‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ #61 review

Very ‘Sonic’ at its core, delivering a fast and fun story with spectacle galore.

June 7, 2023

Sonic the Hedgehog #61 is written and drawn by the all-star team of Evan Stanley and Adam Bryce Thomas, respectively. We’re finally closing out the Eggperial City storyline with this one, and launching into something new, so lets not waste any time and just see how well things are being closed out.

The plot is, as I just said, the conclusion to this ongoing story about Eggman’s latest venture, the Eggperial City, which was introduced to us back in the Surge and Kit arc and has stuck around as a major setting for a good chunk of issues lately. This time we finally see the city crumble and Eggman’s latest plans bite it. Pretty simple, run-of-the-mill Sonic stuff, but not at all in a bad way. Having a lot of the more popular characters all team up for a big, bombastic battle feels ripped right out of a mid-2000s era Sonic game like Heroes or ’06, and not something we normally get out of the comic — at least not on this scale. This feels like it could very easily be the ending level of a modern Sonic game, and it hits a lot of those notes really well and is just really fun to sit back and enjoy.

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The formation of the new Diamond Cutters was also a pretty cool addition to this arc that I think will end up being a pretty important landmark in the comic’s future, so all around, a fairly satisfying popcorn movie of an ongoing storyline. I’m pretty excited for the next arc, which looks to be a bit of a new direction with Amy teaming up with Knuckles, and I’m never not okay with more of my grumpy red boy. And hey, we’ve got the egg-glock now, so, what can one even truly complain about when that’s a thing?

IDW Publishing

The characters in this issue — and the arc overall — were fairly well served. It’s obvious that the comic originals are the ones that get any lasting development (such is the nature of a licensed property), but it’s done well and is engaging to read. The comic has been really good about fleshing out its creations and making them feel like well integrated and worthy members of the cast, and the new Diamond Cutters are all pretty fun and cool in their own right. And of course just because they aren’t allowed the same level of development doesn’t mean the game cast doesn’t get their time to shine. I’ve already highlighted in past reviews how awesome it is seeing Silver, Blaze and Team Dark all back in action and helping out again. The fact that those characters were allowed to all meet up in one place and exchange words in the first place feels like a miracle, and having them all feel pretty in character and allowed moments to shine was a very, very nice thing to see.

IDW Publishing

The art has been fantastic for pretty much this entire comic’s run, but this arc has pulled out a lot of my personal favorites when it comes to expression and panel layout. This issue having Adam Bryce Thomas for the final battle is just the perfect fit, the guy does fight scenes like nobody else, always very bold and dynamic with a great, solid sense of weight and speed that’s wholly unique to his craft. The colors by Rik Mack and Valentino Pinto complement his stuff very well, and the whole issue feels appropriately colorful and bold.

IDW Publishing

Sonic the Hedgehog #61 is a really fitting end to this looming background threat the comic has had for a while. It doesn’t feel like giant, world-ending stakes (even if it sort of was, the vibe was just different than say, the Metal Virus), and it didn’t feel small and personal either. The arc was the right balance of action, character, and simple but strong plotting that makes it easy for me to recommend it to people who love the early “modern” era games but haven’t checked out the comic yet. It’s just very “Sonic” at its core, delivering a fast and fun story with spectacle galore.