Sonic the Hedgehog: Scrapnik Island

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW)

by Daniel Barnes, Jack Lawrence (Illustrator)

A stormy night. A plane crash. A deserted island--or so it seems. Sonic and Tails find themselves castaways, surrounded by robots hardwired to target them!

That's no island—it's the weathered hulk of the Death Egg, and it's crawling with scrapped, rusted, and malfunctioning Badniks! Each and every one of them was created by Eggman to destroy that meddlesome hedgehog, but the mad doctor left other creations as well. Lethal, personal, familiar creations.

What other secrets does the crumbling battle station hold? Are all of Eggman's monsters doomed to follow their programming, or can they step out of their maker's shadow? And where can a hungry ’hog get a chili dog around here?

Writer Daniel Barnes (The Black Mage, Aggretsuko) presents a nail-biting new Sonic adventure, full of fears and gears, with shadowy, shocking art by IDW Sonic veteran Jack Lawrence ( Wreckers—Tread & Circuits) .

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Comic Book

104 pages, Paperback

Published August 29, 2023

Reviews

[Will Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

a wonderful story with beautiful art

12.17.24: reread this again because i still can't get over sonic and mecha's characterization in this i really love it so much
3.27.25: i dont think ill ever tire rereading this
10.12.25 yeah a FOURTH reread i love this story sm

[Kyle Banks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclosure: I am fan of IDW's Sonic so I'll try and keep this nice and short.

This graphic novel begins with Sonic and Tails crashlanding onto the derelict remains of Dr. Eggman's space station. They soon encounter a number of Eggman's older Badnik robots who have made a life for themselves. But there's a chilling miasma in the air as all is not as it seems.

First I gotta give props to the art team. They really nailed thriller movie vibes. They effectively use a muted color palette and shadows to give a sense of dread when exploring interiors and narrow hallways. And the designs for the Badniks give an Island of Misfit Toys energy that is stunning to see.

The story's structure and the ending is not groundbreaking; you know Sonic and Tails will eventually leave safe. The really shining moments are the moments that explore the human condition. It examines what PTSD for a robot would look like and how they respond to it. There's more there but then I'd turn this into an essay.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who is familiar with Sonic or completely new but looking for a nice thriller.

[Rayhan dinkleberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic! I've mentioned this a lot in my previous Sonic reviews but Sonic's characterization was on point in this. It reminded me a lot of how he was in "Sonic and the Black Knight." Once again, he is a teensy bit too wordy, but still great stuff nonetheless. I loved the Badniks in this. Their little family was heartwarming, and Mecha Sonic was a solid villain. When Mecha is corrupted by his old programming, he is very evil, and his redemption is pretty solid. I felt terrible for him and the other Badniks, especially when Mecha Sonic said they were never his friends. Truly heartbreaking. The ending was also very wholesome. This story has a great message, and it's conveyed brilliantly, though I think it could have benefitted with a bit more subtlety. I loved the art direction this time, and seeing some horror aspects in Sonic is always cool. Overall, it is one of my favourite IDW Sonic stories. Daniel Barnes did a fantastic job for his first time writing officially for Sonic.

[Pen · Rating 4 out of 5]

a terrific and very stylish one-off story! i remember reading it the first time and being so blown away with many things about it. Scrapnik Island is tense, frightening– but also so heartfelt when all is said and done, and it does so without ever feeling tonally confused. its moral is simple and yet moving, especially if you're in a headspace where you might need to hear it. i was also very, VERY taken with the breathtaking art in this comic, with a strong emphasis on the gorgeous coloring!

i read it online the first time 'round and knew practically immediately that i wanted to own a physical copy. happy to report that i do now, and my only complaint is the type of paper used – the art is still vibrant and a treat to look at as always, but the glossiness of the paper may mean that you'll need to angle your book away from the light in order to read it. even still, it's a minor complaint, and i have no regrets.

[Caoimhe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is straightforward but effecting and it is brought to life wonderfully in the art, especially Nathalie Fourdraine’s colouring and it’s a masterpiece in the use of light and darkness and it’s just lovely to revisit in in paper. And there’s just so many little details: The boarders changing based on the lighting throughout the comic, getting darker as they venture into the depths of the Death Egg and glitching out in time with Mecha Sonic.

There’s lots of great little moments throughout. I love when it briefly turned into Aliens everything turns green. And Mecha Sonic is just so cool.

I do think Sonic’s injured leg is something that he seems to just get over far too easily in the climax and really nitpicking things a small detail I noticed on reread: Sonic consistently walks putting his weight on his injured leg. I guess this is to make it more visible and prominent, and maybe easier to draw, but once I noticed it bothered me for the rest of the book.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trapped on an island in the middle of nowhere, Sonic & Tails find themselves at the mercy of an entire army of decommissioned Badniks - but are they friend, foe, or a mix of both?

I really enjoyed this, actually. There's a lot of neat references to previous Sonic games, and it's fun to see where all these characters have been in the interim. Is it a little predictable in terms of plot? Sure, but it's nice to see IDW doing something different with the Sonic property - this is the closest they've come to an actual horror comic with the Blue Blur since they got hold of him.

[D.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this one from beginning to end! The IDW artists and writers know how to write a Sonic story. They even played with horror elements this time around. The poses were dynamic and colorful. Tails isn't a sidekick and can save himself and others. Sonic has more personality than just being happy all the time.

For a self-contained story, it was great.

[Timothy Pitkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice story as we follow up with a destroyed Death Egg to find out that without Dr. Eggman his robots are pretty nice. As we see them trying to set up their own home on the island and it is a cool idea and I hope to see this more in the future as it does bring up a good question do his robots really want to be evil can they become good guys.

[Mal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and simple self contained it's super creative narrative-wise and I really quite liked it. Cewl world building and cewl character designs not much to say really. Tails was really great he's very helpful and sonic being injured and tails being the busy body this time makes a lot of sense I like it. 5/5 <3

[Tim Rooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scrapnik Island is excellent. Moody, exciting, fantastically drawn. And it spotlights Sonic front and center as a character which the comic books often do not. Easily the best we’ve gotten from the IDW Sonic era, which has been good. Nathalie Fourdraine remains an absolute powerhouse comics colorist. Making every page beautiful. Sonic comics don’t need to look this good.

[Grace Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

favorite part was Sonic getting carried around like a purse dog, passing from hands to hands because they can’t hold the dog forever but they can’t set him down because he will run into the highway the first chance he gets. delightful.

[Nico · Rating 4 out of 5]

even in a dubiously canon spinoff book by a new writer, idw sonic continues to be absolutely baller with stellar art, tackling surprisingly nuanced and mature themes, and of course way past cool action

[Greg A Croka · Rating 5 out of 5]

A totally necessary read 10/10

This is a surprisingly impactful entry in the idw series. I was skeptical of the story just being a one time entry but it is absolutely a necessary read for those interested in the idw sonic series.

[Greg Hipius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Comic, Epic Story, Mecha Sonic made me cry.

Sonic saying crap was much funnier than it should have been. Mecha Sonic was my favorite. Kinda wish that E102 Gamma wasn’t brought back as one of E117 Sigma’s friends.

[Adelaide · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this so much

[Mikael · Rating 3 out of 5]

actually not that bad. contains a lot of characters you have to know about beforehand though.

[Ranim :D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Industrial revolution and its consequences

[Madelyn Murnane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite sonic comic yet!

[Casey Loder]

the main line series needs more stuff like this. this felt a lot less stale in comparison to the couple previous volumes before this miniseries

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this Sonic comic. It was funny, intense, and heartwarming.

[David Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

The IDW Sonic series is great fun, but this is truly the best one: gorgeous artwork and colouring, excellent expressive characters, and a sweet moral message. What more could you want?

[Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peak. Art is amazing, characters are great, the setting and idea is awesome. Mecha Sonic is so cool. 5/5

[Adair Fulwiler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous art and one of the best modern Sonic storylines – incredibly true to his character! Daniel Barnes knocked it out of the park.

[O.Z. Laws · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous art with a genuinely touching story. Well worth reading, even if it doesn't tie into the main series much.

[Torin · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent message, beautiful artwork!

[The Book Box · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was deliciously good! I loved it. And read it again 2 days later!

[Bethany Blookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautiful story and my favorite part of the entirety of IDW. It's just so sweet and always makes me tear up, this is a story to remember forever. 🥲

[Garrett Emile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun and interesting.
Hundreds if not thousands of robots beaten over the course of the games, they end up here.
Also fun story of helping others, self improvement, and “beating your programming” that I wasn’t expecting, but absolutely wanted.

[Jessica Malanowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome little mini-series. Loved the more horror aesthetic and vibe of the story.

I loved the art by Jack Lawrence, but what I really love is the coloring by Nathalie Fourdraine. Rarely have I seen a comic book colored in a way that matched the mood and vibe of the book. The coloring was dark and moody, which fit the horror vibe. I don't know, I just really love the coloring in this book.

Also, the story by Daniel Barnes was great, too. The Scrapniks remind me of Sid's experimented-on toys from Toy Story. Overall, it's a cute and sweet story with a neat horror vibe to it. I hope to see more Sonic work from these creators.🙂👍