#idw fans read what your idol has said

[deus-ex-mona]

up next on chapter 36 of idol sengen… _(:3 」∠)_

[beevean]

I am sooo sick of hearing the "It's for kids!" excuse. I get that children aren't going to notice or care about minor animation/art errors, overthink the complexities of politics or real life issues, or loose sleep over every single plot thread not being tied up or every corner of lore being explored. But it's not an excuse to make your characters look like complete idiots, or not try to tackle more mature subjects with some class. I don't want to hear it when fucking Big Bird learned about death all the way back in the early 80s. Metal Sonic and Eggman are repeat offenders who WILL come back to start shit, and Sonic just letting them go without even keeping an eye on them makes him look really fucking stupid. And that's not getting into the creepy implications of Sonic wanting Eggman to stay as Mr. Tinker.

It's antiquated, because by 2022, we had plenty of cartoons aimed at kids that dared to tackle complex issues. Why did Friendship of Magic gain such a massive fanbase and pretty much revolutionized cartoons after the late 2000s slump? You think they were all horny for the horsies? Or maybe it's because Lauren Faust fought against the idea that things aimed at children or girls didn't deserve as much effort as other media?

It's ageist, because you're implying that children are too stupid to understand anything more complex than black and white morality.

It's insulting towards your critics, obviously, but also towards your fans - whether you mean it or not, you're implying that they're also stupid for caring so much about something aimed at children. And if you're not, if they get to praise the "depth" of your writing, then you're a damn hypocrite.

It's insulting towards the games, the series you're now working for, sneering at them for being "simple" and for not growing together with its audience (nevermind that the Sonic series has wide appeal and it's not strictly for kids).

It's insulting towards yourself, because really? You are more willing to admit that you're writing a stupid story rather than conceding a point? How fucking petty do you want to be?

It's cowardly, because nobody asked you to insert Mr. Tinker's subplot, or turn Sonic into a priest, or create Surge. Since Mr. Tinker was introduced, you communicated that you wanted to write a deeper story. Don't you dare backpedal from that.

It's a blatant lie, because I've read IDW since Issue #1, and I did not dream the horror show that was the Metal Virus arc, and I did not dream Surge and Kit whose backstories are rooted in realistic, nauseating abuse. That's what you consider a "children's fantasy"?

All of this because Flynn couldn't consider the idea that people had problems with his writing. Much like he seems to think that the only people who aren't happy with Starline's anticlimatic death are stans who wanted him to have a happy ending. He had to make a complete fool of himself and insult everyone involved with his stupid comic (heh, I get to call it that and know it's Word of God <3), because he's a mediocre writer who only had the biggest, most unfair stroke of luck in existence to get to the place he's in now, and he's not used to people not getting in line to prostrate at his feet.

This asshole brushes off Sonic and yet is working on the next big game.

I hope he gets burned out as soon as he's done with Frontiers. Or better yet, that he does something so indefensible that his fans will start to treat him like they treated Pontaff.

[lea-andres]

I creep in with another 🌹 so I can see the hide and seek goodness 👀

*glances around and discreetly accepts the 🌹*

This is in When the Day Met the Night, I can't remember if I said that or not. It's been a long day for me. @_@

Context: Charmy, Ray, and the Sonic Fan Club kids (if you do not remember them from IDW/haven't read IDW, they're just a bunch of kids in Spiral Hill that idolize Sonic and Co.) beg Jewel to play hide and go seek with them. Jewel enlists Bark to help her, because there's so many kids and it's just her seeking. There's a cute scene where she reassures one of the younger kids that Bark may look really scary, but he's actually super nice. (one of the many "If they'd heard that, we could skip most of this fic!" Moments, because Bark's convinced he's going to scare Jewel again if he's not careful for a LONG TIME in this fic. 😭) It's their turn to hide and the kids' turn to seek now, and this is the point where hide and go seek starts to devolve into... Whatever this is. 😂

Also, if anything said in this is incorrect based on events in Archie... No it's not. That never happened. I didn't see it. 🙈😂

"So where's he hiding, Jewel?" The wolf girl asked, as all the kids started looking to her.

"Okay, 100% honesty, he was hiding there when I hid," Jewel pointed to the tool shed.

"So I have no idea where he is now."

"HE MOVED! THAT'S CHEATING!" One kid shouted.

"NO IT'S NOT!" Another yelled.

"Wait, moving's cheating? You guys need to tell Espio that, he cheats every time!"

The kids all began to argue, until the deer boy stood up.

"SONIC FAN CLUB, LET'S PUT IT TO A VOTE!" Jewel smiled in amusement as the children huddled up to vote.

She noticed a pair of hands enter her peripheral vision, reaching for her. She almost screamed, but calmed down when she recognized them. Jewel allowed the hands to gently take hold of her sides, and drag her carefully across the top of the haybale stack and back behind it.

"Hey." Bark greeted her with an amused grin as he set her down on the ground in front of him.

"Okay, THIS is definitely cheating." Jewel whispered teasingly, crossing her arms.

"Cheating?" He gave her a look of fake shock.

"Bark, I'm no expert on hide and seek, but I'm pretty sure stealing back your teammates after they've been found isn't allowed." The polar bear shrugged.

"That's what those kids get for expecting an ex criminal to play by the rules." Jewel clamped her hands over her mouth to muffle her giggles.

"Okay, the vote is in! Changing hiding spots during hide and go seek is-"

"Jewel's gone!" Ray interrupted.

Bark and Jewel huddled together behind the haystacks, snickering at the kids' shocked reactions to this.

"Jewel! You can't rehide! That's cheating!" Charmy yelled.

"Wait!" The little butterfly girl shrieked.

"Jewel would never cheat at hide and seek!"

"Goody two shoes." Bark teased softly. Jewel elbowed him with a laugh.

"You're right, Bark must've kidnapped her!" The wolf girl finished. The polar bear's breath caught in his throat briefly, afraid the kids were being serious, but he relaxed when several fake screams of terror rang out. The kids were still playing.

"Come on, guys! Let's find Bark and rescue Jewel!" Charmy announced. The other kids cheered in agreement.

"This... took a turn." Jewel blinked in surprise.

"First time getting kidnapped?" Bark joked. She let out an awkward laugh.

"Actually, no. I have been once... By accident." She gave Bark an apprehensive look.

"Has Team Hooligan ever-"

"No, we'd never." Bark interrupted before she could finish. She looked relieved at that.

"How do you get kidnapped by accident?" He changed the subject quickly, giving her a confused look. They both jumped at the sound of footsteps approaching.

"I'll tell you later, we need to move." Jewel whispered.

"You mean I need to move. I kidnapped you, remember?" Bark corrected jokingly, picking her up again and depositing her on his shoulder.

"You're right. Sorry, I'm bad at this." Jewel giggled, gently gripping his fur for support as he started to shift around the side of the haystack.

"I hope you're never good at it." He muttered seriously, before trying to dart back toward the tool shed. Unfortunately, a kid saw him.

"I SEE HIM! AND HE'S GOT JEWEL!"

"Help! Help me, Sonic Fan Club! You're my only hope!" Jewel called dramatically, resting a hand against her forehead in mock distress.

"Nerd." Bark teased softly, as he tried to outrun the gang of kids making chase.

"You're one to talk if you recognized THAT." Jewel fired back with a giggle.

The children had caught them before he could reply, and in seconds had pried Jewel out of his grip.

"We saved you, Jewel!" The butterfly girl cheered as she, the goat girl, and the pig boy pulled her away from the scuffle.

"You did, thank you!" She glanced back toward Bark. Charmy and Ray were hanging from his arms as the deer boy and the wolf girl were climbing up his back. The kids were trying to pull the polar bear down, while he was trying to shake them loose.

"Kids, be gentle with Bark please! Remember he's got a fight tomorrow-"

"DIE!" The wolf girl interrupted Jewel's pleas with a loud yell, swinging her fist into the air, and pretending to stab Bark in the heart with an imaginary knife. He staggered, and then collapsed to the ground dramatically, carefully pinning Charmy and Ray underneath him. The polar bear closed his eyes, stuck out his tongue, and played dead.

"Ugh, Bark! You're heavier than Vector!" Charmy complained, he and Ray struggling to free themselves. The deer boy and the wolf girl scrambled to help them. Jewel collapsed onto her knees, laughing too hard to keep standing.

"Bark, are you okay?" She forced out, taking deep breaths to try to recompose herself. He briefly flashed her a thumbs up, then his hand went limp again.

[egalitarian-tomboy]

Vindicated & It Feels Great

In my last post regarding the IDW Sonic series, I said that Knuckles was going to be playing a part in the climax of this arc. Considering the following facts: 

1. Eggman has all 7 Chaos Emeralds. From the very beginning of Starline and Eggman’s partnership, he offers them as his token of dedication. In story writing, “Chekhov’s Gun”, is a phrase used to describe how every element introduced in the story should contribute TO THE STORY. The Chaos Emeralds have always been a huge factor in the Sonic universe in both the games & in the Sonic X series. The power of those Chaos Emeralds makes it possible for Sonic to transform into Super Sonic and Shadow into Super Shadow. Knuckles is also guarding the Master Emerald and the Master Emerald controls the Chaos Emeralds. I’m sure you’re familiar with Tikal’s most famous quote: “The 7 Emeralds are the servers. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart. The controller serves to unify the chaos.” She literally spells it out that Knuckles has the power to control not only the Master Emerald but the other 7 Chaos Emeralds by proxy. Meaning that if Tails is going to whip up a cure for the Metal Virus, that means that they’re going to need to get back the Emeralds from Eggman. Or at this point, Starline. 

2. Knuckles had been purposefully left out of most of the arc after his battle with Metal Sonic in order to bring him back to help the others in their time of need. Again, “Chekhov’s Gun” is at play here and it’s important to note that Angel Island wouldn’t be infected by the rest of the Metal Virus right away due to the fact that it’s in the fucking sky. Also Knuckles is the only one who’ll be able to help Tails whip up a cure because he’ll need to be the one to channel that energy into whatever form Tails will need to create for the cure. Liquid or otherwise. 

Also this arc just proves how tight the fucking writing is. It’s so good! Like I don’t give a fuck if you call me a IDW fangirl or some shit but the writing being done right now in the IDW series is 1000x better than anything Archie had put out for Sonic in it’s entire run. Fight me. 

For fans to understand what the fuck is going on if they’re not getting my point, you need to go back to the very beginning of the series and re-read everything up until this latest issue. Because everything from the beginning had a reason for happening. 

Sonic letting Metal go? Metal Sonic triggered Eggman’s memories to return and thus brought back Eggman to the forefront as the main antagonist. 

Dr. Starline idolizing and bantering with Eggman as they develop the virus? It ultimately causes him to lose that idol filter he saw Eggman through. Because even though he was everything he thought he’d be and more, he didn’t realize that Eggman would also be a beast of a different nature from his own. 

Amy leading the restoration? Without her, most of the population wouldn’t have someone to turn to for answers and orders. Amy was the secretary during the Sonic Forces war and she helped Knuckles recruit new members. She has already had experience in a situation like this that allows her to mediate her own feelings. 

Tangle and Whisper’s solo adventure? That adventure came back into play when Tangle sacrificed herself to save the others and she knew Whisper would be heartbroken after losing another friend. It makes Whisper’s breakdown all the more heart wrenching and powerful because we know that she has already lost everything once. THERE WAS A REASON FOR THE SIDE QUEST! 

Shadow “Not acting like himself”? Shadow had every fucking reason to be angry and to defy Sonic in their confrontation. He wanted to kill Eggman before it was too late and he’d do something else that would cause Sonic to suffer. And guess the fuck what? Sonic got infected with the Metal Virus and Shadow had every fucking right to say “I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO.” SEGA not allowing him to release his full power in order to stay safe also makes sense if Tails is supposed to make a cure that restored everyone back to normal. If he released his full power he would’ve killed those innocent victims who got infected. So no, I disagree with ya’ll who say that the characters are “OOC” in this new series because it’s been some of the most in character shit we’ve gotten out of the Sonic franchise in a long fucking time. Thank God SEGA is a part of this because otherwise we might have another case of Archie on our hands. 

If you couldn’t tell, I’m not a Archie fan. 

There is a reason for everything that is happening in the series. You only have to pay attention to the details and everything that is said between the characters in order to understand it. Read it from the beginning again if you have to, but everything up til this point has been solid. 

This is what happens when you actually have active oversight from the creators who made these characters overlook everything. They’re able to say what is in and not in character. Whether or not you’re a fan of things actually being in character is your thing, I’m personally happy that Sonic is actually telling good stories now. 

IDW is doing great. 

Ian Flynn is doing great. 

And SEGA deserves way more credit for their involvement then people are giving them. 

[thedeaditeslayer]

Scott Duvall Discusses the Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep Crossover.

Bruce Campbell is one of the most beloved actors of the past 30 years, appearing in everything from Army of Darkness to Xena to Burn Notice to Bubba Ho-Tep. And in early 2019, two of his fan favorite characters—Ash from Army of Darkness and Elvis from Bubba Ho-Tep—are meeting for the first time in comic book form in the Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep crossover from Dynamite Entertainment and IDW Publishing!

Written by Scott Duvall, drawn by Vincenzo Federici, colored by Michele Monte, and lettered by Taylor Esposito, the comic sees the duo meeting after Ash embarks on some soul-searching and seeking out Elvis, whom Ash strongly suspects is alive. Chock-full of magic, time-hopping, and action a-plenty, this book should be one of your most anticipated miniseries of 2019.

Mr. Duvall spoke with me recently about the idea behind the Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep crossover, the preparation into crafting the meeting between Ash and Elvis, and working with the entire creative team on the miniseries.

FreakSugar: Seeing two Bruce Campbell creations in one comic will delight so many fans. What can you tell us about the conceit of the Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep crossover?

Scott Duvall: I’m a fan myself and the idea of seeing these two Campbell characters interact delights me! That was at the kernel of it all, and I knew it could work, as I’d like to point out this is not the first time two Campbell characters have met in an Army of Darkness comic crossover. When I saw Ash and Autolycus (Campbell’s character in Xena) on a cover together, that is a big part of what sparked this crossover. I figured if Ash could meet an alternate version of Campbell in one crossover, why not another?

FS: From reading your posts on social media, it’d make anyone smile to read your happiness and enthusiasm about the project. How did you become involved with the book?

SD: The short of it is I pitched the idea and both publishers liked it! I am well aware that is usually not how these crossovers come together, but like you said, Jed, it has been a literal dream project for me. Every time I see fresh pages from artist Vincenzo Federici, I have to pinch myself.

FS: These properties are so beloved by so many. What kind of preparation have you done to make sure you get to tell the story you want the way you want?

SD: In some ways I’ve been preparing for this ever since I first saw Army of Darkness as a very impressionable youth. When I was putting the pitch together, I literally sat with my laptop in front of the television and had both Army of Darkness and Bubba Ho-Tep playing on repeat to help fuel creativity. Both Ash and Elvis have very distinct voices so it was useful having them on a loop in my head to help me best determine how they would interact.

I also drew inspiration from the original source material, reading the Bubba Ho-Tep novella by Joe Lansdale that the movie is based on. There was a minor character in there called Dillinger who got cut out of the movie so I wrote her into a scene where I needed a key supporting role. I also just finished reading the final issue of IDW’s Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers mini-series adapted from another Lansdale story, which was a lot of fun. There’s a nod in issue three to the events in Cosmic Blood-Suckers, so my hope is this tale we’re weaving will feel interconnected with the other Bubba stories.

I’m also on a steady diet binging Ash vs. Evil Dead to get an older, maybe not so much wiser, Ash’s voice in my head.

As far as telling the story the way we want, I must point out how fortunate the team is with this project. Everyone from the publishers to the licensor to Joe Lansdale have been nothing but supportive. It’s all coming together just as it was envisioned and I’ve never felt more creatively unshackled. Anything goes!

FS: While both played by Bruce Campbell, Ash and Elvis are very different characters. How would you describe how they get along?

SD: Their differences cause them to clash in times of high stress, but ultimately they share similar goals and make for a dynamite duo. Ash idolizes Elvis, and desperately wants to earn his respect. Elvis is more seasoned and can teach Ash a thing or two about aging with style in spite of all the deadites making his life hellish.

FS: Vincenzo Federici’s art is gorgeous. What has the collaboration process been like with you two?

SD: Vincenzo is a rock star! I have gotten to know him better throughout this process and not only am I in awe of his talent to elevate the material, but his enthusiasm inspires me to explore new ideas that I may not have thought to attempt before I saw what he was capable of. I am making a conscious effort to lean into his strengths, one of those being the action. So far anything I throw at him he has been up for the challenge and blows me away every time. I have seen some of the pages colored by Michele Monte and they are looking gorgeous too! Those two plus Taylor Esposito on letters is going to make for one good looking book so I really lucked out with my collaborators.

FS: Is there anything you can tease about what we can expect to see in the series?

SD: This series involves both roadtrippin’ and time hoppin’ so each of the four issues are set in a completely different setting, which certainly kept it fun and fresh for me. We hope readers will join us for the ride!

FS: Are there any other projects you’re working on you’d like to discuss?

SD: Nothing I can talk about just yet, but check back with me early 2019!

Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep #1 debuts on February 13th, 2019 from Dynamite Entertainment and IDW Publishing.