#idwissue28

Issue 28 finally came out today, so let’s see what happens in it!

First up, picking up where we left off, we have Zazz and Espio fighting...

Not only is this fight really funny to me, but I also really like Espio’s last lines here.

Next, we return to the fight between Master Zik and the Babylon Rogues!

Despite these three usually being depicted as nagging siblings who never get along, it’s kinda nice to see Jet stick around to fight alongside them instead of just ditching them. Also...

Storm is really, REALLY excited to hit an old man.

Afterwards, we return to Angel Island where the Zombots and the Faceship have arrived!

Hey look, it’s a bunch of actual characters who got the Metal Virus together in one place (although no Rough and Tumble unfortunately). Hell, they even brought one of the kids from the last story of last year’s annual! 

After that, Rouge shows up, steals the Chaos Emerald being used to power the Faceship, and the thing crashes before it even gets to Angel Island. Zavok still has one of the Emeralds though, and he then uses it to do... this.

WHAT THE SINCE WHEN COULD HE DO THAT??? Also, did he just spit on Knuckles’ Island???

Anyway, Zavok somehow uses the Chaos Emerald and go big and stuff, and he starts throwing Zombots onto Angel Island.

So Issue 28 was supposed to come out today, but was delayed for who knows how long. Most of the next few upcoming issues are in TBA hell right now (although the 2020 Annual is now slated to come out June 10th, so at least something has a release date set even if it changes), and this one just got added to the list, so who nows when it’ll be coming out. However, given how things have been going, I’ve heard it’s most likely it’ll come out in June. One other thing I also noticed about this issue in particular is that even though we’ve seen the A and B covers for it for a while now, we still have yet to see the Retail-Incentive cover for it, so that could also be another reason why it got delayed. 

So Issue 28 is now slated to come out on June 24th, and the 2020 Annual is still set to come out on June 10th! These are the only dates that have been revealed for all upcoming issues of IDW, and they’re undoubtedly subject to change, but a date is better than no date at all I guess. We also know next to nothing about Bad Guys apart from some of the Issue 1 covers and a general idea of what it’s about, and all things considered, I’m willing to bet that one won’t happen until 2021, or at the very least it’ll start at the end of this year and conclude in 2021.

I also haven’t really talked about the 2020 Annual yet either, have I? To those of us who haven’t seen it yet, here’s the soliciatation for it...

"Untold Tales of the Metal Virus!" As the Metal Virus plague-Dr. Eggman's latest plan that turns all organic life into zombified robots-spreads across Sonic's world, none can escape its path! Join Sonic and some of his greatest friends and worst foes in six incredible, previously untold stories about how the world reacts to this latest threat!”

So unlike last year’s Annual, this one actually has six stories and is mainly centered around stuff that happens with the Metal Virus (which includes what happened to Big cuz we all want to know that :3). Also, since this one is centered on the Metal Virus, I’m wondering if that means all future Annuals will have some sort of theme to them like this one. It would make sense for the very first one to not really have a theme, but I’d be interested to see what future Annuals would be like if they did.

Today we got the preview pages for Issue 28, meaning it should come out on it’s scheduled date of June 24th (or at least I hope it does). One thing to note is that we still haven’t seen the Retail Incentive cover for this issue which concerns me, but maybe they’ll reveal it at the last minute or something.

Anyway, here are the pages we have so far...

So there a couple things on the second page specifically that caught my attention. First up, Zor brings up something called the Eggnet, which at first I thought was just a one time mention and was just there equivalent of the Internet rather than actually something important (mainly because him saying he went online makes me think Zor has an edgy DeviantArt account because he would :3). As it turns out, the Eggnet is apparently something that’s been re-occuring at various points throughout the series, and I guess it’s just never really been mentioned by name all that often or has even been given an explanation of what it even is. Apparently when Sonic and pals were digging through Eggman’s computers in chapter 8 and chapter 15, they were on the Eggnet and using it to get info on his (or really Metal Sonic’s in Issue 8) plans. It’s also apprently a thing that Metal Sonic, while he was Neo Metal Sonic went onto the Eggnet and used it to advertise that he was taking over the world. Where this information is coming from I have no idea because I sure as hell don’t remember that happening, but apparently it happened.

Second, Zor mentions that he used the Eggnet to find out that Silver came from the future, and if Eggman has a database of all the heroes, I guess that makes sense. But here’s what I’m wondering, how exactly did he that information in the first place? Disregarding 06 because it got written out of canon, I can’t think of a single time Silver actually explained that he was from the future and went back in time to stop the end of the world to Eggman, so how did he find out about that so he could put it on the Eggnet? Maybe there was a moment where Silver said something to Eggman and I just don’t remember it, but I really can’t think of any.

Alright, so it’s been a LONG time since I’ve covered a bunch of stuff in a single post like this, but I figured now would be a good time to, so I’m planning on talking about stuff like release dates, what might happen in Bad Guys and the Annual.

First off, release dates! Issue 28 is still slated to come out on June 24th as previously mentioned, but the Annual has now been delayed to July 8th. Issue 29 has also been set to come out on July 22nd and Issue 30 is set to come out August 5th. Bare in mind that all currently revealed release dates should be taken with a grain of salt as they are subject to change. 

Speaking of the Annual, I’ve mentioned that it’s going to have six stories and have posted it’s solicitations, but I’ve never actually discussed what each story will be about, have I? Well, we unfortunately don’t have a whole lot of info outside of the covers and the solicitations to work with, but I think we can piece together what some of the stories are going to be about. First off, we have exhibit A...

So judging by Big’s appearence on this cover and his appearence on the A cover, it’s safe to assume there’s going to be a story with Big. As for when it takes place? I’m not entirely sure. It COULD take place towards the beginning of the virus’ spread (the Faceship in the background kinda suggests this too), but the whole gimmick of this year’s Annual is that they’re stories that take place after the virus has already begun, so this could also take place closer to when Issues 21-23 happen (especially because Big was supoosedly present in the events of Issue 22). Actually, because we never saw what happened to Big at the end of Issue 22, it is technically possible that this story could take place afterward, and judging by the background of this cover, it might be possible for it to take place on Angel Island after the Faceship shows up.

Next up, we have exhibit B...

Metal Sonic! He’s here too! The fact that he also gets a cover all to himself suggests to me that he’s probably going to get a story. As for what it’ll be about? I have no clue.

As for the other four stories, we have next to no information of what they could be about or who they’d be centered around. The solicitation DOES mention that some of Sonic’s “worst foes” are going to be important, and I guess that could encapsulate Metal Sonic, but who else could be included? Considering the fact that Rough and Tumble have the Metal Virus and both them, Starline, and Mimic are all going to be the main cast of Sonic Bad Guys, I feel like they probably wouldn’t be included. If any of them were, I feel like Mimic would be the most likely candidate, like maybe we’d get a story explaining how he breaks out of prison during the virus outbreak (kinda like the Scourge Lockdown arc in Sonic Universe but with zombies :3) and that’ll lead into his inclusion in Bad Guys. I guess there’s also the Deadly Six, but... we already know what they’re up to. I guess they could make a mini story involving them that takes place in the time while they’re conquering the planet, but other than that, I don’t see what they’d be able to do with them.

As for which of Sonic’s good ol’ pals could have their own stories, I’m not really sure either since most of them are already present throughout the main story and wouldn’t have many opportunities to go and do their own stuff. I think a story with Whisper after Tangle gets infected would be pretty cool, and they could also probably get away with making a story about what happens with Silver while he’s away. Bare in mind Blaze has also been completely absent since Issue 12, so she’s probably off doing her own thing too and could get her own story (which could also be a good opportunity to bring in Marine). The Babylon Rogues also don’t show up until after everyone gets to Angel Island, so maybe there could be a story about what happens with them before they get there. 

I’m pretty much grasping for straws at this point, so I’ll just leave it at that. There are a lot of possible routes the other stories could go, but for now we’ll just have to wait and see.

Next up I want to talk about mini-series related things! Of course, we have Sonic Bad Guys, which will be focused on the bad boys and will probably happen closer to next year. But what’s going to happen in it? Here’s the synopsis for the plot that we already know...

“Sonic the Hedgehog: Bad Guys is a comic miniseries and a spin-off of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by IDW Publishing. This four-issue miniseries focuses on Dr. Starline in the aftermath of the Metal Virus Saga and what happens when the former assistant and devotee of Dr. Eggman sets up in one of the doctor's abandoned bases.”

So this series evidentally takes place after the Metal Virus arc ends in Issue 29, and it’ll explain where Starline went after getting thrown out by Eggman. Starline’s going to use one of Eggman’s old bases to probably get revenge or whatever, and he’s probably going to team up with Mimic, Rough and Tumble, and I guess Zavok if this cover is to be believed...

Going back to what I mentioned earlier about Mimic breaking ot of prison, it’s basically confirmed with his presence in this series that he did break out of prison at some point, and Rough and Tumble somehow get out of that mine and meet up with them after the virus ends. As for Zavok and the rest of the Deadly Six... I dunno. Since Starline was the one who brought them into all this, I don’t really see why they would be willing to team up. However, I guess they both want revenge on Eggman, so that’ll probably be why. I can also see Rough and Tumble wanting to get revenge on him too (hell, that’s the entire reason they’ve been after Sonic this whole time), but I don’t know about Mimic. I don’t think Mimic really wants revenge because the two actually seem to get along well enough and he didn’t get thrown out or sacrificed, so his inclusion in Starline’s plan is kinda a mystery. Maybe Starline bribes him to get him to work for him? Who knows.

A little part of me also wants to believe that this mini-series is where we’re finally going to learn about the origins of a lot of these characters too, but it’s unknown if that’ll actually be the case. For example, since Starline is the main focus of the story, it would be cool to see his backstory and how he ended up where he is get explained in detail. Also... I want to know how Tumble got his tail chopped off! Give it to me, IDW!

Well, that’s pretty much it for what I wanted to talk about with Sonic Bad Guys. However, there is one other thing that I’ve been thinking about lately, and that’s Tangle and Whisper. You may be wondering why, which makes sense, the series ended way back in December. However, remember back when it was revealed and IDW said that it COULD be continued past Issue 4 if there was enough demand for it? I really only bring this up because... Well, there are still so many questions regarding Whisper and the Diamond Cutters that will have yet to be answered, and I don’t think they would really be the focus of the main series anytime soon. I mean just look at the Diamond Cutters, each dead member and Mimic all still have a lot of mystery behind where they came from and how the team even formed, and Slinger especially was said to have some kind of secret backstory that no one but him knew about. There’s also that scene where Mimic turns into Vector in the last Issue, so maybe a continuation of the series could finally explain how Mimic is somehow connected to Team Chaotix. There’s also one either thing that’s been in the back of my mind that everyone seems to have forgotten...

These wolves from last year’s annual that are very clearly related to Whisper but they’ve never been acknowledged outside of this one story! Like, is it ever going to be revealed how exactly they’re related to Whisper and will it ever be explained if she used to live with them? If she did, how and why did she leave them and join the Diamond Cutters? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS :(

Issue 28 comes out tomorrow after a long wait, and we got the final two preview pages for it today! We also got to see it’s finished Retail Incentive cover, and we also got the solicit and a probably tentative release date for Issue 1 of Bad Guys. The last bit was technically revealed a couple days ago, but I decided to wait and just bundle it with these preview pages cuz why not. First, let’s look at the final preview pages for Issue 28...

First... Zor, I think you might have some problems. Second, I noticed that one of the Zombots on the second page looks an awful lot like Predator Hawk from the Destructix in the Archie comics. That could just be a coincidence, but it would be cool if it was an actually intentional cameo.

Next, we have the Retail Incentive cover! As it turns out, this cover is actually part of another panoramic cover alonside the Retail Incentive cover for Issue 27. On the left we have the Issue 27 RI cover, and on the right we have the Issue 28 RI cover.

Finally, we have the solicitation for Issue 1 of Bad Guys!

The mastermind behind the Metal Virus isn't done yet. Ian Flynn returns to answer: What happened to Dr. Starline? The Shadowy Scientist is back to his evil antics in Bad Guys! And what better place to concoct nefarious plans than one of Dr. Eggman's abandoned bases? But that is easier said than done when badniks are guarding the entrance! Dr. Starline knows he can't do it alone, so he decides to recruit some familiar and not so friendly faces.

Unfortunately, we don’t really learn anything new from this solicitation plotwise, although I guess it might be hinting that Starline and everyone else will probably be spending the bulk of the first Issue actually infiltrating and taking control of the base instead of simply grouping there after it’s already been taken over. The current release date is also set to be September 16th, which is actually a bit earlier than I was expecting, but it’s undoubtedly subject to change.