#idw sonic 2024 annual | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

taybatwo2 · 3 months

Text

Monster High IDW Comics Review: Part 1 of ?: Free Comic Book Day 2024 Issue

A late review, but I wanted to review this and the Pride Comic together.

Comic Overview: The Free Comic Book Day MH IDW preview has an almost completely different staff to the Pride Issue; the writer is Jacque Aye (she/her, writer who has her own series of novels and likes to “spin tales about woeful women with a surrealist, magical touch.” I don’t feel like that necessarily fits with MH, but her novels look good).

She is interviewed in the back of this preview and it sounds like she has about 40 dolls from various toy lines, and loves her Skullector Series Beetlejuice and Lydia (she used to be afraid of them).

She says that the comic “is YA and inspired by the darkness Wednesday and the drama of Gossip Girl.” Aaaaaand the only thing people need to know about the comic beforehand is to watch the G1 animated webisodes, read the new Once Bitten, Twice Dead novel (it comes out in mid-July) and “to buy a few dolls for your collection ;)” The artist is Siobhan Keenan (she/her, also did “Summer Fangout” in the MH Pride Comic and has a ton of GORGEOUS art on -Twitter- “x” and Instagram: @ siobhanchiffon).

The colorist is Rebecca Nalty (she/her, also worked on “Summer Fangout,” and has beautiful artwork on her own website and Instagram: @ sharkberri). The cover artist (and the MonsterNet artist) is Luciannys Camacho (she/her, again, BEAUTIFUL artwork -including some G3 Venus- on Instagram: @ opal_lines).

Lettered and design is Kielamel Sibal (she/her, another artist on Instagram @ labis_lemaleik). The editor is Riley Farmer (she/her, I think, I can’t access her LinkedIn profile), with the production done by Johanna Nattalie (she/her and has worked on a lot of IDW Sonic titles). They are the same team that also worked on the Pride Comic Issue).

The full series will be rated “T” for teen.

In the back of the preview, it lists a “schedule” for the upcoming releases in the IDW New Scaremester” G1 comic series (I assume they didn’t want to call it Boo Scaremester due to the G1 doll line of the same name).

The floppies will be releasing every month starting in August-May and all 10 copies will probably be collected in the listed “Monster High Fearbook 2024-2025” also in May. ….I assume.

There are three more One Offs: Halloween 2024 (in “Fangtober”), Snow Ball (in December 2024…only October gets a pun), and Spring Break (in April 2025). I don’t know if these will be collected in the Fearbook too, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.

The “2025-2026 Scaremester” will start its new set of floppies in August of 2025. If this schedule is followed to the “t.”

Some information on the G1 canon to date, because G1’s canon is kinda a mess that contradicts itself EVERWHERE (unlike the EAH books, which all kinda mesh pretty well with another and a pretty good read) and can be broken down into several categories:

The Doll’s Diaries 2010-2022 (I consider these to be the most important as they delve into the characters internal feelings and we get a deeper look at them and their relationships with one another. I wish they continued making them, but not everyone has read them). You can lump UK’s MH Figurine Collection Mini-Diaries, and Nessi Monstrata’s MH Diary Series in with these as they follow the same premise.

The Monster High G1 Animated Webisodes (175 webisodes, 2010-15)/Commercials/New Ghoul at School (these seem to be what most people still imagine the G1 characters acting and sounding like. It’s kinda a mixed bag of episodes -especially the first and ending seasons- and I feel like the diaries do a better job at characterization, but I have a nostalgic soft spot for these webisodes. It does sometimes contradict itself and the diaries).

Monster High Supplemental Books/Web Stuff: Books that mostly just repeated facts/pictures from the Webisodes and Diaries (such as the MH Annuals 2014-2016, 2013’s MH Fearbook, 2013’s MH My Monster Life, 2013’s MH Meet the Monsters, and the 2014’s MH Collection) or LIGHTLY built-off the canon that was mostly explored in the webisodes and diaries. (For some reason the movies were not mentioned quite as often). These include 2015’s Scare-ific Secrets (this one was a great read for a G1 fan), the Monster High website’s 2012 Boo Year’s Eve Countdown, 2012’s-2013’s Freaky Fab 13, and the 2014 Dance the Night Away: A Night in Scare-adise Prom.

The 13 G1 CGI Monster High Movies (these would contradict themselves. Like MH’s Ghoul’s Rule involving a lot of more of New Salem/Salem’s normies, or the Great Scarrier Reef forgetting a lot of Lagoona’s characterization. They do have some of my favorite MH moments in them).

Could MOSTLY fit into the lore. These are stories that can technically fit into the main timeline, but may not be mentioned again by other characters (the Ghoulfriend’s Book series -has a whole new villain, some new side characters, and MH dorms, and the two Graphic Novels: “I Only Have Eye for You” -it is mentioned off handedly in Kieran’s Diary, but doesn’t fit in chronologically- and “Hopes and Screams” -basically a collection of original webisodes in comic form, and Shannon Hale’s EAH/MH crossover: “The Legend of Shadow High,” EAH is hinted at in “13 Wishes” and “Boo York, Boo York”). Or they are just slightly off from the main canon (2011’s MH Ghoul Spirit and New Ghoul in School games have in-game only main characters).

Information given by the creators (such as Garrett Sander’s Q and A’s and Instagram doll breakdowns). They’re really fun and interesting but teeeechnically not canon.

Their own thing (the Lisi Harrison novels were MH in name only and the Monster High Anime: Scary Cool Ghouls, a fun watch, but their own continuity). I’m also going to guess that the just announced Universal Live Action G1 movie will hang out here too.

I’m going to assume (after my breakdown of the FCBD IDW preview that the main IDW comics and Once Bitten will be in the last category…oh…joy…)

Okay, that was a lot of information. Time for my personal thoughts/review and more pictures under the cut!!!!

First off …I don’t have much confidence that I will like it due to:

1. Being out of the age range of “YA” (I still like some of it, but it’s not guaranteed).

2. The writer comparing it to two shows I didn’t personally care for.

3. It sounds like it will be in the same G1 continuity as the Once Bitten, Twice Dead novel and that novel screams NOT FOR ME (it honestly sounds like my least favorite YA fiction tropes: overly angsty and dark…and in a cringy way to try and make it sound more adult. Like CW shows! Or that cancer live action Power Puffs reboot/ continuation). It’s not continuing the G1 MH canon I was personally connected to.

4. Despite all the artists having great looking artwork in their instas, I personally do not care for the artwork….or maybe the layout…both…(?) in the comic. I think it looks a bit generic looking (where is Frankie’s boxier head, Clawdeen’s larger nose, Cleo’s sharp angles?!). Like, it’s not necessarily bad, but the art style just doesn’t grab my attention in this comic (maybe it was rushed…?).

I will probably check out the first full floppy volume for this run, but otherwise I don’t collect floppies (single issue released comics) because they’re so fragile and it’s more affordable for me to get their collected versions.

5. I am not the biggest western-comics fan and generally prefer independent graphic novels or manga/manhwa due to their stories feeling more cohesive (I generally don’t have to worry about different runs being picked up or dropped by different artists and writers) and I like knowing the inside/panel art will look very similar to the quality of the cover art (generally different artists will work on ongoing western comic series and I find it disappointing to pick up a comic with a beautiful cover to only be met with a different art style inside -like this comic-).

Soooo taking that all into consideration, let’s delve in:

The opening letter is from Headmistress Bloodgood (using her original G1 signature, what a fun detail). Remember how Bloodgood would fight for her students and was a fair, but lightly strict Headmaster? Maybe the school board gave her absolutely no choice.

Speaking of Bloodgood, is she a reanimated normie? Or does she come from a long line of headless monsters….ghosts?? I’m pretty sure Hexiciah is mostly human (besides the little bit of fairy blood in him), and Victor Frankstein is most definitely human….

I would be surprised if Jackson/Holt are going to be in this continuity. Their mom definitely broke the “no romance with normies claws” to have made them and Jackson is often considered a normie. I’m guessing the Ghouls Rule movie didn’t happen in this continuity either…

This letter is alluding to a bunch of fuuuuuun (aka dark angsty shit with normies) that went down in Once Bitten and that this comic series is going to be dealing with the blowback from that.

Geeze, for being the most “inclusive and accepting school for monsters” it is hardcore against the real monsters….THE normies. DUN! Dun! DUUNN!

I feel like these “no normie rules” are influenced by G3’s NO NORMIE policy; or the Lisi Harrison books. I’m getting a whole lot of vibes reminiscent of the Lisi Harrison books. Woof…

“”The School Board has voted to more stringently uphold these claws moving forward.”” I do find it funny that the Monster High Universe seems to be run by Monster High’s school board.

If the artwork in the corner is anything to go by, it looks like the G1 CGI movie version of the school will be used for this iteration.

I might have to re-upload the comic pages without the speech bubbles for copyright reasons, but since this one was a free issue, I thought it would slide:

Page 1:

The actual comic starts off with a very distraught Frankie wanting to spend time with her dad this summer, but he declines. He’s too busy with his research into trying to make a perfect reanimating process….?

Whoaaa buddy I’ve got some bad news for you. I think you are a bit late to the party.

G1’s Victor Frankenstein reanimated you and your wife, I believe you guys both made Watzie for Frankie, Frankie created Hoodude and the gingerbread boy and that’s just the Steins. Hexiciah Steam created Robecca, and I’m sure some of Monster High’s Zombies were reanimated and not born naturally!! Another change in this comic, they decided to call Viktor Stein (Frankie’s dad) just Frankenstein. Aaaand make him both conventionally attractive and constantly in partial shadow (is he going to be super broody in this??). I remember him being a lot more playful towards Frankie in the diaries and liking dumb puns.

And, I mean, I’m not against more dilfs in MH (Hexiciah *cough cough* and G2’s Dracula *cough cough*), but I was kinda hoping for a more interesting/fun-take on the monster-y design.

MH already has these designs kicking around!

A small nitpick: they used a distractingly large/thick brush to ink-in the black parts of his hair, and I don’t like how it messily covers the finer lines of hair.

““The day I sewed your parts together and zapped you to life was the best day of MY life.””

From this line, it sounds like G1’s Viveka Stein is going to be MIA in this series as he doesn’t mention her at all in creating Frankie. This man is either taking all the credit here or Viveka was taking a snooze or something…

Pros: Frankie looks very cute in the second panel (except for the fingers which look a bit off) and Siobhan can draw hot older men VERY well.

Page 2:

“Frankenstein” explains to Frankie that he’s too busy trying to get his (redundant) research ready for the “World’s Scare Science Exhibition.” Frankie interrupts and sees that her ghouls need her. Frankenstein once again alludes to this version of G1 being a melodrama “let me know how they’re faring.”

I find Frankenstein’s: “I could never create another you my dear. You’re one of a kind.” Kinda silly.

Alivia has entered the chat (shhh I know she’s G2).

“What I am doing here is something different. Something that’s never been done before.” Again -Vik- Frankenstein, you’re a bit late to the party there.

Personal Nitpick: Why use “Scare Science Exhibition,” when you’ve been using the “Mad Science” pun in G1 already. IMO, I think it also sounds better.

Pro: Frankenstein’s face looks well drawn (especially in the fourth panel-ignoring his blotchy, black hair streaked- look at his cute little bolt eye-glasses).

so does his armchair in the first panel,

and Frankie’s face in the first and second panel.

Con: I think all of their hands look off (especially the fingers). I don’t know if it’s the line work or the coloring, but they all read as awkward and oddly sharp (Frankie’s thumb in the first panel, and whole left hand in the third panel).

Page 3:

Sounds like the ghouls are fighting again, Frankie is caught in the middle, and Draculaura is dealing with the brunt of the shit show from the “Once Bitten” book.

Personal Nitpick: Draculaura is drawn REALLY tall in this photo (in the webisodes and CGI movies, she is teeny).

Pro: Frankie looks great in the first panel, I like her and Clawdeen’s smile in the photo, and her expression in the fourth panel. Con: Frankie’s hands look janky in the first panel.

Page 4:

Apparently Frankenstein remembered electricity being vital to reanimation, and rushes to find his notes (that were apparently not on his desk). But his notes are missing. Dun! Dun!! I wonder who the brains in the jar belong to?? Perhaps Vivika and Victor Frankenstein are in this version of G1 after all…

Pro: I liked his exclamation: “by Mary Shelly’s ghost.”

I really liked how Frankenstein is drawn in the third panel and how he breaks out of the frame of the panel too. It just feels a lot more “alive” and energetic.

The lightning bolt is drawn well and the toppled mug of coffee in the background of the fourth panel is a nice addition. Page 5 (the last of the paneled comic in this preview):

A super eeeevillll person suddenly sprouts up from nowhere (was this guy squatting down in the corner of the room; waiting for Frankenstein to figure out the key to reanimating life) and grabs Frankenstein’s “life’s work;” threatening to destroy it, unless he agrees to work with him. Frankie-boy agrees. Meanwhile, Frankie is still talking to her boos, while flipping through her photo album.

I also wonder if the ghouls are not allowed to fang out during summer break and can only see each other during the school season?? Otherwise, why can’t they all fang out. :/ Personal Nitpick: how did that burglar get into that room?? Was he there the whole time (pretending to be a table) or did he sneak in after Frankie left?

Frankenstein’s “life’s work” is entirely made up of a two whole envelopes(?) and two spiral notebook pages. That’s it Frank?!? That’s all?!? And is Lagoona not part of the main squad in this version of G1 (maybe she WAS actually boiled alive in the previous book)?

Pro: Frankenstein’s hand (once again breaking the panel’s outline) looks very well drawn. Frankie mostly looks great in the last two panels (I love her pose in the fourth panel

and her cute smile in the last one). Con: Cleo’s face doesn’t look like herself in the last panel (where did all of her sharp facial angles go)??

They gave Frankie yaoi-sized hands in the fourth panel. Haha! They’re huge!

This is the last “comic page” in this FCBD preview. There are four Monster Net profiles of the main ghoul, a Schedule (I covered this earlier), an interview with the author (also covered earlier), and another picture of the cover art. The Monster Net is a clever G1 upgrade, I like these and the details that went into them (even if I don’t like the implication of what written here). The artwork is done by the cover artist: Luciannys Camacho, and looks great.

In Frankie’s her dad is confirmed to be her only parent… :/ Boooo!!!

Draculaura’s profile is just…very sad. The poor ghoul apparently has had a bad year with her dad (who may or may not be dead) making her drink blood (to save her life…? Was it a ritual..? He was begrudgingly okay with her vegan life style beforehand) and going to meetings (is she taking over a business, is she being called in to testify what happened the last year at MH)? I am so not looking forward to what’s going down in “Once Bitten”….

I guess that her new step mom from the Diaries Series (Ramoanah) is also not a thing in this either (none of these ghouls get moms). Draculaura also looks super cute in this artwork!!

Clawdeen’s bio really plays up her being a fashion influencer and I think that perfectly works for her. Her bio is also hinting at everyone being sad, distant, and off. It confirms she has a girlfriend: Toralei….which I have mixed feelings on. I really like G3 Clawdeen and Toralei and I have seen REALLY cute artwork for G1 Clawdeen and Toralei. But that’s about it. Besides their dog/cat theme, I haven’t been swayed to ship them just yet (Toralei did some horrendous things to the ghouls and while I’m a sucker for enemies-to-lovers they haven’t done enough flirting with each other for me to hop on board yet). I assume they will have their relationship built up in “Once Bitten” and not just “Summer Fangout” (because that still just felt like it was skimming the surface).

Her artwork also looks great (her outfit especially looks well drawn).

Cleo’s profile is also fine. But WHY did the newest Monster High Diaries (from the Haunt Couture line) and THIS comic want to break up G1 Cleo and Deuce?!? They are a great power couple and have already gone through so many ups and downs in G1 to prove that they love each other. Since when does Cleo care about who Nefera has dated (apparently Nefera has dated someone in another dimension….is she dipping into the fairy tales and dating someone at Ever After High or the Barbie verse? Is this what happened to Blaine after Barbie dumped him to be with Ken again?!?).

Final Thoughts:

Well, that was certainly a preview of what’s to come and I’m super wary of it. :/ Again, I might’ve just aged out of G1’s YA melodrama that they’re leaning into. But I was hoping for a semi-proper continuation of the MH G1 continuity. Maybe see the ghouls graduate (after following them around their senior year) and head to college…? See some of their family members start MH…? G1 Monster High has some good bones and ideas to play around with (it’s far from perfect-I already mentioned how confusing the lore is). Plus, writers now can be inspired (or know what to avoid) by what’s happened in G2 and G3.

I already stated that this fits into the last category of MH G1 Lore “It’s Own Thing,” and this IS just a peak into it, and MAYBE I’ll be swayed, but so far, I’m just not super impressed. I give this preview a 5.8/10. The artwork is mostly pretty good, the paneling is not groundbreaking, but also not bad, it flows well. The story is what’s holding me back (but it is a free issue and it got me to finally go into our local comic book shop for Free Comic Book day).

Anyways, those are just my thoughts. What do you think of the story so far? Are you excited about “Once Bitten”/IDW MH comics living their best alternate G1 lives? Are all of my takes awful? Let me know!

Part 2 of this series of reviews will be part one of (hopefully four posts of) MH’s Pride Issue’s Comic: “Summer Fangout.”

#Aleta’s reviews #IDW Monster High comic #IDW monster high #Monster high #g1 monster high #IDW monster high comics #IDW free comic book day 2024 #IDW FCBD 2024 #IDW free comic book day Monster high #IDW FCBD Monster High

16 notes · View notes

therummesoccupied · 1 month

Text

IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, ISSUE #71 - THOUGHTS

I absolutely would have continued putting this off, but then I found out that the 2024 Annual releases tomorrow, so I'd better get my ass in gear.

Issue #71 marks the end of the Extreme Competition arc... sorta. Evan has stated that she sees Issues #69-#75 all as the Phantom Riders arc. The Trade Paperback titles, however, refer to #69-#71 under the Extreme Competition name, so I'll keep using that for the time being, just to keep consistent with the release titles.

#71, like #s 70 and 69 before it, is an absolute banger. We've got Min Ho Kim back for pencils, really giving us a nice look at what they're capable of when handling action scenes - with the bulk of this issue taking place during a sort of Extreme Gear Dodgeball Match.

While most of the action is very clear and readable, there was one scene that I did have to glance at couple times to figure out what was going on.

I'm sure part of it was due to my colorblindness (deutan gang rise up), but I did not realize at first that this was meant to show a second Phantom Rider entering the scene. I thought for a moment Sonic had just rushed the field and was wondering why he had Duo's scarf. As soon as I realized it was a different guy entirely, it wasn't hard to piece together that this was Duo... or rather, it was Mimic. Who is Duo. Tomato tomato.

This second Phantom Rider is the source of pretty much all of this issue's juicy drama.

Using his clever disguise, Mimic throws Sonic off his game while riling everybody else up - Surge, Jet, Lanolin, all of them are dead set on catching this guy. He even switches forms over to Surge for a moment to set Whisper off and get everyone fighting each other.

It actually kind of goes to show that Mimic is a lot better at being the Phantom Rider than Sonic ever was, with Sonic's intentions behind adopting the persona being to throw off everyone's focus and cause a distraction. With Mimic throwing everyone's actions into disarray, he gets Sonic distracted long enough to unmask him.

An unintended consequence of this is that, while he escapes without being spotted himself, Tangle, Whisper, Surge, Kit, Jet, Wave, and Storm all see Sonic without his helmet.

And all of them have pretty interesting reactions to the whole thing!

Surge broods about it a bit, but is quickly distracted by meeting an adoring young fan.

Now, some of the eagle-eyed among you may notice - the little girl's mother is the Conductor's wife from The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog! It's a little weird that she's here, as SEGA continues to be fairly insistent that TMoStH is non-canon, but Evan Stanley, when asked about the appearance of characters from said game in IDW, has said that she simply thinks a similar event occurred at some point in this world.

Personally, my theory is that SEGA is eventually gonna just... change their mind and canonize it, and when that time comes, we'll probably get some retroactive explanation that all of this happens before that.

Anyway, in terms of what the encounter means to this story, it's neat to see Surge, who has been so caught up in the Hero Worship she's been receiving this arc, receive a more innocent adoration from a child who genuinely looks up to her. It gets her thinking for the first time about whether she deserves the praise she's sought as long as she can remember. This drives her and Kit to resolve to go straight and become heroes for real.

This is really cool! I didn't think we'd ever get any form of redemption arc for Surge, especially since I believe Ian Flynn stated at one point that it wasn't in the cards, that she was intended to be a villain always. And, to be honest, I don't know if it'll work out even with her trying. Clutch has got her and Kit on a pretty tight leash, and he's bound to do whatever he has to in order to reel them in if they start to get out of line. If the next issue previews are any indication, anyway.

Tangle and Whisper have kept quiet about what they saw to Lanolin, which Mimic/Duo seems to have picked up on, and appears to be attempting to use this information to drive a wedge between the Diamond Cutters and their leader. Meanwhile Tangle and Whisper have been trying to sort through things on their own, with the two of them making a couple observations to realize that there were, in fact, two Phantom Riders.

With this in mind, it looks like the two of them will be quietly looking into the matter on their own. I'm pretty sure they've largely pieced together that the second Rider is Mimic. If not, they'll have it worked out before long.

The reaction I find most interesting, though, is that of the Babylon Rogues.

Barely any time passes before, just using their heads, they work out almost exactly what's going on. And, while their motivation is entirely ego-centric, they resolve to uncover the foul play (heh) at hand and expose whoever's behind it. It's surprisingly cogent for them!

Then there's Clutch.

He's... upset. But of course. He's spent a good deal of effort to stay off Sonic's radar so he could avoid dealing with him until he was ready to do so. Now the world's greatest hero, who had no idea until recently that his operation even existed, is on his trail. One might understand why he's a touch unhappy. And honestly, I think the anger he shows here might be the most vicious side of Clutch we've seen. He doesn't normally have this much trouble maintaining his composure. It's interesting to see how badly he loses his cool when the house of cards he's built begins to tremble. I'm excited to see what the depths of that ferocity are in the upcoming issues.

Once again, the art, the writing, the plot, the colors, every aspect of this issue firmly slaps. I really, really enjoyed this arc, and I've become even more excited for upcoming material after finding out that every issue from 69 onward has been helmed solely by Evan! Not that I don't adore Ian and his writing, but if this is the standard we can expect when Evan gets to work on her own, I can hardly wait to see what she's cooking next. She certainly sounds eager for it, so I am, too!

Last thing to note, once again the fan mail section caught my attention, when at the very end, I noticed something:

They say that, next time, a "certain journalist" will get involved. The thing is, I'm really not sure who this could be. It sounds like it'd be an established character but... do we know any journalists in the Sonic franchise?

Maybe Omochao? Or Nite? They both work in TV and radio, but neither is really a journalist, per se.

The only actual reporter I can think of is Brenda Hernandez from Sonic Unleashed, but... she's a human! IDW has always appeared to be strictly forbidden from using human characters outside of Eggman. Though, a couple of them have been mentioned recently. To date, however, none have actually appeared. Could this be IDW finally shaking off some of SEGA's restrictions to play around with the bigger world a little bit? One can hope!

That's all I have to say on Issue 71, though, so as always, thanks a ton for reading all the way through, and keep an eye open for my 2024 Annual Review, as I hope to have it written and posted before Issue 72 drops later this week!

#comics #review #sega #idw #idw publishing #sonic the hedgehog #idw sonic #issue 71 #idw sonic 71 #sonic 71 #video games #spoilers #idw sonic spoilers #sonic 71 spoilers

7 notes · View notes

generic-sonic-fan · 2 years

Text

Intro post!

Hello! This is the Sonic sideblog of @measlyfurball13. Call me Measly!

I love robot characters. I love Sonic. I really love the robot characters in Sonic. Mostly posting about gameverse here (but really just the niche interpretations of these guys that live in my head specifically. I'm not familiar with IDW is what I'm saying)

My longfic, now completed: Complex Inquiries (Posted to AO3) A catastrophic malfunction sends Metal Sonic out of the reach of its creator and into the throes of the world beyond.

My other blogs: Ask the Ultimate Robot (E-123 Omega ask blog) (currently on hiatus)

My Fanfiction: (oldest-newest) Robotnik Family Reunion (AO3 Link) Ivo never knew his cousin Maria. Shadow receives a letter from him about it.

My Soul To Keep (AO3 Link) Rouge takes a hit. Shadow doesn't take it well. Omega suggests an unlikely conversation topic to calm him down.

One Ultimate Latte, Please (crack fic!) (AO3 Link) This is the story of how Shadow's starbucks order went viral.

I Can't Accept All This (AO3 Link) Sonic and Omega are trapped in some rubble together. They talk.

I Can't Take All This (AO3 Link) Corollary to the above. Metal Sonic is forced to contemplate the most extreme execution of its prime core directive.

Edge of Tomorrow (AO3 Link) Sometimes, Silver needs multiple tries to get things right.

A Father's Embrace (Further chapters on AO3) Eggman, with the help of Sage, realizes something about the way he’s been treating Metal Sonic. Currently on Hiatus.

5 Times E-123 Omega Denied That He Cared + the 1 time he admitted it (AO3 Link)

Residual Orders (AO3 Link) Omega has some old programming leftover. He didn't want anyone finding out.

Transcendence (AO3 Link) Metal Sonic empowers herself with the Chaos Emeralds.

Team Dark Week 2024 One-Shots (AO3 Link) A collection of shorter oneshots focusing on Team Dark's friendship.

go on ahead (i'll be okay) (AO3 Link) Maria will be strong for everyone if she has to be.

Etchings (AO3 Link) Sage is used to bearing the weight of ghosts.

OPERATION: SELF-DETERMINATION (posted to AO3) Omega speedruns finding the meaning of life, to both humorous and serious results. For STH Big Bang 2024- art included!

Annual Life Support Maintenance (posted to AO3) Something is horribly wrong with Omega's power source.

Points of Authority (posted to AO3) The last thing Omega expected Eggman to do was apologize.

Of Which We Make (posted to AO3) Shadow does something Omega deems unforgivable. Rouge is left to pick up the pieces and determine what really happened.

My Drabbles: Underestimated Rouge goes on a solo mission.

Prescience Sage has been recovered. Metal Sonic reflects.

The Weak Link GUN plans their contingency for if their two strongest members go rogue.

Team Dark and Weighted Blankets

The Graffiti post

It Won't Scar Something about Sonic's startle reflex and Badniks.

Metal Goes In For Repairs

Future Metadow Drabble (with fanart!!) A sad immortal hedgehog and a transitioned, disguised robot walk into a bar. . .

Purpose Shadow and Sonic get philosophical for a moment.

Rouge's order for Tails Rouge needs bombs and she asks the local genius to make some.

OFFICE COFFEE DELIVERY Omega helps Rouge get out of a meeting.

I was such a good little lamb (until you came along) (AO3 link) Maria knows how this story is supposed to end.

sometimes it aches but that's okay. Shadow wonders about what could have been.

Transfemme Metal and Supportive Eggdad Drabble

Carnation A birthday fic for Amy!

Other fun links: Old intro to Complex Inquiries My (long) character read for Omega Why do I use it/its for Metal Sonic sometimes? Team Destruction (my ideas for an Amy+Silver+Omega teamup!) The Team Dark Apartment Setup

68 notes · View notes

neomel · 2 months

Text

IDW Sonic Arcs Tierlist Masterpost!

Introduction

Arcs

Miniseries

One-shots & Annuals

Sagas

FAQ

Introduction

Hello! This is the masterpost for my Tiermaker template regarding all of IDW Sonic's stories - "arcs", for short! Due both to the somewhat messy reading order of the comic and Tiermaker's restrictions on description lengths, I concluded the best course of action to best inform people was to just make a big post on here, detailing all possible questions and confusion you might have. I of course can't decide what you want to do with this info - make your tierlist however you want! - but I hope to at least give some pointers to help clear up confusion.

The images on the template are divided into four categories per the color of their banner (with colors and names that you might've noticed in the table of contents above!). These represent the various ways in which IDW Sonic's stories are officially* categorized in: Arcs, Miniseries, One-Shots / Annuals. and Sagas. The default order that the images appear in on the list, as seen in the above image, follows their release and recommended reading order. Detailed descriptions of what each of these categories mean, as well as where every issue fits in, can be found on each of the bullet-points below.

2. Arcs

Arcs in Sonic IDW are how the comic's main numbered issues are bunched together: think of the issues as chapters, and the arcs as the narrative those chapters form. Every issue with a number, from #1 to today, is part of an arc, and said arcs typically to follow a narrative throughline throughout them, beginning at the start of the arc and being resolved - or changing focus - by the end.

These arcs are officially named and sorted through IDW's paperback reprints, a list of which can be found here. These paperbacks also insert some one-shots and annuals into some arcs, despite these being mostly disconnected from the ongoing arc. As a result of this, some arcs contain 5 whole issues, while others only contain 2 with the rest being made up of these one-shot additions. Whether or not you count these self-contained stories as being part of arcs or not is entirely up to you when making the list!

As of writing [2024-07-26], issues #72 - #75 are yet to be released and yet to be given an official arc name. Once said arc name is revealed, it will be added to the template.

Fallout! > #1 - #4

The Fate of Dr. Eggman > #5 - #8

Battle for Angel Island > #9 - #12

Infection > #13 - #16

Crisis City > #17 - #20

The Last Minute > #21 - #24

All or Nothing > #25 - #29

Out of the Blue > [Annual 2020] #30 - #32

Chao Races & Badnik Bases > #33 - #36

Test Run! > #37 - #40

Zeti Hunt! > #41 - #44

Trial by Fire > #45 - #49

Battle for the Empire > #50 - #51 [Deep Trouble] [Annual 2022]

Overpowered > #52 - #56

Urban Warfare > #57 - #61

Misadventures > #62 - #66

Adventure Awaits > #67 - #68 [900th Adventure] [Endless Summer] [Chaotix Halloween]

Extreme Competition > #69 - #71 [Winter Jam] [Spring Broken]

3. Miniseries

Miniseries are 4-issue side stories that take place inbetween main arcs, typically starring other characters from the comic than Sonic and c.o! These are still part of the story of the comic, but the order they're listed in here is specifically based on the date they were released, not when they canonically take place.

Tangle & Whisper > After Infection

Bad Guys > After Out of the Blue

Imposter Syndrome > After Trial by Fire

Scrapnik Island > After Overpowered

4. One-shots / Annuals

One-shots, as the name implies, are stories contained entirely to a single comic issue. Annuals are similar: Think of them like collections of several smaller One-shots, all drawn by different artists! Like with the Miniseries, these are all canon and part of the storyline, and all but one are officially included as part of arcs per the paperback reprints. As they're typically disconnected from the events of the main comic's arcs, I recommend ranking these on their own!

Annual 2019 > Not part of any arc

Annual 2020 > Part of Out of the Blue

Deep Trouble > Part of Battle for the Empire

Annual 2022 > Part of Battle for the Empire

900th Adventure > Part of Adventure Awaits

Endless Summer > Part of Adventure Awaits

Chaotix Halloween > Part of Adventure Awaits

Winter Jam > Part of Extreme Competition

Spring Broken > Part of Extreme Competition

5. Sagas

The little asterisk at the end of "officially" in the introduction was referring to this category in particular. Sagas in IDW Sonic are ways to group together the greater story of the book into phases, mainly through a common thread that binds the arcs and issues featured together. This classification is the only one not officially provided by IDW themselves - however, the comic book's main writer Ian Flynn has provided the names and outline for them through his podcast, to help divide the comic's run into different sections. Sagas are effectively a way to view the IDW Sonic story on a macro scale, combining multiple pieces of the story into larger wholes.

Whilst looking at the tiermaker template, think of it like this: Every Arc, Miniseries and One-shot / Annual featured before a Saga icon is part of said Saga, and everything after said Saga icon is part of the next Saga. As of writing [2024-07-26], the ongoing saga beginning with Scrapnik Island and issue #57 lacks a given name and is thus not featured on the tierlist template.

Revenge of Neo Metal [#1 - #12] Fallout!, The Fate of Dr. Eggman, Battle for Angel Island, Annual 2019

The Metal Virus [#13 - #32] Infection!, Tangle & Whisper, Crisis City, The Last Minute, All or Nothing, Annual 2020, Out of the Blue,

Eggman's Legacy [#33 - #56] Bad Guys, Chao Races & Badnik Bases, Test Run!, Zeti Hunt!, Trial by Fire, Imposter Syndrome, Battle for the Empire, Deep Trouble, Annual 2022, Overpowered

Saga of Misadventures [#57 - #75] Scrapnik Island, Urban Warfare, Misadventures, Adventure Awaits, 900th Adventure, Endless Summer, Chaotix Halloween, Extreme Competition, Winter Jam, Spring Broken, Phantom Riders

6. FAQ

I'll be using this section to address some common questions that I've received from others in asking for feedback in this template. If you have further questions, feel free to add them in the reblog tags or replies, and I'll edit the post to include them!

Why aren't the Classic Sonic IDW issues featured, such as the 30th Anniversary Special or Fang the Hunter?

My goal with the default sorting of this template, as described in the introduction, to follow both with their release and recommended reading order. The Classic Sonic IDW issues are very disconnected from the core Sonic IDW storyline, as the Classic Sonic games still exist in a nebulous amount of time in the past before the original Sonic Adventure. Because of this, they're not part of any of the three currently established sagas nor part of any of IDW's officially released reading orders - and I have no way of adding them to the template that doesn't mess with the sorting. For instance, due to how Tiermaker works, all images added are shoved into the very back: This means that if I were to put all the Classic Sonic stories in at the beginning of the template (per their Chronological appearance), all new Classic IDW releases such as the upcoming Knuckles anniversary release would end up awkwardly squeezed in the middle of the main series.

However, since Tiermaker lets users add their own custom images to templates, I want to eventually make a sort of "DLC pack" with images of all the Classic Sonic releases. These will be linked here with a Google Drive link at a later date.

What about the Sonic Forces, Team Sonic Racing, and Sonic Frontiers prequel / tie-in comics?

Those may also be included in the future - and if so, they'll be released the same way as the Classic Sonic releases.

What the heck is "Deep Trouble"?

During 2021 and 2022, IDW released "Free Comic Book Day" issues of the Sonic comic, released for free as per the name of the annual holiday. Whilst 2021's release was halfway a Classic Sonic story and a halfway a clipshow recap of the IDW comic from issue #1 to #49, the 2022 release included a new story canon to the main Sonic IDW storyline. That's "Deep Trouble"!

Why are #67 and #68 not part of "Misadventures"? What even is "Adventure Awaits"?!

I was surprised to learn this too! The paperback releases seem to have an upper cap for how many issues they're willing to include, which meant that #62-68 couldn't all be fit into one release. I think it's perfectly valid to consider them all still part of the same arc and to just ignore "Adventure Awaits" (particularly with #67, I believe that one really should have been in the "Misadventures" paperback). Nevertheless, the aim in including releases like "Adventure Awaits" is to allow the template to have as many options as possible for the sake of ranking: I would rather include too many options than too few, and I reckon that ignoring arc classifications that you find stupid is a completely valid option in making your tierlist!

What's the deal with "Extreme Competition" Isn't the arc called "Phantom Riders"?

Issues #69-75 have a similar quirk as "Misadventures" described above, where what's seemingly presented as one arc is instead split up into two paperbacks. This is, of course, because #69-#75 is a LOT of comic book: With #75 being double-sized, the stretch's total run is equivalent to that of EIGHT issues: Double that of the standard paperback release! Therefore, "Extreme Competition" collects the start of this larger Phantom Riders arc in #69-#71, alongside two one-shot stories that center on competition, in "Winter Jam" and "Spring Broken". While we don't yet have a formal announcement on what the next paperback release will be after this, it's nigh inevitable that it's going to be collecting #72-#75 under the "Phantom Riders" name.

What all this means for you, effectively, is that you'll (soon) have the choice to either rank "Phantom Riders" as the entire stretch of issues from #69 to #75, or rank it as specifically the second half of the story, with "Extreme Competition" making up the first half. If you don't want to engage with this split-in-two system that the paperbacks did, my advice is the same as in the above question regarding "Adventure Awaits": If you think the arc classification is stupid, just disregard it! Most people will probably understand "Phantom Riders" as meaning the entire arc anyway.

You mentioned them by name above; when are "Phantom Riders" and "Saga of Misadventures" being added to the template?

When the paperback for "Phantom Riders" is officially announced.

Where did the Saga name "Saga of Misadventures" come from?

While the comic's first three names were provided by Ian Flynn through his podcast, these three sagas were also the ones that he was most prominently involved with. Evan Stanley wrote a majority of material from #57 to #75, and in her opinion this stretch of the book isn't to be considered a saga. She's further said that, if the stretch of issues had to be labeled under any name, it would be "Misadventures". I of course respect Evan Stanley's wishes for her run in the book, yet also am bound by the template's framework to still encapsulate #57-#75 under a name: Thus, to avoid confusion with the arc of the same name, I coined the name "Saga of Misadventures".

If you want to adhere to Evan's wishes of avoiding considering the stretch a saga whatsoever, you're free to avoid ranking the saga altogether.

In the list of arcs, why is Annual 2020 listed first on Out of the Blue, before the issues that make up the arc?

That's the way it was printed in the paperback! I assume it's because Annual 2020 features a good number of stories regarding the Metal Virus, and that Out of the Blue is the definitive end to the Metal Virus saga.

What about the Archie Comics?

I haven't read them!

Can I ask you something?

Sure thing! And if it's a question relevant enough to the template, I'll add it on here!

[LAST EDIT: 2024-09-23]

#mel alphabet soup #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic idw #idw sonic #sonic comics #tangle the lemur #whisper the wolf #surge the tenrec #dr starline #tiermaker #tier list

8 notes · View notes