Something I’ve been thinking about regarding Mimic’s ability to shapeshift is whether or not he can shapeshift into anything or anyone or if he needs ‘inspiration?’

I mean I’ve never seen him change into a character who he hasn’t seen before? Can he just create his own visage without taking the appearance of someone who doesn’t exist or he doesn’t know?

Then that begs the question regarding Duo if he can’t do the above mentioned. Is Duo actually someone Mimic came across and is just using his appearance because he is that far removed from the Restoration? Or he is confident enough that the real Duo will not and cannot appear to expose his cover? In other words, Mimic killed the real Duo and took his appearance to enact his revenge on the Diamond Cutters or he knew Duo before and knows or thinks he is indisposed.

Lanolin is a high ranking officer of Restoration’s offensive division and is the leader of the Restoration’s only military/security division. From what characterization we’ve seen, she is cautious and very task oriented. She is rigid and very much favors a military chain of command as she calls Amy ‘Commander Rose.’ Her team at the moment is comprised of Tangle, Whisper, Duo/Mimic, Surge, and Kit.

It says something that Tangle is her most cooperative and cohesive teammate.

Whisper is quiet and prefers to work alone and while she does agree to play along with the team, she still carries those lone wolf traits such as she chose to act alone and outside of the team and collaborate with Silver to expose Mimic’s game instead of relaying that info to both Lanolin and Tangole beforehand. Because she didn’t trust her own team and kept quiet when she witnessed Duo!Mimic try to kill Silver and then iced out the other two, Mimic was successful in keeping his act up.

Duo/Mimic is obviously a plant to sabotage the team and subsequently the Restoration, and while Surge and Kit initially were, they seemed to have taken to the Hero praise and want to try for real yet even when Surge actually wants to be a good guy the right way, she still doesn’t bother to tell Lanolin that Sonic is the Phantom Rider because why would she.

Tangle doesn’t bother to tell her because, and this totally on Stanley, for some reason, the character is missing her spine anytime she is around Lanolin. Even the most charitable reading I can give this is that Tangle has been so browbeaten by Lanolin that she is too scared to speak up to her for fear of mildly annoying her. This is the problem with Lanolin but more on that later.

And Jewel does not communicate her suspicions about Clean Sweep to Lanolin or anybody really and as Lanolin’s supervisor and superior officer, Jewel is well in her right to not to. But because she is not divulging information that she is suspecting Clutch of foul play, Lanolin is looking stupid trying to arrest Sonic, a hedgehog who has besieged entire armies and battalions by himself, because she thinks Sonic has gone rogue. I mean Tails and Amy have no reason to say anything because the whole plot hinges on Sonic and company using misdirection and being discrete. That’s why Sonic agreed to be the Phantom Rider in the first place.

Here is what Lanolin knew prior to the reveal that Sonic is the Phantom Rider.

• The Phantom Rider interfered in a Restoration backed event and it’s her job to regulate said event.

• The Phantom Rider eluded their capture twice and both times caused a lot of destruction. Once was her fault.

• The Phantom Rider accosted her teammate and caused wanton destruction.

Given the information that she is privy to, yeah, you can’t blame her for being angry with both Whisper and Tangle for not divulging to her that they knew who the Phantom Rider was. And her foolishly thinking that she can arrest Sonic is not the problem. That’s her job. Sonic allegedly according to her and engaging in acts of wanton endangerment for seemingly no reason. Whether she can stop her or not is irrelevant. And Lanolin operates completely different than the rest of Sonic’s crew as she respects structure so she is not quite at the acceptance of granting Sonic the benefit of doubt without explanation. Tangle is because she has worked with Sonic multiple times. Whisper is because she has worked with Sonic many times as well. Lanolin has only been around Sonic through coincidences and only worked with him once. Each time, she was under duress or experiencing some crisis. Point is that whether or not she can or should try arrest to Sonic is irrelevant. Her antagonism is a personality clash without the romantic tension or genuine enmity. She is the type of person who would walk up to Shadow the Hedgehog and ask him to stop if he was causing a disturbance with no fear or thought about self-preservation.

I mentioned how Lanolin is task oriented. What’s her current task? Expanding the Diamond Hunters. This is why she is so protective of Duo. This is why she is willing to accept Surge and Kit in spite of knowing who they are. If Commander Rose vouched for them, then that’s fine with her.

You aren’t mad about the character and her personality. You are mad that she is essentially dog walking Whisper and Tangle. As mentioned earlier, Tangle is letting Lanolin walk all over her. And while it’s meant to be seen as establishing dynamics within the team, it feels like Tangle and Whisper are letting stuff slide at best, or allowing the least experienced person in their trio to dog walk them and that is grating.

Sonic Frontiers sold 3 million copies.

For comparison’s sake, Sonic 06 sold 800k, Sonic Unleashed sold under 2.5 million copies, Sonic Colors sold 2.1 million copies, and Sonic Generations sold 1.8 million copies. Sonic Lost World sold 700k and is one of the lowest selling main games in the Franchise and yet the Zeti are prominent in the comic. Sonic Forces sold a pitiful in its first week and we may never know exactly how much Sonic Forces actually sold(and it having 5 million plus on players on PSN+ is not any indication of a sale since it was free.) Yet somehow the comic takes place directly after Forces. Sonic Mania sold just over a million in case those hardcore Sonic classic fans want to open their mouths. While I’m at it, Sonic Adventure sold 1.3 million and SA2 sold 1.7 million. Sonic Rush sold 1.3 million and its sequel,which suffered after 06 tarnished Sonic’s reputation, sold 300k. The first Sonic game sold 15 million copies and before Retro fans start talking shit, note that is the only game in the franchise that sold that amount and it was in the golden age of gaming. You could sell a wet fart in an Nintendo cartridge and it would have made a million easy. Sonic 2? 6 million. Sonic 3? 1.03 million. Sonic and Knuckles? 1.3 million. Sonic CD? 1.5 million. Shadow the Hedgehog? 2 million. And Sonic Heroes and probably the biggest offender as to why Sonic Team stopped giving a shit about quality or effort and more about that Christmas grind? 3.41 million in 2 years.

Sonic Frontiers sold like gang busters in the couple of months it’s been out.

If you think Sage or any Frontiers elements won’t be referenced or be in the comic, you are bugging. Especially given that one of the main writers of the game writes for the comic. If that’s what is keeping you from saying IDW Sonic is on the same canon as the games and not what Iizuka says or what Flynn has stated several times, you are bugging. You are kidding yourselves if you think IDW can’t possibly put in those elements from the game in their comic.

If you don’t consider Tangle or Whisper to be game character in spite of them appearing in two mobile games that have been downloaded and played more than any Sonic game and have been created with the help of Sonic Team’s own character designer, fling yourself into the Nile River and cope and seethe. Tangle and Whisper have merchandise in the Sega Shop.

TailsTube shorts? Written by Flynn. That little Amy Rose Tarot Card set that is coming out soon? Written by Flynn with art created by one of the many IDW comic artists. This comic series has well over 50 issues including 4 different 4 part miniseries. It sold out in Japan! It’s consistently IDW’s top selling comic beating both the Transformers and Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles. It has sold over 10,000 copies an issue in a world where comics aren’t widely recognized unless it’s in the Marvel or DC. What they said in the beginning about it being diverged from canon no longer applies. Shit changed. It’s a new goddamn world. IDW Sonic is the only medium that actually uses your beloved obscure characters like Silver and Blaze. Like Cream. I don’t know what Flynn has done to make you turn up your nose at him but get over it. And the days of Sega pimping out Sonic to whatever Western media content creator and not caring what they churn out are over. The only exception to this is the movie verse(and because Iizuka has explicitly said it’s in a different canon)and honestly I have a tougher time trying to grasp how Sonic Prime is canon than I am with IDW. But regardless, it’s a new day. You are in a renaissance of Sonic and for once Sega gives enough of a shit about lore to want to make it all gel together and avoiding SATAM or Sonic Underground or Sonic the Comic or Archie Sonic the Hedgehog. Get the fuck over it.

Where would Sonic Frontiers fit in IDW Sonic?

I know Ian said don’t think about it, but oh well. He created Starline and that permits me to think about his work anyway I want. And it’s easier to think about than Sonic Prime.

I think the prerequisite for this is to find a place in the comic where Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy aren’t too involved in anything and Eggman isn’t doing anything significant. With the Tailstube ep. 3 being the real catalyst of Frontiers. I’m betting on it being between #40-50.

Luckily, Eggman has not been too active in the comics. In fact, he has been reactive to either Starline or Surge. Since Test Run(#37-40), Eggman doesn’t get too involved until #50 or Imposter Syndrome #4. And I guess the Bad Guys mini. Most of it is Starline’s scheming. So we have 10 issues where Eggman could have been on Starfall Island. Most of the time in Bad Guys, Eggman seems to be preoccupied with something else or building something only to be alerted when Starline and company draw his attention. So it’s plausible that Eggman attempted scheme during the ruckus Starline was causing until Starline eventually attacked him.

Sonic, Tails, and Amy are a bit trickier. After Zeti Hunt, Sonic and Tails went on a mini break with Belle hanging around in Tails Workshop after Trial By Fire. So we are talking 3 issues. Not even 3 issues really because Sonic and Tails go and investigate what’s going on with Eggman in #49. Amy is free after Trial by Fire to join Sonic and Tails.

So issue #48 seems to be the only plausible time where Sonic Frontiers happened as all necessary parties aren’t doing anything that would take them out of play for a couple of weeks at most. Why not at any other time? Eggman was either inactive for all of the Neo-Metal Sonic arc or very much too involved in the Metal Virus arc. Sonic unsurprisingly has only taken two breaks in this comic: after the battle for Angel Island with Neo and after Zeti Hunt. And Sonic Frontiers taking place before Angel Island battle contradicts with the fact that Knuckles was not on the island until after said battle and Eggman clearly wasn’t on Starfall Islands when spreading the Metal virus. So issues #1-32 are out. Sonic and Tails are too busy to do anything in Starfall Islands as they are helping finding repairs for Omega and Emerl and are actively hunting the Zeti.

Why 48 given what happened in Sonic Frontiers? It explains how Starline got the jump on Eggman for one or anyone. While yes, Starline made mistakes of revealing himself to his enemies and putting himself on notice, Sonic wasn’t too involved in hunting him down. Neither was Eggman. And he had an ample amount of time in creating Surge and Kit. The thing about Starline is that for all of his bluster about planning and his meticulous posturing, he really did not investigate his enemies too much. Also why Tails not being home during Imposter Syndrome when Starline tried to break into it kind of makes sense. And also, I can see how Eggman was so woefully unprepared if Sonic Frontiers just happened. He lost a “daughter” after a couple week term in a cyber prison. He comes back and tries to collect his bearings and bam, a weird Tenrec and Fox are attacking his base of operations and suddenly Starline took over one of his mechs and is waiting outside his throne room.

Why didn’t Eggman implement Sage yet? He didn’t have a reason until Starline, using Eggman’s own network, hijacked his entire amada. Starline even stole an entire base without Eggman noticing. I can see that after the Overpowered arc, he needs another set of eyes on his network.

Then there is the final characterization of Tails in Sonic Frontiers which I admit contradicts with IDW. But I’d point to how he handles Kit and how he seems to be more independent from Sonic instead of his sidekick. Yes, I get that Sonic and Tails had the same conversation all the way back in issue 3 that they had in Frontiers but I’d say that one in Frontiers is more in-depth. Tails, after essentially defeating the Zeti and saving Sonic’s hide, seems to be operating independently of Sonic and only seems to be called upon or just hanging out with his brother. Tails is independently working with the Restoration on his own accord and between Sonic and Tails, Miles is the only one who has a day job, homes, and a few workshops. The resolution of what Tails will become is best handled in a game and not a comic but we can see the effort of him growing up and becoming hero we all knew he was kind of takes place during Imposter Syndrome. He faces the personification of what he fears he has become to Sonic in Kit and the Fox isn’t shaken at all. He is making a turn into whatever the goal is for Tails and think the argument that Sonic Frontiers took place during 48 supports it.

Then why haven’t they mentioned it yet? Not every adventure that Sonic and company goes on is so remarkable that it constantly needs to be brought up unless it’s related to whatever it’s happening. The reason why Sonic Frontiers isn’t mentioned is because it’s really a contained situation that happens on 4(yes 4, Chaos Island is attached to Ouranos) islands between 5 characters. It wasn’t a world breaking global news awareness kind of thing like SA1 or SA2 because I don’t think Sonic is throwing out press releases of every time they stopped Eggman. In fact, you can argue that is what Tailstube is. It’s Tails telling his world about Sonic and their adventures and his friends while answering questions like it’s the Just Chatting section on Twitch. Unless someone noticed Starfall Islands which they shouldn’t have since it’s four secluded islands, then yeah, no one cares. And the same can be said as to why Sonic not Eggman mention Metal Virus in Sonic Frontiers. It’s not related to what’s happening in the game so why remark upon it. Is Metal Virus arc so out of left field that it needs to be referenced compared to what happened in Sonic CD or Generations or the Advance Series? Or Sonic Rush Adventure? Those games weren’t referenced in Frontiers either but we don’t assume they didn’t happen either since Amy came from CD, Cream was mentioned in Frontiers and she debuted in the Advance Series, and Generations clearly happened as some of the Cyberstages are based off them.

But I digress. If Sonic Frontiers is to fit within IDW somewhere, I’d put it near #48 ish.

Calling it right now

Sage is running Eggperial City. Something is up.

First, it’s mighty strange that Eggman has not shown up at all while he is being attacked by 5 heavy hitters(Sonic, Silver, Blaze, Shadow, and Omega). Mind you that 4 of these characters have a super form or an alternate in Blaze’s case. Eggman is used to Sonic and maybe one of the other attacking him. All five of them at once all proactively attacking Eggman and we haven’t seen him once? In fact, even the response doesn’t seem characteristic of him. Eggman is bombastic. This entire response during the Urban Warfare arc just feels off. We expect Eggman to be in that tower. But then you have to remind yourself since when has Eggman been content to just sit and wait for Sonic in a tower? That round man has personally intervened with Sonic and friends company in the conclusion of every act, has personally engaged with Sonic himself several times when maybe just sitting down and waiting is probably the right move. He didn’t even send Metal Sonic to check out the commotion. But this does align with Sage’s style. She observes from afar while collecting data on her opponents. While she was initially hostile with Sonic for reasons that annoyingly make sense, she does operate in a manner like we’ve seen in this arc.

Second, Whisper, Tangle, and Lanolin are in a version of a Cyberspace from Sonic Frontiers. Just like in Starfall Islands, the Cyberspace is integrated into reality. Whereas the Eggperial City allows its occupants to roam around freely but unable to engage with reality. Eggman himself did mention wanting to recreate a Cyberspace as expensive as the ancients and Sage was created as an amalgamation of Ancient tech and Eggtech. Eggman at the end of Frontiers basically resurrected a version of her.

And finally, meta wise this arc does not make sense for how long it is to not be something as major as Sage’s comic debut. It’s 5 issues. This is the first time we are re-centering Eggman as the chief villain since Test Run and it’s focused on actually destroying something of his instead of being reactive and he is not going to show up? We don’t get a scheme, a monologue, and not even an appearance in the first two issues of said arc? Not one page or panel of Eggman speaking through his robots? Because he has to know Sonic and company are there. Naw. Something is off with the whole narrative structure. It’s set up as if there is going to be bait-and-switch in the end when we find out that the Doctor isn’t in the building. Sure, it makes sense that comic is focusing on Lanolin and the Diamond Cutters at the expense of Eggman, but we really don’t need Lanolin’s backstory as we essentially already seen it via funny background appearances. We witnessed her growth from scared civilian to dutiful member of the resistance. We only needed a motivation from her and we got it in the first ten pages. If this was a trap set by Eggman, he would have made his presence known after Sonic and company sprung it and some of them fell for it. It doesn’t make sense for Eggman to not have made his presence known at this point.

I won’t say that is what is happening but something feels off.

It’s mildly insulting to both Sally and Lanolin that people who don’t remember Archie are saying Lanolin is the new Sally. And I say this as someone who hates Sally Acorn.

Honestly, it’s tiring that anytime there is a leadership role given to a woman in this series, people immediately assume said character is ripping off Sally. Sally was bossy, and obnoxiously commanding. Sally was girl boss princess. Sally will let you know she is in charge and it’s not a question who is in charge.

Amy’s leadership of the Resistance was way more diplomatic as she gave Sonic a lot of more leeway than Sally ever did in Archie pre-Wave. Amy Rose accepted Sonic’s decision to operate independently of the Resistance and Restoration almost immediately. Her tenure was marked with community rebuilding projects that she self-admittedly states were beyond her. Sally would have relied on Nicole for rebuilding projects while she operated the military and field missions with impunity. Sally was the person who connected with Freedom Fighters around the world. She was the point person and absolutely would not have let Sonic just willy-nilly do whatever the fuck he wanted. Even in peacetime, Sally, infamously and not unjustly given Archie’s setting, wanted to tie Sonic down.

Jewel is more of a supervisor than leader as she is far more likely to delegate positions towards others to prevent centralized authority. Sally is literally royalty and frequently butted heads with the council and her own father, the King, anytime her decisions were challenged. Sally in Jewel’s position absolutely would not have let Tangle go do her own thing. She wouldn’t be satisfied with desk work. She would have had a conniption.

I can’t speak to Lanolin’s character yet as we only have so little but people are pointing to her butting heads with Sonic being similar to Sally’s interactions with him. First off, Sally’s Freedom Fighters were not volunteer based. She vetted every single one of the members save for Tails whom she thought was too young. Lanolin’s volunteer squad seems to be a revolving door situation in terms of participants so as the organizer and leader of the team, she has to lead off of the approval of the team. Throughout the issue, Lanolin is seeking coordination and cooperation. Sally would not have bothered because the only uncooperative element on the Freedom Fighters was, you guessed it, Sonic. He was the one that she and Antoine had to reign in. Sally would have relayed to the team immediately that this was a stealth mission. Lanolin assumed that they knew that it was a recon mission and Sonic and company would act accordingly. The Freedom Fighters are Sally’s Knights/Royal Guard/City Watch. Lanolin’s volunteer team is the Restoration’s proactive offensive force.

If Sally led the Diamond Cutters and IDW/Games Sonic, it wouldn’t have been Tangle yelling at Whisper for thinking of going solo. It would have been Sally as she does this with Sonic frequently in Archie. Sally wouldn’t be discussing with Sonic in terms of tactics. She would be arguing with him. And Sally would have been a lot more fed up with Tangle’s shit. And more importantly, the narrative would have agreed with her versus Lanolin whose discussion with Sonic is more, “Well, they both made great points and neither aren’t entirely wrong.”

If I could some up the girls’ leadership styles.

Amy Rose - community leader/influencer

Jewel - Community Organizer.

Lanolin - Neighborhood team leader

Sally Acorn - Commander-in-Chief/General.

If anything, Sally has more in common with Sonic Rush 1 Blaze which makes sense since they are both Princesses. The difference between those two is that Blaze is fully capable of leading her own charge and had to be convinced to ask for help sometimes versus Sally who would never even need to be reminded of such.

Sally should not be the ubiquitous girl leader in Sonic the Hedgehog.

I am sorry that I am late in answering this.

It's simple: Be nihilistic villains.

They do not have to die or be "redeemed."

Look, in all of Sonic's rogues galley, we have characters like Blaze, Shadow, Knuckles, Jet the Hawk, and Metal Sonic. Knuckles was misled and now fervently on the side of the good guys, but you'd be lying if you said the character did not lose his appeal when he made that transition to merely disliking or tolerating Sonic. Metal Sonic can't verbalize and even when it does, it's just Eggman as Sonic anyway. shadow literally is what Surge would become if turned good and thus would be redundant. Jet is already the cocky Sonic but actually a criminal thing going on, but not as evil as Eggman or Zavok. And Blaze already fills the niche of an alternatively good Sonic in her own dimension and the cast. Sorry, Surge and Kit must stay antagonists and actually bad guys because that is their lane that makes them different from anyone else. They don't want to conquer the world. They want to destroy everything. In between villain characters that are world conquerors like Eggman and the Zeti and kingpin-esque characters like Clutch or straight up criminals like Rough and Tumble, that is a great niche to have,

Part of the appeal of Surge is that she is evil or in the case of Surge, she is an sympathetic but nonetheless a villian. Venom of Spider-Man was haphazardly redeemed as an anti-hero and as a Spider-Man fan, I can tell you that took a lot of the edge away from Eddie Brock. His best work was when he directly antagonized Peter Parker and redeeming him via excusing that the reason he was after Peter Parker in the first place was because Daredevil with Spider-Man correctly identified a serial killer vigilante in hold-up while Eddie tried to lie and withhold the identity of the serial killer for clout which the serial killer that Eddie turned in was just a copy cat. Eddie was at his best when he was villain. When he was up in Peter's shit. Another example is Harley Quinn. Part of her appeal aside from her design and concept was that she was evil like Joker, but writers hammed up the domestic abuse angle and that is now her identity. That is all she is known for aside from being in a throuple with Poison Ivy(who is also redeemed but time and overall view of politics redeemed her so that is different).

As much you want to redeem characters like Surge, that is the point. You want to redeem her, but you can't. That is Arcane's and LoL's Jinx. That is Juri Han from Street Fighter. You are supposed to look at characters like Surge who have something off about them and think, "Okay, how can I make her worse?"

Surge puts on the most visually engaging fights with the titular character since the fight with Neo-Metal Sonic. She is the one character outside of Metal Sonic who will throw hands with anyone without the slightest provocation. And it is always with malintent. Not some misunderstanding or whatever cop-out to just make her one of Sonic's friends. She wants to kill them and dammit she won't stop until they are dead. If Surge sees Blaze, we are going to have a fight. If Surge sees Knuckles, we are going to have a fight. If Surge sees Cream, best believe she will throw hands with the rabbit and her Chao.

Why make her like everyone else when she can be her own thing? She destroys cities, burns down forests, damn near killed Sonic, and her justification for it all is society let her down.

Y'all look at this and think, " Let's save her."

She don't wanna be saved. Same with Kit. They made their stance clear. It's not because Starline conditioned them to do it(Surge actively gives herself her own purpose to hate Sonic when Starline failed to provide for her and Kit does the same with the bonus of hating Eggman). It's not because she and Kit don't know who they are before Starline. They don't care. It's the fact that it happened to them in the first place that makes them so angry and they believe the heroes and Eggman only care about them to only fortify their own ideological positions. This is deeper than Mecha Sonic or Metal Sonic. This is deeper than Shadow's memory and past directly his enmity because it's their lack of past and the lack of connection to anyone that cares for them prior to those horrific experiments that drives them. It's the fact that she and Kit were specifically made to be Sonic's and Tails' doppelgangers and that eats at them and unlike Meta and Mecha, these are people. Can you imagine the existential grief of knowing that you had your life ruined to validate the existence of another person. That is different from cloning. That is different from being created to be evil. You were altered to be more like someone else. These are characters that Sonic can't make amends with. And that is what makes it great. Because for once, Sonic and the fanbase that likes this comic are on the same page. You want to redeem her and Surge and Kit don't want to be and any attempt to do so only makes it worse.