So, full disclosure, I’ve kind of fallen off of new comic books. I stay up to date with comic book news through websites and other YouTube channels, but there aren’t many new comics that I actively seek out. Part of the reason is also I like to read stories in full, so I’ll wait for a trade of the story to drop. That’s why this comic book, DC X Sonic the Hedgehog, (how do you pronounce that?) was totally off my radar until I saw someone post about it on X. And I’m glad I did.
The image of Sonic racing Flash is what caught my attention, but the entire thing is really fun. This review is from someone who only has a basic working knowledge of Sonic the Hedgehog. I know about him and Tails, and a few of their friends, really only through the video games, a few past comic books and the movies. So apologies for any Sonic the Hedgehog lore masters out there who might cringe when I’m talking about the group of hedgehogs.
Issue one starts in Sonic’s dimension, with him and his friends seeing a large flying Darkseid head coming through a portal. Sonic and friends have no idea what it is when it starts spitting out parademons. Sonic, Tails, and Amy are handling themselves well, but Sonic says they need to check on their friends elsewhere, so they do just that. Meanwhile, Knuckles is guarding the Master Emerald, but Darkseid is able to destroy the island.
These two inciting incidents: the arrival Darseid on what we learn is called a Ragna Rock—I’m assuming pun intended— which is a device used to cross dimensions, and the blowing up of the Master Emerald, something that could’ve helped stop Darkseid is what kicks off this issue.
What follows is a really fun time of introducing six members of the Justice League: Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Batman, and Green Lantern. Each of these heroes are teamed up, so to speak, with what I’ll call Team Sonic.
Of course, we’ve got the obvious pairing of Flash and Sonic, and their introductions to one another doesn’t disappoint. First, Flash confuses Sonic for Krakkl. Then, Sonic and Flash exchange quips with the same sort of fun and snarky attitude.
One of my favorites is how their racing toward the city to help people and Flash says, “Listen, Kid. I’m the Flash. I’m ‘speed’ personified.”
To which Sonic doesn’t miss a step *wink*wink* and speeds past Flash while saying, “Then I’m ‘speed’ perfected!”
It’s so fun.
Then we get the other pairings as Amy and Tails aid Wonder Woman and Cyborg in taking down an enemy. And Silver helps Green Lantern take down a couple of parademons.
Another pairing, kind of as obvious as Flash and Sonic, is the teaming up of Shadow and Batman. While other members of Team Sonic exchange quips and offers of thanks with members of the Justice League, the introduction of the Batman and Shadow’s pairing is perfect. A parademon is about to attack a citizen when Batman and Shadow come to the rescue at the same time, taking down the bad guy. The two heroes exchange stoic stares, and then both run out of the alley together, off to fight more villains.
We finally get the two teams together and the introduction of everyone happens. Like I said, I’m pretty clueless when it comes to Sonic lore, so I have no idea who Silver is. But he seems like a cool character and it kind of makes me want to dig in to some of the Sonic comics.
The interaction between the two groups is where we get the real lay down of what’s happening, as the Justice League explains who Darkseid is to Team Sonic and what he’s after. It’s here Team Sonic realizes Darkseid is probably after the chaos emeralds to power the Ragna Rock. And if you’re a newbie to Sonic lore like me, it’s nice that Tails lets us know that chaos emeralds are “seven mystic gemstones of unlimited power.”
Once we understand what’s happening, the teams splinter into duos to team up and work together in order to track down Darkseid and stop him.
These pages of Team Sonic and the Justice League teaming up are just plain fun. You’ve got Knuckles teaming up with Superman, Amy with Wonder Woman, Batman with Shadow, Tails with Cyborg, Silver with Green Lantern, and of course, Sonic and Flash.
The two speedsters race toward South Island where they find Darkseid. The issue ends there on a cliffhanger, teasing “Justice League and Sonic heroes versus Darkseid” in the next issue.
That said, there was an interaction that I thought was hitting the nail on the head too bluntly. While the Justice League and Team Sonic are trying to come up with a plan to get Darkseid, Shadow storms away saying he doesn’t have time for this. Of course, the brooding hero acts like the brooding hero. And it makes sense that Batman tells everyone he’ll take care of it.
But when Batman catches up to the dark hedgehog, he bluntly asks Shadow, “Who was it? The one you couldn’t protect. The one you watched die in front of you.”
It just felt a little too in your face. Like they are the brooding-type heroes, we get it. And we all know Batman’s backstory. I suppose the writer just wanted to cover this quickly to show the similarities between them, but it just seemed to come out of nowhere for me.
This is a five-issue mini-series, so maybe they just wanted to get it out of the way, but it felt a little forced. The dialogue almost could’ve been Batman saying, “Who died? Someone died in my history so who died in yours? We’re the same. We both have a sad past. We’re the same, see? So now we can team up.”
It felt a little too clean and a little to cut and paste.
The art in this book is by Adam Bryce Thomas with colors by Matt Herms. Thomas is also a well-known Sonic creator as well, having worked on number Sonic books. He does a great job in nailing the Sonic character, of course, but he really does a nice job of the Justice League characters as well. The parademons look like they would’ve fit nicely in Batman: The Animated Series. And the Justice League members are all drawn like they fit in this world. I will say, Superman almost has a manga-feel to his look, but the other members are all drawn like they would look in the Sonic world. Maybe that’s a testament to how hard people say Superman is to draw and get right.
In the end, this is a great issue one of a five-part miniseries. It has awesome art, and the story looks like it’s going to be a real fun ride. The interactions between Team Sonic and the Justice League works, and the pairings are spot on. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series plays out.
