Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Razule]

He doesn't look very charming anymore.

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, PublicEnemy1 said:

I think it's referring to Sonic Legacy. And Tempest's a dolphin, not a shark.

Really now? I don't recognize this.

46 minutes ago, Marco9966 said:

Here's the cover for issue 22:

Ah, so it really is a survivor story. 

Btw, the text says "Danger Breach Detected Infection 95%"

Also, I'm wondering if there may be a spoiler on the final cover.

27 minutes ago, Ernest the Panda said:

Is that Charmy at the bottom of the door?

Why yes, yes it is. And he's actually yellow.

[Fire-N-Space]

9 hours ago, Marco9966 said:

Here's the cover for issue 22:

 

Still can't see how it makes sense for Amy to be a computer wiz with leadership skills something like that has Talis name written all over it.  Guess everyone is going to get turn in to a robot from the looks of it being the plain Sonic, Tails and Knuckles saving the day but hopefully not.

[Marco9966]

25 minutes ago, Fire-N-Space said:

 

Still can't see how it makes sense for Amy to be a computer wiz with leadership skills something like that has Talis name written all over it.  Guess everyone is going to get turn in to a robot from the looks of it being the plain Sonic, Tails and Knuckles saving the day but hopefully not.

And Gemerl and Omega

[Sonictrainer]

11 hours ago, Fire-N-Space said:

Still can't see how it makes sense for Amy to be a computer wiz

Well, she had at least 6 months to gain experience.

Surely, she can use the computer to check the cameras and keep the robots from getting her and the other survivors...

...and this is the closest we'll get to a 5 Nights at Freddy's Story in any Sonic media.

11 hours ago, Fire-N-Space said:

Guess everyone is going to get turn in to a robot from the looks of it being the plain Sonic, Tails and Knuckles saving the day but hopefully not.

I don't think Sonic & Rouge are going to get out of Sunset City "alive".

[Red Hot Jack]

Amy is not gonna be a hacker, or a random survivor, or a Sally Acorn strategist, it's just that the situation calls for a leader. I know I compared Amy to Sally last year, but she looks NOTHING like her to be honest, I was wrong, in fact her "strategy" is much less perfect than Sally and more action oriented, go read Battle for Angel Island again. Amy is still an action girl in this.

It's like in Forces where we had this war, so everyone matured and became a fighter, and some of them (Knuckles and Amy) became leaders, during Sonic, Tails and Shadow's absence, I enjoyed the idea at the time, and this is still that, only with the characters… you know, showing more personality than in Forces.

Besides, I still don't get the complaints for Amy, yeah it does get boring that most female characters become "giving orders" types, but Amy gets to shine in this story, she's not gonna be somebody who chases Sonic at least, so I would wait to see how she's handled.

Btw I read the full Tangle & Whisper issue, yeah it was good, sure, but nothing spectacular, I'm still way more hyped for the Metal Virus saga now that we are in its core.

[StaticMania]

19 minutes ago, Tangled Jack said:

Besides, I still don't get the complaints for Amy...

What's not to get, it's literally only one person who keeps bringing it up.

The only other obvious Amy fan is teh complete opposite.

[Sonic Fan J]

3 hours ago, Tangled Jack said:

Besides, I still don't get the complaints for Amy, yeah it does get boring that most female characters become "giving orders" types, but Amy gets to shine in this story, she's not gonna be somebody who chases Sonic at least, so I would wait to see how she's handled.

You kind of answered your own question in regards to who you are talking to by the end of this sentence. To @Fire-N-Space Amy's infatuation with Sonic and stereotypical Valentines day representation of love is part of what makes her an appealing character. I personally find to be a shallow appreciation of the character, but if it makes them happy I don't see the harm.

Now me, I'm actually of the came who doesn't like Amy's current role in the comics. This has nothing to do with not understanding the situation or why she is there, but simply my preference for what I like to see the character doing and enjoy out of the franchise. Unfortunately the whole zombot arc in general eschews what I enjoy most out of the francise beyond the characters themselves. Fortunately, for the most part I've been enjoying the characters (what ever happened to the aloof and reserved Shadow who was dismissive with his words and body language but who spoke powerfully with his actions about how much he actually cared?) so even though the series isn't really giving me what I want, I can't say I'm not enjoying it so far. But dismissing off hand other peoples' opinions isn't good for discussion instead in contrast to engaging with the poster and attempting to garner an understanding while presenting the conflicting aspects of your own pov. Not that I should be lecturing on how to hold a conversation, but sometime slowing down a little and not being emotional helps.

[DabigRG]

7 hours ago, Fire-N-Space said:

 

Still can't see how it makes sense for Amy to be a computer wiz with leadership skills something like that has Talis name written all over it.  

Yeah, I wasn't down with that either. I mean, I guess the latter is sorta the point, but still. 

7 hours ago, Fire-N-Space said:

 

Guess everyone is going to get turn in to a robot from the looks of it being the plain Sonic, Tails and Knuckles saving the day but hopefully not.

Spoiler

Uh, considering the last cover, Im doubting the first or even second will happen. 

 

6 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

Well, she had at least 6 months to gain experience.

Surely, she use the computer to check the cameras and keep the robots from getting her and the other survivors...

...and this is the closest we'll get to a 5 Nights at Freddy's Story in any Sonic media.

 

Oh shoot, that is sorta what this is, isnt it? 

4 hours ago, Tangled Jack said:

Amy is not gonna be a hacker, or a random survivor, or a Sally Acorn strategist, it's just that the situation calls for a leader. I know I compared Amy to Sally last year, but she looks NOTHING like her to be honest, I was wrong, in fact her "strategy" is much less perfect than Sally and more action oriented, go read Battle for Angel Island again. Amy is still an action girl in this.

 

You keep bringing up Sally in general. 

4 hours ago, Tangled Jack said:

 

It's like in Forces where we had this war, so everyone matured and became a fighter, and some of them (Knuckles and Amy) became leaders, during Sonic, Tails and Shadow's absence, I enjoyed the idea at the time, and this is still that, only with the characters… you know, showing more personality than in Forces.

 

Most of those characters were fighters to begin with.

Knuckles and especially Amy were legit the only standouts.  

4 hours ago, Tangled Jack said:

 

Besides, I still don't get the complaints for Amy, yeah it does get boring that most female characters become "giving orders" types, but Amy gets to shine in this story, she's not gonna be somebody who chases Sonic at least, so I would wait to see how she's handled.

 

That's part of the problem.

[Kuzu]

Man, some of you are never going to enjoy this series if you're so hung up on how you want the characters to act. You're better off just writing your own fanfiction than constantly nitpicking every time characterization doesn't perfectly align up with what you want it to be. Like...why does Tails have to ALWAYS be the tech guy? Is Amy not allowed to do it, if it doesn't contract anything? 

I railed on Shadow last issue not because he was being an arrogant idiot, but because being an arrogant idiot was detrimental to the story itself, but him being like that in general isn't itself a bad thing. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Where did it ever say Amy didn’t have skills with a computer, or some decent measurement of leadership? Hell, she literally leads her own fucking team in Sonic Heroes, and is always established as the leader of Team Rose any other time they appear.

This is absolutely getting utterly ridiculous now. Amy doing the simple act of using a computer is now somehow turning her and every other character into a robot. Yeah, right, whatever.

[DabigRG]

40 minutes ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

Man, some of you are never going to enjoy this series if you're so hung up on how you want the characters to act. You're better off just writing your own fanfiction than constantly nitpicking every time characterization doesn't perfectly align up with what you want it to be. Like...why does Tails have to ALWAYS be the tech guy? Is Amy not allowed to do it, if it doesn't contract anything? 

I railed on Shadow last issue not because he was being an arrogant idiot, but because being an arrogant idiot was detrimental to the story itself, but him being like that in general isn't itself a bad thing. 

 

29 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Where did it ever say Amy didn’t have skills with a computer, or some decent measurement of leadership? Hell, she literally leads her own fucking team in Sonic Heroes, and is always established as the leader of Team Rose any other time they appear.

This is absolutely getting utterly ridiculous now. Amy doing the simple act of using a computer is now somehow turning her and every other character into a robot. Yeah, right, whatever.

Thus far, there's really only been one or two people who had issue with how Amy acts. This is a specific subset of those who aren't down with her role in the comic and surprise surprise, that subset are actually fans of the character.

The leadership thing, I personally can take or leave. A little because of Team Rose, but more pertinently because she's in charge of the Restoration now rather than the Resistance. Someone had to do it and Amy doesn't do much of anything, so whatever.

As for the IT thing, my slight disdain is more because I didn't like it in Forces than anything else.

[Shadowlax]

31 minutes ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

Man, some of you are never going to enjoy this series if you're so hung up on how you want the characters to act. You're better off just writing your own fanfiction than constantly nitpicking every time characterization doesn't perfectly align up with what you want it to be. Like...why does Tails have to ALWAYS be the tech guy? Is Amy not allowed to do it, if it doesn't contract anything? 

I railed on Shadow last issue not because he was being an arrogant idiot, but because being an arrogant idiot was detrimental to the story itself, but him being like that in general isn't itself a bad thing. 

Yeah like i dunno characters doing other things is neat. And personally to me Amy always seemed pretty smart, her and tails hang maybe she picked up some stuff. She ain't building machinery but manning some computers is fine.

And I'm with you with my issue with shadow is "how and why " rather than a state of being, if they sold shadow being a dick better I wouldn't be upset. Characters trying new things is neat, getting new dimensions to their personality also neat. However it is possible to screw that up, but I don't think any being on a computer ruins this.

[Red Hot Jack]

The complaints about Shadow are legit though, about the Metal Virus arc not so much, or at least I find it exciting and dark, Shadow was just dumb, although I kind of do prefer him to be aggressive rather than just bored and passive. I'm just hoping it doesn't end like that and Ian is gonna show more sides to the character, for example his characterization in issue 6 was enjoyable to me.

[DabigRG]

1 minute ago, Shadowlax said:

Yeah like i dunno characters doing other things is neat. And personally to me Amy always seemed pretty smart, her and tails hang maybe she picked up some stuff. She ain't building machinery but manning some computers is fine.

And I'm with you with my issue with shadow is "how and why " rather than a state of being, if they sold shadow being a dick better I wouldn't be upset. Characters trying new things is neat, getting new dimensions to their personality also neat. However it is possible to screw that up, but I don't think any being on a computer ruins this.

Oh yeah, that's something I forgot!

1 minute ago, Tangled Jack said:

The complaints about the Metal Virus arc not so much

What do you mean?.

1 minute ago, Tangled Jack said:

for example his characterization in issue 6 was enjoyable to me.

...Um.....

[Kuzu]

One thing that we really haven't talked about is Sonic himself; he doesn't really seem to dwell much on Shadow's words. That and combined with Shadow's moments at the end make me think that you're not supposed to side with Shadow's attitude towards Sonic in this issue. And I think that's what's bugging me a lot about this issue. It doesn't really allow Sonic to dwell on his actions and second guess himself. 

I am aware that he's the guy who never looks back, and always moves forward, but I think its a bit of a missed opportunity for him to not show SOME level of remorse, even if it the turn of events are not directly his fault. It'd be better to have another character reassure him (to contrast with Shadow's words) than Sonic reaching that conclusion himself. 

 

I don't think Sonic is a BAD protagonist, but they don't really miss out on opportunities to actually challenge his beliefs and give some type of depth. It'd make these mostly formulaic and boring issues somewhat more entertaining. But that's me.

[Diogenes]

They don't have him sit around moping about it but they do have him stop to consider his responsibility in all this, when he's off burning off the virus.

[DabigRG]

12 minutes ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

One thing that we really haven't talked about is Sonic himself; he doesn't really seem to dwell much on Shadow's words. That and combined with Shadow's moments at the end make me think that you're not supposed to side with Shadow's attitude towards Sonic in this issue. And I think that's what's bugging me a lot about this issue. It doesn't really allow Sonic to dwell on his actions and second guess himself. 

I am aware that he's the guy who never looks back, and always moves forward, but I think its a bit of a missed opportunity for him to not show SOME level of remorse, even if it the turn of events are not directly his fault. It'd be better to have another character reassure him (to contrast with Shadow's words) than Sonic reaching that conclusion himself. 

 

I don't think Sonic is a BAD protagonist, but they don't really miss out on opportunities to actually challenge his beliefs and give some type of depth. It'd make these mostly formulaic and boring issues somewhat more entertaining. But that's me.

Eh. It's something that crossed my mind, but then again, it wasn't all that pressing for long.

I think Sonic's had plenty of time to think about what's happening and how it came to be before this issue, so it's not like anything Shadow says is news to him. Besides, both characters are pretty confident their way of doing things and with the addition of having what's left of an entire city to evacuate, they weren't gonna do too much arguing and thus be distracted by their own egos.

 

[Kazhnuz]

Mmmh, I kinda disagree with that Sonic wasn't shaked ? He seemed felling pretty guilty, and it's not because he have brushed it off (for the second time, actually) that he mean that he reached a conclusion. He seemed to have been pretty affected by Shadow words, and it looked more like a way to reassure himself to go back to action (because a city was in danger) and not a definitive conclusion to the "I didn't do the bad thing". It's pretty visible to me that the last part of this substory ("Should Shadow have killed Eggman") is still missing a conclusion, because it really didn't look like that Sonic was sure that he did the right thing. For me it's quite the opposite : after that he isn't sure at all, and maybe later something will show that Sonic was "right" to do what he did or that they'll go further to the "even if the right thing have dire consequences, it can be the right thing")

It's kinda like how Sonic acted when he was contamined : he said that "I will be fine I already have dealt with that kind of things before", and the next issues actually showed that he wasn't 100% sure of himself after that (with this very issue showing that he is really starting to have problem keeping with the need to constantly run)

[Kuzu]

Hmm, I dunno. Its not that I want him to mope about it for an entire issue, but I think it should be a bit more ambiguous than "naw, I definitely didn't do anything wrong". Make it more ambiguous if Sonic thinks his actions were right or not, and just have him push that question to the side while he's trying to save others. 

ITs why I think having Shadow sacrifice himself and have Sonic witness that would have had a bit more impact. Because then Sonic would have a front row seat of seeing somebody he knows be affected by the virus. But that's just my take. This saga isn't over yet, so we'll wait and see. 

[DabigRG]

39 minutes ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

 

ITs why I think having Shadow sacrifice himself and have Sonic witness that would have had a bit more impact. Because then Sonic would have a front row seat of seeing somebody he knows be affected by the virus. But that's just my take. This saga isn't over yet, so we'll wait and see. 

Oh yeah, he technically hasn't seen that yet.

[Shadowlax]

1 hour ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

One thing that we really haven't talked about is Sonic himself; he doesn't really seem to dwell much on Shadow's words. That and combined with Shadow's moments at the end make me think that you're not supposed to side with Shadow's attitude towards Sonic in this issue. And I think that's what's bugging me a lot about this issue. It doesn't really allow Sonic to dwell on his actions and second guess himself. 

I am aware that he's the guy who never looks back, and always moves forward, but I think its a bit of a missed opportunity for him to not show SOME level of remorse, even if it the turn of events are not directly his fault. It'd be better to have another character reassure him (to contrast with Shadow's words) than Sonic reaching that conclusion himself. 

 

I don't think Sonic is a BAD protagonist, but they don't really miss out on opportunities to actually challenge his beliefs and give some type of depth. It'd make these mostly formulaic and boring issues somewhat more entertaining. But that's me.

 

1 hour ago, Kazhnuz said:

Mmmh, I kinda disagree with that Sonic wasn't shaked ? He seemed felling pretty guilty, and it's not because he have brushed it off (for the second time, actually) that he mean that he reached a conclusion. He seemed to have been pretty affected by Shadow words, and it looked more like a way to reassure himself to go back to action (because a city was in danger) and not a definitive conclusion to the "I didn't do the bad thing". It's pretty visible to me that the last part of this substory ("Should Shadow have killed Eggman") is still missing a conclusion, because it really didn't look like that Sonic was sure that he did the right thing. For me it's quite the opposite : after that he isn't sure at all, and maybe later something will show that Sonic was "right" to do what he did or that they'll go further to the "even if the right thing have dire consequences, it can be the right thing")

It's kinda like how Sonic acted when he was contamined : he said that "I will be fine I already have dealt with that kind of things before", and the next issues actually showed that he wasn't 100% sure of himself after that (with this very issue showing that he is really starting to have problem keeping with the need to constantly run)

It can never be answered. Because Even if eggman solves everything, shadow killing eggman would have avoided all this. While we take characters dying in our fiction for granted. Someone dying , particularly someone being killed by someene else is complicated subject matter. And I will posit as I posited before, a thing that's actually much to complicated for the stories that should be told in this book. Some of you might say " well what of SA2 and shadow's revenge story " that was rather cut and dry, those weren't the same people, shadow was being a vengeful asshole. This given what has happened is more complicated. And leaves the option open , hey " Maybe shadow should have killed the guy " .

And this leads me to why I quoted both of you . That's why I believe its written the way its written , because sonic looking like he feels bad is sort of an admittance to some small degree " Damn maybe I should have let shadow kill that guy " . Which in a book primary for children... isn't the lesson you want.

So what do you do, you make the guy who suggested it look the worst he's ever been so you can feel justified in not siding him. Issue with that is two fold

1) you run the risk of writing the character out of character to justify something narrative, which by doing so is an admission you could not actually justify the thing narratively.

2) Just because someone is an asshole doesn't mean they didn't make the right call.

I said this last year and I stand by this, making " Should you murder this dictator " is one of the worst things you could hang a character grudge on. And it will have bad effects throughout the narrative because you can't answer that question in an effective manner in a comic for kids because " murder is bad " should be the thing you are conveying. So the story has to contort to fit something it isn't narrative mature enough to handle

And now we are here an interpretation of two characters so bad that " Sonic and  Shadow were written Horrible " is what I have seen on every single site I have been on. They should have just dropped it and moved on, personally. But that's where i think the issue lies, just in the nature of the book and what it can and cant do and who's in charge.

Maybe they fix it later, Dunno , but that's my more after the initial anger leveled headed take

 

[thumbs13]

26 minutes ago, Shadowlax said:

 

It can never be answered. Because Even if eggman solves everything, shadow killing eggman would have avoided all this. While we take characters dying in our fiction for granted. Someone dying , particularly someone being killed by someene else is complicated subject matter. And I will posit as I posited before, a thing that's actually much to complicated for the stories that should be told in this book. Some of you might say " well what of SA2 and shadow's revenge story " that was rather cut and dry, those weren't the same people, shadow was being a vengeful asshole. This given what has happened is more complicated. And leaves the option open , hey " Maybe shadow should have killed the guy " .

And this leads me to why I quoted both of you . That's why I believe its written the way its written , because sonic looking like he feels bad is sort of an admittance to some small degree " Damn maybe I should have let shadow kill that guy " . Which in a book primary for children... isn't the lesson you want.

So what do you do, you make the guy who suggested it look the worst he's ever been so you can feel justified in not siding him. Issue with that is two fold

1) you run the risk of writing the character out of character to justify something narrative, which by doing so is an admission you could not actually justify the thing narratively.

2) Just because someone is an asshole doesn't mean they didn't make the right call.

I said this last year and I stand by this, making " Should you murder this dictator " is one of the worst things you could hang a character grudge on. And it will have bad effects throughout the narrative because you can't answer that question in an effective manner in a comic for kids because " murder is bad " should be the thing you are conveying. So the story has to contort to fit something it isn't narrative mature enough to handle

And now we are here an interpretation of two characters so bad that " Sonic and  Shadow were written Horrible " is what I have seen on every single site I have been on. They should have just dropped it and moved on, personally. But that's where i think the issue lies, just in the nature of the book and what it can and cant do and who's in charge.

Maybe they fix it later, Dunno , but that's my more after the initial anger leveled headed take

 

I know the Dragon Ball comparisons get overdone, but this is just Goku stopping Krillin from killing Vegeta. And they can get around it in the same way. Have some threat later on be defeated by Eggman so fans can go "Ha, you see? Without Eggman everyone would have died so Shadow was wrong." 

[PublicEnemy1]

25 minutes ago, thumbs13 said:

I know the Dragon Ball comparisons get overdone, but this is just Goku stopping Krillin from killing Vegeta. And they can get around it in the same way. Have some threat later on be defeated by Eggman so fans can go "Ha, you see? Without Eggman everyone would have died so Shadow was wrong." 

Here's the difference... Vegeta had a side of good to him, and eventually became good himself. Eggman has, and always will be, evil, and every time he does something good, it's for "Enemy Mine" reasons. He'll go right back to being evil after the threat has been eliminated. 

[thumbs13]

3 minutes ago, PublicEnemy1 said:

Here's the difference... Vegeta had a side of good to him, and eventually became good himself. Eggman has, and always will be, evil, and every time he does something good, it's for "Enemy Mine" reasons. He'll go right back to being evil after the threat has been eliminated. 

The thing is, that wasn't known at the time. It goes back to what I said about retroactively justifying past arcs. There was no good reason for Vegeta to stay alive. But without him, a lot of the series' events couldn't have happened.

If the day can't be saved without Eggman in the future, then it would mean that there's a reason to keep him around. He is a complicated guy after all.