Sonic Super Digest #9

The Graphic Novel I decided to read and analyze was a Sonic the Hedgehog comic. It was published by Jon Goldwater and written by 19 different artists. As a kid I loved comics, and one series in particular, Sonic the Hedgehog. He’s been one of my favorite characters in many videogames, Super Smash bros, Mario Olympics, and even his own game “Sonic the Hedgehog”.

The comic opens with Sonic and some of his friends helping people caught in the crossfire of a battle that just took place against Dr. Eggman. They find one of their friends on the ground battered and beaten up. At first glance she looks normal, but after she stands up they realized she now has a robotic arm. She tells them the story of how Dr. Eggman smuggled her into his lab and made her the first patient of his prototype medical Roboticizer. Then she shows them her new legs as well only leaving one limb that is still natural, her right arm.

After realizing that there were others in the lab, they all became friends over their “differences” and formed a group called the “Freedom Fighters”. They eventually get free from Dr. Eggman and team up with Sonic the Hedgehog. There are four of them the other 3 an orangeish red color and their powers varying among them. After they team up they go to South America and try to save South America, as it has been under attack. They help get South America under control and rescue everyone and start damage control. The rest of the comic is them going to different places and saving more people.

One thing I noticed in this comic is the amount of color. As we learned in “Understanding Comics” by McCloud it costs a lot more to print comics in color compared to doing so in black and white. I imagine it cost a lot of money to produce and print this comic. The way the artists were able to use the color to form emotion, action, and mood was very impressive. The whole vibe of this graphic novel would be drastically different if it was in black in white compared to the excessive amount of color that is used in it.

When it comes to time management of the panels and structure of the comic it was pretty sporadic. The artists use some panels throughout the story to compartmentalize moments, but also draw the characters outside of the panels almost triple the size and overlapping the panels. I think they do this to show the importance of some moments in the story compared to others. They also use abstractly shaped panels which add a sense of action and character to the graphic novel. With the use of these, they give a sense of movement, quickness and action, an extra kick to the story. I think with the combination of the abstract/disorganized panels and the vibrant colors used, collectively they bring a sense of life to the story.

I think the artists use the grid very effectively for an action comic, as I mentioned above, the creative use of the grid brings out an extra element in the comic. The disorganized/scattered use of the grid makes the action throughout the comic flow and keeps the reader alert and focused. The artists use the text affectively as well, switching fonts to show different emotions. Not only the font, but the thought bubbles as well, using different colors to express different emotions from the characters.

I think the comic was very well done and it really makes me want to get into reading these again like I did when I was younger.