At the time of writing, it has been a few days since the trailer for the Sonic The Hedgehog movie was released. Whilst this review is not a think-piece about that, what’s worth pointing out away from the news about Sonic’s design is the portrayal of Doctor Robotnik by Jim Carrey. Many reviews and comments online have pointed out that he’s channeling what appears to be an evil form of the title character from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
Discussions about Robotnik, or Eggman, have already been had about the versatile nature of the character. But it’s apparent that you can really compare how different the two versions are after the events of this issue. If anything, Flynn’s interpretation of Eggman showcases a sinister and dark intent to ramp up peril. Whatever the target audience for the new Sonic movie, Sonic The Hedgehog for IDW is trying to keep some more mature elements to it.
From what feels like a filler issue, it again morphs into a pivotal and intriguing part of a greater whole. Sonic’s infection with the Zombot virus looks as if it would’ve been written off after an apparent time jump but in fact reveals itself to be something that’ll be following him for a while. It also gives him something to doubt, and that’ll affect the overall cockiness he can have a character. Flynn doesn’t overplay this too much, as this Sonic is more empathic than most iterations of his character, but it gives him a sense of mortality to deal with.
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But the main event of this issue, aside from the introduction of the Faceship, is Eggman’s awful actions in regards to the town that housed him as Mr. Tinker. He completely dumps the virus over the whole town and they all immediately succumb to its effects and spread it immediately. It’s shocking to see, and surprisingly dark yet still feels in tone comparable to what we’ve seen before.
The appearance of Tangle doesn’t appear to add much apart from to remind people that there’s an Sonic the Hedgehog Annual available with a small adventure that she did, which files under the “character” criticism that gets thrown around.
But symbolically, the series is working its hardest to try and maintain this more serious tone that it wants to keep. Especially with the flack that the trailer for the movie is getting, Flynn and co are working hard to keep a wider audience happy. Those final pages of that bird becoming a zombot? An artistic way to end an episode – but for longer term fans of the franchise it’s a Flicky being offered as a sacrifice to amplify the threat that Eggman is creating.
