuber apology tier list? :P

Spudz beat me to it months ago, so

I do have 1 edit planned though...

[kinopioa]

Welp bored, gonna catch up for IDW

Issue 76

So we begin with...this spat

Technically they wouldn't even know this, they were locked up the entire time by Clutch when that news was revealed. Meta writing strikes again

Regardless, there's no reason for them to be mad. Sonic saved people's lives again

And yet

"In cahoots" bro Espio, you really shouldn't know this. And Sonic, why are you telling them what Amy and Tails obviously did given those two rescued them?

This summarizing would work for literally anyone not actually in that arc

First, Jewel's fault for the Restoration when the ocean was RIGHT THERE

2nd, Phantom Rider didn't do shit till Mimic stirred shit. Like Sonic went out of his way in disguise to save people fucked over by Surge and Mimic

But instead of noting these points, Flynn instead opts for Sonic to...dismiss and ignore cuz IDW Sonic is an asshole that can't be held accountable for anything

And then of course, Clutch is a D tier villain. There's 0 reason to make him seem more important as is

And then of course, more meta strictly to instigate bs drama. Sonic should not know that Eggman tricked the Chaotix in Heroes

Goodness I hate how 180 Sonic is interacting with them after Evan stopped writing, this pettiness is lame

And now Silver and Blaze looking at the Garden

This is arguably the least wooby Flynn has ever written him

Unfortunately for readers, they'll only be aware of 2 time travel instances in this comic, the latter Silver *still* hasn't returned from for no real reason. Rivals, Rivals 2, Colors DS (which isn't even a ruined future), and Forces do not apply unless you have prior knowledge of the franchise

...despite how this comic immediately contradicted Forces and frequently gets events wrong for sass/drama

Oh cool, Flynn finally is aware his fav food is apples

Ah fuck, he'll randomly obsess over them and act like he was only recently introduced to them...

Where's that Twitter post bout Dick Grayson and cereal?

Anyway

Nothing's really implied she isn't in games. In Rush Cream hugs her after the last boss her story, and the olympics have Amy girl out with Blaze accepting it

Flynn genuinely seems to not accept that Blaze's char arc already is mostly finished, I've noted this before for the 2023 annual

This shit looked like a mall earlier issues, but more importantly, there's no way you had this "home base" apply to the ENTIRE world for services post Forces. This comic gets me for how artificially important this is

Not to mention this oddly is the first we see mention of other regional offices, like wow...before it was just 2-3 towns

Reminder that post war restoration genuinely was forgotten for NPCs after Zombot until the 5th anniversary 4 page comic randomly. And it appears to still be outside the offices...

Shout outs to Aaron, he's doing heavy lifting to make Silver not seem wooby. Even though the Diamond Cutters never should've talked down to him like he isn't experienced

Genuinely overqualified...

Like really, none of you are helping in the supposed other regional centers? You're just pouting?

Really?

Goodness

And then Jewel admits her insecurities

First Lanolin, no it fucking wasn't

It's ironic cuz Jewel suspected that Clutch was off the more she interacted with him, even being one of the main planners to stop him. But that'd give too much credit to Jewel

But regardless this entire thing is stupid. There's clearly no need for the Restoration after the Zeti, there was no reason the Chaotix never told anyone about Clutch, no reason to do a lot of shit in IDW outside false drama

Tangle wraps her tail and reassures her that if it wasn't for her, most would give up on Tangle. Which...I mean...

But anyway, fake apology

Note how she isn't specifying what she actually did. Just how others reacted

Also weird to wait and apologize now. Not directly to Whisper earlier, it just HAD to be a show after Jewel stated frustration

I know what you are

So she proposes to work in a town, which Jewel immediately calls out on

Damn girl, couldn't even lie fully. I actually like this humility, but I know Lanolin will be bossy Sally 2.0 again later, or just nonexistent after this :/

I hate to be cynical, but that actually might be what's being set. They're disbanding

They're only disaster magnets cuz y'all are mischaracterized to push bs drama frequently

Anyway they have a sappy "see ya later instead of a good bye" and go on their ways

And then it ends with Sonic and Chaotix...honestly not doing much yet working to start a search. For again, a D list villain that really is nothingburger

They then leave

The letterer had fun with fonts...

SONIC: ComiCraft Killjoy W5 Italic (stretched further)

CHAOTIX: Fight To The Finish Rough BlamBot Bold

Rest: ComiCraft Doohickey Lower W05 Regular (stretched for bottom, curved for Next time)

Overall, meh. It's a filler issue effectively, but it's clear Ian doesn't collab as well with Evan as he stated

[kinopioa]

More DC stuff

This is probably the best response Flynn could've written

Pretty accurate strength for Darkseid, but really? Wally immediately wants to run away? And Sonic accepts that?

Like Flash could've phased through him to take the emerald

Ffs. To think fans eat up this pettiness

Meanwhile again, almost everyone else isn't really focused on in montage fashion

Again, weird that Tails had huge issues finding it

Also powerscalers eating up this dumbass line that REALLY MEANS FLASH IS WEIRDLY NERFED HERE FOR SOME REASON. Sonic being made dickish isn't helping

"We have a plan, but not really"

You're the DC hero infamous for contingencies on fellow Justic League members, how tf do you not have one for Darkseid?

Also it gets me that ABT technically made Silver more in char, this line suits him. Shame it's just an error

We have another montage of the chars fighting Darkseid's henchmen, but only Shadow/Batman actually find an emerald

He really has to push Shadow's ego obnoxiously

So things are going bad cuz Darkseid hooks up his machine to the emerald. Reality starts warping, yadda yadda

We got more Tails being sidelined, then get this

IDW artists are allergic to actually making new designs for robots and ships, God...

It's so weird cuz the 900th Adventure actually bothered for Daniel Barnes' story

It's even dumber cuz the Egg Carrier is awkwardly in Scrapnik Island ruined, though again. Is this standalone or IDW connected?

Sonic again is WAY too trustworthy of this, but also what the fuck. Eggman just rammed into that shit!?

They're aware the Egg Carrier has a giant fuck ass laser, right?

Sadly Eggman straight up isn't in the rest of this issue, simply "leaving it up to them". Lame

Then again it could be worse...like Archie having him sniveling for Sigma and having his mech affected by a virus that explicitly only affects certain reploids

Anyway, the "plan" is they just barge in there. Shadow remotely has a good idea in using Chaos Control to slow Darkseid, but apparently Father Box reads wikia

Shadow again effectively serves the same role he has in IDW: fodder

Unrelated, not a fan of how ABT draws Superman's face

The spiky hair and anime ish eyes especially, he feels off. None of the others get me like this

Also Superman barely lands a hit on Darkseid the entire time, like c'mon. He fights him frequently

Again, why didn't you use this EARLIER!?

Sonic meanwhile...is an annoying fly I guess

This is a mid insult. Egotistical, Narcisstic, or visually, Grody, Stone faced, etc would be more on point than "materialiatic"

So Flash's speedforce fails to pin on the machine given quantum abnormalities, and uh

They "lose"

Damn, Eggman did jackshit for this crossover. I need some asspull to feel something

Overall, meh. Surprised shit happened, but everyone felt nerfed