Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[NikoS]

I heard the news and came here to share my thoughts, but @Ryannumber1gamer @Indigo Rush and @SonicComicFanboy already made all the points that i was going to go through, so thanks guys .

so i'm keeping this short, what i most want/wish (in relevance order):

• Keep the Staff
• Keep the Characters
• Keep the Continuity (not likely happening but one can hope right?)

btw the first two are really close, almost tied... almost.

[SonicComicFanboy]

Honestly at this point I feel kinda sorry for IDW.  If they keep the characters SEGA purists will be mad and potentially won't read the book.  If they drop the characters Archie/SATAM purists will be mad and potentially won't read the book.

 

 

Either way between the hiatus & transfer of publisher Sonic could end up losing readers.

 

But again hopefully SEGA will play it smart and give IDW enough leeway to do what they need to do and the publisher will promote the book enough to make the damage minimal. 

[Chris Knopps]

There's ONE thing that I wouldn't mind seeing done in the new series...

Something on Shade and the whole story of Chronicles, sometime down the line do an arc about the game then continue on into a sequel to finally show and conclude what would have happened in the end...

I mean, that game happened after 2005 so...

Penders can't do sh@$ going by what he said.

[Zulon Eredas]

11 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

There's ONE thing that I wouldn't mind seeing done in the new series...

Something on Shade and the whole story of Chronicles, sometime down the line do an arc about the game then continue on into a sequel to finally show and conclude what would have happened in the end...

I mean, that game happened after 2005 so...

Penders can't do sh@$ going by what he said.

It's better to avoid that can of worms altogether. Not that I wouldn't be up for seeing Shade and the Nocturnus Clan.

[RetroRy]

We have an editor!

[Chris Knopps]

2 minutes ago, Zulon Eredas said:

It's better to avoid that can of worms altogether. Not that I wouldn't be up for seeing Shade and the Nocturnus Clan.

I've always wanted to know what was supposed to happen/be in the sequel.

Being honest Chronicles 2 is the most instant rage topic I have in this franchise. It literally feels like it burns deep down because I was one of the few that saw all those Satam references, and when I saw that cliffhanger ending...

No joke, it made me shed a few tears. It was a gorgeous story to me and the references felt like some real love/appreciation was going on in that game.

Was the game play and/or graphics bad? In their own ways yes, another reason I wanted the sequel, to see improvements.

Chronicles... D@#$ it...

[Mauro Fonseca]

Ian's all but specifically said already that SEGA would be fine with them using Chronicles, but the minute they do, Penders starts shit. So I doubt IDW would go for it either.

[Chris Knopps]

5 minutes ago, The KKM said:

Ian's all but specifically said already that SEGA would be fine with them using Chronicles, but the minute they do, Penders starts shit. So I doubt IDW would go for it either.

What pisses me off most is we could have gone down a course where the Freedom Fighter team would've been introduced finally in some manner unique to the game canons, it felt like SEGA was finally crawling into that portion of the franchise and warily welcoming it in...

Then...

F@#$&ING G@D D@$% FAT F@$K PENDERS!!!

I've always partially blamed that f@$&ing beached whale for SEGA toning down the plots/lore of the franchise out of fear of doing something that seems like theft to folks who worked on the series in the past. it seems like after all his s#%it was when SEGA said "nope, done" to real depth in the series.

Edit

I'm sorry for getting on a personal level about the guy, but F@$# man...

[Speedi]

Sega probably wants to just stay away from anything Penders would try to sue them for. I don't blame them tbh, he's given them enough shit in the past over chronicles it's better to just not use the game at all.

[SonicComicFanboy]

31 minutes ago, chaosjam said:

We have an editor!

 Wait.  Joe Hughes?  Like the same Joe Hughes who worked for DC Comics famous Vertigo imprint!?   Oh dis gonna be good!!! 

 

 

Edit: *Shadow The Hedgehog/Hellblazer crossover imminent!? XD*

[Dr. Detective]

I'm excited just to see this new series in general. Forget wondering if they're going to keep or lose what came before, the idea of a blank slate and something new based on Sonic forming from it just tickles me inside.

There's a chance I may be disappointed by whatever they decide to do or what kind of Sonic comic they write but this space in between wondering what it'll be is a nice feeling to have.

Much better than the one empty space I had for about a day when there were no more comics to speak of in general.

[Sean]

I'm bitter toward Sega and Archie for how things fell apart and the lack of conclusion (twice in a row now, even!) but as far as IDW goes, I'm apathetic. I'll wait and see who's on board and what the new comic will be like before I get excited or write it off completely. I may have no faith in Sega but because of the lack of info at the moment, I'll try my best to keep an open mind about it.

[RedFox99]

Do you think it's possible for IDW to cut a deal with Archie to get the last few issues of the comics released?

[Dr. Detective]

As time goes on, I'm realizing more and more that what initially bothered me about the comics ending was the idea that there'd be no comics with Sonic in them anymore. With the IDW thing being announced the day after, I feel pretty much fine.

My personal hope is that it really is just a nice, fresh, and new clean slate. A new foundation for a brand new adventure ahead with the world I grew up with and the characters I loved have their full potential being capitalized on in a comic series that takes what the games set-up and pushes it to be what I always knew it had the potential to be.

That's my dream. 

I'm only interested in a conclusion to the unresolved story in a tertiary sense. Kind of like how I view not seeing the conclusion to Sonic Underground. It'd be interesting to see it but if I never do I'm not going to lose sleep over it. That might be because the rebooted version of the comics ended at a much more appropriate stopping point then the "Whoops the echidnas are gone! Oops, now Saffron's gone! Oh shit! NOW OUR UNIVERSE IS GONE! ... ...Oh hai Megaman." thing that happened. But even then, the only thing about the pre-reboot universe I cared to see resolved was Knuckles' situation, Charmy's situation, and Geoffery's situation. And two of those weren't even going to be properly touched upon anyway. One for fear of the Echidna Overlord Penders. And the other because it's an uncomfortable subject matter made from a terrible decision that should never have happened.

So I think that might be why I'm feeling more optimistic and hopeful. I expected not to have any comics period but now that it's been confirmed we're getting a new one, I'm realizing that the ability to just be able to collect Sonic comics in general was what I was worried about seeing the end of and not necessarily the stories being told within the current continuity. Which is a shame because there's a lot of those stories that I did truly like, despite never fully managing to grasp that universe. 

After wanting so long to be like everyone else who liked the Freedom Fighters thing, I find myself in the ironic situation of being lucky I don't as it's helping to cope with this all the more.

The world is quite the strange place.

 

[Zaysho]

I've mostly avoided this topic because I really didn't want to get in the middle of anything about potential directions/characters/media representation/whatever, but as I've been talking about this with staff quite a bit and managed to sort out my thoughts, I wanted to leave my two cents anyway.

I don't really have any issues about IDW's latest acquisition, to be honest. With the Archie book dead and buried, I already accepted that anything new would cut loose a lot of what made the Archie book stand out, in particular its setting, mix of original characters and various legacy characters from other Sonic media, and possibly even the classic characters (this is a bit of a toss up, but I'm skeptical about them appearing--certainly not in the first year if they do at all) since SEGA seems to have some kind of vision for how they want Sonic to be presented for the next four or five years. I think the book will be in good hands, under a more competent publisher with a proven track record, and if they assemble the right creative team, I'm sure it'll be a quality book in its own right. I am going to miss Sally, NICOLE, Rotor, Antoine, Bunnie, Chuck, the Egg Bosses, Eclipse, Relic, Breezie, the S6, et al, especially because there was still so much more to be seen, but I can let it go and give whatever comes next a chance. My ideal would be to see that narrative continued under IDW--literally just pick up where the last one left off--but I don't want to get my hopes up. Besides, I'm used to the games not doing what I want

There has been one thing that's bugged me, though. And it's the timing of it all and the circumstances surrounding the announcement. Barely two days after announcing the end of their partnership with Archie, they drop this on us and it was rather jarring and upsetting. I've read and collected the previous series for over twenty years, I wanted to work on it at some point, and it's even gotten me through personal difficulties (especially last year). That book was important to me, and was my last real connection to this series because I wasn't as interested in the more recent games. I'm being very sentimental, I know, but after six months of silence, to see the book go out on such a tiny whimper was kind of sad. But it also made me rather annoyed with the whole situation. While I don't do subscriptions, it's shady on Archie's part to continue to hold onto people's money for a product they weren't even producing and staying quiet on it for as long as possible. I don't know when things dissolved, but I wish the companies could have been more upfront about the cancellation earlier and then when things are finalized with IDW, roll out that announcement at SDCC. Would have made a bitter pill like that a lot easier to swallow, but I'm only speaking from my perspective. If anything, it would have been nice to know I was wasting my time waiting on Archie to put out books six months ago.

I'm sure there are people who are excited about the fresh start, I'm a little more indifferent at least until we start seeing details and solicitations, but I'm open to seeing what they have in store. Kind of have some concerns about how SEGA will handle things (I hope we don't see any "two world" bullshit and I hope we get to see more of the characters cycled through), but I don't expect the leash to be much tighter than it was with Archie and that book was fine (bar some awkward stuff in the old universe when game characters suddenly couldn't call their family... family later on). Hopefully some of the old crew will get to return for another crack at Sonic... except you know who.

[Red Hot Jack]

7 hours ago, SonicComicFanboy said:

Honestly at this point I feel kinda sorry for IDW.  If they keep the characters SEGA purists will be mad and potentially won't read the book.  If they drop the characters Archie/SATAM purists will be mad and potentially won't read the book.

 

 

Either way between the hiatus & transfer of publisher Sonic could end up losing readers.

 

But again hopefully SEGA will play it smart and give IDW enough leeway to do what they need to do and the publisher will promote the book enough to make the damage minimal. 

This is so true, and I also feel bad for IDW. Can we please give this book a chance? I'm talking to the SEGA fans out there, who are the most picky ones.

[NegaMix]

Jeez. I miss ONE day of internet, and THIS news manages to drop?!

Anyway, as someone who wasn't interested in the original Archie continuity, but liked the reboot... I'm actually kind of excited to see what IDW's take on the franchise will be like. Yes, I'll miss a fair few of the comic characters that appeared in the last couple years, but I'm not gonna let that kill my enthusiasm.

As far as the things I'd like to see this comic do, well...

- I assume that IDW Sonic would just be one singular book, unlike what Archie did with having a main book and Universe? 'Cause if so, I'd like to see it showcase various SegaSonic characters in different scenarios. For example, having Sonic travel across the world to face Eggman and/or just for the hell of it. Sometimes Tails is with him, but other times he could be having his own adventures. Amy could be following Sonic, or just hanging out with her other friends, like Cream and Big. Knuckles... well, I would say that he'd be stuck on Angel Island most of the time, but that hasn't really been shown in the games for some time, so... who knows? Maybe the Chaotix have a new case to solve. Shadow could either be working for GUN alongside Rouge and Omega, or he/they could be doing their own things. Perhaps we could get an arc focusing on Blaze and her dimension, or Silver and his future. Basically, I'd like it if the comic was closer in resemblance to Sonic Universe.

- If (and that's a massively big IF) the Freedom Fighters and/or other characters from recent Archie comics returned... then leave them as background characters. As others have noted, Sega want to focus on the current Sonic brand, so there'd be little-to-no point in putting any focus on Sally, Nicole, Bunnie, Rotor, Antoine or anyone else from the SatAM days. If they were to be in the comic at all, then hypothetically I'd have them reworked as protectors of one particular town/city/village (rather than travelling the world), let them make a rare cameo, and leave it at that. But then, this is Sega's choice. Not mine, and likely not IDW's. So... eh.

- See if they can bring in at least SOME of Archie Sonic's talent to write/draw a few stories. Ian Flynn and Tracy Yardley! would be the obvious ones, though seeing some other familiar faces would be cool too. That said however, this is also an opportunity to see some more fresh faces have a go at writing/drawing the Blue Blur and Co., so I'm interested to see what any newcomers can potentially bring to the comic.

That's about it. If the new comic manages to do the first and third things on my list ('cause let's face it, the second one ain't happening) then I'll be pretty excited. Otherwise... well, I'll probably still check out a few issues to see what it's like. Now we just play the waiting game...

[RedFox99]

13 minutes ago, Captain Metallix said:

Jeez. I miss ONE day of internet, and THIS news manages to drop?!

Anyway, as someone who wasn't interested in the original Archie continuity, but liked the reboot... I'm actually kind of excited to see what IDW's take on the franchise will be like. Yes, I'll miss a fair few of the comic characters that appeared in the last couple years, but I'm not gonna let that kill my enthusiasm.

As far as the things I'd like to see this comic do, well...

- I assume that IDW Sonic would just be one singular book, unlike what Archie did with having a main book and Universe? 'Cause if so, I'd like to see it showcase various SegaSonic characters in different scenarios. For example, having Sonic travel across the world to face Eggman and/or just for the hell of it. Sometimes Tails is with him, but other times he could be having his own adventures. Amy could be following Sonic, or just hanging out with her other friends, like Cream and Big. Knuckles... well, I would say that he'd be stuck on Angel Island most of the time, but that hasn't really been shown in the games for some time, so... who knows? Maybe the Chaotix have a new case to solve. Shadow could either be working for GUN alongside Rouge and Omega, or he/they could be doing their own things. Perhaps we could get an arc focusing on Blaze and her dimension, or Silver and his future. Basically, I'd like it if the comic was closer in resemblance to Sonic Universe.

- If (and that's a massively big IF) the Freedom Fighters and/or other characters from recent Archie comics returned... then leave them as background characters. As others have noted, Sega want to focus on the current Sonic brand, so there'd be little-to-no point in putting any focus on Sally, Nicole, Bunnie, Rotor, Antoine or anyone else from the SatAM days. If they were to be in the comic at all, then hypothetically I'd have them reworked as protectors of one particular town/city/village (rather than travelling the world), let them make a rare cameo, and leave it at that. But then, this is Sega's choice. Not mine, and likely not IDW's. So... eh.

I would like for the comic to expand on the Sonic characters and maybe give them backstories.

I remember SonicComicFanboy talking about an idea for a spin-off comic set in the same universe as the Sonic comics focusing on the FFs with Naugus as the antagonist. Maybe they could be protecting Knothole and trying to take back the city like in the cartoon.

[Red Hot Jack]

Very few people would buy a book just for the FFs. It's the reason why Universe focused on the Sega cast.

 

My wishlist for the comic:

- Sonic, Tails, Eggman, Knuckles and Amy as regulars

- No adaptations, in favor of original stories

- Either no Freedom Fighters, or in very small doses

- Brand new original characters with backstories and development

- Very close to the Sega universe

- A world map like Unleashed

- Ian Flynn as writer

- Continuity heavy

- Boom involved somehow

[RedFox99]

14 minutes ago, Chameleon94 said:

Very few people would buy a book just for the FFs. It's the reason why Universe focused on the Sega cast.

 

My wishlist for the comic:

- Sonic, Tails, Eggman, Knuckles and Amy as regulars

- No adaptations, in favor of original stories

- Either no Freedom Fighters, or in very small doses

- Brand new original characters with backstories and development

- Very close to the Sega universe

- A world map like Unleashed

- Ian Flynn as writer

- Continuity heavy

- Boom involved somehow

I like those ideas. I would add give the other Sonic characters some focus.

[Speedi]

All of them are reasonable ideas except Knuckles as a main character. Due to his function as the guardian of the Master Emerald (good at it or not) he really doesn't have the free time to just decide to join Sonic and his friends on their adventures regularly. He'd probably just be a character who sometimes shows up depending on the stakes of the situation to help out.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

There's one wish I hope that will come true, (even though chances of it happening are pretty slim...)

... Pretty please?

[SonicComicFanboy]

10 minutes ago, Fusion Ellipsis said:

There's one wish I hope that will come true, (even though chances of it happening are pretty slim...)

... Pretty please?

Well it might be not be impossible.  Megadrive:Overdrive being printed is right up there with the FF staying in the book as things fans seem to be reqeuesting the most, so hopefully IDW & SEGA will at least take it into consideration.

[Red Hot Jack]

46 minutes ago, Speedi said:

All of them are reasonable ideas except Knuckles as a main character. Due to his function as the guardian of the Master Emerald (good at it or not) he really doesn't have the free time to just decide to join Sonic and his friends on their adventures regularly. He'd probably just be a character who sometimes shows up depending on the stakes of the situation to help out.

Bah, I just want more Knuckles, and his interactions with the team. I want him to save the world, which is also more important than guarding a rock.

[SBR2]

11 hours ago, chaosjam said:

We have an editor!

Huh. I'd have bet money on Bobby Curnow. This is why I don't gamble.