Sonic the Hedgehog #85 is written by Evan Stanley & Ian Flynn and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Min Ho Kim, colours by Valentina Pinto and letters by Ed Dukeshire. Main cover art (left) is by Min Ho Kim.
Sonic the Hedgehog #85 is available from today, in comic book stores and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
In their quest to find Metal Sonic, the now-trapped Sonic, Belle, Motobud, and Sage discover that someone has used stolen Dr. Eggman tech to take control of creatures. During their search, Sonic becomes trapped in a cryptic illusion, leaving Sage and Belle to work together to fend off the controlled Metal Sonic. Will these three creations of Dr. Eggman be able to find common ground? Or will these relationships explode?
Review
Picking Sonic the Hedgehog back up this week, after our heroes were left perfectly poised on their adventure in the previous issue, felt like clicking the TV on for the next episode of a Saturday morning cartoon from my childhood.
Once again we are treated to brave and interesting story choices by Evan Stanley and Ian Flynn, however Mauro Fonseca’s bright and bold art style from the previous issue has been parked, as Min Ho Kim takes the reigns casting a more shadowy tone on this subterranean instalment of the story – the dampening of Fonseca’s vivid cartoony feel, in favour of Ho Kim’s brooding, shadowy and foreboding tone, informs the reader that the stakes have risen and hints that all is not as it seems…
I really appreciate that this comic is about more than just “Sonic go fast and smash baddies, weeeee!”
There’s some really delicate, nuanced and compelling dynamics being executed in the relationship between Sage and Belle that is driving forward Sonic the Hedgehog’s “ROAD TO 100” era.
Sage and Belle differ in philosophies in a way that compliments one another, Belle’s warmth and kindness means she is seemingly more vulnerable in this issue. Sage is calculated, cold and pragmatic, however satisfyingly, the way it is woven, there are clear points of unity between the siblings, they need one another to survive and while they are very different people, together they are building a formidable partnership and team.
Sonic enjoys a similar reflective experience this issue, he’s separated from the siblings and finds himself in a seemingly never-ending cave, where a malevolent mirror image of himself haunts him- copying his every action and parroting his words with an echo affect.
It’s a rare situation where Sonic cannot triumph, the nihilistic nightmare is only broken when Belle and Sage inadvertently blow a hole in the wall, enabling Sonic to escape his personal prison – potential foreshadowing for the effect Belle and Sage and their newfound familial relationship will have on Sonic across the wider-arc? I guess we will have to wait and see.
There’s so much potential in this story due to the various combinations of interpersonal relationships and the corresponding values, rhetoric and trauma of each individual member of the Eggman ‘family’ – we’re abruptly reminded of this when Metal Sonic crashes the party- sporting a device on his face, that appears to be having an effect on his autonomy?
A mention for the setting of this issue, the cave, its laboratory and Sonic’s nihilistic nightmare liminal space, presented to me as a character of sorts within itself.
As previously mentioned, tonally, Ho Kim’s artwork plays a big role in this, but the laboratory especially maintained that ‘classic Sonic’ feel without doing too much, and the never-ending liminal space tunnel was genuinely anxiety inducing.
If I had to use a single word to describe this issue, it would be Dynamics –
the dynamic between Sage and Belle, the dynamic between the art style of 84 to the art-style of 85, the dynamic of Sonic’s experience, compared to that of the siblings and the dynamic between the wide open spacious cave laboratory, compared to the claustrophobic never-ending liminal space tunnel, it feels like there’s purpose and symbolism in all of these choices. There is a strong dynamism to everything in this book and the wider-arc at play, it’s satisfying, entertaining and smart. The team behind this book at weaving together delicate threads and themes, dancing between, around and across one another without it ever being overly complicated or difficult to digest.
The issue ends with Metal Sonic kidnapping Sage, setting up an opportunity to sew more delicate dynamism into the tapestry – how will the this present between Sage and Metal Sonic? Where are the similarities and differences in their values, rhetoric and objectives.
I can’t wait to find out.
Verdict
Sibling rivalry and familial connection takes centre stage in issue 85 of Sonic the Hedgehog, with the developing dynamic between Sage and Belle taking strong strides both thematically and in-story, creating a subtly smart and compelling story that transcends tropes but still feels quintessentially Sonic the Hedgehog.
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