#makes up for him not having a costume in the idw sonic halloween special i think

[sonknuxadow]

FINALLY . SONIC AND KNUCKLES IMAGE

#I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT HOW THEYRE PROBABLY GONNA POST IT SOON . they heard me ... #this is what that poll i was being so annoying about was about btw . to have sonic appear with knuckles in this art #giggling and kicking my feet over this art sonics outfit is so cute and silly . #makes up for him not having a costume in the idw sonic halloween special i think #and also sonic and knuckles is one of the pairs of characters i wanted for the calendar art this year . epic win for ME !!!!!!! #as always the link goes to the sonic channel gallery idk if theyve posted this anywhere else yet #also interesting that omochao is in this because didnt they lose a poll before

[thankskenpenders]

I haven't really been posting about the IDW comics on here recently - the ask box being off means I don't get asked for my Hot Takes every issue. But I am, of course, still keeping up with them. I've been really enjoying this period of shorter stories jumping between a wider variety of characters (including the return of backup stories, finally!!!), as well as the juicy melodrama of Mimic infiltrating the Diamond Cutters. Good stuff with lots of good character moments throughout. And the Amy special was very cute. And the 900th Adventure was fun, even if I did think it was let down a bit by ending on its weakest segment after how creative a lot of the middle segments were.

Unfortunately, despite looking forward to it, I found the new Halloween Special about the Chaotix pretty underwhelming. I'm curious if anyone feels the same way. (read more for spoilers)

It feels very... kiddy-ish? I know Sonic is always for kids, obviously, but the IDW comics have pushed dark and spooky stuff quite a bit between arcs like the Metal Virus and Scrapnik Island, so I guess it stands out that the actual Halloween issue is an extremely low-stakes story about stolen candy without even, like, a cool spooky robot or some ghosts or a haunted house or something. Before long we learn that the villains are just other random kids who came up with a scheme to steal candy. They get a very blunt moral about sharing and not taking things that don't belong to you, really cementing the feeling that it was written for a younger audience than most of the other IDW comics.

The Endless Summer special was also very light in tone and low in stakes, though (even if that issue also had some character development for Jewel that felt like it gave it a bit more meat). Similarly, that special lacked any villains, instead using the Babylon Rogues as a nuisance on the beach and having the heroes make peace with them by the end. So I kind of suspect that these seasonal one-shots are intentionally being written for a younger audience, especially younger kids who might not be following the rest of the comics but might be swayed to buy a one-shot with the words "Sonic" and "Halloween" on the cover. I do feel like new writer Mark Bouchard captured the characters' voices well, though - I really love the exchange between the Chaotix on the very first page - so I'm hoping they can come back and write some more Sonic stuff that lands better for me.

Oh wait no the actual worst thing about the Halloween special is that everyone else gets to have a fun costume (Tails gets an absolutely incredible line about his that I won't spoil)... but Sonic doesn't! No costume for Sonic! He doesn't even get a line about him "going as himself" or anything to acknowledge it or turn it into a joke. I can only assume corporate interfered here.

The main series issue that dropped simultaneously (#65) was very good, though. Many, many incredible Knuckles faces courtesy of Mauro. So it's hard to stay disappointed.