Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Kuzu]

27 minutes ago, A super No.1 washedupgamer said:

I wonder if in the future, with the memory of them erased, if kit and surge come across someone that recognizes who they were before.

I believe one of the artists actually mightve referenced Surge having a family of sorts before

 

[Red Hot Jack]

I want to thank Ian for having the balls to do that to a popular character, I don't want another Shadow but if there is a story for Starline sure why not. I just thought this was a fitting conclusion. As for now... there is a lot to explore with other characters, let's make some space for Surge and Kit.

Kit will probably align with the heroes forcedly, he has no choice and without Surge he is quite vulnerable. I also love the cliffhanger with Surge and the writers can play on that a bit too.

Belle... I would also be okay with this being her finale. They could toy with her connection to Metal but also comforting Kit. Anyway I need to re read to see if I missed anything.

[Soniman]

I mean, Starline’s grand plans fell through, Eggman has proved very succinctly that he doesn’t need him and he was never his better for all his attempts to be genre savy,and he absolutely will never have a place by his side again. He’s been thoughly defeated physically and mentally so there probably wasn’t much else he could bring to the table narratively at this point.
 

In the end Zavok was right, he probably would’ve been better off cutting ties with Eggman and striking out on his own, but his *ahem* short sighted obsession with the man caused his own undoing, ah irony.

[Dr. Detective]

45 minutes ago, Soniman said:

I mean, Starline’s grand plans fell through, Eggman has proved very succinctly that he doesn’t need him and he was never his better for all his attempts to be genre savy,and he absolutely will never have a place by his side again. He’s been thoughly defeated physically and mentally so there probably wasn’t much else he could bring to the table narratively at this point.
 

In the end Zavok was right, he probably would’ve been better off cutting ties with Eggman and striking out on his own, but his *ahem* short sighted obsession with the man caused his own undoing, ah irony.

I don't quite know if I'm ready to say there was nothing else he could bring the table, if only because the idea of eventually exploring what a mentally broken, but still insanely evil Dr. Starline would do sounds like it could go places. I do agree that the build up to this moment serves as a great way to cap off what he was about and why he worked so well as a parallel to "what Eggman could be" and why Eggman works so much better as "what he is". I absolutely adored this ride and his character so I'd definitely like to see him return... but not now. He's definitely due for a long break.

If he's supposed to be dead then I'll enjoy re-reading this with that in mind. I'll probably come away with it feeling even more heavy, which is nice. It's nice feeling things when experiencing Sonic stories.

[DaddlerTheDalek]

Wow. #50 was quite a ride. Just wow. Issue #51 can't arrive fast enough!

[Razule]

Daaamn. Crushed by debris is a heavy (heh) way to kill off a character in a kid's comic. Eh, it's probably fine as long as the body's not shown. Confirming outright a character died in a comic book seems unwise considering how the medium works, but I guess we'll see how well that ages when FrankenStarline shows up in issue 75.

[Kuzu]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

I don't quite know if I'm ready to say there was nothing else he could bring the table, if only because the idea of eventually exploring what a mentally broken, but still insanely evil Dr. Starline would do sounds like it could go places. I do agree that the build up to this moment serves as a great way to cap off what he was about and why he worked so well as a parallel to "what Eggman could be" and why Eggman works so much better as "what he is". I absolutely adored this ride and his character so I'd definitely like to see him return... but not now. He's definitely due for a long break.

If he's supposed to be dead then I'll enjoy re-reading this with that in mind. I'll probably come away with it feeling even more heavy, which is nice. It's nice feeling things when experiencing Sonic stories.

I feel like Starline being so heavily influenced by and referential to Eggman is why his character went the way it did. In a way, he's a parallel to Snively, another foil to Eggman who he shares similar traits with. Both Starline and Snively are geniuses in their own rights and want to surpass Eggman, albeit for different reasons. But they also illustrate exactly why they'll never surpass Eggman and are ultimately doomed to fail. 

I remember how you pointed that out in your re-read and it put it all in perspective for me; neither Starline or Snively are as smart, or cunning as Eggman despite thinking they are, and it's underestimating Eggman's abilities and overestimating their own that proves their undoing. And both characters meet their end ultimately broken by the fact that Eggman is simply better than them in any shape or form. 

 

Starline would have to basically be reinvented as an entirely new character if he were to return, because there's nowhere else I feel like his character can go otherwise beyond just being an inferior copy of Eggman. Like I complained so much about how much he was basically just Eggman-lite, and his fate kind of establishes why that was the case. He was trying to fill shoes that he could never measure up to and it costed him his life. I feel like that's a good end for him in the long-run. 

[Dr. Detective]

Again, I'm not ready to say it'll be necessary to go that far without seeing what could be done. Obviously part of why I feel more can be achieved is because I do think there's merit in exploring what happens after you finally break a character like this (and partly because I love the bastard). 

If this turns out to be his end, it's definitely fitting. I just don't think I agree there's nowhere else to take him.

[Wraith]

Yeah it's a good conclusion to this arc but my first thought wasn't that he was dead. Kit and Surge were set to betray him after he got on top, and we never even got to see that pan out. There was still plenty left for him to do. 

 

Honestly surprised they went this route. 

[NoKaine]

I unironically love the trope of the main villain being able to completely crush their competition when they can't with the hero.

Dr. Eggman just took back his entire empire in one fell swoop. Next month he will lose to Sonic because he put the self-destruct button on the sole of his robot's foot. 

I really do love it. Keeps the villain intimidating even when we know he won't actually win win.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Starline’s dead?

Eh, probably see him 50 issues or so later…(provided the comic doesn’t get canceled unexpectedly).

[MetalSkulkBane]

I'm fine with him not coming back for a while. But I'm kinda sad he never learned of imposters' betrayal. I want him to show up and go.

"Ah, there you are. Running wild doing random destruction. You must have been lost so lost without me. Well, no need to worry, I'm back. Surge here are your tasks. Surge, I gave an order. Surge, why are you looking at me like that?"

Just saying, those two deserve proper revenge on Starline. Not that quick beat down in IS #3.

[Razule]

Ah man, I forgot about that. They never got to have their revenge on him. Would've been another kick while he was down. Shame. 

[Red Hot Jack]

Franken-Starline sounds like a super good idea. They usually recycle their concepts so why not? Not now though.

I mean, it was always Starline vs Eggman to me, but yeah, Surge and Kit didn't get their direct revenge, only indirectly, what is interesting now is that Starline is the only one who knows Surge and Kit's past, with him out of the picture, Surge and Kit are even more tragic, they could be looking for their origins desperately or accept that they are new people now, their past selves are gone.

[MetalSkulkBane]

Another thought I considered was Starline returning as a sidekick to Eggman Nega, but that would probably be way too 180 on his character.

(Plus, you know, f#$@ Nega)

More in character, (but still unlikely, needing IDW to be allowed make "Into the Sonic-verse") I could see him checking other versions of Eggman, hoping one of them would appreciate him.

[caitash]

I think it’s still possible to connect Surge and Kit with their past selves despite Starline apparently kicking the bucket. Wasn’t there a brief mention at some point after the metal virus arc that the Chaotix were still investigating a couple of missing persons reports? If I’m not misremembering that, then there could still be a link there for them to discover, though I guess it remains to be seen just how recognisable Surge and Kit are now. Like were they always green and turquoise or did whatever Starline did to them change their fur colour to be less recognisable. Also, is whatever Starline did to them in the first place even reversible?  I still view both Surge and Kit as victims so if one or both of them ended up flipping to the hero side, became anti-heroes, or just walking away altogether, it wouldn’t feel too farfetched. Although personally I would like to see them turn on each other, since their ‘bond’ is entirely forced/manufactured and not natural or organically formed at all.
 

I’m still collating my thoughts on issue 50 as a whole, but overall damn I enjoyed it so much that the wait for issue 51 is gonna be a slog.

[StaticMania]

Hopefully they didn't know each other before the tinkering...

Or even worse...twins.

[HywelAtTheMoon]

Eggman's Hulk slam on Starline... OUCH!

 

Ruthless Eggman is the best Eggman. 

[Matdrac]

There is one thing I still don't understand, although it doesn't seem relevant now, why did the Starline need Tails' DNA?

[Razule]

11 minutes ago, Matdrac said:

There is one thing I still don't understand, although it doesn't seem relevant now, why did the Starline need Tails' DNA?

He used his bio-data among others to enhance Kit and others for Surge. It's purposely vague how it all works.

[VO.SUPER]

On 6/30/2022 at 8:45 PM, NoKaine said:

I unironically love the trope of the main villain being able to completely crush their competition when they can't with the hero.

Dr. Eggman just took back his entire empire in one fell swoop. Next month he will lose to Sonic because he put the self-destruct button on the sole of his robot's foot. 

I really do love it. Keeps the villain intimidating even when we know he won't actually win win.

That was the only way they could ever show Skeletor winning in He-Man. And I gotta admit, its a fun trope. 

[MetalSkulkBane]

What I still don't understand is Starline's plan to "replace" Sonic.

Step 1: Kill Sonic, marry get Eggman on your side
Step 2: Have Surge.... replace Sonic?
Step 3: ???? Staged fight every week? Make Surge figurehead in a society with little to no government? Have Sonic allies work with her?

This plan is based on the loose idea that a hero will always arise against Eggman, so might as well put your pawn there. But just because Rookie showed up in Forces, it doesn't mean he could replace Sonic and actually defeat Eggman. Shadow, Tails, Blaze, there are a few dangerous names to take down. But I don't see how Surge's presence would prevent them.

And that's based on veil-thin hope that Surge won't get bored of this stupid charade and start burning things to the ground.

[DabigRG]

7 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

What I still don't understand is Starline's plan to "replace" Sonic.

Step 1: Kill Sonic, marry get Eggman on your side
Step 2: Have Surge.... replace Sonic?
Step 3: ???? Staged fight every week? Make Surge figurehead in a society with little to no government? Have Sonic allies work with her?

This plan is based on the loose idea that a hero will always arise against Eggman, so might as well put your pawn there. But just because Rookie showed up in Forces, it doesn't mean he could replace Sonic and actually defeat Eggman. Shadow, Tails, Blaze, there are a few dangerous names to take down. But I don't see how Surge's presence would prevent them.

And that's based on veil-thin hope that Surge won't get bored of this stupid charade and start burning things to the ground.

That was my issue with the plan as well. It's like, what's stopping Surge and Kit from getting too into the act and actually killing him?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I dunno, I kinda figured that was the whole flaw in his plan to begin with.

[Kuzu]

I'm pretty sure all of that was deliberate; Starline's plan is insane...because Starline himself is insane and thinks he can control everyone and everything, but has no idea how people work and that they do not act as rigidly as he thinks they do. Its the entire reason that he lost, that despite his planning and contingencies, what brought him down was the simple fact that Eggman is more experienced than him and takes more things in stride. 

In fact, its been his character flaw since his introduction; he had a rose-tinted view about Eggman, then became disillusioned when the reality of Eggman didn't line up with his vision and then assumed Eggman needed to be "fixed" without ever considering any of the finer details and reasoning for Eggman's actions. Starline fundamentally cannot read people is too obsessed with how he thinks people should be as opposed to looking at them for who they actually are.