Sonic the Hedgehog was the little mascot that could. Video games in the 1980s were defined by Mario and Nintendo, with Sega playing second fiddle. While their Genesis was more powerful than the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Nintendo was still a glimmer on the horizon, they knew they needed a mascot and everyone’s favorite blue speed demon was born. Sonic the Hedgehog was a revelation – I remember playing it as a kid and being blown away by it – and since then Sonic has been everywhere, from the big screen to comic books. Several companies have given readers four-color Sonic adventures, working with the universe that generations of Sega employees created.
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I was a never a Genesis kid, but I always enjoyed Sonic, especially the grittier cartoon they did where he was fighting some kind of dystopian Eggman empire. from the ’90s that for years I was sure I made up in my head. His comics, though, weren’t exactly what a kid raised on the X-Men comics of the ’90s wanted, but they’ve been doing something right for decades. IDW Publishing’s Sonic the Hedgehog: 35th Anniversary Special #1, by Iasmin Omar Ata, Thomas Rothlisberger, Matt Froese, Mauro Fonseca, and Min Ho Kim, is an entertaining celebration of the Sega mascot that will appeal to any fan of the franchise (well, except the weirder ones; those people scare me).
Rating: 3 out of 5
| Pros | Cons |
| An example of fun, classic Sonic the Hedgehog storytelling | There’s nothing really wrong with the book, it just hits a certain level for me which it reaches but does not exceed |
| All of the art is spectacular, the bright, cartoon-y art giving readers some gorgeous pages | |
| While it’s very kiddie, it’s still a fun comic for all ages |
Readers Get a Fun Sonic Story That Hits All the Right Spots
The Sonic the Hedgehog fandom can be a strange place, but that what happens when media never fades away; the fandom grows up and adults can get pretty weird with things. However, anyone expecting any kind of homage to some of the weirder aspects of the fandom is going to be disappointed with this comic. This comic plays the character and his adventures completely straight; it’s the kind of book you could give a veteran of the Sega/Nintendo console wars or your kid and they’d like it. Iasmin Omar Ata finds a way to take the basis of Sonic storytelling – Sonic and friends stopping Eggman from getting the Chaos Emeralds and taking over the world – but does it in a fun, unique way.
I think that’s what I liked about it so much, even as someone who isn’t really a massive Sonic fan; it feels like a Sonic story but tweaks things just enough to be unqiue. A mysterious meteorite becomes the focus of Eggman’s latest plan and Sonic and his friends have to stop him from meddling with something he doesn’t understand to save the world. It’s a rather simple sci-fi story premise that you’ve encountered a million times before, but Omar Ata is able to Sonic it right up. If you’re not a Sonic fan, some of the characters are going to be blanks for you (and the book doesn’t have the page real estate to give them anything other than a quick introduction), but you’ll still enjoy the basic gist of the story. I say this a lot in my reviews, but this isn’t some groundbreaking comic or anything like that; it has its level as a slightly above average comic. It doesn’t break Sonic or lead to some new status quo. It’s just a fun story that’s going to entertain you from start to finish without challenging you too much or anything like that.
The Story’s Art Is the Strongest Part of the Book
The original Sonic game was a graphical masterpiece for a home console game. The graphics were close to arcade quality and since then, Sonic stories have lived and died by their visuals. Sonic and his friends inhabit a colorful cartoon world and his comics have often followed that to a tee. There’s a certain look that fans expect from Sonic and his adventures; a whimsical multi-chromatic world that draws you into it and doesn’t let you go. Luckily, the four artists on this book are able to deliver on that, and even exceed expectations in places.
There are three pencilers (and one inker) on this book, and yet the art looks like it was all done by one artist. Sonic artists have to be able to create worlds that will appeal to fans of the game and each of them were are able to do it. The action is crisp and kinetic, the character acting captures the cartoon feel of the whole thing and help the jokes land, and the page layouts are simple but effective. The detail is pretty great throughout the book, never flagging once. The art makes the book’s simple plot sing; it brings it all to life while giving some gorgeous images. Mauro Fonseca and Min Ho Kim get to draw the most exciting parts of the story, while Thomas Rothlisberger does a fantastic job of setting everything up for them. Personally, I think Kim’s art is the best in the book, especially his Super Sonic pages, but that might also be because that’s the climax of the book. Honestly, the art is so seamless that it’s hard to pick one as my favorite.
Sonic the Hedgehog 35th Anniversary Special #1 is a love letter to the character and his world. It does a fantastic job of giving readers a story that fits the tropes of blue hedgehog’s world, all while giving them something different than they’ve gotten before. This is a fun comic, the kind of book you would have killed for as a ten-year old. It doesn’t set some bold new direction for the character and his world or anything like that. It pays homage to the work of one of Sega’s greatest teams of programmers (there’s a reason the Sonic Team is synonymous with great games) so well that you can hear the music from Green Hill Zone as you read it (or whatever your preferred Zone music is; I like the classics). If you love Sonic or merely want to remember why you used to, you can’t really go wrong picking up this book.
Sonic the Hedgehog 35th Anniversary Special #1 is on sale now!
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