#idw sonic 71

[therummesoccupied]

IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, ISSUE #71 - THOUGHTS

I absolutely would have continued putting this off, but then I found out that the 2024 Annual releases tomorrow, so I'd better get my ass in gear.

Issue #71 marks the end of the Extreme Competition arc... sorta. Evan has stated that she sees Issues #69-#75 all as the Phantom Riders arc. The Trade Paperback titles, however, refer to #69-#71 under the Extreme Competition name, so I'll keep using that for the time being, just to keep consistent with the release titles.

#71, like #s 70 and 69 before it, is an absolute banger. We've got Min Ho Kim back for pencils, really giving us a nice look at what they're capable of when handling action scenes - with the bulk of this issue taking place during a sort of Extreme Gear Dodgeball Match.

While most of the action is very clear and readable, there was one scene that I did have to glance at couple times to figure out what was going on.

I'm sure part of it was due to my colorblindness (deutan gang rise up), but I did not realize at first that this was meant to show a second Phantom Rider entering the scene. I thought for a moment Sonic had just rushed the field and was wondering why he had Duo's scarf. As soon as I realized it was a different guy entirely, it wasn't hard to piece together that this was Duo... or rather, it was Mimic. Who is Duo. Tomato tomato.

This second Phantom Rider is the source of pretty much all of this issue's juicy drama.

Using his clever disguise, Mimic throws Sonic off his game while riling everybody else up - Surge, Jet, Lanolin, all of them are dead set on catching this guy. He even switches forms over to Surge for a moment to set Whisper off and get everyone fighting each other.

It actually kind of goes to show that Mimic is a lot better at being the Phantom Rider than Sonic ever was, with Sonic's intentions behind adopting the persona being to throw off everyone's focus and cause a distraction. With Mimic throwing everyone's actions into disarray, he gets Sonic distracted long enough to unmask him.

An unintended consequence of this is that, while he escapes without being spotted himself, Tangle, Whisper, Surge, Kit, Jet, Wave, and Storm all see Sonic without his helmet.

And all of them have pretty interesting reactions to the whole thing!

Surge broods about it a bit, but is quickly distracted by meeting an adoring young fan.

Now, some of the eagle-eyed among you may notice - the little girl's mother is the Conductor's wife from The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog! It's a little weird that she's here, as SEGA continues to be fairly insistent that TMoStH is non-canon, but Evan Stanley, when asked about the appearance of characters from said game in IDW, has said that she simply thinks a similar event occurred at some point in this world.

Personally, my theory is that SEGA is eventually gonna just... change their mind and canonize it, and when that time comes, we'll probably get some retroactive explanation that all of this happens before that.

Anyway, in terms of what the encounter means to this story, it's neat to see Surge, who has been so caught up in the Hero Worship she's been receiving this arc, receive a more innocent adoration from a child who genuinely looks up to her. It gets her thinking for the first time about whether she deserves the praise she's sought as long as she can remember. This drives her and Kit to resolve to go straight and become heroes for real.

This is really cool! I didn't think we'd ever get any form of redemption arc for Surge, especially since I believe Ian Flynn stated at one point that it wasn't in the cards, that she was intended to be a villain always. And, to be honest, I don't know if it'll work out even with her trying. Clutch has got her and Kit on a pretty tight leash, and he's bound to do whatever he has to in order to reel them in if they start to get out of line. If the next issue previews are any indication, anyway.

Tangle and Whisper have kept quiet about what they saw to Lanolin, which Mimic/Duo seems to have picked up on, and appears to be attempting to use this information to drive a wedge between the Diamond Cutters and their leader. Meanwhile Tangle and Whisper have been trying to sort through things on their own, with the two of them making a couple observations to realize that there were, in fact, two Phantom Riders.

With this in mind, it looks like the two of them will be quietly looking into the matter on their own. I'm pretty sure they've largely pieced together that the second Rider is Mimic. If not, they'll have it worked out before long.

The reaction I find most interesting, though, is that of the Babylon Rogues.

Barely any time passes before, just using their heads, they work out almost exactly what's going on. And, while their motivation is entirely ego-centric, they resolve to uncover the foul play (heh) at hand and expose whoever's behind it. It's surprisingly cogent for them!

Then there's Clutch.

He's... upset. But of course. He's spent a good deal of effort to stay off Sonic's radar so he could avoid dealing with him until he was ready to do so. Now the world's greatest hero, who had no idea until recently that his operation even existed, is on his trail. One might understand why he's a touch unhappy. And honestly, I think the anger he shows here might be the most vicious side of Clutch we've seen. He doesn't normally have this much trouble maintaining his composure. It's interesting to see how badly he loses his cool when the house of cards he's built begins to tremble. I'm excited to see what the depths of that ferocity are in the upcoming issues.

Once again, the art, the writing, the plot, the colors, every aspect of this issue firmly slaps. I really, really enjoyed this arc, and I've become even more excited for upcoming material after finding out that every issue from 69 onward has been helmed solely by Evan! Not that I don't adore Ian and his writing, but if this is the standard we can expect when Evan gets to work on her own, I can hardly wait to see what she's cooking next. She certainly sounds eager for it, so I am, too!

Last thing to note, once again the fan mail section caught my attention, when at the very end, I noticed something:

They say that, next time, a "certain journalist" will get involved. The thing is, I'm really not sure who this could be. It sounds like it'd be an established character but... do we know any journalists in the Sonic franchise?

Maybe Omochao? Or Nite? They both work in TV and radio, but neither is really a journalist, per se.

The only actual reporter I can think of is Brenda Hernandez from Sonic Unleashed, but... she's a human! IDW has always appeared to be strictly forbidden from using human characters outside of Eggman. Though, a couple of them have been mentioned recently. To date, however, none have actually appeared. Could this be IDW finally shaking off some of SEGA's restrictions to play around with the bigger world a little bit? One can hope!

That's all I have to say on Issue 71, though, so as always, thanks a ton for reading all the way through, and keep an eye open for my 2024 Annual Review, as I hope to have it written and posted before Issue 72 drops later this week!

[nortedwayfinder]

Phantom Rider Power, Maaaake up!

An accurate depiction of Sonic's transformation in issue #70

[gemlikrogue1996akaexsurget]

SURJ!

[420-what-you-smokin]

Surge if Starline wasn’t fucking around and was a fairy

[number-one-shadisper-shipper]

Surge and Kit redemption arc?

SURGE AND KIT REDEMPTION ARC!!??!

[moosh2727]

I FINALLY GOT ACCESS TO ISSUE 71 OMG

this took forever but finally i get to see him!! spoilers ahead :3

first of all, amazing cover. jet and the gang look amazing just in that one snippet

extreme gear dodgeball... thats interesting, reminds me of the multiplayer modes in riders zg that was not racing but fun!

HOW DARE YOU MAKE MY BOY ANGRY wave helping jet focus is nice like in zero gravity 💚

the rouges being in shock is always so funny, im glad to see wave and storm join in on the fun 💚

WOAHHH LOL dang sonic's going hard!!

i now headcannon wave has a mindfullness youtube video she makes jet begrudgingly watch LOL 💚

i love seeing them using their gear more, it fuels my autism 💚💚💚

THIS IS SO FREAKING FUNNY I LOVE IT, AND HOW DARE SHE CRASH IN JETS GEAR!! anyway love him /p 💚

AMAZING I WANNA SEE HIM ANGRYYY, BEAT THEM UP JET!!! 💚100 gonna use this part for art ref because it looks so good

the silence is so loud in this picture i love it, i wonder what jets gonna do? 😊

oh my gosh this is so heartbreaking actually what the heck- ALSO WAVE TELLING JET TO RUN IS SO ON POINT

the story telling via art is on point, theres not much words needed to convey the emotions the characters are feeling

THEY HAVE A NEW ROOM, I REPEAT THEY HAVE A KITCHEEEEEEEEN, storm being the cook fits so well i love it.

the food (curry im guessing) fits their background and double points for looking extra yummy.

jet's first sentence fits him so well, im really glad they're doing good depiction with him and everything relating to them, considering the idw special where jewel broke her wing SUCKED because of idw ppl not thinking about where jet lives on the ship, so they made it SUPER inacurate.

it makes me happy to see storm contributing and not being a stupid fat joke like in free riders. we need to appreciate this silly guy who got brain damage from amy hitting him many times, and he still manages to fulfil jets orders.

storm doing this with his eyes is as good as his eyes in free riders, but way better than his weird blink in the zero gravity black hole cutscene

jet being ahead of the game and i love it!!! NEW MISSION LETS GOOO!!!!!! 💚💚💚💚

these riders designs are really helping me in the future with my own oc 🫶

OMG THE WIFE OF THE TRAIN CONDUCTOR FROM MURDER OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!

ouch my heart

oh gosh thats so sweet but sad ugh

jet has become more thoughtful! i just hope he doesn't lose his edge, but even if he does i'll love him anyway /p 💚

i love how much talented ppl are in this community, im so glad for more jet content via idw and fan creations. jet needs all the praise and love. 💚

Overall i loved this idw issue, i can always make the excuse " use more jet content!" but they did a really good job with expressing all the characters fairly. (still, i still want more jet tho :P)

i waited so long for this issue its crazy, idk why it took so long to come out digitally since i don't have the money to buy them in person.

knowing more rooms, might create an accurate layout of their blimp soon!

anyway, i got a gaming pc and not a stupid mac earlier this week, meaning that i can finally play free riders yayy!!!

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Kiturge fans eating so good this issue it's unreal

Protective Kitsunami👌

Like what do you MEAN Kit's entire world lights up when Surge is happy? That he would do anything to see her happy because of how it makes them both feel?

Do you see Kit's little blush at having his head pat? Do you see it?

They're partners they're best friends they're everything 💖

[rayden-thefirst]

some thoughts I had on sonic idw 71 (spoilers)

THEY HAVE A CHILD!?!?!?

surge no...(lowkey tho that hits kinda hard)

YES! BE THE HEROS YOU WERE ALWAYS MENT TO BE!!! (kitsd face tho 😭)

lesbians. (whisper is so real tho)

TANGLE LOOKS SO COOL WITH THAT THO

I like all these panels. they give me the will to live

I can't even with this one. this is the angriest he's ever been in the comics and he looks so unnerving I love it. clutch is such an underrated villain and they are using him to his fullest and I love it

this is just perfect. the art. the intimidation factor. the uneasiness. ITS PERFECT

end of post :p

[mstormcloud]

The issue 75 covers are dropping and Lanolin looks so sad and tired in each one like…can we give her a nap maybe?…a blanket even?….give her a lil pat on the head and say: “hey it’s ok I’ll handle this work, you go take a break?”

Like….if IDW doesn’t give her an actual arc where she apologizes for hurting a few people while ALSO breaking down cause she’s being used while being forced to handle the stress of the world and this breakdown leads her to maybe changing her character a little and she is still quiet, tired, and rough around the she’s but maybe feels happy at least like…..

Perhaps I just want her happy….please allow her happiness…

[blognam333z]

What if Dr. Eggman went in a different direction when designing the Phantom Rider? What if Dr. Eggman was smart enough to recognize the flaws?

This is the design I come up with my messy drawing skills,

How this idea resonated with me, I noticed something off after rereading the phantom rider debut in issue 70. The design is on brand for Dr. Eggman and elements of his inspiration (Sonic). It’s cool and I like it, but with the contestant in the race you would have thought he would keep in mind…

Sonic not being able to run, being in mid air and running would give away his identity

Someone like Surge could easily override electronic devices

Sonic is likely to be outnumbered + the security

This would all equate to the likelihood of Sonic getting caught which happened in issue 71, but what if he changed it to something that prevented it all from happening? After all it’s meant to be a secret mission to distract and sway any suspicion of an alternative motive.

The digital disguise would overlay Sonic’s identity, though it appears generic, it’s meant to make him look vulnerable. Having “no” armor or protection would reduce the chance of Surge ramming into him or do anything reckless. However if that’s not the case then there are many options that can make up for this, in an urgent situation Sonic could activate invisibility cloak and an effective use of the hologram to project the background. 

Taking advantage that apparently the power ups that exist in the IDW world of Sonic, just hadn’t been used often and only one reference of it, might as well come up with something, I also added item boxes too. Thinking Dr. Eggman can compress them in the controls on the gloves. Just to add purpose to them.

On the hoverboard, this would trigger by a button on the board, when pressing on the front:

This would triggered automatically if someone get too close with the exception of Sonic / Phantom Rider. The fake Phantom rider won’t be able to bypass it either.

What’s on glove A: the left hand

This is for Surge or anyone that would try to apprehend him:

This would be a way for “Phantom rider” to move around to mess with the others by teleporting them:

This might be useful for saving the guy from falling:

Making changes to the overall debut of Sonic villain alter ego “Phantom rider” that would still remain as his name, but he won’t transform on top of the rim as he could just transform elsewhere and be invisible while riding on his hoverboard. Just to sneak in, make himself visible and then snatch the camera and introduce himself as the “Phantom rider”, I think it would be clever as now it has a literal meaning into it. 

For his crimes that would be changed for the benefit of self defense:

He’ll do vandalism spraying some color in the course, if someone gets hit they have a similar effect to colorball in Sonic riders: Zero gravity game. Which obscure the vision of the racer to see a splash of color. Putting out a smoke trail of color would be optional as you can see in the reference I terribly hand drawn.

This would be part of the hoverboard, the trigger is the back end as you can tell:

Glove B: right hand

If Sonic can’t balance on the hoverboard, might as well fly away

-The second button is the On/Off for the hologram disguise

-Lastly be On/Off for the voice filter, I was thinking how hilarious and confusing it would be if he triggered it in front of one of his friends while being Phantom Rider. However, brush it off immediately as a cheap trick, 

What do you think? Overall I sorta want to keep Sonic having his villain alter ego as a secret, honestly. Do you think this AU would change anything in the story, with more prep and gadgets or would Mimic have a chance of revealing the “Phantom rider’s” identity in the end?

The design itself on Phantom Rider, it’s a Badger and yes it’s heavy metal themed because I thought it would look cool and yes the details on the hoverboard are intentional.

[samethstarr]

FOOL!

My legend dates back to the twelfth century-

[star-critter]

I'm still going crazy over Mimic physically expressing fear for the first time in canon. Clutch has officially terrified the absolute fuck out him.

[hedeghog-landfill]

i feel stupid asking this, but the fake phantom rider is mimic, right? the scarf, the fake surge that messes with whisper-- that has to be him, considering how fast he got to sonic too

[phantom-fleetways]

IDW, Issue #71 thoughts:

Spoilers below cut. Issue 71 should be available to all on the grabber zone on the 7th.

Don't touch me.

Don't touch me.

I'm having thoughts don't fucking touch me.

Fucking—

YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT KIT. YOU CAN'T JUST SAY SHE'S YOU'RE WHOLE WORLD LIKE THAT. FUCKING—

GAY ASS FENNEC.

Coherent babbling in the tags this time.

[sunnzzi]

Reformed! Surge becoming real??????

[crazy56u]

Purely hypothetical question, don’t read too much into this, totally not asking due to seeing the future: