Recap / Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Misadventures Arc

There's an intruder among them, he just knows it.^note Issue #64 Cover A by Jack Lawrence.

Written by:	Ian Flynn & Evan Stanley
Year:	Six
Saga:	None
Arc Duration:	#62 - #66

With the worst of their Rogues Gallery defeated, the Restoration and their allies are ready for some downtime. Little do they know that Clutch is back and has restarted his old businesses, hiring other villains to do his dirty work and preparing for a coup of the Restoration. While Sonic acts as Blaze's guide on her vacation, Silver opts to spend time with the Neo Diamond Cutters, who have a suspicious new member.

Meanwhile, on Angel Island, Knuckles gets a surprise visit from not only Amy Rose but also the Babylon Rogues. When the avian adversaries steal the Echidna idols that Amy just returned to him, Knuckles enlists the aid of Team Chaotix to help him get them back. The Chaotix, however, also have a prior commitment, where they planned to have dinner with the Rabbit Family, who are getting a rather unexpected visit from a pair of familiar, but foul, skunk brothers.

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Tropes:

• Adventure Archaeologist: In an interesting inversion of this trope's usual formula, Knuckles and Amy traverse through ancient ruins and dodge deadly booby traps in order to return a stolen Echidna artifact to its original place.
• All for Nothing: Not only do the Babylon Rogues lose the echidna idols, but it turns out Clutch orchestrated the theft to distract the Chaotix while he cons Jewel into a business agreement between Clean Sweep Inc. and the Restoration. Jet is outraged that Clutch used him and his team.
• Alliterative Title: The Knuckles/Chaotix/Babylon Rogues story is called "Relic Robbing Rumble".
• The Bad Guy Wins: As of #66, both Mimic and Clutch have successfully infiltrated Restoration HQ. Mimic is disguised as a cat named Duo and easily throws off Silver and Whisper to avoid suspicion; the former of the two getting kicked out of the Neo Diamond Cutters. Clutch has the Babylon Rogues distract Knuckles and the Chaotix long enough so he can do business with Jewel as the head of Clean Sweep Inc., without any familiar faces getting in his way.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Mimic for the Neo Diamond Cutters and Silver; the Babylon Rogues for Knuckles and the Chaotix; and Rough and Tumble for the Rabbit Family. Clutch himself acts as a Greater-Scope Villain, what with two-thirds of the other antagonists being in his employ. Eggman himself appears briefly in Issue #65, but in only a minor role, as Eggperial City's gone and he's had no time since to formulate a new scheme.
• Bizarre Taste in Food: In one of the panels where Sonic and Blaze visit Mirage Saloon, Blaze has her ice cream topped with a cherry, while she looks confused at Sonic's ice cream, which is topped with chocolate and a green chili pepper.
• Breather Episode: Trouble is still afoot in this arc, but much more localized than in the past several arcs. Most of the conflict stems from criminal activity mucking with the heroes' schedules and routines. Eggman is present, but his appearance is treated as a comedic footnote compared to his last few roles as the Arc Villain.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Knuckles finally reappears in the main comic for the first time since the Metal Virus' eradication in Issue #30. Prior to this, his sole appearance was in the FCBD 2022 one-off.^note His classic self's appearance in the 30th Anniversary Special notwithstanding.
  • Clutch, Rough, Tumble, and the Chaotix reappear^note the foremost in Issue #62, and the rest in Issues #65-66 after not being seen since Issue #48.
  • Mimic returns after being absent since the end of Bad Guys. This arc also marks his introduction to the main comic, his prior appearances having been limited to the first two miniseries.
  • Barring their appearances in the Endless Summer and 900th Adventure one-shots, the second half of the arc is the first appearance of all three Babylon Rogues in the main comic book since the Out of the Blue arc.
  • The Rabbit Family, last seen at the end of Chao Races and Badnik Bases in Issue #36, return to the main comic in the second half of the arc. Cheese and Chocola in particular were absent that entire time, while Cream, Vanilla, and Gemerl previously appeared only in the 2022 Annual.
• Call-Back:
  • Amy takes the opportunity to jab at Knuckles in Issue #62 for his decision to disband the Resistance on a whim, leading to Amy picking up the slack and forming the Restoration. Amy is just teasing him for it, but Knuckles still apologizes for it.
  • Belle has become fascinated with the Variable Wispon ever since she fixed it following Whisper's defeat to Surge. Tangle teases Belle for wanting to dismantle it again so soon after repairing it.
  • Sonic tells Blaze that she came here to relax and not take a working vacation, where Blaze recalls how Knuckles said something similar in the 2022 Annual issue.
  • Silver acknowledges how Espio gave him advice back in the 2022 Annual, but laments he can't put it into practice when he's not being proactive. Blaze however then brings up his work on Victory Garden, asks how its harvest would benefit best. Silver then recalls her advice that she gave him all the way back in the 2019 Annual, directly quoting what she said back then too.
• Continuity Cameo: The three ghosts from the Sonic: Night of the Werehog short, Lah, Su and Uh, can be seen in the corner during Sonic and Blaze's run through a sewer in Spagonia. Lah still has a crush on the hedgehog, as indicated by the heart when he passes by. This is also in-line with Su and Uh's cameos in the PS3/Xbox 360 versions of Sonic Unleashed during the "Tower Terror" and "Fright Fight" missions.
• Continuity Cavalcade: Issue #64 Cover A features photos of several characters that appeared throughout the comic's run, with the photos themselves derived from a past panel in the comic.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Motobud, who was disassembled in the 49th issue, can be seen beside Belle in Issue #63. The Overpowered arc showed that it was in pieces, with Belle having mostly rebuilt the former Badnik by the events of this arc.
  • The Neo Diamond Cutters, plus Mimic/Duo and Silver, train in none other than Green Hill Zone, the environment of which is still recovering from the events of Sonic Forces.
  • Sonic and Blaze visit Mirage Saloon, Station Square, Holoska, and Spagonia. The foremost of those was a "Classic" stage, acknowledging Sega's then-recent U-turn on the Classic and Modern timelines.
  • Blaze's fear of heights is acknowledged twice while the two are on top of the clock tower. The first time, Sonic asks if she's scared while admiring the scenery, with the second time being when she nearly falls due to the clock's minute hand moving to the top of the hour and ringing behind her.
    Blaze: I was enjoying the view. I did not require a reminder of how high we are.
  • The two short brawls between Knuckles and Storm mark a continuation of their rivalry in the Sonic Riders games.
  • The Chaotix recall how they let Clutch get away back in Issue #48 when bringing up a list of possible suspects.
• Contrived Coincidence: Espio lampshades how Charmy was able to find a lead from a group of shady guys gossiping about how the Rogues were going to make the drop-off of the artifacts quite coincidental, especially when they just ran out of leads.
• Crash-Into Hello: This happens to Whisper and Silver as the former and Tangle are leaving the machine shop.
• A Day in the Limelight:
  • With the comic's three foremost threats (the Eggman Empire, the Deadly Six, and the late Dr. Starline's imposters) currently out of the picture, Clutch, his employees, and eventually the Babylon Rogues get the spotlight instead.
  • On the heroes' side, the first half sees Knuckles, Silver, Blaze, and the Neo Diamond Cutters get the most focus, with Sonic himself having more of a supporting role. The second half has Knuckles working with Team Chaotix to get back what was stolen by the Babylon Rogues, while Cream and Gemerl focus on fending off the two Skunk Brothers.
• Desk Sweep of Rage: When Tangle tries to get her paddle ball back after Lanolin previously confiscated it, Lanolin angrily swats the toy off the table with her clipboard.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Lanolin, who feels the need to be this so the New Diamond Cutters can be more efficient.
• Easily Forgiven:
  • After getting the relics back, Knuckles decides to let the Babylon Rogues go despite being the ones who stole them in the first place.
  • Despite the skunk brothers breaking into and making a mess of her household, ruining the dinner she and her family worked so hard on, and threatening her daughter and Chao companions, Vanilla feels the need to forgive them when they express their immediate regret. She even treats them to take-out with her family and the Chaotix.
• Evil, Inc.: "Clean Sweep Inc.", which Clutch runs as a cover for his shady dealings; cleaning up Eggman's destroyed robots so he can amass his own resources and weapons. Part of his plan to overtake the Restoration (which is cutting into this business by doing the same thing for free), is by making a deal with the Jewel, the leader of the Restoration itself. He sends Mimic in disguise earlier to prepare and assist him.
• Fanboy: Silver's Hero Worship of Whisper, dating back to the war in Sonic Forces, has barely dwindled since they first met in person, and he is excited when she and Tangle invite him to train with them. Mimic (in his Duo guise) exploits this in order to pull a Frame-Up on the hedgehog.
• First Girl Wins: A non-romantic example; instead of partnering with Whisper and the other Diamond Cutters, Silver gets kicked out and ends up with his go-to partner from the mainline and spin-off games, Blaze the Cat, which is part of the series status quo.
• Funny Background Event: In Issue #63, while Whisper is getting her Wispon fixed up by Belle, her Wisps can be seen playing Jacks/Knucklebones using screws as the jacks and a bolt as the ball.
• Here We Go Again!: The echidna relic Amy returns to Knuckles in the first issue — originally stolen by Eggman and later from his vault by Rouge — is stolen again by the Babylon Rogues later in the arc, forcing him to go and steal it back with help from the Chaotix.
• Honor Before Reason: Downplayed. Knuckles enlists the help of the Chaotix when the Echidna idols get stolen from Angel Island, rather than go at it alone. However, when Charmy suggests getting Amy to help, Knuckles immediately shuts the idea down. Espio asks if he wants to maintain his "warrior's pride" that badly, with Knuckles replying with a Blunt "Yes".
• I Lied: Said verbatim by Jet about his denial of the Babylon Rogues knowing their client's name.
• Immediate Sequel: Picks up not long after the events of Urban Warfare, with Amy returning a stolen relic to Angel Island and the Neo Diamond Cutters taking a break after their premier mission.
• Internal Deconstruction: Of Silver's Inspector Javert tendencies in past media. He still suffers Humiliation Conga for his troubles, but in this case, he's got the right man, the info came from a reliable source, his allies (minus Whisper) are Gullible Lemmings instead of him, and hunting down some kind of traitor wasn't even his original objective (all he wanted was something to do).
• Joker Immunity: To the surprise of no one, Eggman survived the destruction of Eggperial City from the last arc, and is now trying to lay low as he works on his next evil scheme.
• Jump Scare: Vector receives one from Espio when the latter de-cloaks right next to his and Knuckles' table.
  Vector: I told you to quit surprising me like that!
  Espio: And I told you to turn down your headphones and mind your surroundings.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Mimic callously abandons Silver in the jaws of a Giant Chopper, intending to leave the hedgehog for dead. It's foiled when Silver manages to bust out of the Badnik with his powers.
  • When Cream takes Vanilla's roast — by then their only surviving dish — out of the oven, Tumble stomps it out of spite, causing her to burst into tears. He and Rough quickly regret it when Vanilla walks in and confronts them.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Facing Vanilla's wrath is enough to make Rough and Tumble behave themselves for the rest of the day, to the point where they even have dinner with the Rabbit Family and the Chaotix!
• Last Resort Takeout: The Rabbit Family spent the better part of an evening preparing a big dinner for the Chaotix, only for the Skunk Brothers to ruin everything, including the roast, appetizers, and gelatin dessert, greatly upsetting Cream. By the time Vanilla gets home, everything has been in some way or another destroyed, which is exactly when the Chaotix also show up. After things have calmed down, Vanilla orders Chinese (or going by Unleashed's equivalent, Chun-nan) takeout for everyone, including the Skunk Brothers (who were the reason why everything went to hell in the first place).
• The Mole: Mimic, under the guise of "Duo the Cat", joins the Neo Diamond Cutters to infiltrate the Restoration for Clutch.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Silver and Whisper's reaction(s) once they're convinced that Mimic's "Duo" alter-ego is Not a Mask and they antagonize a (seemingly) innocent man for nothing. Whisper sheds Tears of Remorse over the apparent false alarm and agrees to cast Silver out for fear of misleading him further; Silver makes no attempt to protest and leaves in shame on cue.
• Mythology Gag:
  • In Issue #62, Clutch pulls out a bottle of Chaos Cola, pouring a glass for both himself and Mimic. The variant that Clutch pulls out is called "Perfect Chaos Cola," which strengthens its origins from Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 further.
  • One panel in Issue #63 has Whisper's Pink Wisp perched on Silver's topmost quill — the same spot it occupies on Cover B for Issue #50.
  • When Sonic and Blaze jump out of the sewer, the art depicts their jumps in the same flame tornado/spinball way from the Sonic Rush series.
  • In a flashback, Blaze sees two women's summer outfits on display in a store window. The white outfit is her beach dress on the 2022 Annual's main cover, while the red outfit is Amy's swimsuit from Sonic X.
  • While hanging off Spagonia's Clock Tower, Sonic paraphrases part of his pre-fight dialogue with Shadow before their final duel in Sonic Adventure 2, "What you see is what you get. I'm just a hedgehog who loves—" before getting cut off by the Clock Tower ringing behind him at the top of the hour.
  • Blaze and Silver decide to visit Soleanna, referring both to the game it originated from, as well as how the two were a team in Silver's future in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).
  • Silver's attack on Mimic to expose his "Duo" identity uses various pieces of furniture, including chairs, much like in his boss fight in Sonic '06 where he used them against Sonic. Similarly, Silver's comment about him wanting to throw a car at Sonic is a nod to his boss fight in the mainline console/PC versions of Sonic Generations, where one of his attacks is throwing vehicles at the blue blur.
  • The aforementioned Alliterative Title is similar to that of the Sonic Universe arc "Treasure Team Tango", which also featured the Babylon Rogues as antagonists.
  • Knuckles eating a bowl of grape-flavored ice cream with grapes in it is essentially what his live-action counterpart wanted at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022).
• Not Me This Time: Knuckles and the Chaotix attack one of Eggman's bases under the assumption that the Babylon Rogues are on the doctor's payroll and were hired to steal the artifacts from Angel Island. Eggman turns out to be uninvolved, stating he doesn't bother cataloguing whatever trinkets get swiped during his conquests, and sharply orders the heroes off his turf.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • Blaze notes that part of Sonic's charm is how he "comes out strong," where she then notes that doesn't make him that much different from Silver. Blaze then explains to Silver how he and Sonic both have the same values, wishing to act first with all their power in order to protect the ones they care about, commenting on it being a noble ambition.
    Blaze: (to Silver) [Sonic] can come on strong, but that's part of his charm. The two of you aren't so different, all things considered.
  • Silver then throws the remark back at Blaze, where he compares her to himself and Sonic: they all wish to use their immense power to protect those they care about, even more so due to Blaze's position as a Princess, which Silver finds inspiring.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Tumble, when he realizes destroying the roast Cream just took out of the oven may have been a step too far, causing her to cry. Both he and Rough then have this reaction when they face a pissed-off Vanilla. Chocola and Gemerl themselves both sport such looks on their faces when they see Vanilla has come back.
  • Vanilla, in a rare case for the franchise, has these reactions when she realizes that they ran out of butter to make their sauce, as well as when the Chaotix show up right after she scolded Rough and Tumble for causing so much trouble.
• "Oh, Crap!" Smile:
  • Belle cracks one after the foreman reminds her she was supposed to have obtained some new gaskets.
    Belle: Sorry y'all, I've got a bit of panicking to do.
  • Vector gives one out of embarrassment when his assumption that Eggman hired the Rogues turns out to be wrong, meaning his team and Knuckles wasted precious time on a Wild Goose Chase.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Vanilla the Rabbit, the closest equivalent to the Sonic franchise's warm and motherly Yamato Nadeshiko archetype (next to her daughter), comes back to see that the Skunks have ruined their dinner with the Chaotix, and all the hard work that went into it. She visibly changes her expressions, gives a Grin of Rage, and verbally cut into the skunks enough that they yield and apologize profusely.
• Perfection Is Impossible: Cream's story centers around her making sure the dinner her family set up for the Chaotix is flawless by the time Vanilla returns, but it spirals out of control with the skunk brothers try to rob them. Vanilla assures Cream that she did her best, which is something to be proud of. She later adds that imperfection can sometimes make things better.
  Vanilla: (about the take-out food) It's not perfect, but sometimes, that's better.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • As a result of Whisper and Silver pursuing Mimic without explaining why and what they're doing, it brings them into conflict with Lanolin and Silver's overly-aggressive pursuit gives Mimic the perfect opening to play victim and drive a rift between him and the rest of the Restoration.
  • Because Knuckles was too proud to seek help from the Restoration, they never get to interrogate the Babylon Rogues about their client's identity and are unaware of any suspicious incidents when Clutch waltzes into their HQ.
  • Jewel's obliviousness to Clutch's villainy indicates that her friends never told her about their past encounters with him; otherwise, she'd already be aware of his true colors.
• Pro Bono Barter: Played for Laughs. The Chaotix initially accepts the offer to take Knuckles' case of hunting down his Echidna artifacts after the promise of being paid. When the whole mess is sorted (which causes them to almost miss their dinner plans with Vanilla), Vector asks how Knuckles intends to pay them. Knuckles, being an echidna who lives on a reclusive island (and possibly no money to his name), offers them fresh seasonal fruits, as well as stuff he can forage from Mushroom Hill. Espio then consoles Vector about how these are essentially free groceries, and that it will help the perpetually broke Detective Agency's savings in the long run, to which the crocodile begrudgingly accepts.
• Ship Tease:
  • After Sonic helps Blaze down from Spagonia's clock tower, he forgets to let go of her hand, causing Blaze to look down at their held hands and visibly blush.
  • Issue #64 features some between Silver and Blaze. After Sonic and Blaze's vacation throughout the world, they both return to Restoration HQ's secret entrance at Victory Garden, where Silver is moping after he gets kicked out of the Neo Diamond Cutters. Blaze then takes the time to cheer him up, though this leads to Sonic teasing the pair.
    Sonic: (to Silver and Blaze) You two are great together.
    • After Sonic comments on how the time traveller and dimension princess are in sync and work well as a pair, he leaves the two alone. Silver and Blaze then have a heart-to-heart with one another, with averted gazes and awkward coughing. After some coaxing from Blaze, the two decide to visit Soleanna.
  • Vector has jotted down in his planner that he has "dinner with Vanilla," complete with hearts circled around the event, a nod to his crush that originated from Sonic X (forgetting that she invited all three members of the Chaotix for dinner and not just him). When he and the rest of his boys arrive at the Rabbit Family abode, they eat dinner together, with Vanilla even feeding Vector one of the dumplings in a rather sweet way.
• Shout-Out: Issue #64 Cover A is a reference to the Pepe Silvia meme that stemmed from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, where Silver and Charlie have similar poses in front of a String Theory board as they try to figure out someone's identity.
• Slice of Life: All the stories follow Sonic and his friends going about their everyday lives rather than saving the world like always. Amy is on an errand; Knuckles is exploring his home and getting his ancestral treasures back; Belle, her Dark and Troubled Past now behind her, has returned to her job at Restoration HQ; Silver hangs out with the Neo Diamond Cutters while they're training; Blaze is still vacationing, with Sonic as her tour guide; and the Chaotix have scheduled a dinner outing with the Rabbit family.
• Status Quo Is God: Silver never stood a chance of being on the same team as Whisper, his idol in the comics, long-term due to his role in the games (not to mention they're from different time periods altogether) and is booted out after merely two issues. He ultimately ends up with Blaze, his traditional partner in the games, instead.
• String Theory: Cover A of Issue #64 shows Silver in front of a conspiracy theory board with photos connected by strings as he attempts to sus out the Restoration's traitor, framed after a similar scene from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
• Spoiler Cover: A variation. A cover of Issue #67 solicited around the time of Issue #63's release shows that Mimic is clearly still working undercover as Duo, meaning that his cover won't be blown in this arc.
• Tarot Motifs: In the Sonic Letters Squad slot of Issue #64, one of the shown pieces of fanart shows Tangle hanging upside-down, performing the pose of the Hanged Man card.invoked
• Throw the Dog a Bone:
  • Silver is publicly humiliated and kicked out of the Neo Diamond Cutters after he and Whisper fail to expose Mimic, and he still cannot figure out what to do with his time. After all of that, however, Blaze cheers him up and they decide to visit Soleanna together, ending Silver's side-story on a happy note.
  • Rough and Tumble had some bad luck since Issue #48. Clutch supposedly fired them sometime after their escape from the Chaotix, resorting to petty theft. Even after all of the trouble they caused in Cream's household, from trying to rob and fight them to ruining their dinner, Vanilla decides to give them a break after a stern talking-to and invites them to take-out with her family and the Chaotix.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Knuckles and grapes, as established in an old manual for Sonic 3. The RI cover for Issue #62 has him eating a bunch, and when they return to Seaside City in #65, he's eating a bowl of grape ice cream with grapes in it.
• Villain Team-Up: Clutch hires Mimic to be his inside man in the Restoration, which in turn gives Mimic a chance to avenge himself on Tangle and Whisper when the time is right.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Downplayed, but the Rabbit family's mishap is triggered by Chocola eating Vanilla's last stick of butter. Instead of having Gemerl get it for them, Vanilla decides to step out instead, which the Skunk brothers take to believe that the family is out of the house.
• Villain Has a Point: Eggman berates Vector for falsely assuming he hired the Babylon Rogues to rob Knuckles, stating that as the Chaotix's lead detective, the crocodile should know better than to just assume the usual suspects (see Not Me This Time above).
• We Need a Distraction: Issue #66 reveals that Clutch hired the Babylon Rogues to steal the relics from Angel Island. It turns out, however, that he had no use for them at all. After Jet informs him of their emptyhandedness, he tells him the whole thing was a diversion to throw Knuckles and the Chaotix off his trail while he conducts business elsewhere, but will still pay them all the same. It is then revealed that he has contacted the Restoration to provide his "services" of Clean Sweep Inc.
• Wham Shot: A pretty nasty one near the end of Knuckles' misadventure story in #66. It's revealed that the Babylon Rogues were contracted by Clutch, and he's cozied his way into the Restoration without issue. The story ends with Clutch and Jewel striking a formal co-operative deal between the Restoration and Clean Sweep Inc., with Mimic and Clutch's agendas undisturbed.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Silver ranks among Sonic's strongest allies in a straight fight, but his skillset and over-eager attitude are unsuited to a Battle of Wits. Consequently, he comes up short against the patient, cunning, and more mature Mimic, not helped by the fact that they just met.
• Would Hurt a Child: The skunk brothers aren't afraid to attack Cream and her Chao, and try to make them hostages so Gemerl would cooperate. It doesn't last, and Vanilla quietly, but furiously, cuts into them for resorting to such cowardly measures.
• Workaholic: Lanolin, as usual, is already writing up a report on their mission from the previous arc, while also looking for ways to improve her newly formed Diamond Cutters team.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: When Silver and Whisper try to corner Mimic and reveal his identity, he uses Silver's manhandling to pretend his arm is broken, making Silver look like a bully and Whisper an overworked paranoiac. Silver is kicked out, Whisper is benched, and Mimic is brought in closer to the fold.
• Xanatos Gambit: Clutch hired the Babylon Rogues likely knowing Knuckles would go after them and enlist the Chaotix to do so; the aforementioned Contrived Coincidence implies that he also sold the Rogues out by leaking their rendezvous point's location (which he wasn't anywhere near to begin with) to the heroes. Whoever won or lost, Clutch still gains since thwarting the heist threw the Chaotix off his trail, allowing him to con the Restoration unhindered.

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