While at Comic Con last week, I managed to grab a SDCC exclusive copy of Tangle and Whisper issue number one, The very first IDW spin-off mini series based on comic exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog characters. Written by Ian Flynn with art by Evan Stanley.
As the title suggests (and for those not familiar with the IDW series to date) the comic stars the title characters Tangle, an over-exuberant and adventure-loving lemur with a ridiculously long tail that she uses as a third arm (she can even high-five herself with it) and Whisper, a very shy, introvert wolf who basically acts as a sniper with a special gun that uses her wisp friends as the ammo.
Accompanying them is Jewel, Tangle’s old friend who is a shiny beetle that runs a museum of rare stones and minerals. A bit more classy and upper-crust compared to Tangle, Jewel will often hide in her own shell when frightened which makes her look like a shiny jewel herself. This leads to her being mistaken for one, and being kidnapped by the Babylon Rogue’s in the recently released IDW Sonic Annual #1.
As this is an advance review (the issue won’t be out for another week) and many of you will want to read the comic for yourselves, my short, spoiler-free review is that you will be pleasantly surprised – it gets the story off to a good start, has great art, and is decent fun. The story also looks to be going into Whisper’s past which should be interesting to see!
With that out of the way, SPOILERS AHEAD!
Tangle is back home in Spiral Hill. She’s hanging out with her friend Jewel and bored out of her skull. Luckily for her, it doesn’t last long as Whisper comes by and is shooting at…Sonic the Hedgehog?! In actuality, it’s a shape-changing mercenary by the name Mimic. He’s betrayed his former team to Eggman and is looking to wipe them out. It’s up to Whisper and Tangle to put a stop to him before it’s too late.
Wait, the villain is a shape-changer named “Mimic”?! You know what that means……..
X-MEN/SONIC CROSSOVER BABY!! Okay, not really.
Look’s like we’re going to have a story that not only shows us a lot of Tangle’s background, but of Whisper’s past as well. The two polar opposites play off each other nicely and Jewel is adorable trying to be the rational one who’s caught in the middle of it all. The story’s off to a good start and if I’m reading it right, Whisper and Mimic’s past may be intertwined.
Evan Stanley’s artwork is fantastic as always, and I love how expressive she is with the characters – from Tangle’s goofy expressions, to Jewel’s scared reactions. When Tangle snatches her mask away, you can see the panic in her face and her rage a panel later, all with her eyes closed. Evan makes Mimic look super creepy too. Like one of those evil Sonic memes you see fan art of sometimes.
While not a particularly action-packed first issue, it’s a solid start to the mini-series, and I’ll be interested to see where the characters develop from here. Ian Flynn is doing a great job of showing more of Sonic’s world and fleshing out these new characters.
Tangle and Whisper issue #1 will be available on general release on July 31st, 2019.
I’m open for it, but did people want this? Are they popular characters? Surely there has to be better characters for a spinoff that shows Sonic’s world without having to keep the focus on Sonic.
Universe did that very well, each arc = new set of protagonists.
I’m not sure what would be more awkward but I’m guessing if Archie still had Sonic, a likely spinoff would probably feature Honey?
I personally feel this Mini Series is basically like a Sonic Universe Arc if you go by Archie Sonic. That series focused on telling stand alone 4 issue long stories centered around the many side characters.
“I’m open for it, but did people want this? Are they popular characters?”
I’m getting some serious déjà vu here, as I’m sure you’ve asked this before, and I’m equally sure I answered then just as I am now.
Tangle and Whisper are two of the most well-received new characters since Blaze debuted in Sonic Rush. Fans have not held back in expressing their admiration of them both, and have also expressed a strong desire to see more stories involving them. A mini-series is the ideal way to supply this desire without taking time away from the ‘core cast’, so in a way, it was inevitable.