Welcome, one and all, to another IDW Sonic review! With The Battle For Angel Island nearing its cimax, can the issue maintian the excitement?
- Sonic the Hedgehog #11
- IDW Publishing
- Story: Ian Flynn
- Art: Tracy Yardley & Evan Stanley
- Colours: Matt Herms
I got Cover B again, which features work by Lamar Wells and Adam Bryce Thomas. It’s decent, but I’d say that Jonathan Gray’s Cover A is my favourite this month. All three available are good this month though, so it’s all cool.
We have the same art team again, which is really good, because quite aside form their consistency in quality, it helps create a cohesiveness in style with the different parts of the story. Knuckles gets the cute facial expression award this time, with his master emerald retrieval leaving him rather happy. There weren’t any bothersome panels at all this issue, and Matt Herms does a wonderful job in fleshing out the art with some excellent lighting. This is particularly true when it comes to explosions and the more mechanical areas.
Tangle and Whisper get some nice brief moments during the aftermath of the battle, but the whole crew gets some action. It’s Tails that gets to play hero this time around, which is really nice to see. He’s always been my favourite character, and he’s been kinda swept under the rug a little so far with the growing cast taking the focus. We also get to meet Doctor Starline, duck-billed new villain that is set on a course to return Doctor Eggman to his nefarious ways. I like his design; it’s reminiscent a little of Doctor Finitevus (Sonic the Hedgehog – Archie Imprint) and Doctor Zachary (Sonic the Hedgehog – Fleetway Imprint) in terms of colouring, but obviously not an echidna. We’ll see how his inclusion fleshes out the villain team in the long run.
Story wise, this penultimate issue – in both the Battle For Angel Island arc and the year’s run – we get a nice, big feel battle with Neo Metal Sonic’s final form. This pulls in everyone and provides plenty of excitement. My only real complaint is that I would have liked to see the battle last more than one issue, but it’s not a big deal. The ending of the issue hints at Eggman’s return, so I expect some more action in issue 12.
I’d say that, while still very strong, this was a step below the last issue. It’s still an easy 4 out of 5 though.
Matt Doyle Media 