How can the cast of Sonic the Hedgehog survive without the blue speedy character of the same name? Pretty easily, turns out.
Sonic the Hedgehog #31 picks up the tail end of the story beats left behind from the metal virus that had been spreading across Mobius like a zombie plague, converting all organic life into cold metal. The entire cast of characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe all came together to stop the virus from spreading, which came to a cataclysmic conclusion when Sonic utilized the warp topaz to send the metal virus through a dimensional portal. Unfortunately, Sonic was a casualty, being sucked into the portal himself. Since his disappearance, one question has remained: Can the Sonic crew survive without Sonic?
This issue focuses on how the cast of characters can proceed without Sonic. Given that they are all heroes in their own right, they do pretty well on their own. Amy steps down from her role as leader of Restoration HQ to train Jewel to take her place, Silver assures that his future has been saved from certain doom, the Chaotix Detective Agency gets organized with some assistance, and even Dr. Eggman is back to successfully building robots. These characters are doing so well that they feel confident enough to celebrate their victories by holding a party, which of course falls under immediate peril as a machine piloted by Eggman clearly crashes in looking for his invite.
The interesting part about this issue is that for a brief moment, the reader gets to see a world without Sonic, allowing other heroes to step into the spotlight. Unfortunately, there are so many that we only get about a page with each one, quickly dropping exposition in under a page crammed with many lines. Sonic the Hedgehog needs to slow down and allow the reader time spend some time with these characters, get to know them. Instead, we are left with hollow imprints of what these characters are doing in their spare time in a world without Sonic.
But we all know that Sonic isn’t really gone.
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