Man this is fun. Not only is it cool to see an island filled to the brim with reassembled Badniks, but it’s great to see Sega loosen their grip and allow the return of old characters. Over the past 10 years, Sega has been very reluctant to directly reference the stories of older games, so the fact that we not only learn the whereabouts of the ruined Death Egg, but follow up on Mecha Sonic as a genuine character is a real treat.

And I haven’t even touched on the art yet, which of course has wonderful action by Jack Lawrence, but also has drop dead *gorgeous* colors by longtime Sonic cover artist, Nathalie Fourdraine. It would have been so easy to stick with simple, flat colors and call it a day, but Nathalie adds these rich textures that accentuate the mood of the scenes and make all the rusted Badniks feel tangible and real. I love this book, and highly recommend it to Sonic fans new and old!