Hello there, fellow Sonic enjoyers. I’m back after a break last month to review another issue of IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog, written by Ian Flynn and drawn by Thomas Rothlisberger. This issue continues the storyline of the new Diamond Cutters, a team assembled of comic canon originals with Sonic tagging along, which formed up last time. So let’s drop the rest of the pretense and dig into it.
The plot, at first, feels like pretty standard Sonic fare. Sonic is trying to figure out what just happened to the rest of his teammates, fighting his way through Eggman’s fortress, when a squad of his other buddies (including Blaze and Silver, hell yeah) show up to even the odds. You’d think at this point we’d go on a standard Sonic adventure (ha), but we actually let them run off to show that the trio of Tangle, Whisper and Lanolin (a long-running background character given full Side Character status last time) have been stuck out of phase the whole time, able to see and hear but not interact.
This turns the whole issue on its head in a good way. Instead of what we expected, another standard action romp through the same place we visited last arc (which we get a taste of to be fair, but not a whole issue dedicated to it), we get a character-driven team-building story about the three women bonding and regaining their resolve. It’s cute, and finally pays off on some of the underlying tension Tangle and Whisper have had in recent appearances by having them hash it out and reconcile. I ship it (and so do you, admit it).
IDW Publishing
Characterization is Ian Flynn’s bread and butter, which we should all know by now, and as usual he kills it here. The personality he crafts for Lanolin as a nervous, by-the-book and cautious leader is a nice contrast to the stoic Whisper and overenthusiastic Tangle (and even Sonic’s go-with-the-flow attitude, as showcased last issue). It creates a nice bit of tension between them all, which gives them something to work through and come out the other side all the stronger for. I’m not sure if this new Diamond Cutters team is going for the whole three-character structure other teams in Sonic have, or that it’s just happenstance this time, but I love the idea either way. A full team of comic originals sounds like a fun new spin for the book to have, or even if it for more of a “Freedom Fighters” route ala Archie, with a larger cast of rotating members, that’d be pretty sweet too. I think it’s probably the former, but hey, we can dream right? Cool idea either way, and I like how these three bounce off each other. It’s all a pretty unique set of dynamics we haven’t really seen in Sonic before.
IDW Publishing
The art is of course fantastic. Rothlisberger is one of my favorite Sonic artists these days, thanks to his expressive talents in portraying the characters. There are a lot of chances for that in this one with how conversation heavy it is, but I don’t mind that. Fun expressions work for me no matter where they’re used. Of course there’s also the fantastic visual of Amy swinging a hammer fifty times her size, so you really can’t beat that.
IDW Publishing
Sonic the Hedgehog #58 is a welcome issue that subverted my expectations. After last issue I could tell this would be an interesting little arc based on how Lanolin was clashing with the others, Sonic especially, so it was nice to get more in her head and explore a bit. The new Diamond Cutters have some massive potential going forward, no matter what form they’re taking, so here’s hoping we get to see them in action more next time!
Oh yeah, and Shadow is gonna be there. So you know we can’t miss that.
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