Hey folks, back again with IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog! Today’s issue is brought to us by the always amazing Ian Flynn and Evan Stanley, with artists Mauro Fonseca and Adam Bryce Thomas respectively. That’s right, you heard me correctly, this time we’re doing something different, a double short story-focused issue! That’s fun, wasn’t expecting something so bite-sized but can’t say it’s an unwelcome change. Anyways, let’s get on with it, shall we?
IDW Publishing
As I said, this issue is split between two ten-page stories, but they actually parallel each other in a neat and creative way. One side has Knuckles and the Chaotix (I see what you’re doin’ there, Flynn) teaming up to fight the Babylon Rogues under a time crunch, and the other has Cream and Vanilla dinnertime hijinks. Okay, I know that doesn’t SOUND like a parallel when I say it like that, but the fun part is the dinner IS the time crunch the Chaotix are under – because Vector’s got a dinner party date! It’s a fun way to tell two different stories back to back in such a way that the connective tissue feels like a fun bonus. They could have easily given each of these story ideas its own full issue and carried fine, but I like that they chose this. It reminds me of old Sonic Universe or Sonic Super Special issues, focusing on side characters in shorter form stories.
On that note, Flynn’s at the top of his game writing Knuckles here. It’s clear how much fun he’s having finally cutting loose and being able to just write the guy being himself in a comparatively more mundane circumstance than usual. It’s very reminicent of the way he handled him back during his days helming Archie, and I mean that in the best way. Stanley’s also doing a great job in the Cream story, which is appropriately cute and Home Alone-esque… with a robot bodyguard of course, but still, the energy is there. With both these stories, I’m glad we’re pulling attention away from Sonic and Eggman’s endless feud, and the big important kinds of melodrama, for the smaller scale kind. It’s what I’ve been pulling for in these recent reviews, feeling a bit burnt out by all the high-stakes action we’ve been getting. This has been a great period of breathing room for the book.
IDW Publishing
The art is delightful, as per usual with Sonic comics. Fonseca is one of the best IDW’s got in terms of expressiveness, bringing a clearly manga-inspired level of cartoonish expressions and a VERY Toriyama feeling layout style that effortlessly slips in tricks to lead your eye. I love that kind of subtle attention to detail; if I wasn’t already the type of person who tends to notice that sort of thing, I wouldn’t have picked up on it at all (and I mean that in the good way). Thomas conversely really brings the detail, with comparatively dense shots with a lot more going on panel to panel. Both are good of course, and both these guys have shown the aptitude for these strengths, just different approaches for different stories, which is fitting.
It’s safe to say this is a fun little romp so far. I think this a really fun format for the book, and I wouldn’t mind it sticking around a bit longer to get some more attention on the other characters. So much of this franchise’s cast could easily hold down stories all on their own, so I’d love for the comics to take advantage of that more. We don’t ALWAYS need another generic Sonic vs. Eggman or Sonic vs. Fast Rival showdown, y’know? They’re fun, but sometimes you gotta add some spice to the mix to keep things fresh.
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