Sonic the Hedgehog: Bad Guys

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW)

by Ian Flynn, Jack Lawrence (Illustrator)

The mastermind behind the Metal Virus isn't done yet. Sonic writer extraordinaire Ian Flynn brings you the latest elaborate scheme from the Blue Blur's newest nemesis! Dr. Starline is back to his evil antics! But to enact his latest scheme, he'll have to get into an abandoned Eggman base, past an army of badniks! And to do that, he'll need the help of some of Sonic's greatest enemies! Zavok, Mimic, Rough, and Tumble are back and badder than ever! Starline's promised them incredible power, so Sonic and friends had better watch out. That is, if the not-so-good doctor can get these Bad Guys to stop fighting each other and work together.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Action, Science Fiction, Comics Manga, Fantasy

96 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2021

Reviews

[Leo]

I really liked it

I liked Starline. He is an interesting and complex character and I would love to see him in a Sonic game sometime. Ian Flynn's writing is great because it's never quite clear who are the true bad guys.

[Timothy Pitkin]

I love villain vs villain stories as it is always so cool seeing them go all out and do things that heroes would never do. And I do like Dr. Starline as a major villain as he is a villain that learns from his mistakes and while the others are kind of ok it was still a fun read.

[Will Brown]

3.5 out of 5

*insert Billie Eilish reference here*

Another spin-off series that explores the extended cast of IDW's Sonic series in the same way Sonic Universe did for Archie's Sonic book. One of the highlights of IDW's Sonic book has been the new characters introduced for the series, especially the villains. So it's a no-brainer that someone would write a story that has them all team up to carve out some of Eggman's territory for themselves. I've seen some people complain that all of these villains are just archetypes and I think that's a very reductive description. Yes, they're all inspired by classic tropes (Starline the ambitious scientist, Mimic the traitorous spy, Rough & Tumble the dumb brutes), but they either break that mold to be more effective foils for the main cast or they're just really, REALLY well done versions of those tropes. Dr. Starline is a fanboy in the process of self actualizing after learning the lesson of "Never meet your heroes", Mimic is terrifying for actual executing his opponents, and Rough & Tumble are a *HILARIOUS* mash-up of Team Rocket from Pokemon and Rocksteady and Bebop from Ninja Turtles.

Zavok is a different case altogether since he's actually a character from the games. Zavok's personality was a pretty shallow character who fit the intelligent beast archetype, so writer Ian Flynn fleshes him out by making him a surprisingly effective leader, even when he's not dealing with his usual crew. He manages resources effectively, outmaneuvers traitors with psychological manipulation (which leads to some interesting growth for Starline), and anything he can't out think, he overwhelms with his brute strength and creative use of his technopathic abilities. In short, Ian Flynn took another underwritten Sonic character and gave them a strong presence and made them a force to be reckoned with. I'm genuinely impressed and really interested in what he could do with the other members of Zavok's Deadly Six if given the opportunity.

The plot is a little simple, but the main draw is seeing all of these characters interact with each other for the first time. A criticism I do have is the art. The action and layouts are great, but there's very little shading from the artist and colorist, so the art looks very flat at times. All that said, as someone who's been reading IDW's Sonic book from the beginning, I am more than satisfied with this. There's also a ton of fan service for Sonic fans who grew up playing games from the early 2000s (especially Sonic Heroes). If you've enjoyed Sonic's main comic series I have no doubt you'll find something to like here.

[Chris Lemmerman]

Doctor Starline's stealing the spotlight, and he's bringing Zavok, Mimic, and Rough & Tumble along with him. But can any of them trust each other, or are these bad guys doomed to fail?

There have been a lot of bad guys running around in the IDW Sonic series - and not just throwaway ones, either. So it makes sense for them to get a little time in the spotlight to themselves. That said, this mini-series is most definitely about Doctor Starline more than any of the others. Rough & Tumble are fairly straight forward, and even Mimic has a one track mind, so it falls to Starline and Zavok to do much of the heavy lifting.

The plot's easy enough to follow, although the double/triple crosses are telegraphed fairly early on. I'm not that invested in Zavok as a character (and my feelings on him and the Deadly Six were apparent during the Metal Virus arc of Sonic's main series), but Starline I find very intriguing. Aside from some interesting delves into how his mind works, and how his view of Doctor Eggman has changed since he broke away though, there's not a lot of story potential mined here.

The art's normal Sonic comic art. I can't remember if it's all the same artist or not, but you know what you're getting with Sonic art at this point.

Bad Guys is okay - it's nowhere near as fun or as ambitious as Tangle & Whisper, but there's nothing wrong with it other than it doesn't really do anything with these characters that we haven't seen before in the main Sonic book. I'd like to see Starline take up a bigger role over there again soon, but for now, this'll do in a pinch.

[Basil Roselló]

Otra muestra de lo sólidos que son los personajes originales de IDW y lo bien que pegan con el universo de Sonic. Cada uno (y Zavok) tiene su propósito y su personalidad y, cuando lo juntas todo, sale un cómic muy bueno que se dedica a explorar sus dinámicas, sus puntos fuertes y sus puntos flojos. Y queda MUY bien.

Obviamente, Starline y Zavok son los que más se benefician y muestran lados de su personaje que, sinceramente, me gustan mucho. Además, el desarrollo del propio doctor ha sido interesante de ver y tengo muchas ganas de ver como se refleja eso en la historia principal. Por su parte, si bien Rough, Tumble y Mimic no son tan importantes, he disfrutado muchísimo de sus dinámicas y sus apariciones.

Las dinámicas son la clave aquí. Otra victoria más por parte de IDW.

[Bittersweet Fellow]

I have to admit, the art is pretty incredible. For a spin-off of the main IDW series, I think it does give you some context for the characters, but it also has fun interactions. It gives you a better look at the personalities of antagonistic characters from other video game sagas and from comics (I'm talking to you, Zavok). Also, I especially loved Starline's performance and the glimpse into his eccentricities and the silly antics between Rough and Tumble. This is my cup of tea. I also recommend the Tangle and Whisper spin-off.

By the way, I LOVE U STARLINE

[Collin]

I love Starline as a character and antagonist, even if he is a little hopeless, and I want him to get a band of bad guys he actually trusts and likes - maybe a Suicide Squad thing eventually. That would be fun! It's clear he wanted to like his co-conspirators here, which was an interesting touch; giving him some actual evil friends would push his character development even more.

[Danica]

A lot of fun to read to my boy. Dragged a bit because he keeps saying that he'll betray them eventually... but overall, it was fun.

[The_J]

An exemplar of the difficulty with evil attempting to align with evil, there simply are no common grounds that are not steps to destruction.

[Cody]

All I'm gonna say is that I think Starline needs to let go of Eggman and at least try Zavok as a rebound crush. Just sayin'.

[Jason Rivas]

Interesting side plot and while this one doesn't distract from the main plot as the last arc just wrapped up but it has interesting writing decisions

[Fazli]

Okay Starline go off! I find you a bit annoying but you're a good villain so let's see what you can do!

[Tim Rooney]

Wouldn’t call it bad but it is the kind of bad guy team up that ends in disaster you’ve read a hundred times. What did this really accomplish or say?

[Sal Icarus]

YESSSSSS DIS RULESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

starline sucks so bad i'm glad we got to see more of him and how he thinks and all dis aaaaagahsghavshabsjn

[B]

Interesting even with all original characters

[Ev]

For all his flaws, Dr. Starline is such a well crafted villain. It’s always fun to have a glimpse of the villain’s perspective, and it was certainly a fun read to enjoy an entire book on the subject!

[foom]

You can skip this book, but don't because it's a great little comic mini-series. It's a follow up to the Metal Virus Saga (highly recommended) from the villain side. Features several characters introduced in IDW comics (Most notably Dr. Starline) and Zavok from the Dark Six.

I really liked some of the artwork, but the best part was all the well-written interactions between the characters.

Continuity: You'll want to read this after Volume 7, but before Volumes 9 & 11. At the time of this review it was available on Kindle Unlimited & Libby's On Demand.

[Eskana]

I was actually really surprised by how good this was. For those who don't know, the IDW line of Sonic comics is relatively new, and still in the process of establishing new original characters. While we've seen a few on the hero side, new villains have been a little sparse. So it really seems like a brilliant idea the writers had to have this 4 issue mini-series focus on just the new villains, with no heroes involved and only little scenes with Robotnik. This was a chance to see the new villains work together and show off their talents in a new way, while also letting us see the world around Sonic without actually seeing him. Since it didn't even focus on Sonic or Robotnik, it almost felt "behind the scenes."

I definitely recommend it, as I do the whole IDW Sonic series, and can't wait to see what comes of the new developments.

[Emmy]

An excellent installment in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe! I have really been enjoying some of these new IDW villains, such as Dr. Starline, Rough, Tumble, and Mimic, so I was excited to see a whole book dedicated to them (and Zavok, of course!). Dr. Starline is a great villain, cunning, smart, but a bit too ambitious, and I have a feeling he's going to be very dangerous as the series progresses. I can't wait to see what happens next!

[Mar]

honestly congrats to ian flynn for making the sonic bad guys actually interesting. like i wanna see what happens to these guys next these are good dude

[Nico]

4 issues of some of the least interesting characters in the IDW sonic series... oh boy...