Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Publishing)
Sonic the Hedgehog is an ongoing American comic book series based on the Sega video game franchise, published by IDW Publishing.
It is the second US licensed comic book adaption of the franchise after Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog series, and the third overall licensed comic book series after the British Sonic the Comic series by Fleetway Publications. Unlike those series, which had their own continuity, IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog is set in the same continuity as the game series, beginning after the events of Sonic Forces.
Publication history
On July 21, 2017, IDW Publishing announced a deal with Sega of America to produce a new series of Sonic comics after the cancellation of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series by Archie Comics after a 24-year run. The new series began with a four-week long event where the first four issues were released each week in April 2018, followed by a monthly release of subsequent issues starting in May 2018. Archie Sonic writer Ian Flynn was later confirmed to return as the series' lead writer, alongside artist Tyson Hesse. In an interview with Game Informer, Flynn established that IDW's Sonic continuity is separate from Archie's.During the 2017 New York Comic Con, Ian Flynn confirmed that characters old and new would be featured in the series, hinting that characters from the games and the original comics might possibly return. In January 2018, IDW revealed that Tracy Yardley, who originally worked on Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics, would be one of the pencillers for the IDW series.
On April 14, 2020, it was announced that Evan Stanley, one of the series' artists, would be writing for the series.
On June 28, 2020, two original characters from the series, Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf, were announced to appear in the Sonic mobile game Sonic Forces: Speed Battle as part of its events, with them doing so next month. Surge the Tenrec would also join Speed Battle on November 21, 2023. Merchandise, including a plush toy, of the former two has also been released. Tangle was also briefly mentioned in the 2022 Sonic game Sonic Frontiers. Lore Manager Chris Hernandez confirmed that the comics are canon to the games.
In November 2023, Sonic editor David Mariotte announced that the series would be taking a hiatus in 2024 until the miniseries Sonic the Hedgehog: Fang the Hunter is concluded.
On July 3, 2024, a crossover between the Sonic comics and an unknown third-party franchise was announced to be in the works, with more details to be revealed in the coming months. During the Sonic Central broadcast on September 24, 2024, it was announced that the Sonic franchise would cross over with the DC Universe in a 5-issue miniseries written by Ian Flynn that would feature Team Sonic teaming up with the Justice League. The DC x Sonic the Hedgehog book began publication in March 2025 and lasted until July of the same year.
On April 25, 2025, IDW Publishing began releasing the comic series on Webtoon.
In July 2025, IDW teased the debut of Sage from Sonic Frontiers in issue #84. Evan Stanley confirmed that this issue would take place after Frontiers. Stanley later said that it would not be the first post-Frontiers issue and the best place to put Frontiers "without causing major continuity hiccups" was before issue #68, however she acknowledged that there were unavoidable continuity issues with any placement.
On November 11, 2025, Tangle and Whisper were announced as free post-launch characters in the video game Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.
Synopsis
Following the war over Eggman's global conquest, the doctor is found by the Chaotix to have lost his memory and ended up in a remote village where he has taken on the more friendly moniker of Mr. Tinker. Sonic meets new allies Tangle and Whisper, and learns that Neo Metal Sonic is now leading the Badniks, plotting to take over the world in Eggman's stead. While Sonic and his friends fight Neo Metal Sonic and his army on Angel Island, an Eggman admirer named Dr. Starline kidnaps Mr. Tinker and successfully reverts him back to Eggman after a defeated Metal Sonic returns to him. Considering the war's last loose end tied, Knuckles disbands the Resistance, which Amy reorganizes into the Restoration.While Tangle helps Whisper apprehend her former comrade turned criminal Mimic, Eggman hatches a new scheme involving the Metal Virus, which turns organic life into mindless robots dubbed "zombots", with several heroes succumbing to the infection. It quickly mutates beyond Eggman's control, and Starline brings in the Deadly Six in hopes that they can control the zombots, but they betray him. This leads to a falling out between Starline and Eggman and forces the latter to help an infected Sonic and his friends cure the world. Tangle's childhood friend Jewel subsequently assumes leadership of the Restoration, relieving Amy.
As the world rebuilds in the Metal Virus' wake, Sonic and company set out to fix E-123 Omega, whose body was destroyed by zombots. Sonic and Tails investigate an Eggman base to find blueprints while Rouge, Amy, Cream, and Cheese enter a Chao race to win parts; the former group discovers a peaceful Badnik created by Mr. Tinker named Belle, while the latter group and Shadow come into conflict with former crime boss Clutch. Meanwhile, Starline, hoping to regain Eggman's respect and rejoin him by proving his own superiority, sets his own plans in motion by allying himself with villains like Zavok and Mimic and stalking Sonic's friends. Zavok reunites the Deadly Six, and they attack the Restoration's home base, but are defeated and banished to their homeworld of Lost Hex.
From the bio-data he has collected, Starline creates Surge and Kitsunami, two cyborgs meant to replace Sonic and Tails and end the status quo between them and Eggman. Upon learning how they were created, and not finding any trace of their past, Surge and Kit begin plotting against everyone. Starline, oblivious, tries conquering the Eggman Empire's new ever-expanding capital, Eggperial City, and lures Sonic, Tails and Belle there. However, Eggman defeats Starline and leaves him to die, while Kit flees with Surge in tow after several defeats incapacitate her. Eggman himself is subsequently defeated, and Eggperial City is destroyed by the Restoration and their allies, including the newly reformed Diamond Cutters consisting of Tangle, Whisper, and Jewel's aide-de-camp Lanolin.
Clutch, seeking to revive his criminal empire, hires Rough, Tumble, Mimic, Surge, and Kit to infiltrate the Restoration so he can take it over. After conning Jewel into a business partnership, Clutch sponsors an Extreme Gear tournament to build publicity. His plan is foiled with secret help from Eggman, provoked by the tournament's mocking advertisements, and unexpected help from Surge and Kit, having second thoughts after experiencing heroic acclaim. Publicly exposed, Clutch endangers Central City out of spite and tries to escape, but is stopped and defeated. The Restoration sacrifice their own headquarters to save the city, while the other villains scatter as Eggman captures Clutch. In the aftermath, Jewel resigns as leader of the Restoration and the Diamond Cutters disband. Tangle, Whisper, and Silver try to recapture Mimic, but he dies in a failed suicide attack against them. Unknown to everyone, Eggman enslaves Clutch and seizes his assets, allowing Eggman to profit off his own waste.
Characters
New characters to the series include:- Tangle the Lemur: an energetic ring-tailed lemur who can elongate her tail for use in combat.
- Whisper the Wolf: a reserved wolf who uses a Wisp-powered rifle and becomes Tangle's best friend. She is the last survivor of an anti-Eggman mercenary group called the Diamond Cutters.
- Jewel the Beetle: a cautious and worryful beetle museum curator and Tangle's childhood friend who later becomes the Restoration leader following the Metal Virus plague.
- Belle the Tinkerer: a clumsy but kindhearted marionette-like robot created by Eggman when he was "Mr. Tinker".
- Lanolin the Sheep: an uptight and strict sheep who joins the Restoration after Sonic and Amy saved her village. She later reforms and becomes the leader of the second iteration of the Diamond Cutters. She has a Wisp companion named Maggie.
- Doctor Starline: a platypus scientist who admires Eggman, later creating Surge the Tenrec and Kitsunami "Kit" the Fennec. He dies at Eggman's hands after trying to take over his empire.
- Rough & Tumble the Skunks: a pair of trouble-making skunk brothers and former mercenaries.
- Mimic the Octopus: a shapeshifting mimic octopus and former comrade of Whisper who betrayed his team to Eggman. He assumes the form of "Duo the Cat" while infiltrating the Restoration. He dies in a failed suicide attack against Whisper, Tangle, and Silver when they try to recapture him.
- Nite the Owl: an owl who is a radio host and is in a relationship with Don. He and Don are friends with the Chaotix and sometimes help them with their cases.
- Don the Rooster: a rooster who is the custodian at Nite's radio station and is in a relationship with him. He and Nite are friends with the Chaotix and sometimes help them with their cases.
- Surge the Tenrec: a punkish lowland streaked tenrec cybernetically enhanced by Starline to be Sonic's doppelgänger. Like Sonic, she can move at superhuman speeds. Her name also references the electrical powers that she displays. She is deeply traumatized by Starline's experiments and has no memory of her prior life.
- Kitsunami "Kit" the Fennec: a somber fennec fox cybernetically enhanced by Starline to be Tails' doppelgänger and Surge's sidekick. Kit possesses the ability to control water, and his name is a fusion of the word Kitsune, a reference to his powers making it seem as though he has multiple tails, echoing the multi-tailed fox of Japanese myth, and the word Tsunami, which denotes a massive tidal event. Like Surge, he is also deeply traumatized by Starline's experiments and has no memory of his prior life.
- Clutch the Opossum: an opossum crime boss who collects Eggtech and uses it for personal profit.
- Soleil the Sugar Glider: a sugar glider jester who hails from the Celestial Troupe, a family of acrobat circus performers, and idolizes Sonic. Stress related to failing to meet the Celestial Troupe's standards have caused Soleil to develop a mischievous split-personality alter ego called "Lunar".