Yaana

This issue brings us art from Adam Bryce Thomas, who was kind of the perfect person to pencil this very action-heavy issue. The colors here are provided by Leonardo Ito De Oliveira, whose colors pair fairly well with ABT's lines, and lend themselves to this issue well.

Issue 85 ended with Metal Sonic, still under enemy control, kidnapping Sage and taking off with Sonic and Belle giving chase. 86 opens up from this same point, continuing the chase as Metal Sonic evades his pursuers, eventually managing to lose them in the maze-like Holoska ice caves, leaving Sonic and Belle to regroup as they try to figure out where to go.

For a moment, here, Belle considers the notion of just... abandoning Sage to her fate, considering that she and Metal Sonic are both agents of the Eggman Empire, and will likely cause trouble later down the line - even going so far as to express an amount of shame over having helped Metal Sonic in the past.

Sonic steps in to reassure Belle that her desire to help is ultimately good, which is really nice - not just because he's the hero who inspires change in those around him, but also because he's dealt with this before.

This is something I've thought about a lot over the last few years of this comic's run, so I suppose it's time to carve out some space to talk about:

Sonic's Subtle Character Arc

There's been a ton of discussion concerning Sonic as a character and what his relationship should be with the notion of character development. The recent releases of the Sonic movies and Sonic Prime both relied heavily on Sonic's personal journey and growth, focusing on how he changes over the course of those stories, and it's led a lot of folks to point out that the Sonic of Prime and the movies doesn't really seem like the same character as Sonic from the main games' continuity - despite the fact that Prime Sonic is alleged by his creators to be the same guy.

This often leads to people asserting that Sonic as a character is not supposed to change. That he is a static figure often serving as the driving force behind some other character's growth over the course of a given storyline.

And for the most part, this is true. Sonic is a character who thrives on simplicity, and to throw personal character arcs into the mix might only serve to clutter up the thing that makes him so compelling - the fact approaches the complexity of life with a very simple outlook.

Still, it's not like he's never changed. I mean, look back at the way Classic Sonic is usually portrayed! He tends to be a good deal less patient and mature than his Modern counterpart.

The thing is - there is no one story that caused this growth in him. He didn't undergo some life-changing character journey that tempered his fiery spirit. He just... changed gradually over time.

And this is how I think it should be. Sure, Sonic can change and grow over time, but it's got to be subtle, and it shouldn't be the forefront of any one story, because quick changes are complicated. They force a character to question who they are and make a decision to change. Slower changes involve changing little things over time and letting them build up over time to become big changes. This is why, despite their differences, Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic really do feel like the same guy at different points in time.

And I think the subtle nature of Sonic's character growth is a very important aspect of IDW.

I will often see complaints about IDW Sonic's propensity toward mercy - the way he will give his enemies endless second chances to amend their ways, only imprisoning or slaying an enemy when he truly has no other choice. Folks will say that this is out of character. That he imprisoned Erazor Djinn, that he killed The Biolizard, that he encouraged Princess Elise to fully erase Solaris' existence from time itself.

Sonic taken drastic measures with very little trouble before, why does he actively avoid it now?

What this question misses is that this is because of a subtle character arc that Sonic began to undergo the day he met Mr. Tinker.

Way back in Issue 5, Mr. Tinker was a strange, new, confusing experience for Sonic - something he didn't even believe right away:

A clear sign of the good that existed within Dr. Eggman.

From Sonic's perspective, Mr. Tinker didn't just come from nowhere - he was Eggman, separated from his dream of a global empire, his need to be recognized, surrounded by people who supported and appreciated him.

In that moment, Sonic started to consider the notion that if there was some part of Eggman that could be good, maybe anybody could have that potential, given that opportunity.

So he tried giving more of his enemies that opportunity. Metal Sonic, Dr. Starline, Zavok, Surge, and for the most part, every time he tries, it kind of blows up in his face. Metal Sonic brings Eggman back. Eggman unleashes the Metal Virus. Starline tries to take over the Eggman Empire. Surge dumps all of her pain and suffering at his feet, blaming his mercy for the life she's endured. Zavok outright tells Sonic that he will use the second chance he's being given to hurt more people.

And every step of the way, Sonic questions his decision. We see him doubt himself during the Metal Virus Saga, and he visibly considers those same doubts when deciding to spare Zavok. But then, two things happen:

Sonic meets Belle. To him, Belle is a manifestation of everything good that he saw in Mr. Tinker, allowed to live on. Had he not spared Mr. Tinker, we might not have gotten Belle - and so Sonic's mercy paid off.

Sonic reunites with Mecha Sonic Mk II. In Scrapnik Island, Sonic is clearly skeptical about Mecha Sonic at first, but as he sees more and more of Mecha's new life, he decides to go out on a limb and extend an olive branch. And this backfires. Mecha Sonic betrays him. And Sonic points this out - that he's getting tired of showing his enemies mercy only to be betrayed. But then, he gets to listen to what's going on inside Mecha Sonic's head, feels firsthand what he's going through, and with this new insight, he tries again. And this time, it works! He gets through to Mecha Sonic, changes his mind, gets him to take a chance and turn his life around for the better. At the end of Scrapnik Island, he leaves the island not having spared an enemy knowing that they'll turn on him, but having helped someone take the first steps toward a better future.

I think befriending Belle and the events of Scrapnik Island had a really profound effect on Sonic - heck, in the case of the latter, he outright states that his encounter with Mecha Sonic is what drove him to give Surge another chance. These things solidified a new philosophy for Sonic - a philosophy of trying give everybody he meets a chance to change for the better because, deep down, he knows they can. Will he still take a life? Sure, if he really has to. He destroyed The End, after all. But you can be relatively certain that if he can stop an enemy without killing them, then that's what he's gonna do.

It's easy to miss, because it happened in the background of numerous storylines spread out across multiple real-world years, but that's how it's supposed to go for Sonic.

His character arcs are gradual and subtle.

Anyway, coming back from this tangent, this character arc that we've watched Sonic undergo over time is exactly what makes him the perfect person to help Belle through her current moral crisis - to assure her that it's not wrong to help someone in need, even when they're your enemy. Especially when said enemy is her sister.

And here, they finally say it out loud. Sage and Belle are sisters. Not only are they both creations of Dr. Eggman, but he sees (or has seen) both of them as his children. That both of them are born from that little shred of humanity buried way down in his heart.

And it's the consideration of this notion that leads Belle to her solution:

She and Sage are connected.

Literally.

The two of them have been exchanging data this entire time in their pursuit of Metal Sonic, and she can still access that link, allowing her to remotely track Sage to her current location.

As Sonic and Sage arrive just in the nick of time to save Sage from the Coffin Carrier, the mysterious figure sics Metal Sonic on them, only for Sonic to keep him busy as Belle releases Sage from her confines. With a little help from Motobud, Sonic gets a lucky shot off on Metal's face, disrupting the mechanism keeping him under the Coffic Carrier's control long enough for Sage and Belle to send a joint override signal, forcing Metal to reboot, and allowing him to regain control, ripping the starfish off of his face at last.

God, when the let Adam cook, he really does go hard.

With Metal back on their side - for now - Sonic and co. chase after the Coffin Carrier, who - when cornered - gives us a little look at what this coffin of theirs can do, filling the cave with a thick, shadowy fog that forms into an enormous, shapeless monster accompanied by more of the warped Sonic reflections we saw last issue - in addition to new ones reflecting Metal Sonic as well.

I really cannot overstate how perfect Adam Bryce Thomas is for this issue. These action scenes are so sick, it's crazy.

Moving to confront the mastermind directly, Sonic yanks the mask off of the Coffin Carrier, and...

We don't get to see who it is.

Sonic clearly recognizes them, but before he can relay the information to the others, the Coffin Carrier forms a giant star out of the shadows, and brings it down on top of everyone. As the darkness dissipates, the Coffin Carrier is gone, everyone is back outside, and Sonic seemingly can't recall what he was about to say, as if the information was pulled from his mind.

This... feels like a little bit of a cop-out to me. At this point, my sentiments toward this mystery villain are similar to Sonic's:

Enough smoke and mirrors. Show me who it is.

That being said, I think I have a pretty good idea of who it is, and... my feelings are a little mixed.

...

I mean...

...

It's Starline, right? Operating from the shadows, stealing and repurposing Eggman Empire technology, surrounding themselves with nice, comfy furnishings, the generally creepy vibe, and then they throw a big, shadowy star at the heroes?? Pretty sure we've got our guy.

And while this notion disappoints me a little bit - I really would have liked Starline to stay dead for a few more years before they inevitably trot him back out - I'm also somewhat intrigued, because even if it is Starline, there is definitely more going on here.

The coffin, the shadows, the weird reflections, something's definitely up, and I don't think it's just Starline. Whether he's tapping into some new, ancient power - which is a pretty common concept for Sonic storylines that I'm surprised IDW hasn't pulled yet - or if he's got some other ally working with him, there's something up for sure.

If nothing else, I remain intrigued to find out.

With nothing else to be done, Sage and Metal Sonic depart to return to base and fight another day - but not before Sage removes Eggman's trojan virus from Belle's programming.

She says this is because the program presents a security concern, but it's still a sweet gesture nonetheless - bolstered by Belle requesting that she leaves the system link between the two of them in tact so they can chat if they should ever desire to do so, thus solidifying the relationship between these two characters as sisters.

I really like this. Normally, they don't like to tie game concepts or characters to those from the comics too thoroughly, so for them to take this character from the games and firmly establish an ongoing familial bond with a character from the comics like this is really nice, and helps the comics feel a bit more like they really do take place in the same world as the games.

As the issue winds to a close, Tails and Amy arrive to help Sonic and Belle repair Belle's wrecked wagon while Sage and Metal Sonic return to base for analysis and a mission report delivered to an uncharacteristically worrywart Dr. Eggman.

And this wraps up Issue 86, and the Sage & Belle leg of the Stealing the Show arc. I really enjoyed this story - I know I threw out some complaints here and there, but the highs outweighed the lows so much that I honestly think it's been one of my favorite stories from the comic thus far.

I'm excited to see what they do with Belle and Sage going forward, and of course to see where we go with this Coffin Carrier storyline. The next chapter is due here in about a half hour, so until I get around to reviewing it:

Been over a year since I last played crk but I still love it yk