There’s something about speed that kids enjoy. I was obsessed with the Flash as a kid, not because I loved the stories but the very idea of being anywhere, instantly, seemed the best thing ever.
My daughter is similarly obsessed with speed but instead of the Flash, she latched onto the Sonic the Hedgehog comics. She liked the games, too, but she loves the stories. And while Archie Comics is becomingly increasingly known for adult story lines like Afterlife with Archie, a terrific zombie series, they’ve also upped their game with the Sonic and Mega Man titles. The Justice League of America/Justice Society of America crossovers drove my obsession and, similarly, the Worlds Collide storyline had my daughter riveted. She’s looking to the next announced crossover, Worlds Unite.
Here’s her review of what she loves about the series.
CAUTION: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM SONIC AND MEGA MAN WORLDS COLLIDE
I’ve been reading the Sonic the Hedgehog comics for about 2 years now, and trust me it’s been worth that time. The writing is great and the art has helped me with my drawing skills.
Why do I love why I love them?
For one thing, it’s the writing. Ian Flynn is an amazing writer. He sometimes puts in little quotes from other media. Like one time in Worlds Collide when Mega Man (A.K.A Rock) and Sonic were fighting Copy Robot and The Genesis Unit. Copy Robot was comparing himself to Mega Man he quoted this line “It’s useless Rock! I’m your perfect copy! I know everything you’re about to do before you even do it! Strange isn’t it?”
I love a well-placed quote that’s also an in-joke.
Oh, I should tell anybody who hasn’t heard about the origin of the “Strange Isn’t it?” line. Well, long story short in a really bad Sonic movie called Sonic The Hedgehog The Movie, which cast horrible voice actors (in my opinion) Sonic was fighting Metal Sonic or Hyper Metal Sonic in this case and, no, it is just a name Hyper Metal Sonic does not have the Seven Super Emeralds, it is just a name.
Anyway, when they clashed Sonic said this: “You may know everything thing I’m going to do, but that’s not going to help you because I know everything you’re going to do! Strange isn’t it?” Ironically, the voice actor Sonic had was perfect for that line and he made it more memorable.
So back on subject, I love the writing, yeah. Ian Flynn great on Sonic’s personality, he made sure that Sonic kept his best traits: cockiness, selflessness, and just being plain cool. They also stayed true to Knuckle’s personality and Tails’ and Amy’s.
The best part about the writing is the cliffhangers. At the end of each comic when that cliff hanger happens, it makes me excited and disappointed, but mostly excited because then I can speculate and find out what happens next. But that’s what makes this a successful comic, you got the suspenseful cliffhangers, great writing and illustrations, which will be our next topic.
The illustrations are great. It’s like they looked at the video games and then took that and drew it in their own way, which they probably did. Like I said in the beginning, the comic has helped improve my drawing skills, especially using Sonic as a guideline. The overall art never strays from the Sonic art style and you can always tell it is a Sonic comic.
Now our last topic will be the characters.
I briefly talked about the characters before, but there is more than that, my friends!
Sonic is a blue hedgehog from the planet Mobius. After the Genesis Wave not much of Sonic’s past is known as yet. Anyway, as everybody knows he has super speed, can transform into Super Sonic and has many other abilities. He wears white gloves, red shoes, with a white strap around it and a buckle on each side of the shoe. As I said Sonic is selfless, cocky and acts cool all the time. Only in dire times he loses these cocky and acting cool traits.
Sonic also hates water and can’t swim. Apparently, the Sonic Team didn’t think hedgehogs could swim and, just so you know, they can. Sadly, thanks to Sonic Team not knowing that hedgehogs could swim, poor Sonic can’t swim and we got an unbeatable enemy in videogames: water.
Amy occasionally tries to get Sonic pushed to her side, not as much as in the video games, but they stay true to her personality: quick tempered but nice.
Tails is a bit more of a wimp than in the games, but not much, but Knuckles is the same. Sally or Princess Sally Acorn is great; her personality is good and she is a true leader. Rotor can be a bit pushy, as I’ve discovered in the Waves of Change Arc, but he is still cool. Bunnie or Bunnie D’Coolette is pretty much the same as the games. Antonie or Antonie D’Coolette, on the other hand, has changed greatly. He is brave, and is not scared of everything and can show his feelings better. It’s about time Antonie, it’s about time.
Overall Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog is a great comic! It has action, adventure and characters that you don’t just see games. I give these comics 5 Stars.
