Sonic the Hedgehog #2 [IDW Publishing] – Comic Review

Welcome, one and all, to part two of the four-week blitz of Sonic comics.

• Sonic the Hedgehog #2
• IDW Publishing
• Story: Ian Flynn
• Art: Adam Bryce Thomas

Okay, so this follows directly on from issue one, with Sonic heading towards a new town. Here, he swiftly deals with a Death Crab, a la Sonic Forces, then moves on to defending the town alongside Amy Rose. It was actually the interplay between these two that caught my attention the most here, because it really did a great job of setting up a few points about the characters.

For starters, Sonic is a free spirit, sure, but he borders dangerously on arrogance a few times here. That’s not in itself a bad thing though, as Sonic’s self-confidence and snappy comments are as enshrined in his character these days as his speed. What was nice to see was that he did have some genuine affection for Amy too. It never dropped into the same feel as his love life in the Archie comics – I don’t expect him to be dating the cast here – but it was enough of a nod to fit with the canon of the franchise.

Meanwhile, Amy was given a stellar debut in the series. She had her wearing-her-heart-on-her-sleeve love for Sonic on display, as you would expect, but there was more to her than that. She was certainly combat ready and proved herself worthy of taking charge to boot. Anything that helps the cast move beyond being one dimensional characters is certainly a good thing and is a good sign for the ongoing future of the series.

The story itself felt a little better paced than the first issue. We had plenty of action to speed through, but interspersing it with Amy and Sonic’s discussions about the Resistance as it stands post-war helped flesh out the world a little bit. And of course, we continued the story of there being someone at the helm in relation to the badnik attacks. The final pages set up the next issue with a shot of some newcomers on the villains side, and revealing Knuckles to be the focus for that issue, so all remains well on the keeping things moving front.

There were a few little nods here that I really liked. For one, Sonic and Amy do a team-up move that they call the croquet bomber. I’m not one hundred per cent certain, but I recall the same (or at least a similar) move being available in the underrated Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood RPG on the Nintendo DS. On top of that, the Death Crab wasn’t the only Forces implant, as some of the clothing on the background characters look remarkably like those available for the avatar character in said game.

Issue artist Adam Bryce Thomas, another former staff member from the Archie incarnation of the series, does a very good job overall here. There was maybe one panel where I felt that Amy’s expression didn’t match how I heard the words in my head, but that’s down to my own interpretation rather than an actual fault. The general quality was still very high, with the trend of far more attention being paid to background characters than I expected continuing. Oh, and there was a background character that was a sheep. What a wonderful design that was! Cover wise, I got the Tyson Hesse version again which, as well as looking great, I just found out actually connects to the first issue’s cover. I’m not sure how I missed that Cover A for issues 1-4 form one larger piece, but there you go.

In all, I thought that this was actually an improvement over issue 1. That surprised me because, while I don’t dislike her as a character, Amy is far from my favourite protagonist. 4.5 out of 5.