Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Shadowlax]

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It's weird because they're making decisions that only people who DO care about the story and lore would make. It really does feel like they're just super bad at it. Either that or they can't decide on something as a group. They probably need to just get ONE person to iron this all out and be the guy who keeps the lore and character stuff in check. 

They dont want that so they can keep their narratives free. Though in doing so , its often contradictory and nothing and doesn't endear you to the characters that they are still trying to sell to you . But its what they feel is the correct way to go so , here we are.

 

1 hour ago, Silvereyes said:

I just find it all abit weird and a bit half assed I suppose. Why the two worlds thing? Why the insistence on defining characters like Team Hooligan as "classic" only, if half the classics characters are both "classic" and "modern". Why is Zavok sticking around despite seemingly noone wanting him around, and what about the other Deadly members? Why no explanation about the Wisps appearing all the time now? If Silver and Blaze are going to remain as recurring elements, why not just have them like in Sonic's world? It wouldn't take much of a stretch considering Blaze doesn't have any friends in her place - except Marine, but who would want to live with her - and Silver's future sucks... maybe? Again, as far as we know, why can't he just live in Sonic's world? You could even give him the excuse of saying he has to stay in Sonic's time so that he can make the future good, like what they are doing with Silver in IDW right now.

The branding has changed and they are trying to go in a direction while not trying to committing full in on some sort of reboot

1 hour ago, Silvereyes said:

Honestly, if Sonic Team wants to genuinely make Sonic a coherent universe, they should probably just do at the very least a soft reboot. Otherwise you're just piling on the problems in my opinion.

 

I agree

[Red Hot Jack]

Any interesting bits of info from the latest bumblekast?

[Marco9966]

5 hours ago, Psycho_Jack said:

Any interesting bits of info from the latest bumblekast?

Its that even if Tails mentioned his Cocoa Island adventure in the twitter takeover, its still in the classic universe.

I noticed we never see references to the classic games even the big 3. The earliest reference in IDW is SA1.

[DabigRG]

12 hours ago, Silvereyes said:

I find the 2 worlds thing interesting just purely for how convoluted it is. I know you can nitpick the idea that every Sonic game takes place on one Mobius, with the stated inconsistencies of games like Adventures 1 and 2 and Unleashed against the likes of Heroes and Forces, but I don't really see why you can't just say it takes place on one Mobius with say different continents. Perhaps it doesn't hold under a huge amount of scrutiny, but then alot of Sonic's continuity doesn't really hold up that much either if you really think about it for too long with the sheer number of spin-off games.

Honestly, all the two worlds thing does so far is help them not include characters like Team Dark & sometimes Knuckles if they don't want to and set the stage for Forces to have nothing but Mobian NPCs within the Resistance.

It's all about convenience.

12 hours ago, Silvereyes said:

 Why the insistence on defining characters like Team Hooligan as "classic" only, if half the classics characters are both "classic" and "modern". 

Because they wanna make Classic it's own sub-series to finally capitalize on it's renowned success.

I'm guessing SEGA knows good well that people like those guys and want them back in games again. I know at least Fang came up at some point to them and they mentioned that while he is a fun character, he sorta filled a niche that's also occupied by Rouge. So sequestering them off on that end ensures they keep that contextual existence popular and distinct.

Which is funny, considering they've had a bad habit of overly crossing over with the Modern/Dreamcast brand for a while, but whaddyagonnado?

12 hours ago, Silvereyes said:

Why is Zavok sticking around despite seemingly noone wanting him around, and what about the other Deadly members?

The two big reasons I have theorized are due to him being easy to use and someone within SonicTeam just really liking him.

Personally, I don't mind him sticking around--what I do mind is that they haven't done much of legit substance with him, In addition to not really using the others of course.

12 hours ago, Silvereyes said:

Why no explanation about the Wisps appearing all the time now?

 

Oh they did: basically, some of the Wisps took a liking to Sonic & his world and so decided to stick around.  And out of universe, they saw value in keeping them around as recurring power-ups.

The problem is that they delayed on actually explaining this until I think Sonic Runners, which seemingly takes place on the Lost Hex anyway. So, uh, oops.

Again, I don't really care outside of the fact that a) they didn't do much to establish/explain initially and b) they have been in just about everything lately. I'm fine with Forces, Team Sonic Racing, and by extension Runners, but Lost World ran into problem a.

12 hours ago, Silvereyes said:

 If Silver and Blaze are going to remain as recurring elements, why not just have them like in Sonic's world? It wouldn't take much of a stretch considering Blaze doesn't have any friends in her place - except Marine, but who would want to live with her - and Silver's future sucks... maybe? Again, as far as we know, why can't he just live in Sonic's world? You could even give him the excuse of saying he has to stay in Sonic's time so that he can make the future good, like what they are doing with Silver in IDW right now.

 

Silver and Blaze keep showing up because they're probably the most recently popular and thus are a shoe-in for spinoffs, certain big plots, and other fanservicey things. For better or worse.

Which has just been a lot as of late. 

 

[Shadowlax]

How do rouge and fang fit in the same niche

[Sonictrainer]

7 minutes ago, Shadowlax said:

How do rouge and fang fit in the same niche

They're both treasure hunters.

[Cuz]

They're alike in that they're both treasure hunters whose defining vice is greed. Granted Rouge also has love interest, power house, super spy, and shadow's keeper going on, but she started with a similar archetype and grew out from it.  

[Shadowlax]

54 minutes ago, Cuz said:

They're alike in that they're both treasure hunters whose defining vice is greed. Granted Rouge also as love interest, power house, super spy, and shadow's keeper going on, but she started with a similar archetype and grow out from it.  

I mean I guess? I just I dunno greed isnt defining trait to the degree in which she's bad unlike the hooligans are willing to be. Outside of a single ian Flynn interpretation she's largely a portrayed as a good guy. I feel as though considering the hooligans are bad guys seemingly there's room for both. I don't think they are that similar, I always took the hooligans as goons for hire if anything.

Also hey you gotta keep with the lore. She isnt shadows anything, they aren't friends really or a team. So sayeth lord sonic team, forget the stuff you think you know

[Cuz]

30 minutes ago, Shadowlax said:

 Outside of a single ian Flynn interpretation she's largely a portrayed as a good guy.

It's worth nothing that Bean and Bark weren't initially bad guys either until Ian popularized them as such. 

I agree there is room for both for the same reason you just gave, and given Sonic's sparse rogues galley. Never the less, that's usually the train of thought that gets used to shutdown any dreams of fang's revival.

That and toting around a gun in a series aimed at kids, I mean that's Shadow's thing. 

and I was being candid in calling her "Shadow's keeper". 

 

[Shadowlax]

37 minutes ago, Cuz said:

It's worth nothing that Bean and Bark weren't initially bad guys either until Ian popularized them as such. 

I agree there is room for both for the same reason you just gave, and given Sonic's sparse rogues galley. Never the less, that's usually the train of thought that gets used to shutdown any dreams of fang's revival.

That and toting around a gun in a series aimed at kids, I mean that's Shadow's thing. 

and I was being candid in calling her "Shadow's keeper". 

 

 

To the hooligans it would be nice for sonic and co to have a normal rogues gallery outside of monster that needs to die, confused character who will become good, character who come back but will be trashed and Dr. Eggman. It's why I find the the idea of thdisappointing. Being thrown away and what's become of the d6 mildly dissapointing.

You gonna focus on animal planet? Sure, give us characters both good and bad to flesh it out

[DabigRG]

3 hours ago, Shadowlax said:

How do rouge and fang fit in the same niche

What those two said.

The only thing is that the treasure hunting aspect doesn't really come up anymore and Rouge is more generally a cardcarrying jewel thief either way. 

2 hours ago, Shadowlax said:

Outside of a single ian Flynn interpretation she's largely a portrayed as a good guy.

Ken Penders.

Anyway

2 hours ago, Shadowlax said:

I mean I guess? I just I dunno greed isnt defining trait to the degree in which she's bad unlike the hooligans are willing to be. Outside of a single ian Flynn interpretation she's largely a portrayed as a good guy. I feel as though considering the hooligans are bad guys seemingly there's room for both. I don't think they are that similar, I always took the hooligans as goons for hire if anything.

Also hey you gotta keep with the lore. She isnt shadows anything, they aren't friends really or a team. So sayeth lord sonic team, forget the stuff you think you know

Yeah, the catch is that Fang is greedy in the basic sense, whereas Rouge is presumably more kleptomaniacal. Add in that he is a overconfident klutz with a gun compared to a obfuscatingly flirty jill of all trades and they are pretty different characters.

 

Plus, there's also the Babylon Rogues, or at least Jet.

2 hours ago, Cuz said:

It's worth nothing that Bean and Bark weren't initially bad guys either until Ian popularized them as such. 

I agree there is room for both for the same reason you just gave, and given Sonic's sparse rogues galley. Never the less, that's usually the train of thought that gets used to shutdown any dreams of fang's revival.

That and toting around a gun in a series aimed at kids, I mean that's Shadow's thing. 

and I was being candid in calling her "Shadow's keeper". 

 

Yeah, apparently.

1 hour ago, Shadowlax said:

 

To the hooligans it would be nice for sonic and co to have a normal rogues gallery outside of monster that needs to die, confused character who will become good, character who come back but will be trashed and Dr. Eggman. It's why I find the the idea of thdisappointing. Being thrown away and what's become of the d6 mildly dissapointing.

You gonna focus on animal planet? Sure, give us characters both good and bad to flesh it out

Might wanna doublecheck your sentences near the end there, lax.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

So here's another sneak peek of Tangle and Whisper- in video format!

E: more stuff from Twitter:

Angry Whisper is cuute

[DabigRG]

2 hours ago, Ellipsis-Ultima said:

So here's another sneak peek of Tangle and Whisper- in video format!

E: more stuff from Twitter:

Angry Whisper is cuute

Does Whisper have to shoot a bitch?

[DabigRG]

I listened to BumbleKast 89(?; it was BumbleKwest or whatever) last night and heard a few things.

• Spoiler

   

  • The next issue is more or less the Cream & Gemerl issue, with Chocola and Vanilla being hinted at
    • Something he didn't say and neither shall I
  • Rough n Tumble, Whisper, Jewel(?), and possibly Dr. Starline are likely in their midteens to early twenties like the rest of the cast  
  • Null Mind and Cortez are likely not gonna be in IDW 
    • Null is similar to something that is/will happen
    • Cortez was context heavy to Antoine's backstory and probably won't be retooled since he'd be a different character at that point 
  • Gardon may appear if we get a story in Blaze's World

   

  Also I listened to a different one a little while ago and remember this much

Spoiler

Don't expect things like the Magic Hands

 

[StaticMania]

31 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Also I listened to a different one a little while ago and remember this much

  Hide contents

Don't expect things like the Magic Hands

 

I don't why anyone wouldn't expect that, but there ya go.

Something to look forward to, I guess.

[Heckboy]

34 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Gardon may appear if we get a story in Blaze's World

Thank god, I was starting to get worried he'd been forgotten.

[Sonictrainer]

A bio for Tangle was posted on the Facebook Group and an interview with Evan Stanley.

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If you're excited for Tangle & Whisper in July, here's an interview with artist Evan Stanley!

Sonic looks a little off. Is he sick or something?

I dunno, but something fishy is definitely going on...

Is there anything that didn't make the final cut or had to be redrawn?

There's almost always a few things that don't make it into the final issue. When Tangle's around I tend to have too much fun with her expressions, and have to reel it back a little!

If Whisper's hunting Sonic, does that mean that she and Tangle are going to... tangle?

You better believe it! I'm not sure Tangle's ready to take on a hardened warrior like Whisper, but she'll certainly try!

And now for a more personal question. Which person or event in your life encouraged you to begin drawing?

The first person who introduced me to the idea that art could and should be something I pursue in earnest was my middle-school homeschool teacher, Peg Edwards. I didn't start off with cartooning; Peg is a scientific illustrator as well as a teacher, and she held classes for her artistically-inclined students to train them in traditional illustration techniques and learn about natural history. I remember spending hours learning how to create photo-real graphite renderings, then running outside to hunt for fossilized shark's teeth and prehistoric whalebone in her backyard. Though the work I do now is very different, her love of the craft and the inspiration she took from the wider world has never left me.

What’s the most challenging aspect of working with such a beloved franchise?

The trickiest part is that it is such a beloved franchise, with such an enormous legacy. How do I find my voice and look, and create something new and interesting? Can I innovate while also staying true to what makes this world and its characters special? It may seem like I'm overthinking it, but the Sonic franchise has played a huge role in my life. I want to do what I can to make stories that can be a force for good in other people's lives, too.

Since there is such a large number of Sonic fan artists out there, I want to ask you this. What is the number one thing that a fan artist can do to improve their craft?

I have a term I made up for something I do to help myself: tangential enthusiasm. As a fan of something, it's easy to invest a ton of time an energy into learning and consuming every facet of that thing. Tons of people have become impressive scholars of entirely fictional universes, but don't know how to move beyond the material directly connected to their story-world of choice. This can lead to creative frustration and stagnation. My advice to fans who want to continue learning and creating is to look at the world around them and consider how exploring the wider world can enrich not only their skills, but their understanding and enjoyment of whatever their particular fandom is. It's not a betrayal or a departure; everything you learn can be brought back to what you already love, and make it even better. There's all kinds of wild connections out there, just waiting to be made. Fan art is real art, and you do yourself a disservice when you don't treat it as such.

 

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

7 hours ago, DabigRG said:

I listened to BumbleKast 89(?; it was BumbleKwest or whatever) last night and heard a few things.

•   Hide contents

   

  • The next issue is more or less the Cream & Gemerl issue, with Chocola and Vanilla being hinted at
    • Something he didn't say and neither shall I
  • Rough n Tumble, Whisper, Jewel(?), and possibly Dr. Starline are likely in their midteens to early twenties like the rest of the cast  
  • Null Mind and Cortez are likely not gonna be in IDW 
    • Null is similar to something that is/will happen
    • Cortez was context heavy to Antoine's backstory and probably won't be retooled since he'd be a different character at that point 
  • Gardon may appear if we get a story in Blaze's World

   

   

  Reveal hidden contents

Don't expect things like the Magic Hands

 

Spoiler

I think the Octopus girl is gonna be what Null Mind was supposed to be before that issue got scrapped.

 

[Arcade Racer CC14]

September solicitations are out!

STH #21

Ian Flynn (w) • Tracy Yardley (a) • Aaron Hammerstrom (c)

"The Last Minute," Part One! To contain the Metal Virus, the Restoration must split up! In this issue, as Tails researches a cure for the Metal Virus, his lab comes under attack by Zombots. With Whisper and Tangle out saving as many civilians as they can, will Tails withstand the siege and find the cure—or will the whole world fall?

Tangle & Whisper #3

Ian Flynn (w) • Evan Stanley (a & c)

"Betrayal." The origin of Whisper the Wolf is revealed! All your (and Tangle's) questions answered! Where did her Wisps come from? How did she get her Variable Wispon? Why does she hate Eggman so much? And who betrayed her?

THEY GOT CHEESE

[Shadowlax]

PFFFT that fist cover has me rolling

[DabigRG]

Spoiler

 

13 minutes ago, Taco Time CC14 said:

September solicitations are out!

 

  Hide contents

STH #21

Ian Flynn (w) • Tracy Yardley (a) • Aaron Hammerstrom (c)

"The Last Minute," Part One! To contain the Metal Virus, the Restoration must split up! In this issue, as Tails researches a cure for the Metal Virus, his lab comes under attack by Zombots. With Whisper and Tangle out saving as many civilians as they can, will Tails withstand the siege and find the cure—or will the whole world fall?

Tangle & Whisper #3

Ian Flynn (w) • Evan Stanley (a & c)

"Betrayal." The origin of Whisper the Wolf is revealed! All your (and Tangle's) questions answered! Where did her Wisps come from? How did she get her Variable Wispon? Why does she hate Eggman so much? And who betrayed her?

THEY GOT CHEESE

 

Looks like something that caught on my pants leg several times. 

Spoiler

Tails: Cheese, what sticky fingers you have. 

Cheese: The better to prick you with, ma boi! 

Also, I love how that second solicit appears to have thrown on its last sentence for the title. 

7 hours ago, Ellipsis-Ultima said:

  Hide contents

I think the Octopus girl is gonna be what Null Mind was supposed to be before that issue got scrapped.

 

Oh yeah, perhaps. 

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

Spoiler

I hope Cream didn't get Zombot'd.

Also here's something regarding the Tangle Whisper covers: apparently they're supposed to be connected, according to Evan Stanley. There's another cover from #1 we haven't seen yet.

[SBR2]

2 hours ago, Taco Time CC14 said:

September solicitations are out!

 

  Reveal hidden contents

STH #21

Ian Flynn (w) • Tracy Yardley (a) • Aaron Hammerstrom (c)

"The Last Minute," Part One! To contain the Metal Virus, the Restoration must split up! In this issue, as Tails researches a cure for the Metal Virus, his lab comes under attack by Zombots. With Whisper and Tangle out saving as many civilians as they can, will Tails withstand the siege and find the cure—or will the whole world fall?

Tangle & Whisper #3

Ian Flynn (w) • Evan Stanley (a & c)

"Betrayal." The origin of Whisper the Wolf is revealed! All your (and Tangle's) questions answered! Where did her Wisps come from? How did she get her Variable Wispon? Why does she hate Eggman so much? And who betrayed her?

THEY GOT CHEESE

 

Ooh sounds like we're getting Character focused issues for the next arc. I assume the story will probably end in #25 maybe with Super Sonic.

[Big Panda]

Just now, SBR2 said:

Ooh sounds like we're getting Character focused issues for the next arc. I assume the story will probably end in #25 maybe with Super Sonic.

Considering the comic’s still doing yearly arcs, and that 25 will supposedly be the first issue of year 3, I’m not sure.

[DabigRG]

Oh, I just remembered something else from Bumblekast

Spoiler

He mentioned that entire arcs/issues focused on the supporting cast is somewhat unlikely in the first two years in part since the book is still pretty new and the rotating cast was basically a way to have varied/interesting interaction around Sonic himself.  

Guess he spoke a little too soon. Or broadly.

 

17 hours ago, StaticMania said:

I don't why anyone wouldn't expect that, but there ya go.

Something to look forward to, I guess.

...Forward to...?

17 hours ago, Heckboy said:

Thank god, I was starting to get worried he'd been forgotten.

Alright Aleck.

12 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

A bio for Tangle was posted on the Facebook Group and an interview with Evan Stanley.

 

She has the same stats as Sonic himself. How im--

Did they forget to finish outlining her hair?