[ANALYZING SONIC THE HEDGEHOG COMICS] Sonic the Hedgehog: Issue 3 (IDW Comics)

 

Title: Sonic the Hedgehog

Issue: #3

Writer: Ian Flynn

Artist: Jennifer Hernandez

Series: IDW

Previously Reviewed: Issue 1 |  Issue 2

So, now that we are introduced to Amy and Tails, here's the issue where we are finally introduced to Knuckles the Echidna; you know, that red Echidna who happens to be one of Sonic's rivals (or former rival, depending on how you look at it)? Well, I must say that I was quite excited to check out this issue, especially since Knuckles is in this issue!  But, before we go into my thoughts about this issue, here's a brief summary of the issue.

The issue begins with Sonic the Hedgehog rushing over to a new town and it was there that he meets up with Knuckles the Echidna, who is busy smashing up some robots.  It turns out that Knuckles is still the leader of the Resistance, but he's clearly not enjoying the job.  But at the same time, Sonic and Knuckles discovers that the town that they came to has been taken over by two skunk mercenaries named Rough and Tumble and the skunk brothers also have a supply of Wispons to help them keep control over the city.  It's up to Sonic and Knuckles to stop these skunk brothers!

So, when I saw Knuckles come into this issue, I was really happy!  Knuckles is one of my all-time favorite characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, alongside Tails, and I always wanted to see how he would be portrayed in the IDW comics.  So far, I'm really liking Knuckles' characterization in this series as he does have a tough exterior, like he does in most interpretations of his character; but he also respects Sonic enough to work with him and will always do the right thing in the end.  Also, I'm just glad that Knuckles is not portrayed as being unintelligent in this series like he has been portrayed lately in the games (or at least in the Sonic Boom games).  I always had an issue whenever Knuckles was being portrayed as unintelligent because the Knuckles that I grew up with was pretty cunning in his actions, even though he can be pretty gullible at times.  Heck, there was a brief moment in this issue where Sonic was laughing at the Skunk Brothers and made a joke about them and Knuckles took what the Skunk Brothers were saying seriously.  This is another aspect of Knuckles that I appreciate because there are times where Knuckles doesn't have the best social skills in some games and there are times where he doesn't get the joke that the other characters would tell.  That scene actually reminded me of myself as I tend to get a bit confused whenever people are joking about something.  Like I would go like, "Are you actually joking or are you being serious?"  Anyway, I really liked Sonic and Knuckles' relationship with each other in this issue.  Even though they've been rivals for many years, they are still pretty friendly with each other and I just loved seeing how close Sonic and Knuckles have become with each other over the years.

The story in this issue was pretty fun!  While it's the typical "Sonic and Friends fight off the bad guys" plot, it was fun seeing Sonic and Knuckles fight together against the newest foes, Rough and Tumble.  Also, it was interesting seeing the Wisps make an appearance in this issue (even though as of this post, I still haven't played "Sonic Colors" yet and I'm not too familiar with their characters or their abilities).

One of the problems that I have with this issue is Rough and Tumble themselves.  While they are new villains created for this series, I felt that they were pretty generic villains compared to some villains like Metal Sonic or even Snively as they were portrayed as just being mere bullies that Sonic and Knuckles could easily take down. Another problem that I had with this issue was the artwork.  I felt that the artwork in this issue was a bit weak compared to the artwork in the previous two issues and it just felt too out of place in this series.

Overall, I give this issue a rating of:

Even though the artwork was a bit weak and the main antagonists in this issue, Rough and Tumble, weren't that interesting as characters, I still enjoyed this issue!  I just loved seeing Sonic and Knuckles fighting alongside each other again and it was great seeing Knuckles be portrayed in a better light in this series so far.   Now, it's time to get to the next issue, where we are introduced to the newest character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Tangle the Lemur!