Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy's 30th Anniversary Special[1] is a one-shot comic book special published by IDW Publishing in celebration of Amy Rose's 30th anniversary in 2023.
Official solicitation[]
- Cool, sweet, and pink! All words that describe our absolute favorite hedgehog. That's right, step aside, Sonic, and have no fear, Amy Rose is here! Ian Flynn, Aaron Hammerstrom, and Reggie Graham are back for another Classic Sonic special! And this time, Amy’s doing the saving! After Metal Sonic interupts her picnic, Amy uses her Fortune Cards as a guide to free her friends and stop Dr. Eggman. Can she save the day and still get back in time for tea?![1]
Featured stories[]
Story one[]
- Story: Ian Flynn
- Art: Aaron Hammerstrom
- Inks: Matt Froese
- Colors: Reggie Graham
- Letters: Shawn Lee
- Editor: David Mariotte
- Production: Johanna Nattalie
- Special thanks to: Mai Kiyotaki, Afia Khan, Michael Cisneros, Sandra Jo, Sonic Team, and everyone at Sega for their invaluable assistance
Synopsis[]
Amy Rose and her animal friends are sitting at a table in Flower Field Zone and are starting a party. She brings out her tarot cards and recalls how they led to her meeting Sonic for the first time. Amy asks if she should do a reading and the animals encourage her. She takes the first card and is disturbed by what she picked up. She takes the animals into a flower field, saying the card wasn't encouraging and they need to find somewhere safe. Amy tells them to humor her as some look confused. Just then, Metal Sonic lands on the table at the scene. He looks around and sees no one and leaves to Amy and her friends relief. Amy notes it looks like Metal was on the hunt, meaning Eggman is up to no good. She decides to do something about it and consults her cards. Amy says she will meet some familiar faces and her adventure is meant to be. She tells her friends to look out while she is gone, but a Flicky decides to come with her.
Amy and the Flicky go to Waterfall Grove Zone since she saw Metal go that way. She says the first car she drew for her adventure revolves around "willpower", and Amy bets it is Sonic. She finds a capsule and speculates Metal is rounding up animals or Eggman captured Sonic. She jumps up and opens the capsule with her Piko Piko Hammer. Out pops Fang, to Amy's surprise. She asks what he is doing here while still holding her hammer. Fang says he and his gang botched a job for Dr. Eggman and they locked them all up. Amy asks if he would like to team up. Fang calls her "frilly" and says no, leaving to get his "boys" back. Amy tries to convince him saying they can help each other, but Fang ignores her, causing Amy to say she doesn't like him anyway. Amy then explained to the Flicky the card wasn't wrong, because Fang is a determined hunter and isn't afraid of Eggman even after locking him up. She then says fortune cards can be tricky because they tell things in broad and interpretive ways. After they leave, Metal Sonic comes to the now empty capsule and notes that Fang has been lost and Amy hasn't been captured yet. He leaves to find her.
A bit later, Amy stops as she hears something. She runs to hide with the Flicky as Metal arrives at the scene. He goes into a tree, but only finds the Flicky. Metal searches again on the surface, but Amy quickly hides and Metal leaves the scene. The two friends then reach Orchard Forest Zone as Amy reads the next card. She says they will meet someone compassionate and supportive. Amy guesses it will be Tails and they come across another capsule. Amy continues her rescue mission and is surprised to see Ray was in the capsule. Ray explains Metal Sonic was targeting all of them. Mighty told him to run, but Metal caught up to him. He begs Amy to rescue him and Amy says she will and anyone else Metal captured. The Flicky tweets and Amy snaps at it, saying Ray is just as compassionate and supportive as Tails and the card was still right. Ray nervously thanks her and they then do another reading. The next card says they will meet someone with heroism and strength. Ray asks if that means Mighty is nearby, but Amy says it could mean Sonic or Knuckles too.
Ray goes with Amy to Market Harbor Zone, which has been taken over by Eggman's Badniks, who appear to be stealing the fruit. Amy spots another capsule and the Flicky volunteers to open it. It flies up above it with Amy's hammer and drops it onto the top, revealing Bark to be inside. Bark fights the Eggrobos and Amy and Ray join in to defeat them. Once the fight is over, Ray reminds Amy they were supposed to meet someone heroic, but Bark is an outlaw. Amy says the card was also about strength and despite hanging out with Fang and Bean, she thinks Bark is good inside. Bark doesn't say anything but blushes at the comment. Bark explains the situation to Bark and he agrees to help them, with Amy giving him a hug as a thanks. Ray asks what the cards say to do next, and Amy says there is no need to read them as they can use Eggman's boat logs to see where he's taking the fruit. Meanwhile, Metal follows Amy's trail and finds Ray to be lost. He blasts off in anger to find them.
A Giraffe Badnik patrolling Eggman Island Zone.
The odd trio steals a ship, where they travel to Eggman Island Zone and fight there way onto the dock. Amy reads another card and says they will be reunited with their friends soon. She then looks over a bush, but hurts her hand on it. It's revealed all the "plants" on the island are made by Eggman. Back at Market Harbor, Metal find the Eggrobos defeated, Bark free, and a boat missing. He flies across the water to get to Eggman Island. On the island, Amy, Bark, and Ray make there way into the main fortress and discover it full of capsules. Metal Sonic then breaks into the fortress and lunges at the group, but Bark holds him off. Amy understands what Bark's idea and she tells Ray they have to open as many capsules as fast as they can. Amy manages to open one with Sonic inside, who says he was ambushed by Metal Sonic while checking out the island. He says he's going to kick Metal's butt, but Amy says he should focus on freeing the animals. Sonic agrees and helps them free the captives.
Amy comes across Fang who is sitting on an empty capsule. He tips his hat and Amy works up the courage to do the next part of her plan. She yells out to Metal she freed Sonic and ruined his plans. Metal, enraged, charges at Amy. She runs and ducks at the last moment, which causes Metal to miss grabbing her and to slam into the open capsule, which Fang closes and laughs at Metal. Sonic compliments Amy on her plan and Ray shows he found Mighty. Bark and Bean return to Fang and they leave the island. Sonic asks what they should do next and Amy says they need to load up the animals on the boat and return to Flower Field Zone, and Mighty lifts her up, saying it's a good plan. Later, Amy and the former captives celebrate their victory, with Sonic saying Amy was the real hero of the day. She states that the only thing she did was just following the cards, however Ray states that the cards were describing her. Amy is flattered and says the most important thing is they can enjoy their happy ending. Later that night, Eggman returns to his island, only to discover that all his captives escaped. Angry, he tries to find Metal Sonic to scold him for his failure, not knowing he is still trapped in a capsule.
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Amy Rose
- Badniks
- Chopper (first appearance)
- Coconuts
- Eggrobo (first appearance)
- Red Eye
- Unnamed giraffe Badnik (first appearance)
- Dr. Eggman
- Fang's Gang
- Honey the Cat (cameo)
- Knuckles the Echidna (flashback)
- Metal Sonic
- Mighty the Armadillo
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Ray the Flying Squirrel
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Vector the Crocodile (cameo)
Races and species:
Locations:
- Sonic's universe
- Sonic's world
- Never Lake (flashback)
- Eggman Island Zone (first appearance)
- Flower Field Zone (first appearance)
- Market Harbor Zone (first appearance)
- Orchard Forest Zone (first appearance)
- Waterfall Grove Zone (first appearance)
- Little Planet (flashback)
- Sonic's world
Objects:
Continuity[]
- Amy comments on her belief that Bark is not a bad guy and instead associates himself with bad people, a sentiment she expressed in Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Special.
- Bark also noticeably blushes around Amy, a trait seen in the same issue.
Trivia[]
- When Amy recalls Tails, it shows him in the night sky with the stars. This is a reference to the ending of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit).
- When Bean was casually chilling in a Capsule, a portrait of Bin, from Dynamite Düx can be seen. The characters in the game, Bin and Pin, is what Bean was based on.
- In Amy's flashback, the events of Sonic CD are shown.
Quotes[]
- Amy: Maybe...Maybe I can do something about that! Warn my Friends! Stop things before they get bad!
- Amy: Well...in that case, would you want to team up?
- Fang: No, thanks, frilly. I'm gonna get my boys back. Nobody takes nothin' from me!
- Amy: But we could help each other! Oh, fine. I don't really like you anyway.
- Amy: Watch your tone, mister! Ray is just as compassionate and supportive as Tails! He's always sunny, and upbeat, and charming, and nice to be around! The card was still right!
- Bean: (after his capsule opens) tsk. The room was finally coming together too.
- Ray: "Strong-willed," "Compassionate," "Supportive," "Heroic," "Surrounded by friends." The cards weren't telling you who you'd meet. They were describing you!
- Amy: (blushing) ...they can be read in lots of ways...
Trivia[]
Vector the Crocodile extremely hidden in a Capsule.
- The synopsis for this issue describes Amy Rose as "Cool, sweet, and pink!", a reference to Knuckles' Chaotix, where Amy can be found in the hidden Sound Test, constantly saying "Cool, sweet, and catchy!".
- The synopsis also states "have no fear, Amy Rose is here!", a quote which originates from one of Amy's lines in Sonic Adventure 2.
- Cover B is based on the title screen for Sonic the Hedgehog CD, and takes additional inspiration from the The Vision of Escaflowne and Cardcaptor Sakura anime series.[4]
- This issue was originally slated for September 13, 2023 before being pushed back to September 27, 2023.
- This issue marks the first appearance of Vector the Crocodile in the Classic series since Knuckles' Chaotix.
- Ian Flynn stated, this was possible, due to that not showing enough features to make it clear the character in particular is Vector, they can deny it and say is another character that resembles him.[5]
Gallery[]
Cover artwork[]
| Gallery |
|---|
 Cover A colors. Art by Aaron Hammerstrom.  Cover B thumbnails. Art by Mauro Fonseca.  Cover B colors. Art by Mauro Fonseca. |
Interior artwork[]
| Gallery |
|---|
   |
Early covers[]
| Gallery |
|---|
 Cover A. Art by Aaron Hammerstrom.  Cover B. Art by Mauro Fonseca.  Cover RI. Art by Jennifer Hernandez.  Online exclusive cover. Art by Nathalie Fourdraine. |
Preview pages[]
| Gallery |
|---|
 Page one  Page two  Page three  Page four  Page five |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy's 30th Anniversary Special Cover A (Hammerstrom). Penguin Random House (23 June 2023). Retrieved on 23 June 2023.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy's 30th Anniversary Special Variant B (Fonseca). Penguin Random House (23 June 2023). Retrieved on 23 June 2023.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy's 30th Anniversary Special Variant RI (10) (Hernandez). Penguin Random House (23 June 2023). Retrieved on 23 June 2023.
- ↑ Mauro Fonseca on Twitter. Twitter (23 June 2023). Retrieved on 23 June 2023.
- ↑ #ChaotixSmile!?. Youtube (October 2, 2023). Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
