IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Free Comic Book Day 2022

 By Mark Rodriguez

Sonic got a fresh start in the IDW comics, and they're up to issue 50 this June (as well as several spin off stories and whatnot). I lost track of the series, but it's good to know it's still going strong. Let's check out the Free Comic Book Day 2022 issue.

'Deep Trouble' opens with Sonic standing on Tails' plane as they prepare to land on Angel Island. They are being watched from a distance by Knuckles, the island's protector. Knuckles invited them over, though he admits Sonic always causes trouble. In a recent adventure Sonic ended up bringing Eggman and some monsters to his island. Tails says they did end up coming together to save everyone and Knuckles says he's right.

Knuckles says there has been strange rumblings in the Marble Garden so he called Sonic and Tails for help. Sonic is glad he can count on them. Knuckles says he can count on Sonic to cause trouble but he can count on Tails to keep Sonic on target. Either way, Sonic is happy the three of them are working together and leads the way. 

Knuckles knows a shortcut through a cave towards their destination. They soon arrive to Marble Garden and Knuckles warns the quakes have gotten stronger so they should watch their step. Sonic says it was mostly due to Eggman drilling. Just then Eggman bursts through the wall in a drill machine and he isn't happy to see Sonic and Tails there. He was mining for rare minerals and now he's ready to fight them.

Eggman flies upwards, drilling into the ceiling to cause debris to fall everywhere. Sonic spins through the rocks but before he can attack the machine, Knuckles flies ahead and starts punching it around. Eggman has enough and starts running the drills through the ground causing all sorts of chasms. Sonic is stuck on the very edge of the separating land and falls as it crumbles beneath his feet.

Tails swoops in to catch Sonic. Tails and Sonic spin around, with the two-tailed fox launching the hedgehog towards Eggman. Sonic smashes against the machine leaving a hole on one side while Knuckles blasts his way through a hole on the other side. Tails spins towards Eggman. Eggman escapes in his Egg-o-Matic that separates itself from his drill device. He says he still tore up the place so he still calls this a win as he flies away.

With Eggman gone, Sonic says that should stop the quakes so Knuckles can afford to rest for a bit. Tails invites the echidna to fly back with them to see how their restoration HQ is going. Knuckles kindly declines the offer, he still has a lot of hidden mysteries on Angel Island to discover. Sonic says he knows where to find them if they need help again. Sonic and Knuckles do a fist bump and Tails is happy to finally see them get along.

Prelude to Disaster

Dr. Starline goes over his plan to his minions, explaining who Sonic and Tails are and the fact that they have lots of allies. They explain that a while back Dr. Eggman lost his mind after a defeat at the hands of Sonic and became a good guy named Mr. Tinker. While Eggman was missing, so to speak, Metal Sonic took his place armed with the mad scientist's bio-signature. Thinking like Eggman, Metal Sonic also shared the good doctor's overconfidence, so he seeked the Master Emerald to reach a superior state. While the heroes were dealing with this, Starline's goons captured Mr. Tinker. They used Metal Sonic's bio-signature to reawaken Dr. Eggman to his usual evil self. 

For a while Eggman worked with Starline as they created the Metal Virus. They tested it on the lackeys and soon they were able to infect Sonic with it. They didn't expect Sonic to be able to use his speed to ward it off. Eggman proceeded to infect the world, even turning Sonic's friends into zombots going after him. Eventually Eggman lost control of the virus. Starline took matters into his own hands and hired the Deadly Six hoping to use their powers to control the zombots... but they betrayed him and took the Chaos Emeralds and also booted the villains at the feet of the heroes.

Eggman betrayed Starline and took the space-altering gemstone, the Warp Topaz from him. Eggman worked with Sonic to get rid of the Metal Virus. At this point, Starline gathered his own crew of minions named Zavok, Rough, Tumble and Mimic to help him assemble the Tri-Core. He can use it to nearly match Sonic's speed, Tails' heights and Knuckles' strength. He hacked into Eggnet files to gather data on Sonic and Shadow. He also gathered bio-data from Tails. He plans to surpass Eggman and break the endless cycle that Sonic and Eggman are stuck in. 

The henchmen start realizing that Starline is using them as mere pawns to his plans and he uses the Tri-Core to 'reboot' them. He says they're getting stronger. They might not have taken out Sonic's friends with in a recent fire or gathered more information from Tails' lab, but they did conquer Egg Base Alpha. Dr. Starline says Surge and Kit are ready and whoever messes with them, be it Sonic or Eggman better watch out. 

My Thoughts-

The first story was a simple, but fun, nostalgic romp. Bringing things back to basics, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles travel through Angel Island and even have an Eggman boss fight with the kinda stuff you'd see in Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles. I like how they even reference some of the levels like the Carnival Night Zone and the Hydrocity Zone. They even have Sonic and Tails argue over whether or not it's Hydro-City or Hydrocity. Kinda reminds me of Megamind living in Metro City but he calls it Metrocity. 

Although I do have to say, the boss machine Eggman uses here looks closer to what he used in Sonic 2's Mystic Cave Zone than it does in the actual Marble Garden Zone.

It was a short and fun story and perfect timing, hot on the heels of the new Sonic movie that features not only Tails but also Knuckles. 

The second story was pretty much a re-telling of recent events in the IDW Sonic comic series. It's a good way to keep track of what's been going on, things like Eggman temporarily forgetting who he was, the Metal Virus and explaining how Dr. Starline enters the picture. I haven't been keeping up with these events as they occured, but I do have to ask how Sonic managed to outrun a virus and also what Starline, Surge and Kit can possibly do that can top a Metal Virus that infected the world. 

I do find Surge kinda interesting. In the old Archie comics there was an evil alternate universe version of Sonic called Anti-Sonic. He was pretty much Sonic with shades and a leather jacket on. He made more appearances, called himself Surge and eventually turned himself green to give him a much more distinct look. The IDW comics can no longer use any Archie comics characters (long story), so I find this new version of Surge to be a possible callback. This version of Surge is also green and she's not a hedgehog, but a very similar animal called a tenrec, so I'm thinking she's a clever shoutout. This time though, they really went with the Surge name, giving her electric attacks.

Good rundown of recent events and cool art. Also cool to see the Deadly Six make it into the comics. I'm not sure how much of a positive reception Sonic Lost World got, but the comic can use as many actual game villains that they can get. 

Overall, a short and sweet Sonic, Tails and Knuckles story and a summary of current events leading up to the next big plot in the currently running series. I do have to ask again though, what could Dr. Sterline possibly come up with that could top the Metal Virus?