Comic Book / Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill

Ready for Round 2?

Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill is a comic book tie-in from IDW Publishing for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022), set in between the first movie and the sequel. It's an anthology book that focuses on five stories:

• Hedgehog Day Afternoon: With Tom out on a fishing trip at Walla Walla, Washington with his deputy Wade, and Maddie off at work, Sonic is left milling around with nothing to do. When he sees a news report of a robbery taking place, he rushes to stop it, but finds his first stint at heroics is not so cut and dry.
• The Secret of My Distress: Focuses on Agent Stone, Robotnik's lackey in the first movie, as he shows how he came to run the coffee shop in the sequel.
• Always Bet On Red: Focuses on Knuckles, who's searching for Sonic, but winds up kidnapped and thrown into an arena to fight for his life.
• Two For The Road: Focuses on Tails' search for Sonic as well, which leads him through some dangerous terrain, but he finds he's not the only one tracking Sonic.
• Mushroom With A View: Focuses on Dr. Robotnik and how he managed to survive on the mushroom planet he was stranded on at the end of the first movie.

The comic was released on March 30, 2022, a week before the official release of the second movie. It likewise has a few artists and writers from the official IDW Sonic comic book as well.

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Tropes

General

• Mythology Gag:
  • Once more Sonic says "Gotta Go Fast".
  • The drones seen in The Secret of My Distress heavily resemble the classic Crabmeat badniks.
• Prequel: As the name of the comic state, it's a prequel to the second movie.
• Punny Name: Called the Pre-Quill since, y'know, hedgehogs have quills and it's a prequel to the second movie. Har har.
• Shout-Out:
  • When Sonic is speeding through Green Hills, he stops to make some snowmen in some rather gruesome poses ala Calvin and Hobbes.
  • The Walla Walla officer Tom and Wade run into calls them Andy and Barney.
• Villain Episode: The Secret of My Distress, Always Bet On Red and Mushroom With A View all focus on the villains in the movies, namely Agent Stone, Knuckles ^note At the time a villain and Dr. Robotnik respectively.

Hedgehog Day Afternoon

• Decoy Damsel: Lindsay, initially presented as a hostage. She reveals she's one of the crooks and zaps Sonic just as he arrives at the bank to help.
• Donut Mess with a Cop: The Walla Walla cop offers Tom and Wade some donuts for their help. Only to find the box empty to which we see that Sonic has pouched them for himself.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Lindsay learns this the hard way when she tries to command Robotnik's drones to attack Sonic, only for them to lift her into the air and nearly drop her to her death if not for Sonic catching her. Then again, it's implied that Stone did this on purpose to punish her for trying to betray him.
• In Medias Res: The story starts with Sonic trapped in a bank vault then cuts back to show how he got into that situation.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: When Tom sees some of the Badnik drones coming toward the police, he manages to snag one with his fishing rod and slam it into another one.
  Wade: Well, the exploding part seems done but those freaky little robots aren't.
  Tom: That tears it! (grabs a fishing pole from their truck and whips the line at a drone) Doesn't any realize--that I am on---MY VACATION!
• Missed Him by That Much: Tom and Wade are unaware that Sonic was in the bank as he never came outside and darted off before they could see him. Nor was Sonic aware that the two were there either. None of the villains blab as Sonic convinces them that no one would believe them since, outside of Green Hills, Montana, the rest of the world doesn't know he exists.
• Outlaw Couple: Lindsay and Jason, two of the heads of the gang robbing the bank in Walla Walla are likewise implied to be a couple as well if their dialogue is any indication.
• Prefer Jail to the Protagonist: After Sonic saves her, Lindsay, tired of all of his attempts at a hero name as well as her failed heist, practically asks Sonic to turn her in if she doesn't have to hear more of his rambling.
  Sonic: And you'll do time for that one girl boss! As well all evildoers who dare cross quills with...Blue Justice!
  Lindsay: I'll surrender to that one if you just. stop. talking.
• Running Gag: Sonic keeps trying to pick a superhero name for himself throughout the story.
• Save the Villain: Despite Lindsay zapping him earlier, Sonic saves her when the drone that carried her into the air drops her (though does promptly drop her to the ground once she's safe).

The Secret of My Distress

• Asshole Victim: Tina, George the assistant manager, and Karen are shown to be thoroughly unpleasant people, which makes it hard to feel bad for them when Stone delivers retaliation on them.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Downplayed. Stone has one coworker that doesn't antagonize him and while the narration implies that Stone looks down on him he never does anything to the guy. There's definitely a pragmatic edge to it as unlike the other store employees Stone gets rid of to climb the ranks this one isn't in Stone's way on his climb to the top. When said coworker voices his concerns over people disappearing, Stone tells him not to worry as he hasn't crossed the wrong people... yet.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While Karen and George are openly hostile to Stone, his coworker Tina isn't as upfront. She's polite to him in person but mocks him behind his back.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Stone's victims are jerkasses, but his methods to deal with them are a bit extreme. He has badniks trash Tina's car just because she lies about taking off work for a family emergency (she went to the beach instead), carts off the George to... someplace with his drones just because he was being rude and saw Stone as a suck-up; and, perhaps most egregiously, has Karen framed for money laundering, thrown in jail, and takes over her coffee shop, just because she spat the goat milk latte he made for her in his face.
• Frame-Up: Stone has Karen framed for money laundering.
• Immediate Sequel: This story follows on from Hedgehog Day Afternoon, as it shows that the bank robbery was Stone's doing to get Robotnik's tech.
• Nothing Is Scarier: The fact that we don't see what happens to George after he's carried away by Robotnik's drones as Stone proves himself to be a Not-So-Harmless Villain.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Stone didn't do much of anything in the first movie save for being Robotnik's lackey and trusted assistant, essentially his Yes-Man. Here, he shows he can be just as dangerous as Robotnik, only in a much more subtle fashion.
• Pet the Dog: Robotnik's manifesto to Stone on how to survive once Robotnik is gone opens with an insult aimed at how much smarter than Stone the doctor is... but then acknowledges that Stone is still smarter than most other people.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Robotnik's manifesto notes that mercy is for filthy animals but that the strategy may require convenient alliances. To this end, Stone doesn't get rid of Brayden, the one coworker who is nice to him, and keeps him around as a minion. Though considering that he isn't anywhere to be seen in the movie as Stone is running it solo, that doesn't exactly hold great implications for him either.
• Spit Take: Karen spits the goat milk latte in Stone's face when she tries it.
• Tempting Fate: Tina privately calls Stone a sucker for taking her shift while she goes to the beach... unaware of her car being trashed behind her.

Always Bet On Red

• Continuity Cameo: Vector and Espio can be seen among the patron in the Casino Night lobby. You can likewise make out Charmy's antennae from behind a table too.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Knuckles makes very quick work of the creature that was set against him, laying it out in one hit.
• Gladiator Games: Knuckles is captured and thrown into an arena for the amusement of the Casino Night audience.
• Last of His Kind: Knuckles says out loud that he's the last of the Echidna meaning something has happened to the tribe between when Sonic was a kid up to this point. The reason he's searching for Sonic is also tied to this as he needs his power for something.

Two For The Road

• Due to the Dead: Longclaw has a tiny memorial in her old hut, revealing she did indeed die protecting Sonic from the echidnas.
• Missed Him by That Much: Tails just barely avoids being caught by the tracker Knuckles hired, who arrives in Hilltop Zone just as Tails leaves.
• Mythology Gag: The "zones" Tails looks through are modeled after classic Sonic stages, namely Marble Zone, Spring Yard Zone, Aquatic Ruin Zone, and Hilltop Zone.
• Sequel Hook: The tracker loses Tails' trail, but Knuckles tells him he has one possible lead that can help them find Sonic.

Mushroom With A View

• Homemade Flamethrower: Robotnik flames the mushroom creatures with a makeshift flamethrower made from part of his ship and rocket fuel.
• Immediate Sequel: Picks up right at the end of The Stinger of the first movie, with Robotnik proclaiming he'll be home in time for Christmas.
• Mushroom Samba: Robotnik tries one of the planet's mushroom and temporarily has a psychedelic episode. Rather then deem them bad, he cites them edible. Guess when you're already crazy, things like that hardly affect you.
• Villainous Valour: The mushroom creatures manage to dogpile Robotnik and he looks to be Eaten Alive, but he busts out, refusing to be defeated:
  Robotnik: NNNO! I refuse to relent! I deny deletion!