Sonic the Hedgehog: Annual 2019

Sonic the Hedgehog: Annual 2019 is an annual edition comic to be released by IDW Publishing.

Official solicitation

 * In Sonic's world, adventure awaits around every corner, but even the world's fastest hedgehog can't be at the center of all of it! Join Sonic and some of his coolest friends in adventures that show just how wonderful Sonic's world really is.


 * In the lead story, the odd couple of Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf team-up to save a friend in need! Then Sonic and Tails take the Tornado for a spin, but is Sonic going too fast? Plus, Silver and Blaze slow down for a minute to go gardening, the Sonic Fan Club has their first official meeting, and Rouge the Bat hunts for treasure!

Bonds of Friendship

 * Written by: Ian Flynn
 * Art by: Jennifer Hernandez

Synopsis
In Spiral Hill Village, Tangle expresses excitement and joy upon seeing Whisper who has come to visit her. Tangle immediately hugs Whisper, stating how long it felt seeing each other after their last adventure. She also expresses how cool it was to have friends visit her when her town was not being bombarded. Before she can continue, Whisper pushes Tangle away with her Variable Wispon, reminding her that she wished to have her personal space. Following this, Tangle gives Whisper a tour of Spiral Hill Village, visiting areas such as the bakery and the salon. She soon decides to show Whisper the Mineral Museum, an area run by Jewel, Tangle's best friend. Upon entering, Tangle startles Jewel with her noise. Tangle introduces Whisper and Jewel to each other, with Tangle telling Whisper that she and Jewel grew up together. Jewel reminds Tangle that this was only because she was always looking out for her as she believed she was the antithesis of "look before you leap".

Jewel explains to Whisper that she and Tangle built the collection together over the years; Tangle would go out and look for adventure while Jewel would make sure Tangle came back alive. Eventually, Jewel decided to create her museum. Suddenly, Tangle notices the sky darken outside, which upsets her as she did not believe it would rain today. Whisper immediately dons her mask scope and arms her Variable Wispon after hearing a scream outside. The front doors burst open allowing the Babylon Rogues to rush in. Jet tells Wave to steal stones from the top floor and tells Storm to smash and grab while he steals stones from the bottom floor. In the confusion, Storm sees what appears to be a giant shiny stone nearby. It is actually just a cowering Jewel with her rainbow-like exoskeleton. Despite this, Storm kidnaps Jewel and places her in his bag believing Jet will be happy with him. The trio of birds quickly take their leave from the museum back to their blimp. Tangle worriedly runs out after her friend while Whisper asks her to launch them both towards the blimp. Tangle uses her tail to do so but they slowly use momentum. Using the Rocket Mode on her Variable Wispon, Whisper flies the both of them right up to the blimp.

Meanwhile, Wave finds joy in how the little town held so much treasure while Jet only cares that they kept his Extreme Gear in shape. Storm excitedly reaches into his bag to show Jet the large gem he collected. However, the trio quickly discover that it was just Jewel, the curator of the museum. Tangle and Whisper soon arrive, demanding Jewel be handed back. Jet denies, telling the girls that they could only get Jewel back if they beat him in a race. Wave scolds Jet for this behavior, telling him that they were only thieves and not kidnappers. Jet argues that they could not just give up Jewel after Storm made them look incompetent. While Jet and Wave argue, Tangle secretly carries all the bagged stolen gems with her tail. Soon, Jet grows tired of arguing and asks for Storm to throw everyone out. Storm complies and throws Jewel out of the blimp. On the way, Jewel slightly cracks her wing against the hangar, preventing her from freely flying. Whisper sees this and quickly dives after the beetle. Jet scolds Storm for making them look violent while Wave complains that they have to save Jewel. Tangle stops them there as she and Whisper had it under control. She also threatens to poach the birds if they dared to cause trouble with her town or friends again. With this, Tangle leaps out of the blimp with the stolen goods, angering Jet. Wave tells him to let them go as today was a hassle.

Whisper manages to reach Jewel and the latter hangs on to her. Tangle quickly descends and latches onto Whisper as well, hoping Whisper would save them. Sure enough, Whisper pulls out her Variable Wispon and uses the Hover Mode to gently lower them all. Later on, Tangle, Whisper and Whisper's Wisps help clean up the museum and return all the stolen stones. Jewel thanks them for saving her life and her livelihood. Tangle tells Jewel that she does not need to be thanked but she thanks Whisper instead and holds out her tail in a fist. Whisper fist bumps her tail with enthusiasm, accepting the thanks.

Appearances
Characters:
 * Babylon Rogues
 * Jet the Hawk
 * Storm the Albatross
 * Wave the Swallow
 * Jewel
 * Tangle the Lemur
 * Whisper the Wolf
 * Wisps
 * Blue Wisp
 * Cyan Wisp
 * Green Wisp
 * Orange Wisp
 * Pink Wisp

Locations:
 * Spiral Hill Village
 * Mineral Museum

Items:
 * Bashōsen
 * Extreme Gear
 * Type J
 * Type-S
 * Typse-W
 * Variable Wispon

Vechicles:
 * Blimp

Trivia

 * On page four, there are two distinct stones Wave is seen stealing. One is green triangle-shaped and one is blue tear drop-shaped. These resemble the gemstones for Peridot and Lapis Lazuli from Steven Universe.

Jet Set Tornado

 * Written by: Caleb Goellner
 * Art by: Jack Lawrence
 * Colors by: Leonardo Ito

Synopsis
Sonic is piloting the Tornado while Tails hangs onto the wings of the plane. Sonic thanks Tails for allowing him to sit in the cockpit after such a long time. Tails tells him that they have not had peacetime in the skies lately so he wanted to be ready for anything with new technology. Tails had installed a new jet booster prototype and wanted Sonic to test its speed. However, Tails did not wish to put the Tornado under pressure and requested for Sonic to take it easy. As Sonic promised to take it easy, a figure suddenly blows past them. The duo see a Balkiry flying past carrying a box of Resistance supplies. Tails deduces that the Badnik raided the nearby storehouse for fuel cells. The fox cub notes that they would not be able to catch up to it without using the jet booster. Sonic quickly uses pushes the jet boostet button, already one step ahead of Tails. As Tails hangs on, he warns the hedgehog that the booster was not designed for dives. He also tells Sonic that one wrong maneuver could risk a crash landing.

The Balkiry attempts to lose Sonic and Tails through a canyon. Tails tells Sonic to shut off the booster, but Sonic tells him that he cannot as he smashed the button too enthusiastically. With this, Tails believes that they will just have to think faster than they fly. Tails sees volcanic vents on the island, realizing that they would produce wild currents that the Balkiry would not be able to dodge. Tails also realizes that there will also be geysers and asks Sonic to tail the Badnik and eventually get the drop on it. Tails plans to drop the booster on the Balkiry when they are close enough, which Sonic does not like the sound of. Nonetheless, the duo make the Balkiry run into a geyser, making it drop the box of fuel cells. Tails then asks Sonic to disengage the booster, which Sonic chooses not to do. Instead, the hedgehog jumps out of the pilot seat and uses a Spin Attack on the Balkiry, making it explode. Tails catches Sonic and gets him back onto the Tornado. Tails tells Sonic that they have to keep flying until the booster runs out of fuel but still finds the test a success. He then says that they should radio the Resistance to recover the crate and later land. The fox cub asks Sonic if he wants to go back to flying the plane, which Sonic passes on as he has more fun when Tails flies and believes that landings are not his thing anyway.

Appearances
Characters:
 * Badniks
 * Balkiry
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Resistance
 * Sonic the Hedgehog

Vehicles:
 * Tornado

Misc.:
 * Spin Attack

Trivia

 * This story is named after the Jet Set Radio video game.

Victory Garden

 * Written by: Evan Stanley & Gigi Dutreix
 * Art by: Evan Stanley

Synopsis
In an abandoned town, Blaze looks for Silver after Amy told her where she could find him. Blaze soon hears Silver's voice as well as crashing objects. She finds him in a crater levitating gardening tools. Silver embarassingly tries to control the situation but instead gets hit by a hose, falls and drops the tools. Blaze helps Silver get up, asking if he is growing vegetables, to which he confirms as he loves plants. Compared to his time, everything is so alive in the present. Amy had told Silver he could grow his own vegetables if he wanted and got excited to do so, only to find that they did not grow no matter how much he watered them. Silver continues to complain while Blaze examines the weeds. She asks to try something, which Silver allows. Blaze then creates a ring of fire, warming up the area. This alarms Silver, but Blaze tells Silver to trust her.

With the slightly heated ground, Silver moans that he made such good progress. Blaze hands Silver a hoe, asking him to turn the ashes into soil. She explains that the garden was planted on a battlefield where the chemicals from the bombs made the earth hard and acidic, which plants would not be able to grow in. When ashes are used to fertilize a garden, they break down the many acids in the soil and nourish the plants. Silver is left impressed and believes that Blaze knows a lot about gardening. Blaze insists that she knows only the basics. She explains that a gardener's greatest skill is not control, planning, or power, but listening as they know exactly what to do and will tell you what they need to do it. All the gardener must do is listen and provide. Soon, as the sun rises, vegetables and sunflowers quickly grow in Silver's garden, leaving the hedgehog overjoyed. Blaze looks on with a smile.

Appearances
Characters:
 * Amy Rose
 * Blaze the Cat
 * Silver the Hedgehog

Locations:
 * Silver's future

Trivia

 * Silver says "It's no use" after declaring that it was useless to keep trying to grow vegetables. This is one of his most popular lines from his boss fight in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).

Curse of the Pyramid

 * Written by: Cavan Scott
 * Art by: Diana Skelly
 * Colors by: Priscilla Tramontano

Synopsis
Rough and Tumble arrive at the Lost Pyramid of Eggman. Tumble does not believe entering the pyramid was a good idea because Dr. Eggman must have abandoned it for a reason. Rough tells Tumble to "skunk up" and think of the loot that Eggman would have stashed. The skunk brothers climb up the pyramid and walk inside peacefully. Rough then steps on a trick switch, activating a trap to close the walls in on them with spikes. Rough quickly curls into a ball and rolls with Tumble riding on top. Rough cheers, believing they were unstoppable. Tumble on the other hand became more scared due to the legends surrounding the area, believing it was cursed. As the brothers are oblivious to watchers in the shadows, Rough scolds Tumble for being scared of anything. Rouge soon chimes in, scaring the duo. Rough believes that Rouge arrived to stop them. However, Rouge makes it clear that she was only there to find and take Eggman's treasure after hearing the pyramid was packed with all kinds of "shiny stuff" to last a lifetime. Not wanting to lose to Rouge, Rough and Tumble quickly use their noxious musk on her and rush to find Eggman's treasure. Rouge becomes teary-eyed at the stench but continues onward, determined to find the treaure.

Rouge soon arrives at a room where Rough and Tumble are fighting an Egg-Golem. Rouge knows that to defeate the Egg-Golem, she has to listen for the remote. Once she hears where the sound is coming from, she enters the room but is surprised at what she finds. Meanwhile, while Tumble what happened to Rouge, Rough tells him to forget her and focus on defeating the titan. The skunk brothers run up the Egg-Golem and hit it at the same time, crushing its head. Tumble feels relieved that they beat the Egg-Golem and Rough is happy that all the secrets of the pyramid are theirs. Suddenly, a mummified Rouge enters and warns the skunk brothers that by touching the bandages they will be doomed like her. Rouge tries to move closer to Rough, which he does not allow as he becomes frightened by the bat. Rough carries Tumble and hotfoots it out of the pyramid, ignoring all the scolding he gave Tumble earlier for being scared of a curse.

As the duo run off, Rouge drops her act and laughs at them. In reality, a small group of villagers had taken refuge in the pyramid after Eggman had abandoned it and were using traps to scare off intruders. Rouge pitied them and wrapped herself in old curtains to scare Rough and Tumble off. With this, Rouge is given permission to take Eggman's treasure but is asked not to tell anyone where she got it from.

Appearances
Characters:
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Egg-Golem
 * Rough the Skunk
 * Rouge the Bat
 * Tumble the Skunk

Locations:
 * Dusty Desert
 * Lost Pyramid of Eggman

Trivia

 * The Egg-Golem's use of a remote is very similar to its Sonic X counterpart.

Sonic Fan Club

 * Written by: James Kochalka
 * Art by: Jonathan Gray
 * Colors by: Reggie Graham

Synopsis
The Sonic Fan Club gather for their first official meeting. The male dog is immediately questioned as to why he was allowed to use the gavel. He states that he did so because he is club president. The female wolf argues, stating that she should be club president instead as she can run very fast like Sonic. The male dog does not believe her and they argue. The female mouse quickly suggests holding a contest to see who is the most like Sonic and the winner would become president. With this, the male dog and the female wolf quickly race downhill. The rest of the members run after them, attempting to catch up. Soon, the female wolf starts rolling like Sonic and passes the male dog. The other members start rolling downhill as well. The kids all crash at the bottom and begin to laugh. The male dog soon states that Sonic is also brave and states that he will prove it by fighting an Egg Pawn. The Egg Pawn turns to face the male dog and tries to swipe at him. The male dog narrowly dodges, leaving the female wolf to request for the Sonic Fan Club to helo with fighting the Badnik.

The kids all begin attacking the Badnik. Tangle soon shows up, asking what the kids were doing. The male dog replies that they were having their first meeting of the Sonic Fan Club. Tangle believes that they should create a Tangle Fan Club instead and attacks the Egg Pawn with her tail. She attacks the Badnik with her tail so much that she eventually gets caught in a large string of it. After getting caught in her tail, Tangle notices the destroyed Badnik and asks what happened. The male dog tells her that Sonic had come by, destroyed the Badnik, and ran off. The female mouse says he was amazing and the female wolf waves goodbye to Sonic.

Appearances
Characters:
 * Badniks
 * Egg Pawn
 * Sonic Fan Club
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Tangle the Lemur

Other features

 * Sonic Letters Squad: Sonic Letters Squad is a section where the comic staff can post fan artwork and fan letters that have been sent in to them. This issue's letter squad centers around Whisper the Wolf.
 * Team Sonic Racing One-shot - Free Digital Ashcan

Quotes

 * Storm: But... wouldn't a talking gem be worth more?
 * Jewel: I'm a beetle.


 * Sonic: Welp! Booster works!
 * Tails: Sometimes engineering brains... are a burden.


 * Blaze: The plants know exactly what to do, and will tell you what they need to do it. All you must do is listen...and provide.

Trivia

 * This issue was initially planned for release on 27 March 2019, but was pushed back to 8 May 2019 and then moved up to 1 May 2019.
 * This is the first time Yuji Uekawa has contributed original artwork to a comic in the Sonic series, as well as the first time he has illustrated non-Sonic Team created Sonic characters in official artwork.
 * The way in which Uekawa drew his cover for the annual resembles the style he used to draw Sonic characters for the 2018 Sonic Channel wallpapers and calendars.
 * Cover B is laid out as concept artwork of Jewel, similar to how the cover B of Sonic the Hedgehog #12 is laid out as concept artwork of Dr. Starline.
 * One of the watering cans that Silver wields on cover RI is designed after a Chao.
 * David Mariotte has stated that the stories featured in the annual are canon to the IDW universe.
 * Excluding Off Panels, this is the first time Jonathan Gray has penciled a full story for a Sonic comic title since Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog #194, which would be over a decade ago compared to the annual's release.
 * Despite appearing on cover A, Knuckles The Echidna, Dr. Eggman and Amy Rose do not appear in the issue.(Although Amy Rose is mentioned in the third story and Dr. Eggman is mentioned in the fourth story.)