Comic Books

‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ #66 review

Another fun entry that tries to further move the book into a more experimental direction for the IDW series.

November 9, 2023

Sonic the Hedgehog #66 is a followup to last issue‘s stories with the same creative teams of Ian Flynn/Mauro Fonseca and Evan Stanley/Adam Bryce Thomas. Let’s not waste time and dig right into this double-story serving, shall we?

Yeah, double stories! Continuing from last time, these two mini-stories link together to form halves of a single whole, both fun little one-and-dones for Knuckles and the Chaotix, and Cream the Rabbit respectively. They’re both short, sweet, and overall enjoyable. I said last time that I really dig the creative potential of this particular format, something that feels like it takes great advantage of the medium of comics and brings things back to an older time, where you’d get a bunch of single stories per issue. It’s that with a slightly more modern twist anyway, and the direction overall the books been in has been something I’ve personally been really enjoying. The preview for the next issue seems to imply we’re going to continue focusing on side stories and characters other than Sonic for awhile, and I’ve outlined previously already that I think that’s a strong direction for the book to be heading in for now. If this concept gets phased out in a couple issues, I would honesty love to see it moved to a companion book ala Sonic Universe from the Archie days.

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IDW Publishing

There’s not too much to say about the plot and characters otherwise. It’s about what you expect from these guys by now: solid, consistent work that hits all the normal Sonic comic notes. I certainly think that there’s been some sense of “going through the motions” in the IDW books as time marches on however, and I think this issue is doing a lot to try and flex its muscles and try some new things. Hell, the entire thing pretty much exists to build up a new kind of villain for Sonic’s universe in Clutch, who’s had sporadic appearances in a lot of issues previously. That’s an aspect of the old Archie days I desperate miss – the rogues gallery of differently-skilled menaces that could offer an alternative to the usual Eggman affairs, and make Eggman feel more special and important by comparison. I hope that as the book keeps marching forward, we make even more strides to that perfect sweet spot late stage Archie Sonic managed to hit between the needs of a licensed book and the creativity of its crew.

IDW Publishing

The art for both stories is, obviously, great. Fonseca and Thomas are both proven talents, so you don’t need me to tell you again how good they are at their jobs. Dynamic action and a great sense of comedic timing from both here, while still both managing to feel entirely distinct in their styles and approaches without ever feeling “off model” from each other. I like that phenomenon in regards to Sonic art; it’s not something you really see from many other franchises like it. A real credit to the aesthetic of the brand and the art skills of the people who work on it.

IDW Publishing

So yeah, pretty good issue I think. Perhaps I came across a bit… lax in my review here, or outright negative, but I do believe that the book is in a solid, good place right now. Sometimes it’s hard to come up with an exciting new reason to say “this thing I like is pretty good, again!” and all. I think that’s something the book is actively trying its best to circumvent though, and is getting more bold and creative all the time. You get the sense the folks working on this book WANT to push the envelope and give people more and more, feel a bit less formulaic and… expected, I’ll say. I appreciate that drive, and I still love the book for bringing us good Sonic content on the regular.

Good stuff.