Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 44
IDW Publishing
Story: Ian Flynn
Art: Tracy Yardley, Matt Froese
Colours: Matt Herms
MISSING: Belle the Tinkerer―doll-like look, blue eyes, made of wood, usually wears a green hat, and is known for being clumsy
The search for Belle begins! Sonic and the Chaotix search far and wide for their new friend as she fights to escape. But will that be enough, or have the bad guys already won…? And where have the Zeti gone? Find out the conclusion to “Zeti Hunt”!
So, starting with the covers, the three available for this issue are all pretty great. Cover A by Gigi Dutreix is my favourite. It actually feels a little like promo art for a band to me. In fact, I’m certain I’ve seen something similar a few times over the years covering upcoming albums. Meanwhile, cover B by Jamal Peppers is a nice hit towards what we see in the issue. Finally, cover RI by Nathalie Fourdraine is a nice, colourful shot of what could have been.
The internal art is interesting insofar as it’s all very dark this issue. The outdoor shots that start the issue are almost foreshadowing the tone of the issue as a whole, I think. Once we join Dr. Starline in his lab with Belle the Tinkerer, it’s a wonderful mix of a muted setting with atmospheric lighting. The bursts of stark colour only come during times that Belle is angry, which is a nice touch, I thought. On top of all of this, the facial expressions of the nefarious Starline paint him as truly evil at times, with a far bigger malicious streak than previously shown. We don’t’ actually see any real daylight until the closing panel where the sun finally begins to rise after the events that have unfurled over the last story arc. It’s all far more subtle a piece of visual storytelling than you may expect from a Sonic the Hedgehog comic.
The story is bookended by the Zeti, first being sent away after their recent defeat, and then them landing on their homeworld of Lost Hex, vowing to return even more ruthless than ever. It’s a decent way to both end their current story and set them up for a return down the line. The brunt of the issue though dealt with Starline experimenting on Belle. That’s literal too. When we first find them, he has Belle’s head open as he fiddles with her internals. It’s actually fairly gruesome, even with her being a robot.
The main thing we learn here is that Dr. Starline is very clinical in how he views artificial life. No matter how real Belle comes across, he sees her as an ingenious machine that he can learn from and replicate. Meanwhile, we also get to see what Dr. Eggman was like ad Mister Tinker and find out how Belle was treated when he returned to his villainous roots. The rescue by the Chaotix was short but far more effective than the longer battle of the last issue, and it did a good job of showing them to be heroes while still making Starline’s new tech-infused strength clear.
This was, overall, an excellent issue for storytelling. We got backstory, we got action, awe got the continued rise of a villain, and we got the end of the Zeti arc. This one was a big step up, and I am happy to give it the full 5 out of 5.
Matt Doyle Media 
Sounds like a very interesting storyline. Good job on the review. Also, thanks for checking out my Theatre of Wrestling review.
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You’re very welcome, and thank you too 🙂
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No problem!
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The great thing is, I saw both Clementine and Mr Charles Crowley live recently. One of my old trainees runs a company now and had their first show under his ownership locally. I sent song to show some support. Those two in particular have some real star power to them and really stood out on the show.
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No way! That’s amazing! Both of them are super talented. It’s crazy how Crowley is able to be a character, act, and is a film director in real life. If you didn’t check out that You Are Cordially Invited Review, I mention that he had a bit role in the Maleficient movie of all things in addition to wrestling and making movies. I’m so glad that you know them. Who else did you see at that show?
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He’s really, really good. Like, the moment he entered, you knew he was a star.
The full results are here under the show Press Start: https://ukpwwrestling.co.uk/event-results
Mike Bird was another standout. He’s always been great as well, and he looked particularly brutal here.
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I know, right? He’s very talented. Crowley has been featured in Progress with him being a commentator before transitioning as a manager to the Welsh wrestler Elijah and now is doing in-ring stuff as of recently. Mike Bird is good. I’ve seen his work in Resurgence, Riptide and Attack. He’s trained at least 90% of the Welsh wrestling scene like Flash Morgan Webster, “Wild Boar” Mike Hitchman, Mark Andrews, and Brendan White to name a few.
I checked out the results. Alexander Roth is a very talented wrestler, too. I like his singles and tag team work as The Hitset with Keiran Kurupt. If you remember my BritWres documentary list, I had a match of them against The Lion Kings when I mentioned Nsereko from Everything Patterned there. Danny Black is a good high-flyer. He’s been in Progress a lot. I know he’s a hardcore Dardevil fan given his ring gear, but he has potential and he’s even stepped up his technical game recently instead of just flips or kicks.
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Roth was very good and I look forward to his title match there with Dow Jones. Black was impressive too.
Bird had been around ages too, and makes that old school no nonsense style work well for him.
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Yeah, Roth is definitely one to watch and he’s a good guy from my previous interactions with him. Black is good at being an underdog babyface.
That’s right. He’s been around a while, but never went major besides a match or two on NXT UK. Bird is certainly underrated.
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