Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 35
IDW Publishing
Story: Evan Stanley
Art: Adam Bryce Thomas
Colours: Reggie Graham
Please keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times, this is going to be a bumpy one! Rogue calls on Sonic and Tails for backup after the appearance of a hooded villain at White Park. The recently-revealed shadowy figure from Eggman’s base tags along, but can they really be trusted? All will be revealed in “Chao Races and Badnik Bases,” part three!
All three covers are very different in this issue. Cover A is another shot of the Chao Races, Cover B is a shot of Sonic and Tails, and cover RI gives us a full cast shot with a hint at who the mysterious robed figure is. All three are very nice. When it comes to the interiors, we have some more nice use of tone as we jump between locations and times of the day. The issue featured a lot more action this time, with a variety of foes for our heroes to tackle, ranging from badniks to a giant robo-bear, and all the way back to a returning villain. Everything looked suitably over the top too, which really helped capture the pacing.
From a story standpoint, we’re in the home stretch of the arc now, and it shows. Everything moves along quickly, culminating in both groups meeting up at White Park. What we get to see on a base level here is the heroes facing up to things not going their way. From fighting out of an Eggman base to a high-speed chase on a rollercoaster, the deck is certainly stacked against them.
It was nice to see Amy Rose step up again here too. Of course, she’s super happy to see Sonic when he gets there, but she rises to the challenge when it’s needed and gets to show off her Piko Piko Hammer skills. We also had a nice twist with Rouge, a big hint that Belle may have been made by Mr Tinker, and a bad guy reveal that ties in with the currently running Bad Guys mini-series. Throw in a cliffhanger ending that sets up a tough choice for the Blur Blur to make in the final issue of the arc, and we’re onto a winner.
As a lead-in to the finale, this was a great issue. It was exciting, threw in a few twists, and came with the excellent presentation you expect from the series. This one is a 5 out of 5 for me.
Matt Doyle Media 