The Blue Blur meets The Scarlet Speedster, The Ultimate Life Form meets The Caped Crusader, The Strongest Thing Alive meets The Man of Steel! As you may have guessed, this week marks the first of the 5 issue DC x Sonic The Hedgehog series. While I haven’t read any Sonic comics before, I’m a massive fan of the 2d games and some of the original animated shows, so I was really looking forward to this. Let’s see if all that excitement pays off!
Talk about low-budget flights!
Once while I was on holiday, I met a man at a kiosk with a few Sonic pins on his lanyards. I complimented him on it, which then launched into an in-depth conversation about the characters, and the comics that he was particularly fond of. It was here that I was made aware that there are loads of comics that I’d never known existed, let alone read. So, I think it’s fair to say that there are lots of DC fans who have never picked up a Sonic book, and vice versa. Right from the get-go, this fact gives the series the task of presenting both teams to potential first-time readers, without seeming boring or over-explanatory to longtime fans.
This issue makes a go of it, and even if it manages to give us enough basic information on the characters to understand them, it is also its greatest flaw. At one moment, Knuckles leaves a meeting of the JL and Team Sonic. Batman goes to sort him out, and they have a conversation that basically amounts to “My parents are dead, it seems you have dead people too.”, “Yes, I couldn’t save Maria”, “I see, so come help us out now”. Just two big exposition dumps. I get that it’s necessary, but it sometimes stands out as particularly clunky.
While I’m talking about things I didn’t like, I may as well get this one out of the way. Darkseid. In recent times he’s used a lot as a generic big bad, and it’s definitely starting to wear me down. This seems more like a Lex Luthor/Legion of Doom-appropriate situation anyhow, given that it’s showing us how the League and Team Sonic are similar. Luthor and Robotnik both have an evil scientist with greater aspirations focused on killing or defeating a specific super-powered individual. I’d love to see them interact instead of just using Darkseid as a generic villain of the month again.
Gotta go fast
Now that I’ve said all that, I’m going to surprise you dear reader: I really enjoyed reading this. Despite the problems I’ve already mentioned, I found myself, as a fan of both worlds, to see these characters interact. A lot of people don’t read crossovers for world-class writing, just to see some of their favourite characters hanging out. The Rule of Cool applies a lot here. It’s cool to see The Flash and Sonic Race. It’s cool to see Batman and Shadow team up. It’s cool to see Silver get a more mainstream appearance than he’s had in a while!
Adam Bryce Thomas’s art is a joy to look at. I looked him up after reading this, and his Sonic stuff is consistently good. I like the way he draws the DC heroes too. Just plain iconic designs, nothing too fancy. They get to be a bit more cartoony here, so it doesn’t feel too stale either. I think the Superman logo on his belt might be a bit much though.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t help but feel that the colouring was a little flat. Don’t get me wrong, I think Matt Herms is a great colourist. This book even has some great-looking panels. The way the League is coloured sometimes just makes them look out of place sometimes. Not enough to ruin my enjoyment or anything, but enough to notice.
Recommended If
- You’re a fan of either team looking to start reading the other
- Seeing Sonic and The Flash race sounds as fun to you as it does to me
- You want a small, out-of-continuity book to unwind with
Overall
I’d say that I’m pretty used to reviewing crossovers at this point. I’ve looked at Scooby-Doo, I’ve (unfortunately) looked at the Godzilla/Kong crossover. I’m not sure if it’s just the base concept that appeals to me more, but this has been my favourite so far. This first issue works because the concept is fun. I don’t think that the concept is strong enough to hold 5 issues though. Hoping the next issue has a bit more meat to it now that the introductions are over. However if you’re just looking for an easy crossover book, this issue will hit the spot.
Score: 6.5/10
English (US) · 