#please read imposter syndrome then issue 50 of sonic idw

[neomel]

IDW Sonic Arcs Tierlist Masterpost!

Introduction

Arcs

Miniseries

One-shots & Annuals

Sagas

Classic Sonic

FAQ

Introduction

Hello! This is the masterpost for my Tiermaker template regarding all of IDW Sonic's stories - "arcs", for short! Due both to the somewhat messy reading order of the comic and Tiermaker's restrictions on description lengths, I concluded the best course of action to best inform people was to just make a big post on here, detailing all possible questions and confusion you might have. I of course can't decide what you want to do with this info - make your tierlist however you want! - but I hope to at least give some pointers to help clear up confusion.

The images on the template are divided into four categories per the color of their banner (with colors and names that you might've noticed in the table of contents above!). These represent the various ways in which IDW Sonic's stories are officially* categorized in: Arcs, Miniseries, One-Shots / Annuals. and Sagas. The default order that the images appear in on the list, as seen in the above image, follows their release and recommended reading order. Detailed descriptions of what each of these categories mean, as well as where every issue fits in, can be found on each of the bullet-points below.

2. Arcs

Arcs in Sonic IDW are how the comic's main numbered issues are bunched together: think of the issues as chapters, and the arcs as the narrative those chapters form. Every issue with a number, from #1 to today, is part of an arc, and said arcs typically to follow a narrative throughline throughout them, beginning at the start of the arc and being resolved - or changing focus - by the end.

These arcs are officially named and sorted through IDW's paperback reprints, a list of which can be found here. These paperbacks also insert some one-shots and annuals into some arcs, despite these being mostly disconnected from the ongoing arc. As a result of this, some arcs contain 5 whole issues, while others only contain 2 with the rest being made up of these one-shot additions. Whether or not you count these self-contained stories as being part of arcs or not is entirely up to you when making the list!

Fallout! > #1 - #4

The Fate of Dr. Eggman > #5 - #8

Battle for Angel Island > #9 - #12

Infection > #13 - #16

Crisis City > #17 - #20

The Last Minute > #21 - #24

All or Nothing > #25 - #29

Out of the Blue > [Annual 2020] #30 - #32

Chao Races & Badnik Bases > #33 - #36

Test Run! > #37 - #40

Zeti Hunt! > #41 - #44

Trial by Fire > #45 - #49

Battle for the Empire > #50 - #51 [Deep Trouble] [Annual 2022]

Overpowered > #52 - #56

Urban Warfare > #57 - #61

Misadventures > #62 - #66

Adventure Awaits > #67 - #68 [900th Adventure] [Endless Summer] [Chaotix Halloween]

Extreme Competition > #69 - #71 [Winter Jam] [Spring Broken]

Collision Course > #72 - #75

Scattered Pieces > #76 - ??? (Yet to be released!)

(Curious about why #69 - #75 isn't called "Phantom Riders"? Please read the FAQ at the bottom of the post!)

3. Miniseries

Miniseries are 4-issue side stories that take place in-between main arcs, typically starring other characters from the comic than Sonic! These are still part of the story of the comic, but the order they're listed in here is specifically based on the date they were released and by proxy when they ought to be read in the recommended reading order. This is not necessarily when they canonically take place.

Tangle & Whisper > After Infection

Bad Guys > After Out of the Blue

Imposter Syndrome > After Trial by Fire

Scrapnik Island > After Overpowered

4. One-shots / Annuals

One-shots, as the name implies, are stories contained entirely to a single comic issue. Annuals are similar: Think of them like collections of several smaller One-shots, all drawn by different artists! Like with the Miniseries, these are all canon and part of the storyline, and all but one are officially included as part of arcs per the paperback reprints. As they're typically disconnected from the events of the main comic's arcs, I recommend ranking these on their own!

Annual 2019 > Not part of any arc

Annual 2020 > Part of Out of the Blue

Deep Trouble > Part of Battle for the Empire

Annual 2022 > Part of Battle for the Empire

900th Adventure > Part of Adventure Awaits

Endless Summer > Part of Adventure Awaits

Chaotix Halloween > Part of Adventure Awaits

Winter Jam > Part of Extreme Competition

Spring Broken > Part of Extreme Competition

Annual 2024 > Not (yet!) part of any arc

Chasing Shadows > Yet to be released!

5. Sagas

The little asterisk at the end of "officially" in the introduction was referring to this category in particular. Sagas in IDW Sonic are ways to group together the greater story of the book into phases, mainly through a common thread that binds the arcs and issues featured together. This classification is the only one not officially provided by IDW themselves - however, the comic book's main writer Ian Flynn has provided the names and outline for them through his podcast, to help divide the comic's run into different sections. Sagas are effectively a way to view the IDW Sonic story on a macro scale, combining multiple pieces of the story into larger wholes.

Whilst looking at the tiermaker template, think of it like this: Every Arc, Miniseries and One-shot / Annual featured before a Saga icon is part of said Saga, and everything after said Saga icon is part of the next Saga. As an additional disclaimer, the saga beginning with Scrapnik Island and issue #57 and ending with issue #75 was only ever given the unnofficial name "Misadventures", which clashes with the arc of the same name (#62 - #66). As a result, the saga is dubbed "Saga of Misadventures" on the template for the sake of clarity.

Revenge of Neo Metal [#1 - #12] Fallout!, The Fate of Dr. Eggman, Battle for Angel Island, Annual 2019

The Metal Virus [#13 - #32] Infection!, Tangle & Whisper, Crisis City, The Last Minute, All or Nothing, Annual 2020, Out of the Blue,

Eggman's Legacy [#33 - #56] Bad Guys, Chao Races & Badnik Bases, Test Run!, Zeti Hunt!, Trial by Fire, Imposter Syndrome, Battle for the Empire, Deep Trouble, Annual 2022, Overpowered

Saga of Misadventures [#57 - #75] Scrapnik Island, Urban Warfare, Misadventures, Adventure Awaits, 900th Adventure, Endless Summer, Chaotix Halloween, Extreme Competition, Winter Jam, Spring Broken, Collision Course

6. Classic Sonic

Alongside the main canon storyline of the Sonic IDW comic, the IDW Team have also released a handful of stories set in the "Classic" Sonic period; broadly speaking, covering all events before the original Sonic Adventure game. These issues are largely disconnected from the main IDW storyline but are nevertheless made by the same team of artists and writers; Thus, while they aren't exactly part of the IDW Chronology, I understand why one would want to rank them!

In order to not get in the way of the template's structure – of listing Arcs, One-Shots and Miniseries in an order that ultimately shows which belong to which Saga – I've decided to make images for the issues/arcs as part of the project but not include them in the Tiermaker template. Instead, you may use Tiermaker's system for adding custom images to add them onto your own ranking; You can find these images linked here and at the bottom of the post.

7. FAQ

I'll be using this section to address some common questions that I've received from others in asking for feedback in this template. If you have further questions, feel free to add them in the reblog tags or replies, and I'll edit the post to include them!

How do you pick which covers should represent each icon? I believe that (insert cover) would represent (insert story) better!

When making these icons, I try to always pick whichever piece best represents the story being covered – but at the same time, I want to feature as many of the Sonic IDW team's artists as possible. I keep a tally of how many times I've featured each artist for these covers and I aim to keep that tally at below 3 covers per artists to give as many artists spotlight as possible!

In the 2025 update [2025-01-07], I revamped the image selection (deleting the old Tiermaker link in the process) to feature a wider range of artists on the covers. Ultimately, though, I try to just make the template look as crisp as possible; and sometimes, even the best covers aren't fit for a 1:1 aspect ratio crop.

Why aren't the Sonic Forces, Team Sonic Racing, and Sonic Frontiers prequel / tie-in comics featured?

These aren't part of the Sonic IDW chronology (and weren't published by IDW!). However, I might create images for them in the future and release them for download outside of the template similar to with the Classic Sonic issues.

What the heck is "Deep Trouble"?

During 2021 and 2022, IDW released "Free Comic Book Day" issues of the Sonic comic, released for free as per the name of the annual holiday. Whilst 2021's release was halfway a Classic Sonic story and a halfway a clipshow recap of the IDW comic from issue #1 to #49, the 2022 release included a new story canon to the main Sonic IDW storyline. That's "Deep Trouble"!

Why are #67 and #68 not part of "Misadventures"? What even is "Adventure Awaits"?!

I was surprised to learn this too! The paperback releases seem to have an upper cap for how many issues they're willing to include, which meant that #62-68 couldn't all be fit into one release. I think it's perfectly valid to consider them all still part of the same arc and to just ignore "Adventure Awaits" (particularly with #67, I believe that one really should have been in the "Misadventures" paperback). Nevertheless, the aim in including releases like "Adventure Awaits" is to allow the template to have as many options as possible for the sake of ranking: I would rather include too many options than too few, and I reckon that ignoring arc classifications that you find stupid is a completely valid option in making your tierlist!

What's the deal with "Extreme Competition" and "Collision Course"? Isn't the arc called "Phantom Riders"?

Issues #69-75 have a similar quirk as "Misadventures" described above, where what's seemingly presented as one arc is instead split up into two paperbacks. This is, of course, because #69-#75 is a LOT of comic books: With #75 being double-sized, the stretch's total run is equivalent to that of EIGHT issues, which is double that of other standard paperback releases. Therefore, "Extreme Competition" collects the start of this larger Phantom Riders arc in #69-#71, alongside two one-shot stories that center on competition, in "Winter Jam" and "Spring Broken", while "Collision Course" collects the middle and end through #72-#75.

What all this means for you, effectively, is that you'll have the choice to either rank "Extreme Competition" and "Collision Course" individually as the first and second halves of the story, or pick one of the two to consider as the entirety of the arc. If you don't want to engage with this split-in-two system that the paperbacks did, my advice is the same as in the above question regarding "Adventure Awaits": If you think the arc classification is stupid, just disregard it!

I do, however, understand that there's going to be confusion over the lack of an arc named "Phantom Riders" on here; as compensation, I've created a separate image with that name that can be downloaded at the same place as the Classic stories' images.

Where did the Saga name "Saga of Misadventures" come from?

While the comic's first three names were provided by Ian Flynn through his podcast, these three sagas were also the ones that he was most prominently involved with. Evan Stanley wrote a majority of material from #57 to #75, and in her opinion this stretch of the book isn't to be considered a saga. She's further said that, if the stretch of issues had to be labeled under any name, it would be "Misadventures". I of course respect Evan Stanley's wishes for her run in the book, yet also am bound by the template's framework to still encapsulate #57-#75 under a name: Thus, to avoid confusion with the arc of the same name, I coined the name "Saga of Misadventures".

If you want to adhere to Evan's wishes of avoiding considering the stretch a saga whatsoever, you're free to avoid ranking the saga altogether.

In the list of arcs, why is Annual 2020 listed first on Out of the Blue, before the issues that make up the arc?

That's the way it was printed in the paperback! I assume it's because Annual 2020 features a good number of stories regarding the Metal Virus, and that Out of the Blue is the definitive end to the Metal Virus saga.

What about the Archie Comics?

I haven't read them!

Can I ask you something?

Sure thing! And if it's a question relevant enough to the template, I'll add it on here!

Where can I download the Classic Sonic stories or other additional files you've mentioned throughout this post?

Right here!

[LAST EDIT: 2025-01-07]

[theamazingian]

this is how you make a damn comic, my goodness