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The only one who can write Shadow right is Shiro Maekawa, his creator. He knows Shadow very well, and in many aspect his Shadow is fairly different than every following wersion we saw later. There are a couple of incarnation written by other authors that I like, though.
It's majorly SEGA's fault that default Shadow is the way he is. Ian and the IDW team just seem to make Shadow even worse by the way that they interpret SEGA's personality for him. Bringing Shiro Maekawa back will likely not change SEGA's decision, unless he's given full control of the story.
@@galten7361 You’re not giving me any information I didn’t already know. Both Maekawa and Iizuka were the ones creating those games people loved about Shadow. If your stance is that Iizuka is not co-signing Shadow’s attitude, then who is responsible for Shadow’s current attitude if not Sega of Japan?
@kotytang My stance is that Shadow's characterization in the actual games circa TSR in overall in-character. IDW is iffy but even then a lot of the big problems with him there are less from how he was characterized and more how Sonic is characterized crossed with the plot format/s being so derived from superheroes (hence shoving in all the estasblished recurring casts in both the Angel Island and Metal Virus arcs).
I wasn't expecting you to be a Kingdom Hearts fan tbh. This is my favorite arc of the comic. Now I haven't read the comic since last year so maybe it's gotten better with the riders arc. This arc is just fun to me tbh. First thing is I think this arc having a smaller cast is such an improvement. I like a lot of the Sonic characters but I feel like this comic took the whole "No one does anything except Sonic in the 2010s" complaint (which imo on it's own the complaint isn't as bad as some make it seem.) the wrong way by having the first 2 arcs have EVERYONE. especially in issues 9-12 when you really think about a lot of the characters are about as important as they were in Forces with them just being there to fight. This arc having less characters means we can get a tighter script and I'm here for it. Of course It's IDW so I have some gripes. I haven't actually sat down and read this arc in awhile so I may be misremembering this here and there. -You pointed this out but I think Evan made Sonic too quirky honestly. Like yeah Sonic can be impatient and likes Adventure but he wouldn't be hoping for something to go wrong in the Eggman base. Nor would he immediately try to attack Belle when she shows up. Besides that he's mostly fine. -I wish Amy and Rouge had more friction. Not to get to off track but one of my favorite aspects of Sonic Battles story (or Sonic Battle as a whole I guess.) is the character dynamics between the characters in that game. In that game I liked that Amy was implied to not like Rouge while Rouge was very indifferent to her. -Shadow was better here but there's still stuff that needs to be done. I don't think Shadow should be super nice or anything but I think you can cut out some of the try hard lines. -This one is kind of cheating because she's fine here but this arc introduces Belle. I think she sucks but why she sucks is going to becomes apparent later so I'm not going to spoil. Good review as always.
I'm a fan of a ton of different franchises. Sonic just happened to be the route that worked best. I agree the smaller cast helps influence a proper direction in the story, plus you have a cast that you can focus on, and know will be there through its duration. I haven't completed this saga yet, so we'll see how many characters end up getting jammed inside anyway. This doesn't feel like a saga to me at the moment though, it feels more like a bunch of short-stories loosely fit together. ---Evan does seem to like quirky Sonic, and is fully allowed to write him as quirky Sonic apparently(?) ---From my understanding nobody in the Sonic Unvirese on the hero side is allowed to dislike the other, they can only get a bit annoyed. There are next to no proper character dynamics outside of tropes. -- I feel like Shadow should actually be really easy to write for, I dunno why there are so many misteps with him. --- Yeah I'm already experincing some major issues I have with Belle as a character in the script for my next video. Appreciate the comment!
Hm, honestly, I am kind surprised that you liked this Arc as much as you seemingly did, ‘cause i feel like there were some reservations towards it when it first came out, that is unless i misremembering. Anyway, now I am even more curious about what you’ll think about the Future Arcs from here, especially the Road to Issue #50 Saga(which by the way, i highly recommend that you do the Imposter Syndrome Mini-Series before at least before Issue #50, since it’s part of the Road just as much as the Main Comic Issues), let’s hope the Writing stays consistent for you until then, Anyway, i guess you’ll be doing Bad Guys next, will look forward to that one. By the about Belle, don’t worry they will get into things with her, although weather that was the next Arc or not I am not sure, guess you’ll find out, Also, you made a good point that I wasn’t thinking about at the time, what did happen with all those Chaos? I don’t think we ever got to see them again, but I could just remember wrong.
I'm majorly focused on the writing, accuracy to the source material will definitely be a negative, however something that's writen well will always be written well for me and I believe that it absolutely needs to be stated that something is written well. I haven't experienced the entire saga yet, so it's very possible that I will end up disliking it. These first four issues were just really well done in the writing and visual department. I've pretty much been checking the mini-series out as they pop-up in the story, so if the comic says that I will need additional context, then, just like with Bad guys, I'll stop progressing with the main series and go over that, and then get back on track. Lmfaooo, I'll be on the look out for the Chaos, and I'll make some suggestions on what happened to them. Glad to hear you're watching along, thank you!
@@kotytang fair enough, we’ll just have to wait and see. Also, fair enough about the Mini-Series, however, I do feel like it probably would be for the best to do the Imposter Syndrome Mini-Series at least before Issue #50, Although, to be fair, i don’t really know how it would be like to go through that Mini-Series after Issue #50, So, regardless, you do you, I guess.
I think this series of issues was actually really fun. Although my personal favorite was the Zombot arc (fight me bro), I admit the script was a lot more tight these issues. It was very fun, and the introduction of the new character felt a lot more special because Belle had more things surrounding her introduction rather than just getting backstory after the fact. Fun fact: Evan said (on her Tumblr page I believe) that in the original draft of the illustration when Amy hugs Sonic he was originally going to blush a little, but they decided to change it to him giving an awkward smile. 12:08
I've been planning on reading the Metal Virus, but still couldn't to this day, i only read the beggining and end of the arc and i liked it a lot, and i really wanna check out the middle, but the thing is, people have been really mixed on this arc, some say it's extremely bad, while others say it's extremely good. The most neutral opinion i've seen was Pariah695 opinion on it, in which he basically says that this arc is a lot better than the first one, but it's still got a few problems. Can you tell me in a bit more detail what you think without many spoilers? That'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
@@Rainyar4779 This is the best way I can communicate how I feel about this arc (without spoilers). The Metal Virus Saga is the most impactful arc in the series. Even after it's conclusion, its affects are still felt and even inform future events throughout the story. That is a major point in why I enjoy it. It's also very dramatic without being too over the top. There are elements but they are few and far between so it actually still works in accentuating moments in the story. The worst part about it is how messy the events unfold. It's not horrible, but there are contrived moments that can be annoying if you're not willing to deal with that. It puts a lot of characters on display, though. Which adds to the feeling of importance throughout this arc as it is an "all hands on deck" situation. It can have slight trouble balancing the pacing of the story where it can like we're moving too fast or too slow throughout the story. If you're willing to deal with it, I will say it's very rewarding and has the most epic moment in the comics. Despite its flaws and what some people will say, I think it at least earned its climactic ending. Let me know if you decided to go through the rest of the arc and how you felt about it. Sorry for the essay...
@@Rainyar4779 as I have said before, Ian is great with writing ideas and balancing tone and narrative impact. Evan Stanley is great with character writing and comedy.
@@vjthehandsome5659 Thanks! That helps a lot! Don't worry about writing an essay, i write comments that are essays a lot too! In fact, most of my comments are essays, lol. I'll check the Metal Virus out, i am very tolerant when it comes to fiction, i usually don't worry about the details and just focus on the good parts. And about your comparison of Ian Flynn and Evan Stanley, i didn't read much of the IDW comics yet, but i did read all of Archie, and what i learned, Ian Flynn's greatest strength is writing characters, he's a method actor from what i heard, and that gets to shine through a lot in his writing for Archie Sonic. And Evan Stanley is also great at writing smaller scale stories, though i've never seen her write a story that big, i still enjoyed everything she wrote from what i've seen. Overrall i have a great deal of respect for the people working on these Sonic comics, they're a huge inspiration for me as an artist and i wouldn't be such a big Sonic fan without these comics. Thanks for reading!
The saga is starting off strong, which I absolutely love so far. If you like the Metal Virus Saga, that is definintely your prerogative, I've expressed at length everything wrong with it in my final review of the whole saga. If it's your thing, that's fine. I'm not hooked on Belle quite yet, the mystery behind the character is just way too obvious. If I were to enjoy her character then I'd want a seperate layer to her that expands beyond her obvious creation by Mr. Tinker, and for her to contribute to the heroes and the plot in a very meaningful way. We'll see in time how it goes. I think I agree that the blushing would have been too much, the awkward smile defintely works more. Sonic always expects Amy's love, so it would be odd to have him blushing.
Thanks for the question! In order to be a completely accurate Shadow these are some of the major things they have to change; - Drop the overt rudeness to every single character. In general Shadow is more stand-offish to Sonic in comparison to everybody else. Among most characters he’s just quiet around them. - To add to the above statement, Shadow does take his rivalry with Sonic seriously, but even then he’s not acting like two kids arguing over who can jump higher, as even SEGA has now shown off personally with Tails-Tube. Shadow does try to one-up Sonic, but it has never devolved into a shouting match of “NO IM BETTER” “NO ME” Shadow could develop that way, but they halted his character at 06, and then flipped to a new direction that he never even had before in 2010. - Stop with the villain speech. Shadow is literally an edge lord these days. He’ll talk about how great and powerful he is, and express how nobody compares to him. He talks in cryptic bad-guy speech as though the entire world is his enemy at all times and not a single person can be trusted. Modern Shadow would unironically say things like “You can’t hit me… I’M SHADOW!” And that is supposed to be a seen as a dope line from him. Shadow is more of a strict and all business-type of person. He really only does something with people if he’s either not doing anything else and he’s interested in what they’re doing, or something happened that interests him, and the two can work together. - Shadow does not go around spouting how he’s the ultimate life-form. This is a weird ass carry-over from his Shadow the Hedgehog game where he declares being the Ultimate life-form after discovering his purpose, and SA2 when he had his mind spliced by Gerald. - Shadow is a tactical fighter, he doesn’t rush in head first without thinking anything through. Shadow has an insane repertoire of moves to choose from, yet no modern depiction of Shadow has ever shown him utilizing his actual abilities, they just have him throwing his hands and feet around at the first thing that moves wrong. - Shadow is protective of people he cares about and just the world in general, but wouldn’t be in their face about it, he just acts on it. IDW and Modern Shadow don’t even attempt to display that he cares about anybody. The furthest Shadow got to modern day bonds were Rouge and Omega, but these days Shadow treats them like tag-alongs who have to go out of their way to even get Shadow to acknowledge they’re in the same room. He literally has no friends, and doesn’t care about a single person, the fact that he even willingly joins all of the heroes on anything and then acts like they’re somehow inconveniencing him is actually dumb af. - Saying that Shadow hates every human is another weird ass carry-over from SA2 and Shadow the Hedgehog. In those games he absolutely despised humanity; In SA2 because he was re-wired to, and Shadow the Hedgehog (game), because he saw them all as weak and defenseless. By the end of BOTH GAMES he realizes that he was created to literally give these people hope and protect them. He even declares this in both games through Maria’s final wish in SA2, and by his creator Gerald in Shadow The Hedgehog. At the end of his game, he finally decided for himself that he will do everything in his power to protect the entire world from danger because that’s what he wants to do. The fact that he acts like everybody sucks now is a goofy ass conclusion that came out of nowhere.
Say, did you ever check out Lowart's videos that i recommended you @@kotytang? If so there's a very good video analising Archie Shadow which is Ian's previous take on the character. It's not identical to game Shadow, mainly because this version never lost his memory, but it's still a very interesting take on the character. Let me know what you think!
@@Rainyar4779 I did go check out his channel, but I didn't really give a continued watching for much of it so that I don't get anything spoiled about Archie. I watched some of his Sonic game reviews, and they were okay.
Nice review. Definitely agree with your points on Shadow here. I’ve been so disappointed on how SEGA has been portraying him from 2010-2020. Sonic Prime and this Arc give me some hope that they’re listening to the Shadow fans. He’s going in a hopeful direction.
I'm glad you got at least some enjoyment out of this, but the damage has already been done for me. I won't spoil anything; I'll state what I hate about the issue(s) you've reviewed. As I've said, even if Evan Stanley made the issue, Sonic is not written well in the comics. I'm sorry, I never liked her writing. I never got the vibe that he acted like "Boom" Sonic, but he's a hyperactive kid who's a jerk in this story. He attacks Belle, thinking she's a badnik, calling her names, swinging at her while she is not trying to fight, and then wanting to leave her behind after escaping the base. Sonic never leaves someone behind or acts reluctant to help them. Wtf? ( also, I am not a fan of Belle's design ) While Shadow does the right thing here, he still isn't written like he is in the games. Instead of acting irritated by the others because they get in the way of his mission, he should've told them to be careful and watch out for anything suspicious. Instead of thinking about helping them and choosing his mission over their safety, he would've wondered if he could protect them while accomplishing his mission. Instead of walking over to Tails and Rouge to get the bad guy and saying, "Don't tell me what to do," like a child, he would've freed them with one quick move, told them to get to safety, and tried to get Starline. Then, he faces another difficult decision. Get the bad guy, or help prevent the avalanche. Not: "Don't tell me what to do, woman. I'm here for my reasons, and you can buzz off. Those innocent lives aren't as important as catching the bad guy." I don't like that the story implies that Shadow has a "good heart" and hides it under a frown. Like, seriously? Shadow cares deeply about his friends AND Sonic. Their personalities are different and often clash, that's why some people still think that Shadow hates Sonic. Shadows' "frown" isn't because he's a grump who doesn't want to admit he has a heart for others; he's a traumatized victim who saw his best and only friend die right in front of him and never got the chance to say goodbye, was then sealed away for 50 years, then used to destroy the world by his creator who manipulated his memories. This is also why I HATE Sonic in this comic for saying: "Yeah, but you tried to destroy the world too. Should I also take you out? If he doesn't deserve to be forgiven, why should you?" Like, dude...did these people even play the games? At this point, the only person I want to write Shadow is Iizuka, Shiro Maekawa, or both. There is one comic in Sonic IDW that I fully enjoyed, and I even gave it a 9/10 rating, but I won't say which one until you get to it. It's a great video, as always. I'm glad you've enjoyed it, but the damage has already been done to me.
That thing Sonic said to Shadow is especially irresponsible. If he said something like that to somebody else, it would just have made Sonic sound like a jerk. But Shadow used to be suicidal. In SA2, while wanting to destroy the world, he wanted to go with it and almost succeeded. In Shadow the Hedgehog, in one of the ending is suggested he took his life.
I agree that Evan's writing for Sonic is not correct, however, I've repeatedly made my statements on how everybody is out of character again, and again, and again. It would be reduntant to continue ranting about how every single time a character who acts incorrectly for every single saga. All I can do at this point is single out what a character is acting like, and list the signiificant changes made to characters as they come by. Which is why I dedicated a portion of this video to Shadow's noticably subdued personality. If another character makes a significiant change from how they've previously acted in the comic I will point it out as well, such as how I pointed out how Evan writes Sonic differently than Ian does. As far as your interpretation of Shadow goes, I don't think he's really that focused of what everybody else is doing around him, unless he really cares about the character. I can see that once he realized that the person he was looking for (Clutch) was nowhere to be found, it's possible that he would have actually assisted Amy, Rouge, and Cream. But at the same time, if his mission is done, it's just as likely that he would have just left... unless he actually obtained a sense of danger, which before Starline got there - he did not, so protect them from what exaclty? As for him freeing Tails and Rouge and then telling them to get to safety, It sounds like you're making Shadow baby people, and I would not say that's accurate. He's aware that the two can fight and hold their own, he wouldn't say "get to safety" unless they couldn't fight. What's not accurate about Shadow hiding his good heart under a frown exaclty? I wouldn't say that's hiding a good heart to begin with, as trauma can absolutely effect somebody's natural demeener, as you even clarified that he has lasting trauma. Trauma that he may even mostly be over at this point. I don't think that Shadow cares deeply about most people around him, I would argue that he has a close knit group of friends. Sonic might be a part of that thanks to their rivalry, but I don't agree that Shadow cares that deeply about everybody around him, he definitely doesn't have a reason to either. He may like some more than most, but saying he cares deeply about everyone around him is a stretch. ================== regardless I'm glad you like the video, thanks for sticking around and watching it! I'm awaiting our discussion!
@@alicesacco9329 Mmk, Shadow is not suicidal, nor did he used to be. Lol, that's the first thing. While wanting to destroy the world his brain was completely rewired, there was barely an ounce of his own reasoning in his mind. Amy woke up the real Shadow inside of him, his goal was not to die, but he was willing to risk it all if it meant he could save the planet and it's people, that's not what being suicidal is. Second-- If you EVER use an ending from Shadow the Hedgehog that is not the true ending to try and prove Shadow's character, you are immediately wrong about how he acts. All of those endings are finales that spawn from a series of possible events and conversations that Shadow could have experienced. They do not represent Shadow's actual mindset, they represent different outcomes that he could have followed.
@kotytang That's one of the reasons why I don't like Sonic comics, even Archie. I gave Archie an honest try, but it just wasn't for me. I remain fair in my critiques and won't give it a 1/10 because it doesn't fully represent the games. I will admit the good things and not just shit all over it. But I have noticed that almost every writer ( Flynn and Stanley especially ) thinks their interpretation of the characters are true to the games. ( though lately, they're giving off the vibe that they write them better than the games, which I disagree with ) I know they're probably trying their best to write them well, but when I read this issue, it did not remind me of the Sonic I love. Whenever I write Sonic ( any character in this series ), I think about how Sonic Team would write them. I throw a bit of my version into the mix, but I think long and hard to guess how they would behave in situations. And I'm not making Shadow baby the others; he's just protecting them when they need it. It isn't inaccurate for him to do so since he already did that in Sonic Heroes when saving Rouge from Omega and saying: Stay here. - He seems sad when leaving Omega behind in 06; you can even see subtle moments of him protecting Rouge in certain cutscenes. Shadow does care about those around him, but trauma can cause a person to hide those feelings very well. ( I should know ) I'm still curious about how he was before Maria died, but we'll finally see that once the Dark Beginnings Animation drops. Shadow is determined to protect his friends and the world because that's what he promised Maria. The only thing that gives him closure is protecting the planet she loves so much. He does care for his friends but isn't that open and blunt with his emotions because of trauma; a tragic event can cause you to be more careful, determined, and stoic. I always saw it as him being afraid of getting hurt again. ( again, I should know... ) The only sentence I would've given him during that scene would be: I'll take care of him. You guys go! Shadow doesn't need to be as open and extroverted as Sonic, but he still cares and occasionally gives compliments. Such as the famous line: You've got this Sonic. Even in Team Racing, he admitted that Sonic was capable and briefly comforted Amy in the final scene. Shadow does his own thing in his way, but he won't hesitate to save others.
Actually, i'd argue it Wouldn't makesense for Sonic to be immediately friendly with her @@Zavraan. Cuz considering how obvious it is that Belle was made by Mr. Tinker, it makes sense that Sonic wouldn't immediately trust her.
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The only one who can write Shadow right is Shiro Maekawa, his creator. He knows Shadow very well, and in many aspect his Shadow is fairly different than every following wersion we saw later. There are a couple of incarnation written by other authors that I like, though.
It's majorly SEGA's fault that default Shadow is the way he is. Ian and the IDW team just seem to make Shadow even worse by the way that they interpret SEGA's personality for him. Bringing Shiro Maekawa back will likely not change SEGA's decision, unless he's given full control of the story.
@kotytang Iizuka was the one who actually invented the character. Not Maekawa.
@@galten7361 You’re not giving me any information I didn’t already know. Both Maekawa and Iizuka were the ones creating those games people loved about Shadow.
If your stance is that Iizuka is not co-signing Shadow’s attitude, then who is responsible for Shadow’s current attitude if not Sega of Japan?
@kotytang My stance is that Shadow's characterization in the actual games circa TSR in overall in-character. IDW is iffy but even then a lot of the big problems with him there are less from how he was characterized and more how Sonic is characterized crossed with the plot format/s being so derived from superheroes (hence shoving in all the estasblished recurring casts in both the Angel Island and Metal Virus arcs).
@@galten7361 What’s your argument for why Sega can make Shadow 100% accurate, while Sega can’t make Sonic 100% accurate?
Heads up there are 2 more arcs and 1 more spin-off comic till the next story arc.
I'm sure it'll be a great time
I wasn't expecting you to be a Kingdom Hearts fan tbh.
This is my favorite arc of the comic. Now I haven't read the comic since last year so maybe it's gotten better with the riders arc. This arc is just fun to me tbh. First thing is I think this arc having a smaller cast is such an improvement. I like a lot of the Sonic characters but I feel like this comic took the whole "No one does anything except Sonic in the 2010s" complaint (which imo on it's own the complaint isn't as bad as some make it seem.) the wrong way by having the first 2 arcs have EVERYONE. especially in issues 9-12 when you really think about a lot of the characters are about as important as they were in Forces with them just being there to fight. This arc having less characters means we can get a tighter script and I'm here for it. Of course It's IDW so I have some gripes. I haven't actually sat down and read this arc in awhile so I may be misremembering this here and there.
-You pointed this out but I think Evan made Sonic too quirky honestly. Like yeah Sonic can be impatient and likes Adventure but he wouldn't be hoping for something to go wrong in the Eggman base. Nor would he immediately try to attack Belle when she shows up. Besides that he's mostly fine.
-I wish Amy and Rouge had more friction. Not to get to off track but one of my favorite aspects of Sonic Battles story (or Sonic Battle as a whole I guess.) is the character dynamics between the characters in that game. In that game I liked that Amy was implied to not like Rouge while Rouge was very indifferent to her.
-Shadow was better here but there's still stuff that needs to be done. I don't think Shadow should be super nice or anything but I think you can cut out some of the try hard lines.
-This one is kind of cheating because she's fine here but this arc introduces Belle. I think she sucks but why she sucks is going to becomes apparent later so I'm not going to spoil.
Good review as always.
I'm a fan of a ton of different franchises. Sonic just happened to be the route that worked best.
I agree the smaller cast helps influence a proper direction in the story, plus you have a cast that you can focus on, and know will be there through its duration. I haven't completed this saga yet, so we'll see how many characters end up getting jammed inside anyway. This doesn't feel like a saga to me at the moment though, it feels more like a bunch of short-stories loosely fit together.
---Evan does seem to like quirky Sonic, and is fully allowed to write him as quirky Sonic apparently(?)
---From my understanding nobody in the Sonic Unvirese on the hero side is allowed to dislike the other, they can only get a bit annoyed. There are next to no proper character dynamics outside of tropes.
-- I feel like Shadow should actually be really easy to write for, I dunno why there are so many misteps with him.
--- Yeah I'm already experincing some major issues I have with Belle as a character in the script for my next video.
Appreciate the comment!
Hm, honestly, I am kind surprised that you liked this Arc as much as you seemingly did, ‘cause i feel like there were some reservations towards it when it first came out, that is unless i misremembering.
Anyway, now I am even more curious about what you’ll think about the Future Arcs from here, especially the Road to Issue #50 Saga(which by the way, i highly recommend that you do the Imposter Syndrome Mini-Series before at least before Issue #50, since it’s part of the Road just as much as the Main Comic Issues), let’s hope the Writing stays consistent for you until then,
Anyway, i guess you’ll be doing Bad Guys next, will look forward to that one.
By the about Belle, don’t worry they will get into things with her, although weather that was the next Arc or not I am not sure, guess you’ll find out,
Also, you made a good point that I wasn’t thinking about at the time, what did happen with all those Chaos? I don’t think we ever got to see them again, but I could just remember wrong.
I'm majorly focused on the writing, accuracy to the source material will definitely be a negative, however something that's writen well will always be written well for me and I believe that it absolutely needs to be stated that something is written well. I haven't experienced the entire saga yet, so it's very possible that I will end up disliking it. These first four issues were just really well done in the writing and visual department.
I've pretty much been checking the mini-series out as they pop-up in the story, so if the comic says that I will need additional context, then, just like with Bad guys, I'll stop progressing with the main series and go over that, and then get back on track.
Lmfaooo, I'll be on the look out for the Chaos, and I'll make some suggestions on what happened to them.
Glad to hear you're watching along, thank you!
@@kotytang fair enough, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Also, fair enough about the Mini-Series, however, I do feel like it probably would be for the best to do the Imposter Syndrome Mini-Series at least before Issue #50,
Although, to be fair, i don’t really know how it would be like to go through that Mini-Series after Issue #50,
So, regardless, you do you, I guess.
I think this series of issues was actually really fun. Although my personal favorite was the Zombot arc (fight me bro), I admit the script was a lot more tight these issues. It was very fun, and the introduction of the new character felt a lot more special because Belle had more things surrounding her introduction rather than just getting backstory after the fact.
Fun fact: Evan said (on her Tumblr page I believe) that in the original draft of the illustration when Amy hugs Sonic he was originally going to blush a little, but they decided to change it to him giving an awkward smile. 12:08
I've been planning on reading the Metal Virus, but still couldn't to this day, i only read the beggining and end of the arc and i liked it a lot, and i really wanna check out the middle, but the thing is, people have been really mixed on this arc, some say it's extremely bad, while others say it's extremely good.
The most neutral opinion i've seen was Pariah695 opinion on it, in which he basically says that this arc is a lot better than the first one, but it's still got a few problems.
Can you tell me in a bit more detail what you think without many spoilers? That'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
@@Rainyar4779 This is the best way I can communicate how I feel about this arc (without spoilers). The Metal Virus Saga is the most impactful arc in the series. Even after it's conclusion, its affects are still felt and even inform future events throughout the story. That is a major point in why I enjoy it. It's also very dramatic without being too over the top. There are elements but they are few and far between so it actually still works in accentuating moments in the story. The worst part about it is how messy the events unfold. It's not horrible, but there are contrived moments that can be annoying if you're not willing to deal with that. It puts a lot of characters on display, though. Which adds to the feeling of importance throughout this arc as it is an "all hands on deck" situation. It can have slight trouble balancing the pacing of the story where it can like we're moving too fast or too slow throughout the story. If you're willing to deal with it, I will say it's very rewarding and has the most epic moment in the comics. Despite its flaws and what some people will say, I think it at least earned its climactic ending.
Let me know if you decided to go through the rest of the arc and how you felt about it. Sorry for the essay...
@@Rainyar4779 as I have said before, Ian is great with writing ideas and balancing tone and narrative impact. Evan Stanley is great with character writing and comedy.
@@vjthehandsome5659 Thanks! That helps a lot! Don't worry about writing an essay, i write comments that are essays a lot too! In fact, most of my comments are essays, lol.
I'll check the Metal Virus out, i am very tolerant when it comes to fiction, i usually don't worry about the details and just focus on the good parts.
And about your comparison of Ian Flynn and Evan Stanley, i didn't read much of the IDW comics yet, but i did read all of Archie, and what i learned, Ian Flynn's greatest strength is writing characters, he's a method actor from what i heard, and that gets to shine through a lot in his writing for Archie Sonic.
And Evan Stanley is also great at writing smaller scale stories, though i've never seen her write a story that big, i still enjoyed everything she wrote from what i've seen. Overrall i have a great deal of respect for the people working on these Sonic comics, they're a huge inspiration for me as an artist and i wouldn't be such a big Sonic fan without these comics.
Thanks for reading!
The saga is starting off strong, which I absolutely love so far. If you like the Metal Virus Saga, that is definintely your prerogative, I've expressed at length everything wrong with it in my final review of the whole saga. If it's your thing, that's fine.
I'm not hooked on Belle quite yet, the mystery behind the character is just way too obvious. If I were to enjoy her character then I'd want a seperate layer to her that expands beyond her obvious creation by Mr. Tinker, and for her to contribute to the heroes and the plot in a very meaningful way. We'll see in time how it goes.
I think I agree that the blushing would have been too much, the awkward smile defintely works more. Sonic always expects Amy's love, so it would be odd to have him blushing.
ITT: Salt that IDW Shadow isn't like his fanon version (pretty much a Steven Universe character crossed with a reddit icon like BBC Sherlock)
So what would you say? They need to fix from the shadow writing. All the importance stuff they need to do
Thanks for the question!
In order to be a completely accurate Shadow these are some of the major things they have to change;
- Drop the overt rudeness to every single character. In general Shadow is more stand-offish to Sonic in comparison to everybody else. Among most characters he’s just quiet around them.
- To add to the above statement, Shadow does take his rivalry with Sonic seriously, but even then he’s not acting like two kids arguing over who can jump higher, as even SEGA has now shown off personally with Tails-Tube. Shadow does try to one-up Sonic, but it has never devolved into a shouting match of “NO IM BETTER” “NO ME”
Shadow could develop that way, but they halted his character at 06, and then flipped to a new direction that he never even had before in 2010.
- Stop with the villain speech. Shadow is literally an edge lord these days. He’ll talk about how great and powerful he is, and express how nobody compares to him. He talks in cryptic bad-guy speech as though the entire world is his enemy at all times and not a single person can be trusted. Modern Shadow would unironically say things like “You can’t hit me… I’M SHADOW!” And that is supposed to be a seen as a dope line from him. Shadow is more of a strict and all business-type of person. He really only does something with people if he’s either not doing anything else and he’s interested in what they’re doing, or something happened that interests him, and the two can work together.
- Shadow does not go around spouting how he’s the ultimate life-form. This is a weird ass carry-over from his Shadow the Hedgehog game where he declares being the Ultimate life-form after discovering his purpose, and SA2 when he had his mind spliced by Gerald.
- Shadow is a tactical fighter, he doesn’t rush in head first without thinking anything through. Shadow has an insane repertoire of moves to choose from, yet no modern depiction of Shadow has ever shown him utilizing his actual abilities, they just have him throwing his hands and feet around at the first thing that moves wrong.
- Shadow is protective of people he cares about and just the world in general, but wouldn’t be in their face about it, he just acts on it. IDW and Modern Shadow don’t even attempt to display that he cares about anybody. The furthest Shadow got to modern day bonds were Rouge and Omega, but these days Shadow treats them like tag-alongs who have to go out of their way to even get Shadow to acknowledge they’re in the same room. He literally has no friends, and doesn’t care about a single person, the fact that he even willingly joins all of the heroes on anything and then acts like they’re somehow inconveniencing him is actually dumb af.
- Saying that Shadow hates every human is another weird ass carry-over from SA2 and Shadow the Hedgehog. In those games he absolutely despised humanity; In SA2 because he was re-wired to, and Shadow the Hedgehog (game), because he saw them all as weak and defenseless. By the end of BOTH GAMES he realizes that he was created to literally give these people hope and protect them. He even declares this in both games through Maria’s final wish in SA2, and by his creator Gerald in Shadow The Hedgehog. At the end of his game, he finally decided for himself that he will do everything in his power to protect the entire world from danger because that’s what he wants to do. The fact that he acts like everybody sucks now is a goofy ass conclusion that came out of nowhere.
Say, did you ever check out Lowart's videos that i recommended you @@kotytang?
If so there's a very good video analising Archie Shadow which is Ian's previous take on the character. It's not identical to game Shadow, mainly because this version never lost his memory, but it's still a very interesting take on the character. Let me know what you think!
@kotytang Shadow detesting humies has been in canon for long while. It was in his Sonic Channel bios.
@@galten7361 Yup, it's been canon for a while, and I'm straight up saying that it's wrong.
@@Rainyar4779 I did go check out his channel, but I didn't really give a continued watching for much of it so that I don't get anything spoiled about Archie. I watched some of his Sonic game reviews, and they were okay.
Nice review. Definitely agree with your points on Shadow here. I’ve been so disappointed on how SEGA has been portraying him from 2010-2020. Sonic Prime and this Arc give me some hope that they’re listening to the Shadow fans. He’s going in a hopeful direction.
The Sonic problems that never exist in Japan, cause Sonic isn't popular in Japan.
Japan just gave up on it, lmao. Sonic writing flubs are still present in Japan.
I'm glad you got at least some enjoyment out of this, but the damage has already been done for me. I won't spoil anything; I'll state what I hate about the issue(s) you've reviewed.
As I've said, even if Evan Stanley made the issue, Sonic is not written well in the comics. I'm sorry, I never liked her writing. I never got the vibe that he acted like "Boom" Sonic, but he's a hyperactive kid who's a jerk in this story. He attacks Belle, thinking she's a badnik, calling her names, swinging at her while she is not trying to fight, and then wanting to leave her behind after escaping the base. Sonic never leaves someone behind or acts reluctant to help them. Wtf? ( also, I am not a fan of Belle's design )
While Shadow does the right thing here, he still isn't written like he is in the games. Instead of acting irritated by the others because they get in the way of his mission, he should've told them to be careful and watch out for anything suspicious. Instead of thinking about helping them and choosing his mission over their safety, he would've wondered if he could protect them while accomplishing his mission.
Instead of walking over to Tails and Rouge to get the bad guy and saying, "Don't tell me what to do," like a child, he would've freed them with one quick move, told them to get to safety, and tried to get Starline. Then, he faces another difficult decision. Get the bad guy, or help prevent the avalanche. Not: "Don't tell me what to do, woman. I'm here for my reasons, and you can buzz off. Those innocent lives aren't as important as catching the bad guy."
I don't like that the story implies that Shadow has a "good heart" and hides it under a frown. Like, seriously? Shadow cares deeply about his friends AND Sonic. Their personalities are different and often clash, that's why some people still think that Shadow hates Sonic. Shadows' "frown" isn't because he's a grump who doesn't want to admit he has a heart for others; he's a traumatized victim who saw his best and only friend die right in front of him and never got the chance to say goodbye, was then sealed away for 50 years, then used to destroy the world by his creator who manipulated his memories.
This is also why I HATE Sonic in this comic for saying: "Yeah, but you tried to destroy the world too. Should I also take you out? If he doesn't deserve to be forgiven, why should you?"
Like, dude...did these people even play the games? At this point, the only person I want to write Shadow is Iizuka, Shiro Maekawa, or both.
There is one comic in Sonic IDW that I fully enjoyed, and I even gave it a 9/10 rating, but I won't say which one until you get to it.
It's a great video, as always. I'm glad you've enjoyed it, but the damage has already been done to me.
That thing Sonic said to Shadow is especially irresponsible. If he said something like that to somebody else, it would just have made Sonic sound like a jerk. But Shadow used to be suicidal. In SA2, while wanting to destroy the world, he wanted to go with it and almost succeeded.
In Shadow the Hedgehog, in one of the ending is suggested he took his life.
I agree that Evan's writing for Sonic is not correct, however, I've repeatedly made my statements on how everybody is out of character again, and again, and again. It would be reduntant to continue ranting about how every single time a character who acts incorrectly for every single saga. All I can do at this point is single out what a character is acting like, and list the signiificant changes made to characters as they come by. Which is why I dedicated a portion of this video to Shadow's noticably subdued personality. If another character makes a significiant change from how they've previously acted in the comic I will point it out as well, such as how I pointed out how Evan writes Sonic differently than Ian does.
As far as your interpretation of Shadow goes, I don't think he's really that focused of what everybody else is doing around him, unless he really cares about the character. I can see that once he realized that the person he was looking for (Clutch) was nowhere to be found, it's possible that he would have actually assisted Amy, Rouge, and Cream. But at the same time, if his mission is done, it's just as likely that he would have just left... unless he actually obtained a sense of danger, which before Starline got there - he did not, so protect them from what exaclty?
As for him freeing Tails and Rouge and then telling them to get to safety, It sounds like you're making Shadow baby people, and I would not say that's accurate. He's aware that the two can fight and hold their own, he wouldn't say "get to safety" unless they couldn't fight.
What's not accurate about Shadow hiding his good heart under a frown exaclty? I wouldn't say that's hiding a good heart to begin with, as trauma can absolutely effect somebody's natural demeener, as you even clarified that he has lasting trauma. Trauma that he may even mostly be over at this point.
I don't think that Shadow cares deeply about most people around him, I would argue that he has a close knit group of friends. Sonic might be a part of that thanks to their rivalry, but I don't agree that Shadow cares that deeply about everybody around him, he definitely doesn't have a reason to either. He may like some more than most, but saying he cares deeply about everyone around him is a stretch.
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regardless I'm glad you like the video, thanks for sticking around and watching it! I'm awaiting our discussion!
@@alicesacco9329 Mmk, Shadow is not suicidal, nor did he used to be. Lol, that's the first thing.
While wanting to destroy the world his brain was completely rewired, there was barely an ounce of his own reasoning in his mind. Amy woke up the real Shadow inside of him, his goal was not to die, but he was willing to risk it all if it meant he could save the planet and it's people, that's not what being suicidal is.
Second-- If you EVER use an ending from Shadow the Hedgehog that is not the true ending to try and prove Shadow's character, you are immediately wrong about how he acts. All of those endings are finales that spawn from a series of possible events and conversations that Shadow could have experienced. They do not represent Shadow's actual mindset, they represent different outcomes that he could have followed.
@kotytang That's one of the reasons why I don't like Sonic comics, even Archie. I gave Archie an honest try, but it just wasn't for me. I remain fair in my critiques and won't give it a 1/10 because it doesn't fully represent the games. I will admit the good things and not just shit all over it.
But I have noticed that almost every writer ( Flynn and Stanley especially ) thinks their interpretation of the characters are true to the games. ( though lately, they're giving off the vibe that they write them better than the games, which I disagree with ) I know they're probably trying their best to write them well, but when I read this issue, it did not remind me of the Sonic I love.
Whenever I write Sonic ( any character in this series ), I think about how Sonic Team would write them. I throw a bit of my version into the mix, but I think long and hard to guess how they would behave in situations.
And I'm not making Shadow baby the others; he's just protecting them when they need it. It isn't inaccurate for him to do so since he already did that in Sonic Heroes when saving Rouge from Omega and saying: Stay here. - He seems sad when leaving Omega behind in 06; you can even see subtle moments of him protecting Rouge in certain cutscenes.
Shadow does care about those around him, but trauma can cause a person to hide those feelings very well. ( I should know ) I'm still curious about how he was before Maria died, but we'll finally see that once the Dark Beginnings Animation drops. Shadow is determined to protect his friends and the world because that's what he promised Maria. The only thing that gives him closure is protecting the planet she loves so much. He does care for his friends but isn't that open and blunt with his emotions because of trauma; a tragic event can cause you to be more careful, determined, and stoic. I always saw it as him being afraid of getting hurt again. ( again, I should know... ) The only sentence I would've given him during that scene would be: I'll take care of him. You guys go!
Shadow doesn't need to be as open and extroverted as Sonic, but he still cares and occasionally gives compliments. Such as the famous line: You've got this Sonic. Even in Team Racing, he admitted that Sonic was capable and briefly comforted Amy in the final scene.
Shadow does his own thing in his way, but he won't hesitate to save others.
Actually, i'd argue it Wouldn't makesense for Sonic to be immediately friendly with her @@Zavraan. Cuz considering how obvious it is that Belle was made by Mr. Tinker, it makes sense that Sonic wouldn't immediately trust her.
Does anyone know the name of the music that is playing at seventeen minutes and one second into the video? And also the music playing at 19:55?
I gotchu; It's called Manifest it (Instrumental) by Neffex
It's one of the songs I use as Starlines themes
@@kotytang Thank you, Koty. Could you also tell me the name of the music that is playing at 19:55, please? The choice of music is really great.
@@djb9267 Thank you! That one is also by Neffex, it's called Addict. You should check out the band, they've got some really crazy instrumentals.