Megathread IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog - Megathread

[Cuz]

Some big news. Wendy really is the kind of character that you'd think were off the table, and I'm almost more excited to see that hat then metal himself. xD Glad to see mini series continuing to march on. 

[caitash]

So stoked for both of these! Really wasn’t expecting the boi to get anything for his 30th anniversary so this is a nice surprise! And Scrapnik Island sounds really interesting.
 

…Just… please please release the Scrapnik Island miniseries alongside the main book and not sharing the monthly release slots, IDW. You have one job, don’t screw it up like you did with the Imposter Syndrome release schedule.

[Kuzu]

While I wouldn't call Tails one of my absolute favorites, he's been in the series longer than literally everyone else so yea, he's kind of earned his place as one of the main characters. And besides, Knuckles is coming back too so its not like its just going to be Sonic & Tails as usual. 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Ayo, dis muhfucka store Knux’s hat!!!

On a serious note, bout time they brought back a Mecha-Knuckles.

[Silvereyes]

At the risk of poking the hornet's nest here, but I thought Penders got the rights to Knuckle's OVA hat? I take it that is not true then?

[Razule]

I wouldn't have seen character-specific anniversary comics coming, but cool! Especially if this is the only way we're going to see the classic world without waiting 5 years..

And always cool to see the Knuckles hat

[Kuzu]

I guess Amy's anniversary book is next year....maybe. 

[WanderingBleats]

I am happy to see a new Classic book coming. I am happy to see a Tails book coming (i love that fox). I am happy to hear Witchcart is returning.

Just... in general, I am happy. I'm looking forward to it!

[Sega DogTagz]

2 hours ago, Silvereyes said:

At the risk of poking the hornet's nest here, but I thought Penders got the rights to Knuckle's OVA hat? I take it that is not true then?

I severely doubt that.

 

and if he did, then Sega already beat IDW to pissing on his shoes

 

 

[Sonictrainer]

The hand on the left looks like the same ones that grab characters and put them on the boosters in the Hydrocity Zone.

[Sega DogTagz]

7 minutes ago, Sonictrainer said:

The hand on the left looks like the same ones that grab characters and put them on the boosters in the Hydrocity Zone.

Hmmm. I could see that.

 

But 99.9% that is a Zombie EggRobo hand.

[MetalSkulkBane]

10 hours ago, Leebo4 said:

How is Tails getting more love than the other supporting characters?

After Metal Virus ended he was in 3 arcs in a row. So that's pure numbers on his side. And that's not even mentioning issues 49, 50 and upcoming ones.

In Test Run he was kinda there, but in others he arguably more successful than Sonic. He's the one to take down Zavok or kick Starline in the face (using Belle but still).

 

[Matdrac]

I have a doubt, will this Scrapnik miniseries be canonical in the regular Sonic IDW comic?

[StaticMania]

The least important thing.

It's happening in the comic, it's in-line with the comic.

[Kuzu]

4 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

After Metal Virus ended he was in 3 arcs in a row. So that's pure numbers on his side. And that's not even mentioning issues 49, 50 and upcoming ones.

In Test Run he was kinda there, but in others he arguably more successful than Sonic. He's the one to take down Zavok or kick Starline in the face (using Belle but still).

Tails is the easiest character to use if you need to give Sonic a partner without addressing many of the story beats that usually prevent the others from showing up often.

It would be weirder if he didn't show up a lot. 

[ElectricAngel]

I don't really read the comics as they come out anymore after the Comixology switch to Kindle only. But I want to say at least, Scrapnik Island looks killer. The vibes I get from the kind of story they're telling, along with pulling from older games, is really taking me back to those Ian Archie days post Genesis Wave. Pretty exciting to see! Recent arcs with Surge seem cool too, though I have yet to read those. Just feels like it's finally finding its groove which is awesome to see.

[MetalSkulkBane]

I see how it is. When Shadow was everywhere, people go "boo, Mr grumpy pants steal screen time from others".

When I say the same thing happens to your favorite fox, you all go "that's just nature Gunther"

That's double standards what it is! Involving black (furred) character no less.

[StaticMania]

Unlike Shadow, Tails clearly has a lot to live up to.

For fans, he has a long way to go before he's even on par with Tails from Lost World or Sonic Forces.

He needs all the screen time he can get.

P-ar

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Yeah, like we’ve haven’t been hearing that said for the past 15+ years…

[Razule]

Literally all they had to do for people to declare Tails superior to post-2008 Tails is have him bop a badnik at least once an appearance. The bar is in hell

[Dr. Mechano]

1 hour ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

I see how it is. When Shadow was everywhere, people go "boo, Mr grumpy pants steal screen time from others".

When I say the same thing happens to your favorite fox, you all go "that's just nature Gunther"

Tails has both seniority and a much clearer association with the main character. Yeah, of course he's going to appear more often. He's one of the original main heroes, and the main character's sidekick. He doesn't need a reason to keep appearing, because that's just his role in the series.

Either way, the focus on Tails is still usually a supporting role - barring a few spinoffs like his Game Gear titles. He never felt overused in the same way Shadow was in the mid-2000s, which felt more like a kneejerk response to his immediate post-SA2 popularity than an organic use of the character.

Hell, even recently, Shadow is still getting more focus in the 3D games than basically any other non-Sonic hero. He's playable in Forces (both in Sonic's stages and his own mini-story), which is more than can be said for Tails, Knuckles, Amy, etc. in the past decade. I'd say ol' Grumpypants is being treated just fine, all things considered.

[WanderingBleats]

wh

Tails is the sidekick. The deuteragonist. He... of course he's going to be in almost every story arc. He's not the same as a regular supporting cast member, he is in his own classification of character type.

But those arcs are almost always about someone else. Tails has this recurring thing where even when he gets to do something cool, someone else gets to do something cooler, almost by obligation. For example, the way Tails approached the situation with Kit was super neat! But everyone is so focused on Sonic and Surge, and Eggman and Starline, that I've hardly seen any discussion of that part of issue 50. That's the downside of being the deuteragonist. It's like job security at the expense of not usually getting to stand out.

So giving him his own book is good! It gives him a chance to shine outside of that role that he wouldn't otherwise get.

(but also he is my favorite fox and I am happy about the announcement because of that, yes)

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

It’s funny, cuz the one time they made Tails play a lesser role to another character, a number of folks took issue with that and said the other character was stealing Tails’ role.

[Dr. Mechano]

1 minute ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

It’s funny, cuz the one time they made Tails play a lesser role to another character, a number of folks took issue with that and said the other character was stealing Tails’ role.

I think in this case it might have more to do with how superficially similar the new character was.

"Little flying canine-like sidekick" is a little on the nose, I guess? I don't hate Chip or anything, but you know. It'd be like Mario going on an adventure with an all-new taller, thinner mustached man while Luigi's just chilling at home. A lot of fans would wonder what the point of it all was.

Compare Chip to - say - Shahra or Caliburn, who fill a similar role but feel more distinct.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

7 minutes ago, Dr. Mechano said:

I think in this case it might have more to do with how superficially similar the new character was.

"Little flying canine-like sidekick" is a little on the nose, I guess? I don't hate Chip or anything, but you know. It'd be like Mario going on an adventure with an all-new taller, thinner mustached man while Luigi's just chilling at home. A lot of fans would wonder what the point of it all was.

So basically sort of like what Paper Mario did with its sidekicks? Minus them being thinner mustached men?