IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 8

IDW Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 8 is the eighth issue in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by IDW Publishing.

Official solicitation

 * Hush! You hear that? It sounds like Sonic's racing off to another adventure and he's not alone! But who is this "Guardian Angel" and why does everybody talk about her in a Whisper?

Silent Support

 * Written by: Ian Flynn
 * Art by: Evan Stanley
 * Colors by: Matt Herms
 * Letters by: Shawn Lee
 * Edited by: Joe Hughes & David Mariotte
 * Published by: Greg Goldstein
 * Special thanks to: Anoulay Tsai, Mai Kiyotaki, Aaron Webber, Michael Cisneros, Sandra Jo, and everyone at Sega for their invaluable assistance

Synopsis
The story begins during the night, with Sonic the Hedgehog infiltrating one of Dr. Eggman's pyramid bases. Unbeknownst to Sonic however, a figure is watching him from the shadows. Inside the base, Sonic easily dodges the base's traps and Boosts through the incoming Spinas. Up ahead, he sees door that is about to get sealed. The figure in the shadows secretly fires a spiked pink ball in between the door seal and the floor, thus keeping the door open long enough for Sonic to get underneath it. Sonic continues onward, only to run into a supersized Spina. Meanwhile, the figure in the shadows is observing Sonic. Before Sonic can attack the supersized Spina, it gets surrounded in a cyan aura and is smashed into the floor.

Silver appears before Sonic and the latter declares that he had the situation handled. Regardless, Sonic expresses his gratitude for Silver's appearance and for his assistance holding the door for him. Silver tells Sonic that he does not know what door he is talking about, saying he used another entrance. Just as Sonic wonders who helped him, a surprise shot is fired at another large Spina that Sonic and Silver did not detect coming. Thinking Silver destroyed the second Badnik, Sonic asks him when he started doing such moves. Silver again denies his involvement and excitedly believes that it was the work of the legendary "Guardian Angel". Sonic does not know who this is, reminding Silver that he spent six months contained in a cell. Silver then goes on to explain that there was a fighter who aided in the war against Dr. Eggman but never joined the Resistance. He tells Sonic that the Guardian Angel saved his life more than once out on the battlefield.

Sonic goes on to ask why Silver came back from his future. Silver tells Sonic that he came back the first time because his future was conquered by the Eggman Empire. After the war, Silver returned to his future only to not find anyone anywhere, with only metallic plant life left behind. Silver explains that Amy let him know that Sonic was on the look for clues, to which Sonic believed the Guardian Angel was doing as well. After deducing that the person was using a more precise Wispon than a standard one, Sonic and Silver hear noises from around the corner. They find a female wolf trying to break into a door with her own tricked out Wispon. Silver excitedly calls for her attention but the Guardian Angel uses her Wispon's Hover ability to fly away from him. Sonic believes that this act added to why she actually never joined the Resistance; because she wanted to be alone.

Sonic calls out to Whisper, apologizing for startling her. Whisper makes no move but her Wisps rush out to greet Sonic, recalling how he saved their home planet. With this, Whisper formally introduces herself. Silver opens the door and the trio find a computer room guarded by many Spinas and E-107 Theta. As they battle against the Badnik horde, Silver loses his grip of the door and gets them closed in. As Whisper takes to a high area to shoot at Theta, Sonic and Silver start destroying as many Spinas as they can to make destroying Theta easier. Despite this, Theta manages to shoot Whisper down. She becomes wedged and separated from her Wispon. As she gets surrounded by several Spinas, her Wisps come out to stand by and protect her. Fortunately for them, Silver uses his psychokinesis to control the Spinas and use them as shields to Theta's missiles. Sonic then uses more missiles to take Theta down for the count, releasing an animal in the process.

Silver commends Whisper for her work and states that he would be proud to be her teammate, to which she replies "...maybe". Silver helps Whisper get up and she attempts to destroy a computer with hatred in her eyes. Sonic stops her as they need to get information first. This makes him think of the grudge she may have against Eggman. Silver looks on Eggnet (Eggman's personal Internet server) to find out that there was a major update. Once Silver and Sonic find out Eggman's plan, Sonic states that they need to call Knuckles immediately.

Back at Resistance HQ, Knuckles receives a distress signal from the Master Emerald. He and Amy do not understand the reason for this as Knuckles had hidden the Emerald before devoting his time to the Resistance. They soon receive a priority alert call from Sonic and Silver, with Sonic telling them that they need to gather everyone.

Meanwhile on Angel Island, Neo Metal Sonic has taken control of the Master Emerald, as well as the island. Knowing that the Master Emerald has the ability to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds, he dares for Sonic to stop him, believing he will be powerless.

Appearances
Characters:
 * Amy Rose
 * Badniks
 * Egg Pawn
 * Spina (multiple)
 * Super Badnik
 * E-107 Theta
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Neo Metal Sonic
 * Picky
 * Silver the Hedgehog
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Super Sonic
 * Whisper the Wolf
 * Wisps
 * Blue Wisp
 * Cyan Wisp
 * Green Wisp
 * Orange Wisp
 * Pink Wisp

Locations:
 * Angel Island
 * Planet Wisp
 * Resistance HQ
 * Silver's future

Items:
 * Chaos Emerald
 * Master Emerald
 * Wispon
 * Variable Wispon

Vehicles:
 * Egg Fleet

Misc.:
 * Boost
 * Eggman Empire
 * Eggnet
 * Homing Attack
 * Spin Attack

Continuity

 * Silver tells Sonic that Amy told him of the plan they conceived in Sonic the Hedgehog #7, "Meet the New Boss".
 * Neo Metal Sonic successfully takes over Angel Island, a plan he was seen enacting in Sonic the Hedgehog #6-#7.

Trivia

 * The name icons for the characters that appear in this issue are drawn in the same style as the one used for Sonic's name on his [[media:SA1 M d1.png|promotional artwork]] for Sonic Adventure.
 * Sonic's lines "Way too slow! C'mon! Step it up!" are based on the lines he says during his taunts in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * Sonic mentioning his imprisonment in a space cell for six months is a reference to Sonic's time spent as a prisoner of Eggman's in Sonic Forces.
 * This is the first issue in which profanity is used as Silver exclaimed "Oh, crap!" upon learning about Eggman's plans.

Other features

 * Previously: Previously is a summary of previous issues' key story moments. It features a page of relevant panels from the previous issue.
 * Roll Call: Roll Call acts as a quick reference guide to new readers about the characters. This issue provides data files on Sonic, Knuckles, the Spina, E-107 Theta, Amy and Neo Metal Sonic.
 * 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.
 * The Powerpuff Girls - Free Digital Ashcan

Quotes

 * Silver: Mind if I cut in?
 * Sonic: Silver! I had that, man!
 * Silver: S-Sorry. I didn't mean to step on your toes.


 * Silver: How do you not know about the Guardian Angel?
 * Sonic: I spent six months in a small cell in space. I missed a few things.


 * Whisper: Whisper
 * Sonic: Cool
 * Silver: Okay, but... why?
 * Sonic: No, genius. Whisper is her name.
 * Silver: Oh. Right.

Trivia

 * Both cover A and B suggest different points of view between Sonic, Silver and Whisper. Evan Stanley did this by having cover B use the same image of Sonic from cover A to depict him in the reflection of Whisper's mask scope.
 * The release date for this issue was originally listed as 22 August 2018, but was pulled forward a week for unknown reasons.