#sonic universe graphic novel

[mifustudy]

Lisa Miller vs. The Screen

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a six-volume graphic novel series that was published in 2004 by Canadian cartoonist Bryan Lee O’Malley. Through the growing fan base surrounding the novels, its story was adapted into four types of media, the most notable being the movie. The franchise boomed in popularity since its 2010 motion-picture adaptation, proving that as the years go by, most of the series' fans come from the hour-and-fifty-two-minute-long self-described epic. Gradually becoming a staple in pop culture, it was difficult to miss in online spaces, but one component of the story slipped through the cracks: a character named Lisa Miller. Completely scrapped from the movie script, fans of the Scott Pilgrim universe who are unfamiliar with the original graphic novel series will be pleasantly surprised if they look back on the source material; Lisa is a far richer character than the other adaptations fail to depict. She is more than a mislabeled "manic pixie dream girl" and contributes to the plot's progression in a major way. 

Zeroing in on the well-known film adaptation, entire storylines were scrapped from the script, one of which follows Lisa closely. Introduced in Volume 2 and then properly utilized in Volume 4, she is established as an old friend of our protagonist, Scott Pilgrim. Meeting in high school, Lisa and Scott became fast friends then created a band together with drummer Kim Pine called “Sonic & Knuckles.” This flashback that lasts about 34 pages gives the audience a peek into how these characters came to know each other while Volume 4 builds on Lisa’s motives and feelings towards Scott.  

Lisa, abruptly entering Scott’s life after around a decade, strains his relationship with his current girlfriend, Ramona Flowers, leading her to believe he is cheating. The couple quarrels on and off throughout the book as Lisa looms on the sidelines. The two have a big fight, leading to Scott getting kicked out of the apartment for the night. Stuck with nowhere else to turn, he calls Lisa, and she lets him crash at her place. There seems like she has an ulterior motive; she dressed suggestively, subtly moving closer to our unassuming protagonist within each panel, causing an alarming amount of tension. Scott comes to his senses and proclaims his love for Ramona to Lisa, rejecting any and all advances and closing the door on her one-sided infatuation. The three of them move on from this, Scott and Ramona remaining a couple and Lisa leaving for California to pursue an acting career.  

This (very) brief summary of her arc fails to capture the depth of Lisa’s character. Discussing her Volume 4 actions further shows that this character propels our two protagonists, Scott and Ramona, through their own respective character arcs. Giving our main characters more than their regular relationship—as regular as “defeating seven evil exes” can be—creates a refreshing plotline within an episodic graphic novel series while simultaneously developing the audience’s understanding of the two. Illustrating a clearer image of Scott and Ramona’s relationship beyond the rose-colored glasses applied to the audience in the first couple of volumes is beneficial for the development needed to maintain undivided attention throughout the story. 

Let’s discuss how Lisa's presence affects Scott Pilgrim’s character arc. Her short-lived appearance in Volume 2 set the stage for Volume 4, with most of the reason Scott decides to reconnect coming from nostalgia. Bringing Lisa around the group shortly after their reunion, this nostalgia-driven get-together expanded their individual connection, branching out into her connecting with everyone else; the only person Scott worries about is Ramona, his girlfriend. The undeniable discomfort present on his face as the two women interact feels uncalled for—considering Scott has not done anything inherently wrong—as he remains on edge the entire time they interact.

The coup de grâce of it all is when Scott stays at Lisa’s place the night after his big fight with Ramona. She finally comes clean about how she has been acting since they have reconnected; her dressing “all tarted up” specifically for Scott because he “couldn’t take [his] eyes off [her].” She felt awful about her actions, but she kept going anyway. When Scott tells her why he is there, he is greeted with a romantic advance. The panels fade to black and open back up to the next morning. Lisa filled Scott in on what happened: he chose Ramona over her—the panel explains it far better than I could summarize. Lisa plays a significant role in Scott's character arc, demonstrating how much he has matured and improved his relationship skills, realizing he feels genuine love for Ramona and should confess through Lisa’s actions.

Ramona’s growth is not as extreme as Scott’s but still offers further characterization absent in the film adaptation. Like Lisa, the two women have little to no character development; Ramona at least stars in the movie while Lisa lands a namedrop. The blonde’s introduction back into Scott’s life damages Ramona’s trust in their relationship, partly due to the fact she had not once heard of her before this, that the two have been spending an awful lot of time together, and that he is too dense to realize the subtle advances Lisa had been making the entire time. Creating friction and hostility between the couple generates a peek into Ramona’s mind, an infrequent occurrence throughout the six volumes. The two women share multiple “manic pixie dream girl” attributes—this is a complicated movie trope to dissect here, but a simplified definition can suffice. The MPDG is a female character portrayed as eccentric and desirable used only to push the plot in a film forward. They have no other character traits besides that, they are sort of like props. Lisa falls into this category and Ramona falls here only in the context of the film; Lisa’s existence prevents Ramona’s mischaracterization in the movie from happening within the books, acting as a character foil or “Evil Ex” for her in a way. 

Winding down from intense character descriptions, Lisa Miller plays a pivotal role in the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World adaptations. While she may not be involved in the most popular portions of the franchise, she still holds up as an important part of the original story. With occasional references here and there, Lisa remains a piece of the oversized puzzle of Scott Pilgrim. Fans of the film unfamiliar with the graphic novel series’ story are highly encouraged to read back on what they are missing: the character of Lisa Miller is far more nuanced than she is usually portrayed as online. She serves as more than just a “manic pixie dream girl” and has an enormous impact on the plot's progression.  

[cryptidlover17]

I love my little pony, homestuck, cartoons, among us, scene clothes, 2000s music, 2010s nostalgia, cats, books, manga, anime, mountain dew, monster energy, doritos, tumblr, adult cartoons, musicals, social media, invader zim, adventure time, chuck E cheese, creepypasta, horror games, YouTube, the owl house, metalocalypse, Rick and Morty, bluey, percy Jackson, spider man, pokemon, family Guy, Scott Pilgrim, teenage mutant ninja Turtles, graphic novels, vocaloid, Domo, hot topic, minecraft, south Park, don't hug me in scared, madoka magica, death note, marijuana, monster high, drawing, bugs, five nights at Freddy's, evangelion, Sally face, soul eater, doki doki literature club, making Kandi, my gir hoodie, my homemade homestuck headband, black nail polish, writing fanfic, Vylet pony, Clone high, horror movies, legos, tacos, zombies, vampires, emo kids, scene kids, my chemical Romance, Greek mythology, gloomy Bear, skelanimals, cupcakes, 2000s memes, hair dye, converse, eyeliner, clumpy mascara, the south park goth kids, twilight, nostalgic things, 2010s, dumplings, watamote, Craig of the creek, night in the woods, free iwatobi swim club, joJo's bizarre adventure, sonic the hedgehog, Steven Universe, Morel Orel, mob Psycho, smiling friends, xenogenders, neopronouns, lucky star, Fran bow, serial experiments lain, legend of Zelda, yuri on ice, sasunaru, analog horror, heartstopper, diary of a wimpy kid, Barnes and noble, black butler, autism/tbh creature, my engineering class, Amphibia, emo music, nyan cat

[popculturebuffet]

Sonic The Hedgehog: Scrapnik Island Review (Patreon Review/Comission for Brotoman.EXE)

Happy halloween all you happy badniks! It's almost halloween and while that means spooky season comes to it's sad end soon it also means there's still time for a few tricks and treats. Today we've got both as we look at the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog series Scrapnik Island.

Before I can get into what this series is a brief history of IDW Sonic as this is my first time covering the Blue Blur's IDW adventures and some of you may be coming in from the games or only passingly familiar with the comics.

IDW picked up the license after Archie callously threw it into a ravine after breaking it's back, due to a combination of the reboot NOT quite getting numbers and Archie's restructruing. While I love Archie Comics i'm still livid with how they treated one of their longest running titles. And Ken Penders for making things bad in the first place but not everything with Archie Sonic is Ken Penders fault. More about.. half.

IDW and Archie Vetran and Sonic Expert and super fan Ian Flynn faced an uphill battle with tons of dumb regulations from no romantic relationships to "Shadow's vegeta now we guess" to one relevant to this comic: The Classic and Modern continuities were sepreate realities. Now if you ask questions like "Wait then how did sonic meet knuckles?" , "Isn't sonic generations about time travel?", "Why would you do this?", "Who asked for this?" or "Seriously SEGA get your finger out of your ass" you put more thought into this than SEGA did, and I still hate the draconian regulations they've put on the comic.

Despite these the comic was a massive success, still runs today, and rather than do a full on ongoing with rotating plots like Archie, IDW instead does mini series. Granted i'd prefer a succesor to sonic universe, but publishing times change and the minis mean they don't HAVE to do another story and leaves room for things like the various holiday specials, anniversary specials or to do a classic era mini starring Fang the Hunter... will NEVER be used to that name but it's awesome he got a spotlight after all this time.

These two things intersect here: Scrapnik Island is one of these minis and tells a contained story that so far hasn't been picked up by current writer Evan Stanley but hopefully will one of these days as the characters it introduces are great.

The big thing though is that Scrapnik was the first IDW comic to get to refrence events from teh classic games. The Scrapniks, who you'll meet soon enough, are all classic era badniks, and one of the main characters is Mecha Sonic from Sonic 3 and Knuckles, while it's implied the Death Egg from that pair of games is the one used in this comic. They don't refrence a ton outright, probably still on a tightrope, but it's clear by now Sega's walked back the alternate dimension thing for Classic Sonic. They still seem to keep the two time periods seperate, with Fang probably still confined to classic model stories sadly, as I'd love to see him and the other hooligans interact with Tangle, but it's more resonable than "Their not the same sonic because shut up" so i'll take it. It allows sonic's whole history in the games to be accessed both on page and screen, and means the scrapniks could even show up in the games one day. I have doubts but i'd love that. It's a milestone in the sonic comics and a great story on it's own merit

So who are the scrapniks? What pieces of the past will haunt Sonic on a dark and stormy night? and will this involve a weird brain machine Robotnik just had? All this and more can be found under the cut if you dare

Scrapnik Island comes to us from Writer Daniel Barnes, who published the graphic novel black mage, and did a spec pitch bible for a sonic animated series, which likely caught IDW's attention. Especially since Ian Flynn, Sonic's Real Dad, got started with a fan comic before saving the archie unverse, creatd a new archie universe, creating a new universe fit inside the games universe, and now writing the games themselves. While Barnes hasn't blown up that much, it's clear form his writing the man loves sonic deeply and snuck in a few easter eggs.

Artist Jack Lawrence is a vet at IDW, having drawn more than meet's the eye's final act, Lost LIght, something I hadn't realized but means we'll be seeing him again in a few years. He's also drawn Transformers/MLP, a wreckers mini for the second idw continuity, and a few issues of sonic including a previous Mini, Bad Guys. Also he drew some Jackie Chan Adventures comics, something i'm somehow JUST NOW finding out exists.

Both do a top notch job here, with Lawrence in paticular matching the horror vibe of the first issue and certain other parts of the comic very well while keeping it sonic.

So kicking off the comic proper..

And Sonic and Tails are rolling around at the speed of sound, got places to go gotta follow their rainbow. It's a simple setup that works: the guys are just on their plane when adventure happens. Pretty standard sonic setup and one that allows the series to be as standalone as it is: Unlike the previous two, which gave everyones faviorite couple the spotlight and focused on the big bad of the series forming his own suicide squad, respectively, this is just a fun side adventure. It's one I WISH would come back as it introduced an intresting concept in the scrapniks, and it'd be neat to see how other characters react to them, paticuarlly Belle. Belle is a puppet like robot made of wood that Dr Eggman built while he had amnesia and became a kindhearted toymaker before his obessive fanboy kidnapped him to snap him back to his awful usual self, then realized he made a huge mistake. It's a long story I may get into one of these days. But given the cast here are reformed badniks, more ont hat in a bit, it'd be intresting for Belle to meet other eggman creations who aren't evil.

At any rate our heroes soon crash into the death egg, what's strongly implied to be the FIRST death egg from sonic 2 through knuckles. Which is neat to see. One dramatic crash later and Sonic wakes up alone, in a creepy unlit hallway on a table with Tails missing and surrounded by badnik corpses.

He also finds a weird metal club on his foot and can't move it without pain.. which I like as a tension device. It's hard to have a horror premise when your hero has super speed and has kicked ass since he was 12, so this helps level things. Sonic faces things brave as he can, noting how much the Death Egg has degraded. Which at first I thought wa sweird considering this was the first model but I mean.. how many could eggman have built?

The answer.. is 5 total. 6 if you count sonic drift. There was the original, the death egg II from sonic the fighters, the death egg from sonic battle he somehow had, the death egg mk 2 from sonic 4 which I know I know but it sadly is still canon, and the death egg from sonic forces that makes the most sense out of any of these for him to pull out of his ass as he at least had an illusion magic thingy. So the bigger question is why isn't mobius littered with these. And yup still calling it mobius. If Sega wants me to not call it that, then come up with a better name than "Sonic's World".

I love the atmosphere here thougH: Sonic's forced to slow it down so we get him wandinerg around, finding a single flower. This is one of the ones from sonic CD it seems. Why it's here... is easily handwaved: this island seems to be a dumping ground for all of Eggman's old inventions, and thus him leaving this here makes sense. It's also canon for IDW/Games eggman to move from projects way too fast. Can relate.

Eventually sonic finds a bunch of badniks... who are a bit.. diffrent than normal

I love the designs here and recognize some of these, the bulk coming from sonic 2: we've got that octopus from oil ocean, a buzz bomber with one eye from a crab meat and a claw from one, one of those mole things from sonci 3, the dragon fly from sonic and knuckles also given crameat claws, and one of the stinger enemies from sonci 21 grafted to that fucking spider asshole from checmial plant zone. And leading them all.. is Mecha Sonic, a neat return after far too long. I'm baffled why sega defaults to metal sonci more, as I love mecah sonic's bigger design, cool visor and use of the master emerald in his boss fight with knuckles.

He gives chase and Sonic super fucking runs away, not helped by his leg. While the sequence is tense we do get a really great joke as Sonic hides in one of the capusles from sonic 1

It's a nice tense sequence.. and hilarous once you know these guys.. aren't trying to harm him. In fact they were helping and their leader apologizes for spooking him. Their leader is E-117 Sigma, one of the e-series robots and apparently either made after gamma or somehow missing out on adventure and thus getting to live. Either way he's the only one that can speak and helps bring Sonic up to speed: He's sorry abotu spooking them and also sorry about the crash and offers to help repair the plane while they wait. Turns out the weather disruptor, because of course Eggman had a weather machine on his doomsday device, on the death egg is glitching. While tails geeks out sonic TRIES to apologize to mecha.. who brushes him off and struggles with their body. And I like the tonal contrast... the island itself.. is warm, full of rusted tech but safe and welcmoing.. yet still contrasted with a danger lurking on the death egg: mecha knuckles.

Specifically, and this is a deep cut I love, this is the Mecha Knuckles from sonic advance.. possibly the same one from Sonic R too bu the has the eyes of the advance one. Mecha Knuckles was my faviorit eboss fight of the game, starting as an off color knuckles before his skin exploded revealing a silver knuckles who had missles. He wasn't super hard but he's so far one of the best attempts at making a boss the same size as sonic ans friends. He's also wearing Knuckles hat from the OVA which i'm pleased is making a comeback: first this then the Knuckles mini series. Knuckles in a hat is dope and i'm glad it's getting more traction.

So issue 2. We begin with a flashback to Sigma and the Scrapnik's as a whole's origin story: he woke up on the shores of scrapnik island and is shown slowly repairing the bots best he can, hence their whole sid from toy store deal minus the need for therapy from their creator. It's a heartwarming sequence I wish I could show in full

You see the pure joy sigma has for his "creations", how much he cares.. and see Mecha wash up.

In present day Sonic's taking a nap when he wakes up to the scrapniks.. talking. Turns out Tails can translates though it's mostly "HELLO"... and is at least adorable. Sigma has good news and bad news. Good news they can mostly fix the plane bad news.. i'ts power source is cracked, and isn't easy to replace. Sigma thinks the death egg might ahve one and SOnic being sonic agrees to go get it, with Sigma and Mecha accompanying him.

The trip mostly goes well with it being revealed what the egg carrier is for: To get them off the island. The Egg Carrier comes from sonic adventure, being one of the games main settings and eggman's lair, and having sunk by the end of it, last seen being the spot for Amy's final boss fight with Zero shortly after Gamma's final battle. It's a smart pull as it makes sense it washed up here: it was in the ocean last we saw it and likely drifted to the island same as a lot of Eggman's creations. They plan to use it to leave someday, though it still needs work.

WE also get ane xplination for the sunflower: it washed up here and Mecha is carring for it, planning on taking it with them when they go. Sonic tries to offer his new friend a hand, bigones be bigones.. but while Mecha TRIES to accept it... they get attacked. Mecha Knuckles has made his move

We get some good action, solid stuff though I wish this four parter leaned more into the horror. Once we find out the scrapniks are goodniks... it's mostly a standard sonic story with a tinge of horror elements. It's a GOOD sonic story and the horror dosen't ever fully leave, but The MEtal Virus saga proved sonic can pull off horror well so I wish they'd went all in. That being said while I do hope for a story that does that, I get not doing it with these characters: they coudl've started with a horror story in mind.. but pivoted as the characters became more sympathetic.

Sigma explains the issue: he did rewawaken knux, who also has stretchy limbs, but eggman's programming was too deep to overwrite like he did for the others. He was designed to guard the master emerald shrine so the best Sig could do is retask him with guarding the death egg... problem is.. he can't convince him Sonic's a friend so a fight breaks out.. and we get the comics best sequence as poor Mecha has flashes of ptsd

It's a great horrifying sequence and not a stretch to see why the very being that destroyed him gives him nightmare or WHY it's been hard being around sonic: Mecha was made to destroy him.. and failed at it.. and Eggman simply.. forgot about him. He brought metal back, perfected him, made him better, something that other writers could explore, but he forgot Mecha. Assumed he was dead and moved on.

Mecha wakes up and easily finished Mecha Knuckles.. but then throat grabs Sonic. It's clear SOMETHING has gone wrong.

So we open issue 3.. with the goofy part. While the horror in this comic is mostly effective.. Mecha's Plan, while tragic and fitting.. is also.. pretty goofy.. see he has sonic hooked up to a brain machine Eggman abandoned for you see..

So yeah Mecha plans to put himself in sonics body and one of the scrapniks sees this and horrifdly runs off. Look sonic is a campy franchise. You know it, I know and I love it for that. It embraces coming from the video game and each of the comics does some fun weird shit with the lore given. The scrapniks themselves are a brilliant example of this.. but Mecah's endgame being "Put my brain in a non robot body" is just kinda silly. It fits and it's tragic, it's lack of sense makes all the sense with the state Mecha's in, but it's kinda goofy for what' sa pretty dark story abotu ptsd, self worth and abandonment. Sonic can do camp, but it has to fit the tone well and this story just isn't built for Robotnik's Mean Brain Machine.

We then get another flashback this time showing Mecha waking up.. with Sigma telling him his days as a tool of conquest is over. He's free now, finally free and we evne see a really great panel of Mecha.. happy

Sadly in the present Sigma wakes up to see his surrogate child.. has broken Mecha Knuckles and gone rogue. Thankfully the Badnik that saw all this got to tails, who quickly evil deads himself a scouter and some weapons

In the dark coridors they run into Sigma who explains waht the problem might be: He did his best to help mecha.. but like with Knux, his systems are way more advanced than sigma's used to, and figures the damage with Mecha Knux restored his old programming blaming himself. Sigma is a truly wonderful character, one of the best IDW has made and one I hope to see in the games or comics again. There's a LOT of potetial for this cast and i've been saying that a lot.. but it's true. It's weird to me two years out from this awesome mini no one's thought to bring these guys back. Maybe there's plans down the road for after Evan Stanley's run, we'll just have to see.

At any rate our heroes are at a horrifying disadvantage: While Tails, and presumibly thea udience, assumed Mecha would be slower and weaker due to his rust.. that's not the case. He easily floors the search party and gives a fairly chilling monologue as to why he's doing all of this

The lighting in the last panel is perfect. I said the series went light on the horror elemetns and I stand by it, even by kids media standards.. but it keeps enough. But what makes the series stand out so well.. is it's characters. Sigma the father the badinks never truly had and Mecha, tossed aside, broken and wondeirng WHY it's parent never came for him.. and ready to tear him apart.

He's also ready to make tails go down the hole after a decent fight scene.. though it does feel like tails gets jobbed out slightly. I mean.. he's on par with sonic and knuckles. He can't FLY which may be part of the problem, butit's wrong to bend him to being this much weaker just to make the story work. I didn't like it when the games did this for a while I sure as hell don't like it now.

So Tails goes down the garbage chute, at least Veruca Salt the little brute can keep him company, and prepares to do operation put my brain in sonic's body to make daddy love me again as we end issue 3

So as we begin the finale, Mecha Sonci explains how the brain drain works: eggman made it, got bored and since Mecha has doubts they'll ever escape, he can use sonic's ability to run across water... which begs the question why he can't, but I assume i'ts because , as we've seen a few times, his limbs seize up. He claims the scrapniks were never his friends, etc etc, which sonic dosen't buy. Thankfully said scrapniks beg him to stop.. and thus stop the machine mid transfer. Which does the only think I like about this thing.. it gives them a psychic link.

This also leads to a damn good fight as Mecha Sonic taunts sonic who is slowed down.. but powers through the pain. This is something that COULD have come up in a later arc but given the big finale to the starline saga was going on at the time, I understand. And it's again where the horror feels undermined: when it counted.. .sonic's injury didn't really matter and we get a big gorgeous fight. My issue is less that it's not full horror as the story told is gorgeously drawn and compelling and more it was marketed as a hroror book.. when aside from the first issue and a few scenes in the second it really isn't. It's not bad, and horror can be a lot of things. I'm ont a snob who say s"Well this can't be horror" This is horror adjacent, but you shoudln't market something based only on it's first issue and it left a bad taste in my mouth reading it the first time... but reading it this time.. that taste's washed out.

The truth.. is that the main story is really that good, with the fight crescendoing in Mecha Sonic holding on.. and planning to just die. He's given up, having failed to be what robotnik wanted.. and failed his friends, having come to his senses on his return to villiany, Eggman never loved him and wouldn't care if he came back as he has metal now.. but hating himself so deeply he alomst well. .unalives himself feeling he has no purpose. Thankfully sonic has some words on that

It's an ending I Love and as someone whose struggled myself, words you need to hear; live for you, not selfishly.. but simply how you want to. Just living itself is purpose... and thus Mecha does take his hand He can't actually lift him because super strength isn't a thing sonic has and the foot thing did tire him out a bit... something I forgot in that rant earlier but still stand by shoudl've had more consequences. STill everyone else shows up, willing to forgive their brother.. and also tails is here. Because despite everything.. their family. And family forgives when you deserve it.

So now Mecha Sonic's lost that self loathin, excused himself and let hoppe in. He's also been cleared of any egg data which wasn't easy, but is something Tails has done before. Gemerl should really hang with these guys. Mecha Knux is also both fixed and freed, and is standing all abdass in the corner, so he too can come back. We end on a heartwarming speech, as Mecha has accepted himself, that the future is uncertain and scary.. but it's his.. and he'll face it.

God this ending makes me tear up. Scrapnik Island. is excellent.. even more so on re-read and in sitting with it for this review. Mecha's arc is heartbreaking, well paced and the action and little dabs of horror are brilliant. I do think the horror parts of it were overblown.. but the genius concept of an island full of old badniks and giving Metal a new personality and character arc was genius, and it ends on a massive high that makes me want to see these characters again yesterday. There is a LOT of potetial in these character sand IDW is foolish to not tap into it yet and will be damn idiotic if they never do. It's a wonderful character piece that despite it's flaws, moves mountains and is one of the best sonic comics period.

[redpenship]

10 bloggers you'd like to know better challenge/prompt. tagged by @comphetkoncass <333 (ty ty ily)

last song: supernova by aespa

favorite color: light/pale pink

last book: last fiction book ive read is moon of the crusted snow by waubgeshig rice and the last non-fiction book ive read is how states think: the rationality of foreign policy by jj mearsheimer. not his best book but not a terrible read either!

last movie: i think it might be the wild robot. i thought the bit where all the animals were forced to get along was really stupid, also very noncredible depictions of a moose. 2/5.

last tv show: house md! recently finished the penguin and im also caught up with arcane

sweet/savory/spicy: savoury for sure, unless it's crêpes in which case sweet every time. i dont understand people who put ham and cheese or whatever in those like at that point just eat a sandwich or a burrito.

relationship status: with my gf for almost a year!

last thing I searched: "how to do accent circumflex on mac keyboard". otherwise i just spent a lot of time looking up articles about warfare in video games for a research paper proposal. i want to write about WMDs in sonic but there are so few game studies about anti-war themes in video games that i'm struggling and will need to use less direct sources.

current obsession: always thinking about my wip. am i writing it? well...

looking forward to: graduating university

bonus topics

favorite drink: double gin and tonic. i also raise you chugging half a wine cooler and then filling it up with like 5 shots of vodka, but im banned from doing that now. i also love sangria and jaeger bombs. non alc is DR. PEPPER

song playing on a loop in your head: in my bag by flo and glorilla.

current favorite character: im not the kind of person who really obsesses over characters, but ive been loving knuckles a lot lately so maybe him.

fun activity you would like to get into: im easing back into it but higher level DDR/pump it up

last video game: overwatch. im cracked at dva

last comic/graphic novel: im behind on DC and havent read any manga lately so probably IDW sonic.

tagging (no pressure tho fr): @onesecretperson @khalewren @dreaminginmysoup @rooftop--runner @whisper-and-tangle @dablaanash @lunapegasus @teemdark @the-avr-dude @hishighnesstheprincess

[jimintomystery]

Original character do not steal

Kinda fell down a rabbit hole the other day reading about Ken Penders, the writer/artist who sued Archie Comics to gain ownership of 250 Sonic the Hedgehog characters. Most of them look like this:

You may now be asking yourself: What does one do with 250 Sonic the Hedgehog characters? The answer may surprise you!

I'll try not to get too deep into this, since Bobby Schroeder and Comic Drake have thoroughly covered the story already, and I can't improve on their work. But even the short-short version is going to take a while.

Basically, Penders contributed to Archie's Sonic comics from 1994 to 2006. I'm not certain that he's the only reason the Sonic comics in those days were so overwrought and a little horny. But it's far to say he's representative of that tone, and he really leaned into it.

Penders's worldbuilding was especially prolific in Knuckles the Echidna, where he introduced a lost city of Echidnaopolis. In this sense you could kinda compare him to Carl Barks, who created the "Duck Universe" within Disney's line of Mickey Mouse comics. Of course, the biggest difference between Barks and Penders is that Ken claimed ownership of his work. Normally this never goes well for work-for-hire comics creators. But in this case, Archie literally lost the paperwork that said Penders was work-for-hire in the first place.

Without a leg to stand on, Archie was forced to settle. This meant both sides had to go through the Sonic comics and determine which Sonic recolors unambiguously belonged to Sega, and which ones would be ceded to Penders. I like to think the negotiations were akin to that Beanie Baby divorce photo.

Now, the problem with owning dozens of Sonic recolors is that they're not much good for anything except appearing in Sonic stories. But Archie and Sega weren't about to pay Penders to license his weird little guys to them, when Sonic still had plenty of other weird little guys to hang around with. And so, in Sonic The Hedgehog #244 (January 2013), a villain reveals that he teleported the echidnas away forever. After that, none of Ken's concepts were directly referred to again. All that stuff was implicitly erased from history with a soft reboot in #251-252, followed by a hard reboot when the comics moved from Archie to IDW in 2017-2018.

However, Penders already had plans to move forward with his creations without Archie, Sega, or Sonic continuity. In December 2011, he announced The Lara-Su Chronicles, a series of seven graphic novels starring Knuckles's future daughter, who first appeared in Sonic #131. The character designs manage to be legally distinct from the Sonic art style while maintaining the most obnoxious traits. You'd think this would be an opportunity to get away from giant cartoon eyes and "quills" that look like tentacles. But no, Lara-Su still resembles a hot woman wearing a giant fursuit head, except now the fursuit head always looks like it's smelling rotten eggs.

Anyway, it's been nearly twelve years since Penders formally announced The Lara-Su Chronicles, and as far as I can tell he hasn't actually published any of it yet. His website is currently taking pre-orders for the first volume, which is supposed to ship around January 2024. But even that is mostly reprints of Penders's stories from Sonic #131-144, with a new ending tacked on. I'm not sure Ken can reprint Sonic comics, but this should be an interesting way to find out.

From a creative standpoint, I admire the gumption it took for Penders to wrest control of his characters from Archie and forge ahead without the Sonic IP. But strategically, the whole endeavor looks like a huge misfire. The entire selling point of Lara-Su is to revisit an era of Sonic comics that has largely faded into obscurity. Even within that limited audience of the people nostalgic for that era, they mainly liked Ken's melodramatic storytelling because it added depth to the Sonic IP, and not for its own sake. For those Sonic fans, Lara-Su will always be more about what Penders took away "from them" than anything he can give back. And while that may not be entirely fair, I'm not sure it was entirely unforeseeable.

[hishighnesstheprincess]

Tagged by @redpenship. 10 bloggers I'd like to know better

last song: Gold Dust Woman by Fleetwood Mac

favorite color: Light purple

last book: Technically speaking Sensation and Perception 9th Edition for class but the actual answer is the first book in the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Leguin

last movie: Extremely unfortunately, Joker 2 (it was a watchparty vc and we were all shitting on it)

last tv show: Caught up with Arcane, going through Sonic X

sweet/savory/spicy: Sweet but I do have a soft spot for spicy because I am a masochistic white person

relationship status: Single

last thing I searched: "black doom" i was trying to grab a screenshot to prove a point in a discussion

current obsession: my own wips.... which i have not made any progress on. Sonic in general, Arcane

looking forward to: Sonic Movie 3, whatever the next mainline Sonic game is, graduating university, coming out the other side of these next four years alive and well hopefully

bonus topics

favorite drink: Dr Pepper and hot chocolate

song playing on a loop in your head: The opening notes of Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac (I listened to the album today between classes)

current favorite character: Rouge, Sonic, Jinx

fun activity you would like to get into: I wanna draw so badly

last video game: Hades

last comic/graphic novel: IDW Sonic, Knuckles anniversary comic. It's pretty good, go read it

Tagging: @niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian @khalewren @dreaminginmysoup @bestjeanistmonster @kingprinceleo @lynxbabey @aleph-jackal @lunapegasus @redpenship (yeah im retagging you, the fuck you gonna do about it)

[renegadebraveheart]

Time to make a new pinned post to showcase my fanfiction!

Danganronpa: Fictional Nexus

Rating: M

Word Count: 138,807

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death.

Summary: Monokuma hosts yet another killing game, this time with 17 individuals from other worlds! All taking place in “The City That Never Sleeps Without One Eye Open”, Monocity! Who will live and who will die in this murderous metropolis?!

Chapters: 50

Fandoms: Danganronpa, Zombieland Saga, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Pokemon Adventures, The Promised Neverland, Dragon Ball, Back to the Future, Shantae, Hunter X Hunter, Persona 5, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Durarara!!, Little Witch Academia, Sonic the Hedgehog, Nichijou | My Ordinary Life.

Danganronpa: Fictional Guardians

Rating: T

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Fandoms: Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls, Pokemon Adventures, Zombieland Saga, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Dragon Ball, Hunter X Hunter, Durarara!!, Sonic the Hedgehog, Epic Mickey, BNA: Brand New Animal, South Park, Super Mario Bros..

Word Count: 117,142

Summary: Multiple people from other worlds are pulled into an adventure filled with hope, despair, and newfound friendships. Battling Monokuma robots in a variety of locations across the multiverse, this team they form must find a way to shut them down for good. If only it were that easy...

Chapters: 29

Danganronpa: Fictional Epicenter

Rating: M (Because of the murders)

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death.

Fandoms: Danganronpa, Silver Spoon, Doki Doki Literature Club!, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Pokemon Sword & Shield, Sonic the Hedgehog, Zombieland Saga, KonoSuba,Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure, Xenoblade Chronicles, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Promised Neverland (Manga), Lucky Star (Anime & Manga), Digimon Adventure tri., Azumanga Daioh, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., My Hero Academia, Dragon Ball, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Pokemon Adventures.

Word Count: 100,552

Summary: Being on Dean Monokuma’s List is not an achievement one should celebrate… 18 participants from other worlds must survive a killing game within a strange college campus! Will they find out the secrets that lie within these learning grounds? Everything isn’t always what it seems…

Chapters: 24

Ai Means Love

Fandom: Zombie Land Saga (Anime)

Rating: G

Pairing: M/F

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Word Count: 23,426

Summary: 愛 aka Ai = The Japanese word for love.

“Congratulations! You have won a full week “dating” the Franchouchou member of your choice! (Note that Franchouchou Number 6 is excluded from being chosen, due to her literally being a child. Also you are not allowed to touch them, we WILL know about it…)”

How is one guy supposed to handle being the lucky (or unlucky) winner of a raffle with a prize this ridiculous? Well, a certain idol with yellow flowers in her blue hair might make it a bit easier on him. However it seems as though she has her own feelings about this contest... what else could she be hiding from him as well?

Chapters: 5

RenAi: Sincere & Sparking Shousetsu SAGA!

Fandom: Zombie Land Saga (Anime)

Rating: G

Pairing: M/F

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Word Count: 16,871

Summary: 恋愛 aka Renai = The Japanese word for romantic love.

小説 aka Shousetsu = The Japanese word for a novel/story.

Put both together and you get 恋愛小説 aka renai-shousetsu, a love story. Although this love story is quite unusual compared to the norm… After hooking up unexpectedly, a snarky young man with some self-esteem issues and a no-nonsense zombie idol try their best to get used to their newfound relationship. Alongside the girl’s idol group, manager, and zombie dog, they navigate the many trials that come with dating a girl who’s both a living corpse and a kinda-famous stage performer. No ongoing story arc to be found here, just a bunch of fun and fluffy tales with our adorable duo! Warning: Must read Ai Means Love beforehand.

Chapters: 4

[fenrir-wolf-of-gotham]

@starseverance recently tagged me in a “get to know you” post but honestly I feel like my favorite stuff represents me better.

Favorite Games: Payday 2 by Overkill Software, Madness: Project Nexus by Gibbing Tree, and Burnout 3 by Criterion.

Favorite Movie: Hot Fuzz.

Favorite Comic/Graphic Novel: Batgirl 2000 of course. I even own a copy of the first issue.

Favorite Book(s): I don’t have one, unless you count fanfiction, in which case I pick Traditions by Jairyn and Little Moments: Rebooted by shadows59 and Ericobard.

Favorite Songs: Just pick anything from a Sonic soundtrack, a song from Burnout 3 or 4, or a Gloryhammer album honestly. My music library is too large and diverse to pick a favorite.

Favorite Fictional Universe: the Destiny universe by Bungie.

Tagging others: @starseverance @andreamland @huntinglove @insane2madness (feel free to tag others on your reblogs if you want to).

[chrisryanspeaks]

Justice Unveils Mesmerizing “Neverender” Video Ahead of Epic North American Tour

Justice is back with a vengeance as they gear up for the North American leg of their highly anticipated Hyperdrama tour. Fresh off rave reviews, the French electronic duo has dropped a striking new video for their hit single, “Neverender (starring Tame Impala),” which continues its steady climb up the Alternative Radio charts. Directed by Masanobu Hiraoka and featuring creative minds like Kota Iguchi (Tokyo 2020 Olympics) and Armand Beraud, the video is a mesmerizing, phantasmagoric journey into the world of Hyperdrama. Its visual style blends the intricate elegance of Art Nouveau with the surreal, otherworldly charm of vintage Japanese anime, creating a feast for the eyes that feels both nostalgic and groundbreaking. Justice themselves describe the “Neverender” video as a fusion of their visual influences, channeled through Hiraoka’s unique lens. Drawing on the iconic title sequences of 1980s anime and their teenage obsessions with Moebius, psychedelic art, and graphic novels, the video feels like a kaleidoscope of past inspirations seamlessly woven together into something wholly new. It’s an animated world where reality bends, and Justice and Tame Impala navigate through a dreamscape as expansive and bold as the album that spawned it. In tandem with the video release, Justice also announced a Neverender Remixes EP, featuring two new edits of the track by the duo themselves, as well as reworks by Kaytranada and Keinemusik’s Rampa. The EP opens with the original version of “Neverender,” before diving into Justice’s radio edit and a hypnotic extended mix, offering alternate takes that highlight the song’s sonic allure. Kaytranada’s remix turns the track into a minimalist, spaced-out journey, rich with swung rhythms and blissed-out harmonies, while Rampa’s remix transforms it into a steady, uplifting groove, designed to keep listeners moving. As Justice prepares to embark on their biggest U.S. headlining tour to date, including a long-sold-out performance at the Hollywood Bowl, the excitement surrounding the duo’s new album Hyperdrama only intensifies. Having wowed audiences with a jaw-dropping live set at Coachella earlier this year, the band’s 18-month production process has paid off, drawing universal acclaim and a five-star review from Rolling Stone for their Glastonbury performance. Hyperdrama, their first album in eight years, showcases Justice’s evolution while staying true to their electronic roots. Featuring standout collaborations with the likes of Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), Thundercat, Miguel, and Connan Mockasin, the album is a sonic exploration that promises to resonate with longtime fans and newcomers alike. "Neverender" is just the beginning of what promises to be a triumphant new chapter for one of electronic music's most revered acts. https://youtu.be/E7FU_mqhFGk?si=uO0DGC1n42JzXT_1 Read the full article

[frogsandfries]

I really hit the ground running this morning: I guess we should've tried earlier, but as a last ditch effort, I put the dying sapling apple trees and plum tree out on the lawn. I figured, there were some plants my sister left for dead outside and they're thriving. Perhaps we could accomplish a bit of a repeat performance. If not, we'll just have to get some apple trees next spring and plant them immediately.

The soil here is really clay-y. I'm not sure if it's from all the rain. I've touched a lot of Wisconsin dirt, and this is the most clay-like. But it's also rained the most this year that it has for a long, long time.

I have to mow the lawn over the next few days. My sister bought the push mower for her pleasure, now it gets to be my torture until her leg heals up enough.

I bought some carbon transfer paper. I decided, instead of trying to risk printing on my colored pencil paper, I'll try printing on my shitty printer paper, and transfer it. This better be worth it for all this effort.

I don't know if I mentioned, but yesterday, my sister insisted that we go to the farmer's market. By the time we got there, it was already at peak traffic, but it had been such a struggle for her to get the block or so up the hill, so I got the blueberries she wanted. They are in the freezer for now. I'm reserving my dance-card-for-chores for mowing the lawn this week. It's an absolute monster of a lawn, and I have to use the push mower.

Anyway, while they were there, there was this LGBT person with stickers and a table. My dad got info on where to get a trans flag in town, so we went over there. I grabbed a graphic novel, sent a picture of one of the sections to a friend who I thought would vibe with it. I think there were like some local/homebrew/zine games there.

We got Sonic! It was, okay, don't judge me, it was kind of grounding to have some of their pretzels. Living in Wisconsin again has been hard for my brain to accept.

Anyway, dad brought the rabbits downstairs.

They brought themselves upstairs. I didn't fucking know rabbits could fucking climb stairs. So I brought them downstairs and swept aaaaaaallllllllllllllllll their shit from just the one room they shat'd in. Sooooo muuuuuucccchhh shit. Might as well get a horse instead.

Today has mostly just been for relaxing and recharging, so I've been hanging out downstairs with my sister, except the part where she took a nap, so I went to chill with my tablet on my bed, rolled over and it was six in the evening.

I might have to start consuming caffeine again. My sister being out of commission at the moment is really forcing me to face all my limitations head-on. I simply cannot do this job full-time, on the schedule I'm on, and do everything else. This house is absolutely gargantuan. Two floors. The kitchen is basically two rooms. There's a dining room, basically three living rooms. Two bathrooms, one on each floor. A master bedroom that's two rooms with a door between, a laundry room, an extra bedroom I'm using for my office right now, and my room.

We're having cleaners come tomorrow, thank gaawwwddddd. It'll be such a relief to have a clean slate. It's such a tragedy that I really have to go to work tomorrow already. Whenever my sister goes on her vacation, I am taking PTO and not-P-TO. I desperately need to find a new job. I'm keeping this job by getting mildly high most shifts and doing some creative project while I'm at work and it is not healthy.

Anyway, I have a ton of media I want to add to my personal library: Steven Universe, Star Trek, Wolf Children and Magus Bride. I want to finish collecting Saga. And I want to finish collecting my own graphic novel.

I'm just so fucking tired.

[nomoneytoplay]

Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Bought for: $0.99 

Played on: Pixel

Release date: May 7, 2020

Developer: Sega

Publisher: Sega, SEGA of America

Game Type: Sports video game, Simulation Game

Platforms: Android, iOS

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone - Cartoon Violence

Pros & Cons

The Sonic Olympics arrive on your phone, let the torch be lit! 

Iconic characters from the Sonic universe to play with.

15 Olympic events to choose from with different difficulty levels. 

Characters have different traits making it easy to complete a level.

Beautiful graphics.

Extra mini games

Cutscenes are presented like a graphic novel.  

Classic Sonic game music and original soundtrack. 

Tough challenges, I mean very unfair. 

Boss…..uhh fights?

Gameplay can get a bit repetitive. 

Online Functions are no longer available.   

My Experience

                                   On your marks, get set, GO! 

One of the biggest gaming rivals/friendships ever, Mario and Sonic, two iconic video game characters go one on one with all their friends to compete in…..the Olympics?? This is probably gaming's most bizarre idea ever created. However, the games are really fun! So here I am reviewing an Olympic game but the difference is…Mario and the gang are not a part of it. 

Sorry Mario, maybe next time.

For this review, I am taking a look at the mobile port with only Sonic and pals at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. This was truly a surprise for me, I didn’t know this game existed at all at first. Playing the first installment on the Wii was truly one fun and exhausting experience. Of course there's no way I can compare a console version to a mobile one, but I can tell all the same elements of the console versions are in this game. Hold a command to charge for a perfect start, button smashing and gain stamina when doing a perfect command. It is basically what makes them great and challenging. 

Aside from not having Mario, the game will start to feel very repetitive real quick. You’ll start to feel that you are doing the same events over and over again. I swear, I really am starting to get sick of Badminton, no offense to professional players, but in Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 drives me insane. The button layout is mostly tap, hold and swipe. Basically a typical mobile gameplay  which is fine. Also the boss AI is so unfair that it makes it frustrating to complete a level. Sometimes the opponents score can be so high, the only way to score a near perfect score. Challenging yes but I feel the console versions are balanced better. Also the story, save the world from the evil Dr. Eggman, the only way…to..stop…him..is to compete in the Olympics?????  Uhhhhhhhhh ... .oh look a Chao! 

Look, it seems like I am hating this game, I am not let me assure you. This game looks absolutely fantastic compared to the console version. The arenas, the sound of the crowd, sound effects and also in game voice acting. The characters will react if they get hurt, if they win (depending if it’s gold medal, silver or bronze) or if they lose. This Sonic Olympic game is one that I strongly recommend you try first before you decide to get it. Luckily the first ten courses are free to play, while the rest of the game can be purchased for a very low price. If you love Sonic you obviously will like this game, however if you are into wacky party sport games, get this game. Also any Sonic game that lets me play as Knuckles is always a winner in my book! 

Get ready to take on the challenges, your rivals and…for whatever reason defeat Dr. Eggman, all as you reach for that gold medal!

A Silver (The Hedgehog) Medal score of 2 out 4 Quarters

[thephantomgirl11]

I found a comic book zip of the Sonic Universe #6 graphic novel. So I decided to share some of the pages you can't find online! I'm not going to share the whole book (maybe in pieces) as I'm just trying to share some items that are hard to come by. All art and characters are copyrighted "©" to their respectable owners. I don't claim anything. Enjoy the pages!

I'll be posting the coves next!

[mungdaalcompany-blog]

Yo, I'm selling hundreds of dollars worth of comics on ebay for a decent price. I got sonic, megaman, superheroes, and transformers stuff Lot: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F263829826566 Trust me, I'm a great seller with a good rep

[comicparanoia]

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Two

#1

Chapter One: Third Wheel released by DC Comics on January 7, 2014.

[thankskenpenders]

Okay so Penders and The Lara-Su Chronicles are well-trodden ground at this point, but I just found something truly incredible in the same vein. I can’t believe I’ve never been told about this

I have found... the extremely Web 1.0 website for Scott Fulop’s personal company, Narrative Ark

Now, Fulop’s decision to claim ownership over his work like Ken did has always been a little odd. He only created a small handful of characters for Archie Sonic, none of which are fan favorites, and he didn’t write many stories for the series either. What can he even do with that? Does he have big plans for Mammoth Mogul or something?

Well, as it turns out...

I might not be a fan of Ken’s work, but at least there are folks out there who care about his characters like Julie-Su and Lien-Da. He has a lot of material to build off of there, even if the direction he’s going in is extremely misguided

But this... the thought of describing C-list Archie Sonic villain Mammoth Mogul as a “COMIC BOOK AND GRAPHIC NOVEL SUPERSTAR” worthy of getting his own new series alongside the Fearsome Foursome... constantly putting a trademark symbol next to his name, just to remind us that Fulop trademarked him... I cannot believe this. I feel like I’m reading a site in Hypnospace Outlaw right now. This feels like a fake website from another universe where he’s a popular character alongside Gumshoe Gooper

As this all caps blurb indicates, Fulop apparently wants to do a webcomic starring Mammoth Mogul. The newsletter page on this site indicates that it was launched this year, although there hasn’t been any news since the inaugural post in May. The Mammoth Mogul™ page only includes the above blurb, two pages of his origin story from the Archie comics, and a note saying to come back soon for more

All this for a character who was always just a blatant amalgam of Vandal Savage and Kingpin in woolly mammoth form

I’ll be interested to see if anything comes of this. I’m guessing it won’t, but hey, you never know

[beevean]

Opinion: How could Sonamy progress in IDW?

[note: the original article was written in Spanish by @latin-dr-robotnik​]

Today we’re going to discuss a recurring topic on my blog, with a more complete perspective.

Today’s article was inspired by an ask I got a few days ago about my possible perspective on the future of IDW Sonamy. I thought it would be interesting to revisit and expand this topic, because it’s still something of great interest for thousands of fans all around the world, and because SEGA has recently adopted a very peculiar position on the couple and their dynamic. As I detailed on my article SEGA and its most recent Sonamy side – more canon than ever, the dynamic has been going through a shift that can be distinguished into two main parts: 1) the commercial potential of Sonamy as a merchandising and marketing icon; 2) the stability of the interactions in the comics, in the short monthly stories on Sonic Channel, and so on.

That being said, there’s no need to mention that we’re going to focus entirely and nothing more than on this ship. I usually suggest other articles for those who prefer to read on other subjects, but today I will recommend our Discord server [translator’s note: the server is mainly Spanish-speaking], where discussions about ships are limited on their own canal that is separated from other themes: general discussions, music, fangames and mods, fanfics, fanart and even gaming in general. As you know, if you want to bring something else to our community, or just avoid talking about Sonamy, you’re more than welcome to join. Now, back on track.

What’s going on with Sonamy in IDW?

To recap what’s happened in these last months: Sonic and his friends finally got through the nightmare that was the Metal Virus, he and Amy hugged a few times, and since very recently they’ve been involved in a short arc about Chao races in Twinkle Park Zone, with a sinister background. In these last months after the eradication of the virus, there have been much closer and warmer interactions between our two hedgehogs, and I suspect that part of this is what inspired that question in the first place: what’s going on?

As I commented in the article where I proposed that Sonamy is “more canon than ever” (I know that it’s an exaggeration, that was the point), SEGA is treading carefully and the main canon seems to be willing to negotiate a more open representation of the relationship between the two in their different continuities, from best friends to something more. What I did not expect to happen was reading an answer from Evan Stanley (artist and writer that replaces Ian Flynn) about their dynamic, summing it up with “they like each other”.

The redrawing of Sonic’s expression when Amy hugs him in a recent drawing of hers made people wonder if this was yet another example of SEGA’s “censoring” (comparison below), to which Evan answered that it was modified to keep Sonic in character: he’s a guy that does not show much emotional vulnerability or too many negative emotions, and this is why sometimes the artists have to adjust WIPs to keep in line with this official point of view. Evan assured that this is not any kind of confirmation that Sonic does not like Amy, and doubles down by highlighting that in the official material, in the wikis and on Sonic Channel they show that, and I quote: “They like each other, but Sonic just isn’t the kind of guy who is going to make goo-goo eyes at Amy or perform grand acts of romance. If you wanna see that, that’s what fan works are for.”

And Evan’s words are a great way to sum up what’s going on with IDW Sonic right now. When it comes to interactions, they’re working with two characters who deep down “like each other”, but both show it in their own way. Amy is much more proactive when it comes to express her feelings, while Sonic only sometimes shows a glimpse of his feelings, with a smile or a small gesture. But at the end of the day they’re still friends and, depending on the situation, the comic can focus more or less on these details.

Comparison between the first sketch showed by Evan and the final product. The modification of the expression was minimal: Sonic’s slight blush was changed into a smile, maybe being a little overwhelmed by the gesture of affection.

The “progression” of the dynamic in the future

A good part of the answer to this question is based on my idea that right now, when it comes to Sonamy, we reached some kind of comfortable plateau. What am I referring to? To the fact that there have been a lot of varied interactions in these last 3 years of the comic, and they’re everything I could have asked for and then some. When we talk about Sonamy in canon, as Evan said, we don’t tend to hope for great romantic gestures from Sonic, we barely even ask for a look that hints that they understand each other beyond what it seems at first glance, so the fact that the IDW continuity is betting so much on this ship is basically a dream come true. For this reason, I don’t think things will change much in the future.

If I have to make a prediction on Sonamy’s future in IDW, I believe that there are still a lot of possibilities that our known writers (and maybe new writers!) could explore more, to see what makes this dynamic work so well. Actually, about 10 years ago, Ian Flynn wrote that if they could take advantage of the abilities and similarities between the two characters as adventurous spirits and with a strong moral sense, they would be “like poetry in motion”. This largely happens in IDW Sonic if you look carefully, but there are always new stories to tell and opportunities for them to work together and explore a bit more their strong bond, stronger than other friendships that they share. When the next major arc comes (which seems to be getting closer), they could explore aspects of their dynamic that are slightly more experimental, like being separated for extended periods of time and under dangerous situations… as long as they don’t turn it into a painful experience like the Metal Virus arc.

What Ian Flynn wrote about Sonamy, what works and what doesn’t. This was written in 2011, when Archie Sonic was still the major comic continuity, and when, according to Ian, Sonic was still “tied” to Sally Acord, leaving little room to the writers’ opinions.

The reality is that I see a stable future for the dynamic in the IDW universe. Sonamy is not fit for a lot of drama (fights, breaking up, etc.) without feeling forced or completely out of place, and only fanfics and fanart could be capable of capitalizing on this kind of content. On the other hand, for reasons I detailed in past articles, SEGA would not dare to alter the established order of the dynamic, let alone new that they managed to recover and maintain control over the ways Sonamy is being portrayed everywhere. SEGA won’t pull a Dragon Prince, which ended up confirming the main ship and then they made them go through a crisis and break up in a heartwrenching way in the graphic novel that acts as a bridge between season 3 and 4.

In short

The future of IDW Sonamy is looking bright and stable. I don’t think there will be serious changes to what we’re experiencing right now, and this is why both Evan Stanley and Ian Flynn agree that the dynamic is practically in the perfect place, keeping in line to how SEGA wants them to be represented together. This means we won’t see more affectionate gestures than what we’re seeing now (I doubt we’ll ever see again Sonic offering Amy a rose like in Sonic X), but it also means that we have now a solid basis for our expectations. In the now old IDW Sonic #2, Sonic and Amy had the chance of seriously talking a bit about what they thought of each other, with Sonic being determined to keep living life his own way (although he wouldn’t mind Amy to accompany him… or even suggesting himself that she could come), and Amy being determined to respect his way of life, because that’s what she loves about him, and she doesn’t want him to change. Since then, all we have seen and we’ll keep seeing in the comic is a consequence of this key moment; the two philosophies that they have and they share, in a constant back-and-forth with some tense moments and some cute moments.

An interesting detail that wasn’t included in the ask and that makes me think is the possibility that all of this will feature in the games as well. This is a completely different matter for another day, but I like to think that there is the possibility that we’ll see SEGA being more interested in inserting more Sonamy in the games, even if in an indirect way like in Sonic Unleashed and its emotional support, especially if the rumors that we’re about to get a soft-reboot are true. Romance is not something Sonic games are famous for doing well… at all, but that doesn’t mean it would be a bad idea to add a little sprinkle of IDW Sonamy in the mix.

And finally, I think I’ve talked enough about this topic, As you know, we’re waiting for some news, and I hope we’ll see each other again here or on our Discord. We’ll see if on this 25th something interesting happens. In any case, see you next time!

The moment that shaped the present and future of their entire relationship, 3 years ago.