Hello hello once again, my hedgehog loving friends! We’re back again with another issue of IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, written by Evan Stanley with pencils by Adam Bryce Thomas. We left off last time with an exciting cliffhanger: Team Dark! So this time we get to follow up on that and see what extra cool stuff is being piled onto this current storyline. No more wasting time – let’s dig into it.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Sonic the Hedgehog #59!
IDW Publishing
The plot of this one is all about the action and the spectacle, and considering it’s a whole lot of Shadow the Hedgehog doing cool stuff… well, I’m very much cool with that. It’s great seeing Team Dark in action in the pages of the comic again – the IDW era of Sonic has been sorely lacking in that particular trio working together (despite what I know are the writers’ best efforts), so it’s great to see Rouge and Omega together with Shadow again. It seriously feels like we haven’t truly seen them as a unit since the Archie days. And being who they are (though admittedly mostly Shadow and Omega), we get plenty of awesome, high-energy action.
There’s very little else going on in the narrative progression this time otherwise; just a bit at the end following up on the new Diamond Cutters having a small encounter with Eggman before we leave poor Tangle off on a dangerous cliffhanger. There’s a bit of pathos for Whisper toyed with due to the Shadow Androids making an appearance (their connection to her Team’s demise was talked about waaaaay back in the comic’s earlier days), but it’s pretty much just a one-page affair. It’s not a very complicated one really, but a nice action- heavy issue is warranted every now and then. I’m assuming we’re going to get back to more directly focused plot and character stuff next issue, so if you’re disappointed this time, you have plenty to look forward to at the very least.
IDW Publishing
The art here is great, as expected from as great a master of action as Adam Bryce Thomas. The spectacle in this one, being the primary focus, is given a lot of effort. The re-introduction of the Shadow Androids as challenging set piece for our heroes to overcome was a brilliant idea, allowing the original Shadow cut loose and really get time to shine. A neat callback, a tough obstacle, and cool as hell looking. Thomas’s panel layout skills are on full display here too, with some intensely dynamic anime style choreography and character framing. And again, I cannot praise this enough, seriously: Shadow cutting loose. I swear you can just HEAR “I Am All Of Me” blaring as Thomas lets him do his thing. So rad. Valentina Pinto deserves some serious credit here too for the coloring job, really selling the crazy energy effects of Shadow’s chaos powers in particular. If you’re gonna dedicate an issue to action spectacle, this is one hell of a way to do it.
IDW Publishing
Overall, a very strong issue, and a nice return to the comic after nearly two months. It was really cool getting to see some of the less played-with elements of the Sonic world get some time to shine. I hope in Team Dark’s case this won’t be a one time deal – they’re so popular with fans I find it odd we don’t have more of them at this point. Maybe Sega will greenlight some kind of solo series or mini for them in the future? I think that’d go over pretty well considering how well they’re done here. Some solid spectacle with fantastic art, what more can ya ask for?
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