IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 9 is the ninth issue of IDW Publishing's Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series.
Solicitation
"The Battle for Angel Island," Part 1. One of the greatest threats Sonic has ever faced descends upon Angel Island, home of the mystical Master Emerald, seeking to take the Emerald's power and control the world. Can Sonic and his friends stop the attack on the island-or is it already too late?[1]
Synopsis
The issue begins with Neo Metal Sonic narrating about how he has taken over Angel Island, as well as securing the Master Emerald. He mentions that he has baited the heroes into bringing him the last thing he needs for his ascension, claiming that he has won. A shot of Angel Island, which has been converted into a gigantic airship, in the middle of a thunderstorm is then shown.
Meanwhile, in Resistance HQ, Sonic and Amy stand before their allies (Tails, Silver, Blaze, Tangle, Rouge, Shadow, Whisper and the Chaotix) while an angry Knuckles paces around in the background. Amy thanks everyone for coming as Sonic tells them they are all needed in their upcoming battle. Knuckles proceeds to angrily inform everyone that Neo managed to take over Angel Island and turn it into a flying fortress. The robot also built an unknown object over the Master Emerald. With this, Knuckles mutters that he never should have left the island while Amy consoles him saying that he helped them and now they will help him. Amy then lays down the plans: she proposes that there will be three teams, two to attack the shorelines of Angel Island and break the Egg Fleet's control and a third team to confront Neo directly and secure the Master Emerald. Without hesitation, Knuckles declares himself to be on the third team.
Blaze then offers a more direct approach: she suggests that she uses the Sol Emeralds to transform into Burning Blaze and fight Neo herself. However, Tails points out that the Master Emerald is able to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds and could do the same to the Sol Emeralds. Knuckles assures him that it cannot. Even so, Tails goes on saying that Neo could still copy Burning Blaze's bio-data which would only make matters worse. With this, Blaze heeds Tails' advice to stay away from Neo. Despite this, Amy puts Blaze on team one as she believes Neo should not be anywhere near the shorelines. She then puts Sonic and Knuckles on team three and everyone else to be on team two. With this, the team sets off for Angel Island.
On the Battleship, Sonic comforts Whisper and tells her to stay safe. Nearby, Rouge talks to Shadow saying she did not think he would accept in joining the team-up. Shadow states that he is purely doing it out of his own intentions. Rouge shoots him a sarcastic comment and they do not notice a glaring Whisper. Blaze asks Amy whether or not they can trust Whisper. Amy stands by the wolf, saying that she likes to keep her distance, much how Blaze acted when they first met. Blaze does agree that she acted a bit defensive before and compares it to their current situation of marching into battle as allies. Amy asks Blaze to be careful and the latter responds saying that they will win the day. In another room, Silver, Tangle, Espio and Vector play a game of cards while Charmy simply builds a house of cards. During the game, Tangle craftily uses her tail to sneak cards away from Silver. Vector tries to get Knuckles to join but the echidna refuses as his island needs him and he personally has no time for games. In the captain's room, Sonic visits Tails, eager to get to Angel Island. Tails assures him that they will get through it and Sonic agrees.
Suddenly, the windshield of the aircraft is hit and cracked. By Tails' quick observation, the entire Egg Fleet was attacking. Tails tells Sonic to get Extreme Gear with Knuckles and head to Angel Island quickly while he tries to land the aircraft as close as he can. Over the intercom, Tails tells Blaze she needs to fly to her target while he tries to land everyone else on the west coast of the island. Blaze then uses the Sol Emeralds to transform into Burning Blaze and fly out of the aircraft. Amy comes by the captain's room to get Tails to evacuate. Before doing so, Tails puts in the final trajectory for the aircraft. Team Two then fly into action. Amy tells Vector to lead the Chaotix and tells Silver to simply wreck stuff. She tries to get Shadow and Rouge to team-up, only to find that Shadow had gone in a different direction. Amy then tells Rouge that she is now counting on her to handle the guns. Lastly, Amy tells Tangle and Whisper to cover Tails while he does something "smart". A large battle soon commences between Team Two and the Egg Fleet's horde of Egg Pawns. Burning Blaze quickly destroys the fleet of ships stationed on the wing of the flying fortress.
At the centerpiece of the island, Sonic and Knuckles find themselves before a large statue of Dr. Eggman positioned on top of a closed door. Knuckles does not sense anything from within but still breaks down the door hatches. They walk along the halls to find Neo sitting on his throne that he fashioned upon the Master Emerald. Sonic declares to Neo that his reign is over and the Resistance is beating his forces back and Knuckles demands that he releases the Master Emerald. Neo, unconcerned with the Resistance's efforts, tells the duo that they are nothing compared to him. Sonic is in disbelief and runs alongside Knuckles to quickly take on the robot, only for the pair of them to be swiftly pushed back by a surge of energy. They look up to see a powered-up Neo Metal Sonic―now Super Neo Metal Sonic―who tells both Sonic and Knuckles to show him what they are made of.
Key Events
- The heroes begin their assault on Angel Island.
- Blaze is seen attaining her super form, Burning Blaze, for the first time in the series.
- Sonic and Knuckles find Neo Metal Sonic, who uses the Master Emerald’s power to become Super Neo Metal Sonic.
Background Information
Cameos & References
- The RI cover shows Sonic & Knuckles riding Extreme Gear from the Sonic Riders series.
- Cream the Rabbit, Cheese the Chao, E-123 Omega, and Gemerl appear on the RI cover, despite not appearing in the issue itself. In fact, none of them had yet to make an appearance in the series at this point.
- Tracy Yardley's B cover is done in the style of a propaganda poster.
- Before jumping from the ship, Blaze has to remind herself not to think of how high up she is, a callback to her acrophobia which she first displayed in Sonic Rush Adventure.
- Neo Metal Sonic tells Sonic and Knuckles that “One by one, [they’ll] all become a black mark on the floor”. This line is lifted from “What I’m Made Of”, the final boss theme (against Neo’s upper-form, Metal Overlord) in Sonic Heroes.
- The very last spoken line of the comic, when Neo Metal Sonic says "Show me what your made of" is a reference to this song.
Errors
- In the double-page shot of the heroes at Resistance HQ, Silver’s hands, that he has folded against his hips, are backwards.