Sonic the Hedgehog #25 // Review
With the Zombot Virus spreading over the planet and leaving no survivors in its wake, and with Sonic slowly succumbing to the infection itself, there is only one safe left free from the virus: Angel Island. But will Knuckles work with the survivors, or will he fall too?
Sonic The Hedgehog's 25th issue comes to us from writer Ian Flynn, artist Adam Bryce Thomas, colorist Matt Herms, and Sean Lee on the letters.
Eggman's plans have, perhaps, gone too far with a zombie-like robot plague spreading across the planet at the pace of a wandering corpse. Too arrogant to figure a cure, Eggman finds himself betrayed by his assistant - leaving Eggman as vulnerable as the rest of the population. Can Eggman put aside his ego, work with his hated foes, and find a cure? Does he even want to? And does anyone even want to trust him at this point?
The current storyline, having started back at issue 15, has been spectacular so far. Ian Flynn has found a way to pull off a Walking Dead storyline within Sonic the Hedgehog without needing more than a PG rating. Despite being 11 issues into the story itself, and the "quarter-versary" issue of the new run, the comic still feels remarkably fresh. This is partially due to the highly energetic art from Adam Bryce Thomas, which looks like the best art from the video games while still allowing for emotional expression. This book has gone to some strangely dark places for Sonic, and issue 25 is no exception.
High drama is a rarity for the IDW series, but it plays heavily to Flynn's strengths from his Archie Sonic days. A serious plus is also watching Sonic slowly run himself to exhaustion, as his speed is the only thing keeping himself from becoming infected by the virus. It feels that, while Sega's watchful eye may be on the franchise again, that Flynn and his friends are trusted with taking some real interesting leaps with the franchise.
Despite the Deadly Six also ramping up the torment, taking control over the zombotified civilians, and tormenting the few survivors, there does seem to be a bright light at the end of the torment tunnel. Fans of Sonic also jonesing for a Walking Dead fix should have been checking out this book yesterday. Of course, most Sonic fans have already been doing this, so anyone who's interested in Sonic from the recent movie should definitely check this book out - but start at either issue 1 of this new series, or at least 15 so you know what's going on with the virus.
Grade: B+
