I like to imagine that Fang having the Warp Topaz explains partially why he just suddenly appears during Trip's campaign out of nowhere with a warp effect. It's most likely to explain that inconsistency and establish a firm connection between Modern and Classic Sonic which was up until Scrapnik was kept pretty vague
I was kind of surprised that it tied in to the beginning to Superstars. It does explain why Bark and Bean aren’t around. I know fans have wanted more Fang and the Hooligans for a while. I guess that’s why they got this four part series. Not just as a punching bag, but to show how cunning Fang is. This was probably my favorite portrayal of Bean. He’s absolutely hilarious when he gets distracted by shinies, but a voice of reason is very interesting. Thanks for the reviews!
I called the ending with Bark and Bean quitting on Fang back when issue 1 came out. It made sense for them to leave because of how fed up they were getting and how they aren't in Superstars
I like to think that after Superstars he comes crawling back to them begging for them to join up. Bean then says it depends, they got a new boss and she'll have to give her ok. The new boss turns out to be Trip who clobbers Fang and wakes up in a jail cell and Trip ensuring the two Hooligans that Fang is going to be locked up for a long, long time.
I believe the Archie comic explained that Bomb is produced by Heavy...like, whenever Bomb blows himself up his memories are saved in Heavy, who builds him a new body (assuming his body is like, a miniature factory meant to make Bomb robots.) As for Bean and his poofing bombs out of thin air, I think he has a similar ability to Amy with the Piko-Piko Hammer. If Amy can pull a giant magical hammer out of nowhere then why can't our duck friend do something similar with cartoon ball bombs?
Keep on showing the nostalgic feelings Nick, it's your nerdy Sonic vid and I appreciate the neat little details that you bring from your past that I never would've known about!
I love Fang so I ain't complainin'. Also don't worry about the ads, we all understand! Would rather you be financially secure than scrapping by video-to-video.
I know more complicated narratives like the main IDW comics are usually what comes to mind when it comes to having multiple factions at play against each other, but as this comic shows, the classic era clearly has the potential to work with that kind of story 😊
It's honestly a little bit disappointing to me that Fang, Bean and Bark are stuck in the classic timeline. After reading archie all I want is for Bean to be modern comic cannon again since he was by far one of the funniest characters. We also need more villains in IDW and feels like a waste to put anything in this deliberately less fleshed out world
This is what I agree with. Fang and Bean would be fantastic in Modern Era. Bark is a little rougher, but I feel that is just because they haven't given him enough yet and easily he could. I do hope this comic series brings them into the new Era and doesn't just leave them behind.
Well lots of Classic Characters are currently stuck being in the Classic timeline. We have yet to see Trip, Ray, Mighty, Fang, Bean, Bark etc in the modern timeline.
While I can agree with a lot of what's said in this video, my take away is: before this comic I didn't care one bit about the Hoodlum team, but now I like them and would appreciate seeing more. In the long run, isn't that exactly what a successful comic should be doing? That's how you MAKE fans to begin with.
I get what you mean about it feeling dragged out, and I honestly think this whole four issue miniseries just ending with a "buy Sonic Superstars!" ad was disappointing. But four issues about characters other than Sonic reminded me of what we'd get in Sonic Universe back during the Archie days, so it honestly didn't bother me as much as it could have. These four issue miniseries like Tangle and Whisper, Bad Guys, etc. are kinda like the remnants of Sonic Universe.
It could be cool to see Starline interacting with Fang, even if it's just a flashback, but we'll have to wait and see if any future stories follow up on this miniseries. That said, onto the Riders arc!
I definitely wouldn't stay invested reading this month to month but your enthusiasm for the franchise does a lot to keep me coming back to the channel.
I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing Heavy King pilot Metal Robotnik. I bet Bean and Bark would get along great with Heavy and Bomb. And to complete the trio, Fang would be menaced by Chaos Gamma from Sonic Battle. I think it was Fang laughing at the Heavy King. Most likely an error. I’m looking forward to the Knuckles 30th Anniversary Special. Hopefully Nick doesn’t skip it like he did with Amy’s.
As the certified #1 Fang fan I feel confident in saying this series was: Ok. Loved to see my boy in action but damn was it anti climactic to see it end with them telling us its a prequel to a game that came out last year. If ya ask me it seems like this was Sega and IDW testing the waters to see if people were up to longer form classic stories. We know the 30th anniversary comic did well, we wouldn't have gotten the Tails and Amy ones if it hadnt, so now they're experimenting a little bit. Still kinda bullshit they put the main comic on hold as this was coming out since previous mininseries ran concurrent to the main series no problem, but regardless I doubt this is the last multi part classic story we've seen. Also, gonna pull a wild card prediction here, whenever we go back to the classic era for another mininseries I'm gonna bet Honey The Cat makes her first speaking role in IDW.
Interesting to think that, before the Ancients arrived, there was ONE emerald, ONE ruby and ONE topaz on earth (and maybe other gems we haven't seen). So earth likely has one of each magic gemstone and the aliens just dropped their mini versions into the mix later on. I guess that means the master was just the Chaos Emerald (singular) before that... kinda cool actually.
Honestly, i get that this one is underwhelming in terms of overall story but i enjoyed the ride! The locations, the dialogue, and seeing a different take on Bean that was honestly very interesting.
Right now it feels like the mainline IDW book needs more. Just MORE. More everything. The main book needs more suspense, more action, more drama, more worldbuilding, more plot, more intricacy, more consequences, more connections from story to story. It needs MORE. And if it was given more and readers had more "What? No way!" moments and plot threads to hang on to from month to month, then I guarantee it would sell better. And THEN if they did all that, a second monthly release could be handled no problem. Call it "Sonic Tales" or just "Sonic Universe" again. Do classic arcs, do modern arcs, do stories about characters like Sonic and Tails that just aren't connected to the main book like Scrapnik Island - since the main series SHOULD have a freight train of a plot that can't be interrupted. It could just be random four-issue stories like the Fang miniseries, or it could be like Archie's Sonic Universe where it answers the question "Where are these characters who aren't in the main comic right now?". Or both! Bottom line is, however, that the main comic isn't interesting enough right now to get a companion book off the ground. It's the sad truth. We're waiting at least a year between every miniseries instead of having a monthly companion comic for the main book. I sincerely do not believe the Fang miniseries should have been greenlit and I just don't know what they were thinking. If you tell writers and editors who have been working in comics for YEARS to make something that puts readers on the edge of their seats and sells as many copies as possible, they can probably get the job done. And we know for a FACT that the team at IDW could - they've done it before. But they can't do it while they're constrained by asinine, overly-strict franchise directives which can change internally with no notice. Even Stanley and Ian Flynn both avoid badmouthing Sega for obvious reasons, but they've slipped out a few anecdotes which tell a shocking story about Sega's management and communication. The rushed ending to Turf War, to five issues of inconsequential stories, to Surge's anticlimactic return in a single issue, to the atrociously boring and inconsequential issue 68, to a four month hiatus for FANG of all things, to a story about solving a mystery the audience already knows the answer to with Clean Sweep Inc. which is DEFINITELY going to drag. Right up to and including the Overpowered arc, IDW Sonic was great. Not perfect, but it was great. The highest highs of the comic like the Metal Virus finale and the build-up to issue 50 and Eggperial City's reveal feel like a lifetime away now. The Fang miniseries is one element of a way bigger problem. IDW Sonic is stuck in really extreme wheelspin and they keep putting out stories that don't properly excite anybody. Hopefully, seeing as it's declined so quickly, they'll find a way to bring it back to form equally fast once they wrap up the Sonic Riders 4 story that they've started now. Fingers crossed, even if I'm not super hopeful right now. 🤞
So we have the Master Emerald, the seven Chaos Emeralds from another world, the Warp Topaz that's featured in game tie-ins, and the Phantom Ruby that formed a connection between two Classic and Modern era games. That's not even including the Sol Emeralds or Time Stones or whatever else. I wonder 1) what other gems we'll see and 2) how likely the Topaz and Ruby are to make future game appearances
the one thing i really want to see is them explore Lanolin a bit more, cuz for someone with a pretty big role, and her gradual shift in behaviour, i think theres a lot to her were not seeing
I never finished my collection as a teenager of these. My friend and I use to trade comics back when they were at the now defunct Borders bookstore via a catalog.
dont worry Nick don't let the people who give you shit for liking your childhood and having nostalgia for it. just keep loving it and don't let those haters get to you. i only been watching your content for 3 months but i love it so keep on doing it man.
love the heavies having "voices"(love to see robotnik flat out using metal robotnik in the games.:3) & the hooligans showing their strengths(especially the heavies "HOLY-" reaction to bean using the giant bomb/being caring to bark calling it quits.) while i wish the island was different as i didn't really need it being a prequel to superstars(looking back compared to eggman randomly messing with time would've preferred him using the warp topaz though the knuckles spinoff comic could have fang lose it in the cave starline found it though glad it isn't something like the phantom ruby.) . i'd love to see trip to be properly in the comics & love the hooligans dynamic/sonic and tails getting screwed over from getting involved that i hope the games bring the hooligans back as it felt that it could've been in superstars to give it more meat as i enjoyed how idw has handled classic sonic compared to the games burning him out after generations(wouldn't say it's them being backhanded and more fans getting way too critical to just whiny in some areas like making up problems that were more prevalent in archie or the 00's games as i'd rather sonic take it's time figuring out it's foundation having fun specials between than get another shadow-06/lost world-forces where it was rushed and very bad.).
Thank GOD this is over. Maybe now it's been half a year of stuff that doesn't matter we can have a story in the main books again. Or 15 more delays for another slice of life holiday special where Jewel vacumes her living room. I'd hate to think Surge Cluch and Mimic had anything going on 🫠 I swear these books are so content in wasting as much time as possible.
The Warp Topaz being in this special actually REINFORCES my view that the classic and modern Sonic timelines are split, kind of like how in Classic continuity Eggman uses the Phantom Ruby to make the Hardboiled Heavies while he used it to make Infinite in Modern continuity, in classic world Fang found the warp Topaz while Starline found it in modern world. Of course I think some of the games happened in both timelines, I think any of the Genesis and Game Gear games happened to both universes, as well as Sonic 4. I have a hard time thinking about where the diversion of the time lines actually happens, but I'm thinking it would either be Sonic Adventure or Rush...
On the contrary, it definitively confirms that Classic and Modern occur on the same timeline. Comics were forbidden to combine Classic and Modern, because of the success of Mania, which means that everything related to the Classics could not appear in the Modern and vice versa, everything related to the Modern could not appear in the Classic. But since Warp Topaz appeared in the Classic, which was created only for Modern, then Classic and Modern are again one timeline. And this is not to mention TailsTube, where in series 4 Classic Sonic became Sonic from the past again, and in series 5 Modern Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy recognize Mighty, Ray and Hooligans. Edit: In the new issue of Bumble Kast, Ian Flynn confirmed that between Fang's miniseries and the Superstar series, Warp Topaz was once again in a cave, where he was later found by Starline.
Sorry Nick but at 25:52 Sega mandates say Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic aren't allowed to meet up and crossover in the comics, along with the rule of Classic characters having Modern designs and Modern characters having Classic designs, sadly....Good old SEGA mandates. 😅
It still just odd that they stick to it. What are they afraid of? I don't think it would upset anyone if they give up and decide that merging the two brands. People would rather be glad to finally see the Classic character interacting with the other characters. It is just because they don't want to bother creating new designs for the Classic characters?
I like your commentary and review content much better than your drawn out narration/summary type videos, hope you continue with this kinda format and however it evolves going forward. Also, I just binged the GotF fan comic yesterday thanks to your suggestion, and I was pleasantly surprised by what i read. I think i actually liked it better than I did IDW and no matter what, I just couldn't tear my attention away from it. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you think of it in detail or if there are any other fan comics you know of that might be a similar quality.
Hm, fair points and opinions, It was an interesting conclusion, i wonder if there will be any follow up to the developments in this Mini-Series? I hope there will be in the future, would be interesting too.
i just figured the warp topaz jumped to the classic dinension after 900. we know it can travel dimensions since it sent sonic to the sol dimension so it'd make sense
quick question: how come you keep referring to Fang, Bean and Bark as the "Hoodlums"? I thought they are supposed to be the "Hooligans". Has there been an official name change for their group or something?
14:40 I don't know I had fun with it and also we got to know Fang on a more personal level it's been a long time since we saw the guy and this comic gave him a lot of Personality quirks and also a break from the mainline IDW was fine with me because like there's only so much you can take with drama when it comes to the next issue I mean as soon as we got back you know what happened
To be slightly fair, this year IS Fang's 30th Anniversary. Sonic Triple Trouble came out in 1994; same year as Knux's debut. And Knux is gonna get a 30th Anniversary Comic (right?). With that said, I have been watching your channel for 4+ years (and I probably should've commented on your prior IDW Sonic vid but you bring it up in this vid too sooo--). I'll be honest and say that I don't like Archie Sonic as much as everyone else probably does? I say this because it's almost easy to forget about the 10 years of mid-to-outright-BAD content in the 90s and early 2000s...with some diamonds in the rough (I still adore Karl Boller's Return to Angel Island arc). When I think of Archie Sonic as a whole then, unfortunately, you have to acknowledge that, like, 80% of pre-Ian Flynn (or pre-Issue 160) was...not great. Again, there were SOME gems but that's the keyword: "Some". Archie Sonic had a 20+ year lifespan (an amazing achievement, make no mistake), but... I feel that OVER 10 YEARS was not great. But that's all my opinion. Honestly, you've talked about Archie Sonic for so long, I am waiting for those Archie Sonic vids you've mentioned in past Sonic Speed Reading stories. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on some stories like Issues 175-185. (There's, like, 3 arcs in these 10 issues). But I've waited 4+ years. I can wait a little longer, I think~
Btw even though not playable, Mania counts for another Bark appearance because I believe it was confirmed that the Hooligan that shoots down the Tornado is the real deal, the illusion is only the boss fight with Heavy Magician. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Being a tie in hurt the comic a lot in my opinion. We new where these characters would be at the end and it's like how the old saying goes, people don't read a story for the middle. Now if they did a special to show what happened to Fang AFTER Superstars then you'd have a lot more readers interested in the four part special.
"Stop worrying about split timeline." Ah yes, stop worrying about something established on screen in a mainline game, and which at least has a story in it for undoing that thing properly in-universe. The new guard wants to do better in writing and continuity, so I will ask them to do better in writing and continuity. Just because people don't like it doesn't mean they shouldn't address it.
@@mavrickindigo Objectively from the dialogue, the nature of Classic Sonic has changed between Generations and Forces. Generations was about time travel. It's not hard to infer what they meant, and not at least making ONE story to properly undo it feels lazy, and makes me think they only started ignoring it because it was unpopular. Like, come on, use it to establish a Classic and Modern divide for a Classic vs Modern story. That'd be cool as hell.
Well, this might be the reason why the arrangement forms were purposely divided between Generations and the like. Fang never thought that the day would come when he would pay his bills to one girl.
The one thing I don't understand is in Sonic the fighters there's an 8th Emerald. Why are they saying there's no such thing as one? I wish they answered that, or is that 8th emerald in that game non canon and is only non-diegetic in universe but not out of universe!?
More like they decided to fix this mistake by showing that it was Warp Topaz, and also to definitively confirm that Classic and Modern are one universe/timeline.
Welcome to the dying days of comic books. In the wise words of a sea sponge... "Why, it's the day all the graphic literature shops provide gratis samples of their wares in a pathetic effort to bolster an industry which has spent the last two decades in a death spiral brought on by a lethal interaction between the lack of variety and a monopolistic distribution system!" ~ Spongebob Squarepants, Freestyle Funnies (Free Comic Book Day)
My personal interpretation was that the Warp Topaz dimension hopped to the Classic timeline after the 900th Adventure. I know they're supposed to be in the same universe But like They're very obviously not
It's just that Hard Boiled Heavies were the first to find Warp Topaz and Fang stole it from them, and then something happened and eventually Warp Topaz ended up back in the cave, where Starline would later find it.
I think we need to take a break from current Sonic content. It's clear that SEGA wants Sonic to be a very safe mascot that makes for very stale feelings for a lot of people, and I think you feel it too dude. Take a break, maybe some TMNT and transformers stuff can help ya, or some Game Apologists essays reviews from Sonic games to see how far we've been from back then. We love ya dude.
Wait,so the heavies are dead? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Or are they alive? There fates are left ambiguous,so they might have lived. What do you think?
@@GameApologist I sure hope so! Though I do think Gunner and Magician had to go through some serious repairs. I hope they come back for more stuff in the future!
I won't lie I feel the opposite of the warp topaz. 900th adventure was a fantastic end to a fantastic gem. It served it's purpose especially well. Seeing it in the Fang series left me groaning. I'm quite done with it, it's done well. It's story purpose is over. It's been fantastic, but let's bookend it while it's still in good grace.
Wait a second. I have a WILD theory: if the Warp Topaz has been showing up in Modern & Classic eras, & with all the stuff promoting Sonic X Shadow Generations... Is the Topaz gonna show up in that game somehow?
So you're telling me that sonic superstars has a prequel animation that has a prequel comic that has 4 mini prequel comics. This is what sonic forces did but worse.
I think is when they are not doing a comic to promote a game or another thing sega tells them to do, it turns out to be cool. I will always love the art but i dont like the scripts that much.🙃👍
Hot take, not only do I like Sonic Super Stars, I actually like Super Stars more than Sonic Mania. So I was happy this tied into it. While I have not been feeling that same drag, I do agree and was weirded out by this not being a miniseries.
I like to imagine that Fang having the Warp Topaz explains partially why he just suddenly appears during Trip's campaign out of nowhere with a warp effect. It's most likely to explain that inconsistency and establish a firm connection between Modern and Classic Sonic which was up until Scrapnik was kept pretty vague
When does this happen?
According to Ian that's the exact reason why.
Honestly, this felt like a back door pilot to see if a Classic Series would sell like Sonic Universe did.
I’d take back every complaint if that was the case. I’d love that.
I was kind of surprised that it tied in to the beginning to Superstars. It does explain why Bark and Bean aren’t around. I know fans have wanted more Fang and the Hooligans for a while. I guess that’s why they got this four part series. Not just as a punching bag, but to show how cunning Fang is. This was probably my favorite portrayal of Bean. He’s absolutely hilarious when he gets distracted by shinies, but a voice of reason is very interesting. Thanks for the reviews!
I called the ending with Bark and Bean quitting on Fang back when issue 1 came out. It made sense for them to leave because of how fed up they were getting and how they aren't in Superstars
I like to think that after Superstars he comes crawling back to them begging for them to join up. Bean then says it depends, they got a new boss and she'll have to give her ok. The new boss turns out to be Trip who clobbers Fang and wakes up in a jail cell and Trip ensuring the two Hooligans that Fang is going to be locked up for a long, long time.
I believe the Archie comic explained that Bomb is produced by Heavy...like, whenever Bomb blows himself up his memories are saved in Heavy, who builds him a new body (assuming his body is like, a miniature factory meant to make Bomb robots.)
As for Bean and his poofing bombs out of thin air, I think he has a similar ability to Amy with the Piko-Piko Hammer. If Amy can pull a giant magical hammer out of nowhere then why can't our duck friend do something similar with cartoon ball bombs?
Keep on showing the nostalgic feelings Nick, it's your nerdy Sonic vid and I appreciate the neat little details that you bring from your past that I never would've known about!
4:02 I'd argue Heavy King is also the closest thing canon has to Commander Brutus.
I love Fang so I ain't complainin'. Also don't worry about the ads, we all understand! Would rather you be financially secure than scrapping by video-to-video.
I know more complicated narratives like the main IDW comics are usually what comes to mind when it comes to having multiple factions at play against each other, but as this comic shows, the classic era clearly has the potential to work with that kind of story 😊
It's honestly a little bit disappointing to me that Fang, Bean and Bark are stuck in the classic timeline. After reading archie all I want is for Bean to be modern comic cannon again since he was by far one of the funniest characters. We also need more villains in IDW and feels like a waste to put anything in this deliberately less fleshed out world
This is what I agree with. Fang and Bean would be fantastic in Modern Era. Bark is a little rougher, but I feel that is just because they haven't given him enough yet and easily he could. I do hope this comic series brings them into the new Era and doesn't just leave them behind.
Well lots of Classic Characters are currently stuck being in the Classic timeline. We have yet to see Trip, Ray, Mighty, Fang, Bean, Bark etc in the modern timeline.
While I can agree with a lot of what's said in this video, my take away is: before this comic I didn't care one bit about the Hoodlum team, but now I like them and would appreciate seeing more. In the long run, isn't that exactly what a successful comic should be doing? That's how you MAKE fans to begin with.
I get what you mean about it feeling dragged out, and I honestly think this whole four issue miniseries just ending with a "buy Sonic Superstars!" ad was disappointing. But four issues about characters other than Sonic reminded me of what we'd get in Sonic Universe back during the Archie days, so it honestly didn't bother me as much as it could have. These four issue miniseries like Tangle and Whisper, Bad Guys, etc. are kinda like the remnants of Sonic Universe.
It could be cool to see Starline interacting with Fang, even if it's just a flashback, but we'll have to wait and see if any future stories follow up on this miniseries. That said, onto the Riders arc!
That would be dope, so Fang can get his official, Sega approved Modern design.
Here's a fun theory: The Warp Topaz is here to create a theoretical means for the classic-only and modern-only characters to interact.
This was a fun ride, not gonna lie. Kind of like seeing the perspective from the villain side 👍
I definitely wouldn't stay invested reading this month to month but your enthusiasm for the franchise does a lot to keep me coming back to the channel.
I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing Heavy King pilot Metal Robotnik.
I bet Bean and Bark would get along great with Heavy and Bomb. And to complete the trio, Fang would be menaced by Chaos Gamma from Sonic Battle.
I think it was Fang laughing at the Heavy King. Most likely an error.
I’m looking forward to the Knuckles 30th Anniversary Special. Hopefully Nick doesn’t skip it like he did with Amy’s.
As the certified #1 Fang fan I feel confident in saying this series was: Ok.
Loved to see my boy in action but damn was it anti climactic to see it end with them telling us its a prequel to a game that came out last year.
If ya ask me it seems like this was Sega and IDW testing the waters to see if people were up to longer form classic stories. We know the 30th anniversary comic did well, we wouldn't have gotten the Tails and Amy ones if it hadnt, so now they're experimenting a little bit. Still kinda bullshit they put the main comic on hold as this was coming out since previous mininseries ran concurrent to the main series no problem, but regardless I doubt this is the last multi part classic story we've seen.
Also, gonna pull a wild card prediction here, whenever we go back to the classic era for another mininseries I'm gonna bet Honey The Cat makes her first speaking role in IDW.
You ain’t number 1 because I exist
@@sergeantgerbil2238 I will fist fight you on a moving train over this
Nick please don't apologize for needing som extra sponsorships in your life right now, it's more than understandable.
Batk fought the most unfair version of Metal Sonic. I think he can take on Heavy King.
Interesting to think that, before the Ancients arrived, there was ONE emerald, ONE ruby and ONE topaz on earth (and maybe other gems we haven't seen). So earth likely has one of each magic gemstone and the aliens just dropped their mini versions into the mix later on. I guess that means the master was just the Chaos Emerald (singular) before that... kinda cool actually.
“David Copperfield and the Po-Po”.
My favorite indy band from the 90’s.
Honestly, i get that this one is underwhelming in terms of overall story but i enjoyed the ride! The locations, the dialogue, and seeing a different take on Bean that was honestly very interesting.
Right now it feels like the mainline IDW book needs more. Just MORE. More everything.
The main book needs more suspense, more action, more drama, more worldbuilding, more plot, more intricacy, more consequences, more connections from story to story. It needs MORE. And if it was given more and readers had more "What? No way!" moments and plot threads to hang on to from month to month, then I guarantee it would sell better.
And THEN if they did all that, a second monthly release could be handled no problem. Call it "Sonic Tales" or just "Sonic Universe" again. Do classic arcs, do modern arcs, do stories about characters like Sonic and Tails that just aren't connected to the main book like Scrapnik Island - since the main series SHOULD have a freight train of a plot that can't be interrupted. It could just be random four-issue stories like the Fang miniseries, or it could be like Archie's Sonic Universe where it answers the question "Where are these characters who aren't in the main comic right now?". Or both!
Bottom line is, however, that the main comic isn't interesting enough right now to get a companion book off the ground. It's the sad truth. We're waiting at least a year between every miniseries instead of having a monthly companion comic for the main book. I sincerely do not believe the Fang miniseries should have been greenlit and I just don't know what they were thinking.
If you tell writers and editors who have been working in comics for YEARS to make something that puts readers on the edge of their seats and sells as many copies as possible, they can probably get the job done. And we know for a FACT that the team at IDW could - they've done it before. But they can't do it while they're constrained by asinine, overly-strict franchise directives which can change internally with no notice. Even Stanley and Ian Flynn both avoid badmouthing Sega for obvious reasons, but they've slipped out a few anecdotes which tell a shocking story about Sega's management and communication.
The rushed ending to Turf War, to five issues of inconsequential stories, to Surge's anticlimactic return in a single issue, to the atrociously boring and inconsequential issue 68, to a four month hiatus for FANG of all things, to a story about solving a mystery the audience already knows the answer to with Clean Sweep Inc. which is DEFINITELY going to drag. Right up to and including the Overpowered arc, IDW Sonic was great. Not perfect, but it was great. The highest highs of the comic like the Metal Virus finale and the build-up to issue 50 and Eggperial City's reveal feel like a lifetime away now.
The Fang miniseries is one element of a way bigger problem. IDW Sonic is stuck in really extreme wheelspin and they keep putting out stories that don't properly excite anybody. Hopefully, seeing as it's declined so quickly, they'll find a way to bring it back to form equally fast once they wrap up the Sonic Riders 4 story that they've started now. Fingers crossed, even if I'm not super hopeful right now. 🤞
So we have the Master Emerald, the seven Chaos Emeralds from another world, the Warp Topaz that's featured in game tie-ins, and the Phantom Ruby that formed a connection between two Classic and Modern era games. That's not even including the Sol Emeralds or Time Stones or whatever else.
I wonder 1) what other gems we'll see and 2) how likely the Topaz and Ruby are to make future game appearances
the one thing i really want to see is them explore Lanolin a bit more, cuz for someone with a pretty big role, and her gradual shift in behaviour, i think theres a lot to her were not seeing
I never finished my collection as a teenager of these. My friend and I use to trade comics back when they were at the now defunct Borders bookstore via a catalog.
I think I’d like to see Trip meet Bark and Bean, perhaps form a temporary team for an adventure.
I'd love to see more of the group or maybe see Bean and Bark go straight and join the Chaotix or something.
dont worry Nick don't let the people who give you shit for liking your childhood and having nostalgia for it. just keep loving it and don't let those haters get to you. i only been watching your content for 3 months but i love it so keep on doing it man.
Great video drop right in time for my Friday lunch break. 🎉
I love the heavies, glad they got to show up here
love the heavies having "voices"(love to see robotnik flat out using metal robotnik in the games.:3) & the hooligans showing their strengths(especially the heavies "HOLY-" reaction to bean using the giant bomb/being caring to bark calling it quits.)
while i wish the island was different as i didn't really need it being a prequel to superstars(looking back compared to eggman randomly messing with time would've preferred him using the warp topaz though the knuckles spinoff comic could have fang lose it in the cave starline found it though glad it isn't something like the phantom ruby.) .
i'd love to see trip to be properly in the comics & love the hooligans dynamic/sonic and tails getting screwed over from getting involved that i hope the games bring the hooligans back as it felt that it could've been in superstars to give it more meat as i enjoyed how idw has handled classic sonic compared to the games burning him out after generations(wouldn't say it's them being backhanded and more fans getting way too critical to just whiny in some areas like making up problems that were more prevalent in archie or the 00's games as i'd rather sonic take it's time figuring out it's foundation having fun specials between than get another shadow-06/lost world-forces where it was rushed and very bad.).
Thank GOD this is over. Maybe now it's been half a year of stuff that doesn't matter we can have a story in the main books again. Or 15 more delays for another slice of life holiday special where Jewel vacumes her living room. I'd hate to think Surge Cluch and Mimic had anything going on 🫠
I swear these books are so content in wasting as much time as possible.
I always thought that Bean was a reject from the Dynamite Ducks video game.
The Warp Topaz being in this special actually REINFORCES my view that the classic and modern Sonic timelines are split, kind of like how in Classic continuity Eggman uses the Phantom Ruby to make the Hardboiled Heavies while he used it to make Infinite in Modern continuity, in classic world Fang found the warp Topaz while Starline found it in modern world.
Of course I think some of the games happened in both timelines, I think any of the Genesis and Game Gear games happened to both universes, as well as Sonic 4. I have a hard time thinking about where the diversion of the time lines actually happens, but I'm thinking it would either be Sonic Adventure or Rush...
On the contrary, it definitively confirms that Classic and Modern occur on the same timeline. Comics were forbidden to combine Classic and Modern, because of the success of Mania, which means that everything related to the Classics could not appear in the Modern and vice versa, everything related to the Modern could not appear in the Classic. But since Warp Topaz appeared in the Classic, which was created only for Modern, then Classic and Modern are again one timeline. And this is not to mention TailsTube, where in series 4 Classic Sonic became Sonic from the past again, and in series 5 Modern Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy recognize Mighty, Ray and Hooligans.
Edit: In the new issue of Bumble Kast, Ian Flynn confirmed that between Fang's miniseries and the Superstar series, Warp Topaz was once again in a cave, where he was later found by Starline.
I wonder who's gonna find the Topaz after the 900th. Still stucks in caves like spelunkers with the squeezes.
5:23 not even gonna use the nickname samurai Jack Frost
Wait, we no longer have a split timeline!? When did that happen? Was it a TailsTube thing?
Yes
@@PossiblyAkid Ah, okay then. Thanks.
Sorry Nick but at 25:52 Sega mandates say Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic aren't allowed to meet up and crossover in the comics, along with the rule of Classic characters having Modern designs and Modern characters having Classic designs, sadly....Good old SEGA mandates. 😅
It still just odd that they stick to it. What are they afraid of?
I don't think it would upset anyone if they give up and decide that merging the two brands. People would rather be glad to finally see the Classic character interacting with the other characters.
It is just because they don't want to bother creating new designs for the Classic characters?
@@Gerik75 most likely.
@@Gerik75branding
But this mandate has already been removed. It became clear from the TailsTube.
@@ИльфатГалимов-э6ф really?! How!? I'm actually surprised they removed them. 🤨🤔
I like your commentary and review content much better than your drawn out narration/summary type videos, hope you continue with this kinda format and however it evolves going forward.
Also, I just binged the GotF fan comic yesterday thanks to your suggestion, and I was pleasantly surprised by what i read. I think i actually liked it better than I did IDW and no matter what, I just couldn't tear my attention away from it. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you think of it in detail or if there are any other fan comics you know of that might be a similar quality.
Love seeing Bark get the rep he deserves
Hm, fair points and opinions,
It was an interesting conclusion, i wonder if there will be any follow up to the developments in this Mini-Series?
I hope there will be in the future, would be interesting too.
i just figured the warp topaz jumped to the classic dinension after 900. we know it can travel dimensions since it sent sonic to the sol dimension so it'd make sense
quick question: how come you keep referring to Fang, Bean and Bark as the "Hoodlums"? I thought they are supposed to be the "Hooligans". Has there been an official name change for their group or something?
Oops, keep mixing those two words up. Good catch!
I wanna see heavy bomb and honey having story’s already
We can whatever we want about these comics, at least they're about the character who is named on the cover.
Shinobi freeing Fang isn't that ridiculous when you consider that Sonic and his team have shown that those ice cubes can be broken out of
Fang gang ride up! We gotta make him canon in the Sonic games
14:40
I don't know I had fun with it and also we got to know Fang on a more personal level it's been a long time since we saw the guy and this comic gave him a lot of Personality quirks and also a break from the mainline IDW was fine with me because like there's only so much you can take with drama when it comes to the next issue I mean as soon as we got back you know what happened
5:25 made me laugh a bit
7:00 maybe it’s similar to how bomb blows up in the angry bird idw comics
To be slightly fair, this year IS Fang's 30th Anniversary. Sonic Triple Trouble came out in 1994; same year as Knux's debut. And Knux is gonna get a 30th Anniversary Comic (right?).
With that said, I have been watching your channel for 4+ years (and I probably should've commented on your prior IDW Sonic vid but you bring it up in this vid too sooo--). I'll be honest and say that I don't like Archie Sonic as much as everyone else probably does? I say this because it's almost easy to forget about the 10 years of mid-to-outright-BAD content in the 90s and early 2000s...with some diamonds in the rough (I still adore Karl Boller's Return to Angel Island arc). When I think of Archie Sonic as a whole then, unfortunately, you have to acknowledge that, like, 80% of pre-Ian Flynn (or pre-Issue 160) was...not great. Again, there were SOME gems but that's the keyword: "Some". Archie Sonic had a 20+ year lifespan (an amazing achievement, make no mistake), but... I feel that OVER 10 YEARS was not great. But that's all my opinion.
Honestly, you've talked about Archie Sonic for so long, I am waiting for those Archie Sonic vids you've mentioned in past Sonic Speed Reading stories. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on some stories like Issues 175-185. (There's, like, 3 arcs in these 10 issues). But I've waited 4+ years. I can wait a little longer, I think~
16:54
What do you mean bark can clearly talk?
I thought he was mute and thats why the comic doesn’t give him dialogue.
Btw even though not playable, Mania counts for another Bark appearance because I believe it was confirmed that the Hooligan that shoots down the Tornado is the real deal, the illusion is only the boss fight with Heavy Magician. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Heavy Shinobi's haiku made me want to make a cold katana build in Elden Ring.
Being a tie in hurt the comic a lot in my opinion. We new where these characters would be at the end and it's like how the old saying goes, people don't read a story for the middle. Now if they did a special to show what happened to Fang AFTER Superstars then you'd have a lot more readers interested in the four part special.
I need that knuckles Review
For me I would've liked Urban Warfare Arc to have been expanded on over this Mini-Series.
"Stop worrying about split timeline."
Ah yes, stop worrying about something established on screen in a mainline game, and which at least has a story in it for undoing that thing properly in-universe.
The new guard wants to do better in writing and continuity, so I will ask them to do better in writing and continuity. Just because people don't like it doesn't mean they shouldn't address it.
They never established it. We had to logic it into existe ce
@@mavrickindigo Objectively from the dialogue, the nature of Classic Sonic has changed between Generations and Forces. Generations was about time travel. It's not hard to infer what they meant, and not at least making ONE story to properly undo it feels lazy, and makes me think they only started ignoring it because it was unpopular.
Like, come on, use it to establish a Classic and Modern divide for a Classic vs Modern story. That'd be cool as hell.
maybe the warp topaz will connect Classic with Modern era sonic but also Shadow's story that's why their makeing Sonic X Shadow Generations
Well, this might be the reason why the arrangement forms were purposely divided between Generations and the like. Fang never thought that the day would come when he would pay his bills to one girl.
The one thing I don't understand is in Sonic the fighters there's an 8th Emerald. Why are they saying there's no such thing as one? I wish they answered that, or is that 8th emerald in that game non canon and is only non-diegetic in universe but not out of universe!?
More like they decided to fix this mistake by showing that it was Warp Topaz, and also to definitively confirm that Classic and Modern are one universe/timeline.
Have you ever heard of a retcon
@amagicalbeing7427 Yes, but why not say that?! Why not announce and say "hey the 8th emerald is not canon."
@@mediamuncher69 cuz its sega
@@amagicalbeing7427 fair
Welcome to the dying days of comic books. In the wise words of a sea sponge...
"Why, it's the day all the graphic literature shops provide gratis samples of their wares in a pathetic effort to bolster an industry which has spent the last two decades in a death spiral brought on by a lethal interaction between the lack of variety and a monopolistic distribution system!" ~ Spongebob Squarepants, Freestyle Funnies (Free Comic Book Day)
I'm sorry, Spongebob said all that?!
My personal interpretation was that the Warp Topaz dimension hopped to the Classic timeline after the 900th Adventure.
I know they're supposed to be in the same universe
But like
They're very obviously not
It's just that Hard Boiled Heavies were the first to find Warp Topaz and Fang stole it from them, and then something happened and eventually Warp Topaz ended up back in the cave, where Starline would later find it.
I think we need to take a break from current Sonic content.
It's clear that SEGA wants Sonic to be a very safe mascot that makes for very stale feelings for a lot of people, and I think you feel it too dude.
Take a break, maybe some TMNT and transformers stuff can help ya, or some Game Apologists essays reviews from Sonic games to see how far we've been from back then.
We love ya dude.
19:41
What about Mecha Sonic in Scrapnik Island?
5:00 A SHE?!? I always thought they all, specially magician, was a guy
Magician and Rider are Female, other 3 are Male ;D
Thought he said clink the link
I honestly have been feeling very similar with IDW. I'm so tired of reading the comics that sometimes it feels like I'm reading out of obligation.
It was neat, but im curious why didn't this run along side the main story? Doesn't make much sense 😅
Can you please go over the character Nazo
10:04 superstars was straight fucking boring-ass experience
3:16 So if I play as a polar bear in TF2, will I be able to destroy Heavy?
TF1
Wait,so the heavies are dead? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Or are they alive? There fates are left ambiguous,so they might have lived. What do you think?
Oh I have no doubt they’re alive. Eggy just letting them sit in their mess for a while
@@GameApologist I sure hope so! Though I do think Gunner and Magician had to go through some serious repairs. I hope they come back for more stuff in the future!
I won't lie I feel the opposite of the warp topaz. 900th adventure was a fantastic end to a fantastic gem. It served it's purpose especially well. Seeing it in the Fang series left me groaning. I'm quite done with it, it's done well. It's story purpose is over. It's been fantastic, but let's bookend it while it's still in good grace.
Wait a second. I have a WILD theory: if the Warp Topaz has been showing up in Modern & Classic eras, & with all the stuff promoting Sonic X Shadow Generations...
Is the Topaz gonna show up in that game somehow?
Bean is just a bomberman
Im begging for a graphic novel version of this plzz
I’m gonna miss the trio they were really fun in the Archie comics and it’s kinda sad to see em good (also weren’t they called the hooligans?)
Is the 8th emerald the one from issue 68? I mean it is orange.
Wait are they called the hooligans or the hoodlums
So you're telling me that sonic superstars has a prequel animation that has a prequel comic that has 4 mini prequel comics. This is what sonic forces did but worse.
YO under a minute rn
7:00 well the Babylons are aliens and they are the only other birds in sonic what if all bird people are descents of babalons?
Also where’s part 3?
Released it yesterday
@@GameApologistthx
under a minute gang also first!!!!!!!!!1
Me too
sonic idw issue 69 is out
now speed read it
Me waiting for Nick to stop talking about comics and start talking games again
Bro really is speedreading goddamn
Hey u should do a review of Jurassic world evolution 2
I’d love to but the almighty algorithm really punishes my channel when I cover dinos. I’ll have to get creative, I really want to talk about it
@@GameApologist ok thank you so much! lol gotta hate the algorithm
Obligatory "How dare you talk about Archie Sonic era" comment #2838! (jokingly)
Hi
Sonic comic IDW 69 (nice) to 72 😮😂
This video got absolutely ratioed for some reason
I always thought the heavy rider was the female.
Both heavy rider and heavy magician are girls
I think is when they are not doing a comic to promote a game or another thing sega tells them to do, it turns out to be cool. I will always love the art but i dont like the scripts that much.🙃👍
1:41 skip sponsorship
Theory, Beam simply has the Toon force, but being a villain, when he confronts a hero in bad faith, he is going to lose.
Hot take, not only do I like Sonic Super Stars, I actually like Super Stars more than Sonic Mania. So I was happy this tied into it. While I have not been feeling that same drag, I do agree and was weirded out by this not being a miniseries.
It's Hooligans, not 'Hoodlums'.