The IDW Sonic 2019 Annual | A Comic Review by Megabeatman

We take a look at this long-awaited Sonic special from IDW featuring numerous creative talent. Is it worth the month-long delay? Let's find out. #SonicTheHedgehog #idwpublishing #2019annual

[@Vikumax]

I'm surprised you didn't bring up the fact that when Whisper sees Jewel fall to her apparent-doom, not only does she says "Not Again!" but her speech bubble doesn't have the whispery outline, meaning she actually rose her voice. It's another small hint of whatever could have happened in her past I guess...

[@devanarcher7054]

The Blaze and Silver story was so wholesome

[@59rlmccormack]

Sonic glory holds on tight and never lets go...

[@Mclucasrv]

I love it!!!

[@orangeknight1423]

Slivaze confurmerd👍

[@carlbloke8797]

This was such a pure wholesome read especially with Silver and Blaze. I’m looking forward to the next issue that actually has Team Chaotix center stage. Any chance Mighty might make a cameo?

[@59rlmccormack]

No!

[@superdewott3209]

I like how each artist brings a certain charm to each story. Like Jon Gray's art style is perfect for characters relaxing or having fun. Evan Stanley's artwork gave me a bit of a dark vibe with the colors, reminding me of Silver's harsh future, but the plot was very positive

[@XPool]

My guy has never read The Murder of Me, or Ghosts of the Future? “Whats wrong with you?”

[@59rlmccormack]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!

[@rynobehnke8289]

I can't blame them both do a lot of really stupid things that can easily turn people off towards them. Like killing almost every mainstay Character that isn't Sonic, Shadow and Silver. Te Murder of me also has the god old "the chaos emeralds are nothing to the AWESOME POWERS of my OC who is also a god (just forget all the times when the chaos emeralds rivaled the power of gods that are deeply died into the very fabric of reality okay). While Ghost of the future starts with the stupid "Shadow is so powerful nothing can stop him" nonsense given that he not even ones beat sonic and sonic in sonic battle showed that he is exponentially more powerful than Shadow while said ultimate lifefrom also lost a one on one fight against Knuckles in Sonic Rivals 2. Obviously are this only a few examples of things that can turn people off right from the get go beside that both are Edgier than all Dark endings from Shadow the hedgehog combined.

[@greenstarlover1]

@@rynobehnke8289 that doesn't mean they aren't still awesome as heck though.

[@rynobehnke8289]

@@greenstarlover1 I mean what is "awesome as heck" is pretty subjective . I found little to no enjoyment with ether of them and was really annoyed about a lot of things. (just as a "quick" example: In the Murder of Me was Sonic hold captured by Gun for years and everyone though he just left them which makes no sense given that SA2 and Battle both showed that Tails and Amy are capable to tracking sonic no matter what be it though technique or magic. Not to mention that Guns that shoot bullets faster than Sonic should still not be able to actually stop him because the holder of said Guns still wouldn't be fast enough to actually aim and pull the trigger because Sonic brock all of there arms already and this is one of the less significant elements that bother me so go figure how I feel over the all powerful greater than the emeralds villain or that from what I read Ghost of the Future kind of forgot that the still very much alive Cream and Chaodix detectives are fully able to enter special stages and collect Chaos emeralds as seen in Heroes, advance 2 and 3 meaning that Sonic waiting for Silver to go on an emerald hunt is just plain stupid (never mind the lack of Time stone usage or that given that Gerald couldn't keep the Gizoid under control would Nicole be completely counted by the more powerful Ai and overall machine that is Gemerl)) So I hope you can understand why some wouldn't like this 2 stories in particular.

[@masterofmicrospace1820]

I don't know how to find a series of Ghosts of the Future made by the same artist (on KZbin at least), but I would really like to read it.

[@risso2309]

I like the little fennec wearing an E-Series head hat, it's so adorable. And though nothing will ever replace the original Archie universe, this is still good.

[@bluewind4329]

Valdet Paumi I agree.

[@dantemustdie00]

Yeah If I remember in SA2, their were a whole bunch of Gamma looking E-series robots throughout the pyramid stages.

[@ShadeKetchum]

Kinda perplexed that you didn't mention Whisper's little outburst during Jewel's fall, since it's obviously foreshadowing. As for when the stories take place, according to a tweet by editor David Mariotte, they all take place between issues 12 and 15. Also I'd highly recommend checking out Ghosts of the Future at some point. Just be warned you might suffer some continuity lockout with what's currently happening in its story.

[@59rlmccormack]

I agree, MBM should review GOTF!

[@jasonharris3502]

Something must have happened to her in the past for that to happen.

[@matti.8465]

Whisper's backstory may include a Phantom Ruby Shadow clone, as she really gave his a death stare when they crossed paths.

[@capbottle1483]

Jonathan Gray's art is hilarious! However, I hope he sneaks a Momma Robotnik cameo in a future story. I liked that running gag from the Off Panels he wrote/drew in the Archie series.

[@59rlmccormack]

Oh sh*t here we go again...

[@capbottle1483]

Sorry, I'm not exactly sure what you mean.

[@meganinten0078]

My thoughts about the final story: 18:18 You can't run away and hide forever Megabeatman. You will have to do a review of that issue. 18:27 I was a big fan of animaniacs. Sweet memories :) Thanks for this video Megabeat. Sonic IDW comics are getting better each day.

[@59rlmccormack]

He's not running. MBM will get there when he gets there.

[@mileshk8083]

These mini stories were interesting to read. My favorite was "Bonds of Friendship", mainly because of the two female protagonists. Whisper and Tangle showed us how can they work together, not to mention their personalities matched each other; plus, the debut of the Babylon Rogues, although I want to ask why are they using the Riders version of their EX Gears, instead of the updated versions from Zero Gravity or Free Riders? One thing I noticed in this story was Whisper's action on saving Jewel: she talked real loud and her phrase "Not again" only makes me wonder if she had faced something similar in her past and wasn't able to fight back/save someone. I really hope we get to see more of her past in her spin-off series. PS: I didn't noticed, before you mention, the "cameos" in Sonic Fan Club, but did you notice when the Babylon Rogues were stealing the jewels two gems that look like Peridot and Lapis?

[@omegaus817]

I hope SEGA should put The Babylon Rogues and another villain in the games and IDW comics too thank you for the video.

[@rjhicks9353]

you forgot to mention that when jewel was thrown out she screamed "NOT AGAIN"

[@jasonharris3502]

Something must have happened to her in the past for her to react like that. Something that involves Eggman and Shadow.

[@maniacaal]

@@jasonharris3502 ... Shadow?

[@jasonharris3502]

She was glaring at Shadow a certain way in issue 9.

[@maniacaal]

@@jasonharris3502 ah.

[@jasonharris3502]

Yup.

[@bluewind4329]

It's good to see multiple writers working together with the continuity it feels a little better now that we have some context to the world. Thou I am confused about Dusty Desert I thought that was in the Human World, but I'll let it slide just this once.

[@brandoneickhoff5370]

I can't wait for the IDW Sonic 2020 Annual!

[@greenstarlover1]

Gigi and Evanstanly collabing on a comic story? Heck yeah!

[@59rlmccormack]

Hooray!

[@greenstarlover1]

Wave is my favorite Babylon rogue now.

[@jasonharris3502]

This was best Sonic Annual from IDW ever (so far). All the stories were wonderful. "The Sonic Fan Club" was pretty good. Awesome teamwork from Sonic and Tails in "Jet Set Tornado." Some bonding moments between Silver and Blaze in "Victory Garden." A nice three-way caper between Rouge,Rough and Tumble in "Curse of the Pyramid" with an ending I didn't expect. And last but not least,The "Bonds of Friendship" between Tangle and Whisper was the sweetest cherry on top of this Sonic sundae. I never thought that such an odd couple would make an cool duo weither they're battling bad guys or simply just hanging out. I got so see an old friend as well as some old rivals and another piece of Whisper's past. All in all,I'd definitely recommend this to all Sonic Comic fan new and old.

[@ScatterbrainPete]

10:05 Goddangit, Megabeatman!

[@silver360im]

4:05 I think I see a start of a new team

[@Couch_Banana]

What team name would you give them?

[@silver360im]

@@Couch_Banana idk something unique maybe team tangle😁

[@Couch_Banana]

@@silver360im- I don't know, it's too one-sided for my tastes.

[@silver360im]

@@Couch_Banana ehhh couldn't think of a better name

[@Couch_Banana]

@@silver360im- It's cool.

[@joelfigueredo957]

HOLY SHIT BABYLONS RETURN

[@bionic-tale4313]

Hey look, its the Babylon rouges. Haven't seen them since riders.

[@jarvistorres8573]

That butterfly girl look like from animaniacs

[@brierroseexethemerhog9461]

My favorite comic starts at 9:08

[@whirlwind6wind33]

Is it weird that rough and tumble remind me of wario and waluigi from mario?

[@Aardie_Aardwolf]

Don't see Cream, Cheese, Big, Chacola, froggy, or Vanilla yet? ''Odd''

[@jasonharris3502]

You'll be seeing Cream,Cheese,Vanilla and Chocola again very soon...

[@landonvandop1875]

I disagree with Blaze on plant care. As bad as it sounds, growing plants is all about manipulation. You want a small plant with lots of flowers, wait to water it until it almost wilts. You want a bushy plant, cut the top off.

[@wanderingsoul1940]

I'm waiting for Infinite to show up.

[@Lulu_BTD6]

Wait at 6:00 you could see an mlp reference.

[@Grey440]

Honeycomb

[@kutie1016]

At 2:08 is that an animal crossing reference I see?

[@circledude2362]

You gotta read and review ghost of the future.

[@knuxuki1013]

Pyramid Cave making an appearance causes problems, as for as we've seen, there doesn't appear to be humans in the world the characters are in, Pyramid Cave takes place in SA2 which has humans. No biggie, I'll just assume the whole fiasco between Rouge and the Skunk bros did take place in the Human World

[@ls_rus4666]

Honestly to me the whole 2 worlds thing is just yet another bulls**t ment to cover the fact that sega and sonic team don't give a s**t about continuity anymore

[@koolmckool7039]

@@ls_rus4666 Agreed. For me seeing Sonic and co. interacting with humans makes things interesting, and brings new and interesting angles to them.

[@ScatterbrainPete]

12:37 Yyyyyyeahhh, about that. There is a reason. You can read about it in this Tumblr post: green-hell-zone.tumblr.com/post/175583163791/clearing-up-the-confusion-in-the-fanbase-regarding It's actually a pretty interesting read about Sonic '06 development story-wise and how Sonic '06 is being perceived by the Japanese fans. Recommending it for anyone curious.

[@wolfartist2453]

The murder of me is a sonic fan comic I have been reading and watching on a KZbin channel it’s a good comic

[@59rlmccormack]

That was a wicked review, Matt. I actually liked reading the special and found the stories to be fun to read, once again you never cease to surprise. I didn’t expect you to mention Terminator or Indiana Jones! I like what you did at the end, even though your imitation of Whisper quietly shouting I’m Mary Poppins y’all was a bit off. The story with silver and blaze, I’m glad you did not have to play that “it’s no use Sonic 06” clip! Heck, I actually find the Silvaze pairing interesting! As for Mr. Gray, he is a really good artist. By the way, most of the commenters think you’re shying away from reviewing the dark age of the Archie comics, specifically issues 124 through 159 which includes the infamous issue 134 where sally slapped sonic halfway through. Anyways, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on IDW Sonic issue 16 when that review comes out, things have gotten dark as Eggman has become more like his SatAM counterpart. Good luck, buddy! Great job on the video! -JMM

[@bluevelocity9166]

19:46 God dang how did I not think of that. Anyway I found the annual in the shop but didn’t get it cause they only had the cover with the new character Jewel. No offence to the one who created that cover but compared the one made by the official Sonic Team, their was no guessing.

[@bluevelocity9166]

ryan jones Ah well but hey theirs always EBay.

[@bluevelocity9166]

ryan jones Your right. I don’t really care what cover I get for the main issues just whatever one I like a little more. And I don’t feel like having two of the same comic just with a different cover either. But hey that’s collectors for ya.

[@jasonharris3502]

I guess everybody has their own way of collecting comic books and I totally respect that. As long as you're happy that's what really matters. :)

[@KennethMoreland]

No it's Ian Flynn's shitty writing is what caused the Babylon Rogues' 'defeat'. Jet would not be distracted by Wave's whining, since he had ignored it in the First Game.

[@bettybrown9706]

But not Jet and Wave were wrong

[@royal1015]

I didn't like Rouge story although that I'm Rouge fan , I see some problems with it . Like Rouge scaring Rough and Tumble as a mummy , the problems relies that if they saw Rouge again , they will know that was trick and she wasn't actually cursed , they will back again to the base and harm those refugees , and those curtains won't work as charm again . I believe the story would much better if Rouge somehow manage to kick out the base , while they are trying to come back later , Rouge makes plan with kids to dress as mummies and her is to pretend that she is scared and running away , Rough and Tumble will be scared seeing the mummies and how Rouge is terrified , then they will run away , considering they will never see those refugees again . This at least would make much better logic .

[@rynobehnke8289]

The Rouge and the Sonic and Tails story confused me actually. The Rouge one because The comics were stated to go with the 2 worlds nonsense Iizuka came up with in 2010 while the Pyramid from SA2 was as seen on the map screen of said game on the "human world " (despite having ancient Echidna statues on it) but now its all of a sudden here? And the Sonic and Tails story confused me mostly because of what happened to the Tornado over the years. We start with a red plain in Sonic 2 that at the end of the game has a new rocked booster. Than in Advance 1 and Adventure 1 it still the same plain but the booster seams to be better integrated Than After the tornado was destroyed in SA1 did Tails build the Tornado 2 In SA2 than does Tails for the whole game use the Tornado 3 he build between games. in Sonic Heroes and Advance 3 do we see the Tornado 2 still in action while in Shadow the hedgehog we see the Tornado 3 being shot down by Eggman in Circus Park. in Unleashed do we have a whole new plain that takes elements from the original Tornado and the Tornado 2 and is called the Tornado 3 (at least according to the graphics on the plain it self) Than in lost worlds are we back the unmodified Tornado from Sonic 2 And now in IDW are we back to the Rocked booster upgraded Tornado So does the plain evolve in a circle or what is happening here??? And my favorite story is obviously the first one and be it just because seeing the Rouges in Action is always pure entertainment.

[@alimowla3204]

maybe sonic's actually a millionaire who owns three planes simultaneously, the first one turns into tornado 2, tornado 3 is made from scratch, and tornado 1 from lost world onwards is also made from scratch for sentimental value and they're just now updating it with the rocket again. or they just liked the design of tornado 1 and decided to use that instead, but that's not a fun answer.

[@rynobehnke8289]

@@alimowla3204 I know that I am overthinking this but that we are just back to the Sonic 2 plain just feels like Sonic 2 Nostalgia pandering and after all the Green hill and Chemical plant zones in the recent past does this really go on my nerves (at least Sonic 4 had the excuse that its set before SA1 same for Mania...but given the damage to the Tornado I wounder if any future Classic sonic game would address this in a new Tornado design)

[@alimowla3204]

@@rynobehnke8289 i doubt they'll change the tornado 1 design for mania 2, i think they'll just rebuild it and maybe update it a little, like integrating the rocket more seamlessly into it, which would be really cool. what do think of the comics so far? minus the inconsistencies, i'm personally really liking where it's going so far (even if it's agonizingly slow).

[@rynobehnke8289]

​@@alimowla3204 Yes its unlikely unless there as you said to for a rocked more integrated design like Advance 1 did. The comics so far are a mixed bag. The first story arc not only feel a lot like a monster of the Week story thing (which isn't bad in it self unless its as repetitive as it was) and the Fight against Metal Sonic at the end was a total disaster with Metal being much much weaker than he was in Heroes among other problems. At least the new characters are good so far I am always in favor for having an Eggman Fanboy/Fangirl around because there can be a lot of fun. The current arc isn't so much my thing ether given that it combines 2 of my least favorite sonic related things Robotozation and the obnoxious "MAGIC NANAITS CAN DO ANYTHING" idea I see in so many bad sonic fanfiction into one for the bases of its story. Especially given that this is suppose to be Game Eggman you know the guy that DIDN'T want to kill everyone in Lost world, Shadow, SA2, SA1, Battle,Advance 3 and properly a few other games I am forgetting right now because he actually wants to have subjects to rule over. And to add to this does sonic just magically nearly heal him self completely between issues yay. And so far am I very afraid of the soon upcoming issue with Cream, Chess and Germel. Mostly because Ian can't wrote for Cream to save his live (seriously I expect him to ether make her just cower in fear or if Sega lets him get away with it have Cream be the first main cast member to be completely transformed for the sweet sweet edgy shock value) And because Gemerl should with his scan ability as well as his abilty to integrate him self into other machines be able to completely end this treat by overwriting Eggman's code to a more friendly one that would allow Tails to figure out how to fix this. And because this would ruin the drama am I 100% sure that he will completely ignore all of this in favor of having Gemerl defending Cream from Robot Vanilla for the sweet sweet Edgy Shock value. (but Seriously this current arc feels as sloppy right now as if it was fan fic) And while the Characterization is over all decent are there a few real stickers in between. Especially anti-social and disobedient Shadow(seriously Ian this ISN'T Boom Shadow even Forces got that one executed better) But Amy also is really Sally-ish here (I know lots of Blame for that goes to Forces usage of her but still dose Amy Airhead Rose looks like the kind of girl to you that comes up with daring and effective battle-strategies or more like the person that joins knuckles at a mindless head first assault?)

[@alimowla3204]

@@rynobehnke8289 at the very least, they had the good idea to release the first four issue in the same month, though if they did that, they should've just condensed the first four issues into one big introduction comic, that would've really helped the story's pacing. at first i didn't mind, but yea, you're right, in heroes metal didn't even have chaos emeralds, but here, he has the master emerald in his crotch, and he still loses to the non-super characters? like, couldn't they have used his strategy against him and have knuckles restrict the master emerald's power with his tikal prayer or something like that? oh and lets not forget how shadow, with inhibitor rings and no chaos energy enhancement, managed to damage super neo metal (i think i just came up with an manga name right there), with just his chaos spear, like, shadow's game and 06 turning shadow into a dbz character is bad enough, but this is a whole new level of dbz stupid, did i mention i hate dbz's influence on sonic yet? i don't know, i like whisper and starline, but i'm kinda iffy on tangle, and rough and tumble are just okay to me. well to be fair, the metal virus turns sonic and friends into his slaves, so i'd say it's still kinda consistent with eggman's character, kinda, and in sonic battle, it's stated that sonic can accelerate his molecules to heal his body, so it's possible he's doing that to keep the virus from spreading further. only time will tell until then, Maybe ian's improved his writing since then. speaking of cream, i've finally figured out why she's not in team sonic racing! ever-since sonic battle and rush, it's well established that amy physically hurts cream on a semi-regular bases, so it's possible that at some point, vanilla figured this out, and then decided that she won't let her daughter hang out with an abusive crazy person, so basically, she doesn't think driving cars and extreme gears is dangerous, she thinks amy is dangerous, not knowing that amy has mellowed out a lot since sonic free riders, kinda sad actually. well, to be fair, in issue 15, it's established that the resistance lost some people while fighting eggman's forces in the mines, so it's possible that this event is what caused her to start thinking more strategically than usual, going in hammers-a-blazin' is only gonna get you so far (and knuckles clearly didn't learn anything from that if operation big-wave is anything to go by but that's just forces being forces), of course this is me just guessing things since we don't know what happened during the six months gap, and honestly, i'm just glad amy is now more than just sonic's annoying stalker, and does her own things separate from sonic, that's the kind of amy i wanna read and write about, though that's just my opinion.