Sonic The Hedgehog #37 out this week from IDW Publishing is the start of a fresh adventure for the members of the resistance. The mysterious yet adorable Belle the Tinkerer works to try and find a new calling thanks to Sonic and Tails. This new story comes courtesy of Evan Stanley (writer), Adam Bryce Thomas (linework), Reggie Graham (colors), Shawn Lee (letters).
Summary
There’s a new kid on the block! And a new… tower? While Tangle tries to initiate Belle into the Restoration, Sonic, Amy, and Tails investigate a mysterious looking tower that has popped up. Everyone is pushed to their limits in “Test Run”!
Writing
After being invited to join the resistance, Belle has the worst first day ever trying to fit in. She messes up everything she attempts, no one trusts her because she’s a robot (or at least some form of one), and she still doesn’t know who she can really trust. Luckily for her Tangle shows up and is more than willing to give Belle a hand.
Evan Stanely doesn’t just focus the entire issue on Belle though and instead sends Sonic, Tails, and Amy to investigate a mysterious location. They find the place to be guarded by robots so they are pretty sure Dr. Eggman is involved. Overall it’s a slower beginning than the previous storyline but seems like it can pick up steam pretty quick.
Artwork
The linework by Adam Bryce Thomas feels inconsistent from panel to panel. Considering Thomas has been a long contributor to the series there are plenty of examples of fine work in previous issues. This one though has some great facial expressions in some panels and some rather off-putting ones in others.
The colorwork by Reggie Graham also feels not up to the same quality as usual. This is mainly due to the use of burgundy as a background color between the panels making the pages distracting and hard to get used to. It feels very unnatural when instead of just being used as a filler between panels it becomes the background behind characters.
The lettering work by Shawn Lee is up to the level of quality one would expect from this series. Lee utilizes an easy-to-follow style with the speech bubbles which creates a great flow from panel to panel. At the same time, the sound effects offer a great audio experience to the reader without detracting their focus.
Conclusion
Sonic The Hedgehog #37 isn’t a bad comic it’s just not phenomenal. It’s the first issue of a new arc (which can be slow-moving) and the art team doesn’t seem to have brought their A-Game (which was bound to happen sooner or later). Still, there is a good chance the team will be able to pull themselves up and deliver a monumental arc moving forward.
