‘Sonic The Hedgehog Annual 2022’ Review

Comic Books

Dec 30

In August of this year, Sonic the Hedgehog Annual 2022 was released. It consists of six short side stories focusing primarily on characters that may need more focus in the main story. These stories are “Guardians” (Story: Ian Flynn; Art: Adam Bryce Thomas; Colors: Joana Lafuente), “Weapons” (Story: Daniel Barnes; Art: Thomas Rothlisberger; Colors: Leonardo Ito), “Hero Camp” (Story: India Swift; Art: Abby Bulmer; Colors: Heather Breckel), “Future Growth” (Story: Evan Stanley, Gigi Dutreix; Art: Evan Stanley; Colors Dutreix), “Another Grand Adventure for Jet the Hawk” (Story: Ian Mutchler; Art: Natalie Haines; Colors: Priscilla Tramontano), and “Rough Patch” (Story & Art: Aaron Hammerstrom; Colors: Valentina Pinto).

A huge theme of this collection is unusual pairings, and the first one featured is Blaze and Knuckles in “Guardians.” Blaze the Cat, the princess of the Sol Dimension and guardian of the Sol Emeralds, are looking for something to do after defeating the last robot pirates in her dimension. Marine the Raccoon, Blaze’s sidekick, suggests she takes a vacation. However, she is not convinced and decides to seek another guardian’s counsel; Knuckles the Echidna, the guardian of the Master Emerald in Sonic’s World. She explains her situation to him, and he, too, suggests that she take a vacation, finally convincing Blaze to take some time off from her work in the Sol Dimension.

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Having Knuckles and Blaze be paired together is rather interesting. They are both guardians in their respective dimensions and thus feel a sworn duty to protect them. However, in this situation, one of them has the opportunity to take a break: Blaze. Ian Flynn does an excellent job of portraying the theme of allowing rest in one’s life, and Adam Bryce Thomas’ art portrays the story well, too, with its dynamic framing and stylization of the characters. This story makes for an excellent first part of the collection and works well as a stand-alone tale about the dangers of overworking.

The following story in the annual is “Weapons,” and features the characters of E-123 Omega and Gemerl the Gizoid as the unlikely pair. It picks up after Miles “Tails” Prower finishes repairs on the former Eggman robot. Omega is pleased with his repairs, and Tails suggests he gives his new body a “test drive” by sparring with Gemerl. Both robots seem equally matched in skill, power, and technique, but for a time, Omega seems to have the upper hand. Omega deduces that this is due to the gizoid spending most of his time caring for Cream the Rabbit; his combat systems and processing speed has waned. The robot suggests that he join him and abandon the rabbit family to reclaim his position as a battle robot, but Gemerl rejects this proposition, quickly regaining the upper hand in the battle. Though both were created by Dr. Eggman to be weapons of destruction, Gemerl was also built to evolve, thus changing his function. He is content with his current position with Cream and her mother, Vanilla, and he does not desire to return to the battlefield. Both robots return to Tails needing further repairs, much to the fox boy’s chagrin.

Like the previous story in the annual, “Weapons” uses the similarities between this unlikely pair to build its story arc. Both robots were created by Dr. Eggman to destroy Sonic. However, Gemerl, due to being built from the remains of Professor Gerald Robotnik’s learning robot Emerl, has evolved past his original function, while Omega merely switched sides. Again, Daniel Barnes tells this story wonderfully, and the art of Thomas Rohtlisberger compliments it well. Overall, this story is a fine addition to the annual.

The next story, “Hero Camp,” focuses on Cream and the kids of the Sonic Fan Club attending a summer camp of the same name, intending to train them to be real heroes. However, the camp is actually a plan by Eggman’s robot lackeys, Orbot and Cubot, to get the inside scoop on the workings of the Restoration, a group formed out of the Resistance featured in 2017’s Sonic Forces. Each activity is a thinly veiled attempt to gain the secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog and the Restoration. However, they are soon found out after they reveal that they don’t know how to make s’mores, and Cream and the rest of the kids tie the robot duo up.

This is a nice break from the more character development-heavy stories, but it’s also nice to give some more focus to the Cream the Rabbit character, especially considering that she has not appeared in a lot of recent games. India Swift, a relatively new writer to the Sonic the Hedgehog comics, does an excellent job of conveying the cute, Saturday morning cartoon-like antics of this rag-tag bunch of would-be heroes, and Abby Bulmer’s art compliments it well.

Next up is “Future Growth.” The story takes place on a holiday called “Harvest Day” when those at the Resistance HQ harvest crops from the garden. Silver slips out to the forest, where he is followed by Team Chaotix’s resident ninja, Espio the Chameleon. Silver initially tries to deflect that anything is wrong, but he eventually confides in Espio that he has no idea why he’s here in the past. Silver is a time traveler from the future who often goes to the past to prevent some catastrophic event. However, everything seems peaceful, so he does not know why he’s in the past. This causes Silver to have a near existential crisis as he fears he might have done something wrong or is missing something. Espio tells Silver to calm down and relates the hedgehog’s experience to his experience as a ninja, as he, too, must be aware of any danger that may befall him and his team. However, he doesn’t let this fear consume him. Espio tells him to have faith in himself, stating that Silver might not know why he’s here now, but he is where he needs to be.

The overall theme of this story is rather impactful. It can speak not only to the experience of the character of Silver the Hedgehog but also that of the reader. Many people have no idea why they are at a certain place, but it’s important that they know they are where they need to be. Evan Stanley and Gig Dutriex do a great job of conveying this theme. Stanley’s art is also interesting, as his style stands out amongst the other stories. It does well to give this story a unique flavor. This is a fine addition to the annual.

“Another Grand Adventure for Jet the Hawk” is perhaps the weakest of the annual. There’s not much to be done with Jet the Hawk and Whisper the Wolf pairing, and it’s basically filler. The story starts after a wisp steals Jet’s calzone and gives it to Whisper. A badnik attacks them, and Whisper fights the badnik off using Jet’s hoverboard while annoyed by Jet’s constant talking. While it is a funny juxtaposition to have a loudmouth character be paired with a traditionally quiet character, it’s an overall forgettable story. The art is nice, however.

The last story, “Rough Patch,” focuses on a temporary split between mercenary brothers Rough and Tumble the Skunk. They initially separate due to arguments over plans and rhymes. Rough teams up with Tangle the Lemur, and Tumble teams up with Rouge the Bat. Both Rouge and Tangle are undercover, trying to stop whatever plan the two have cooked up. The pairs then appear at the same heist and begin to argue again. Finally, however, they reconcile after realizing they have the same plan. Their plan, however, was foiled by Rouge and Tangle, with Rouge flying off with the emerald. This fun little story shows Rough and Tumble’s brotherly bond.

Overall, this annual features a good collection of stories focused on unlikely pairs. Each story explores themes and characters not often explored in the comics or the games of the Sonic franchise. It’s an excellent addition to any Sonic fan or general comic collector’s collection.

Rating: 8.5/10

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