Sonic and Tails Face Off Against Their Evil Twins In New Miniseries
IDW just announced that Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails will fight against their evil doppelgängers in a new four-issue miniseries called Imposter Syndrome leading up to the main Sonic series' monumental 50th issue. The publisher didn't divulge that much about these new villains except to say that Dr. Eggman's former fanboy-turned-traitor Dr. Starline most likely created them. It also implied that Sonic's twin is a girl.
IDW has been taking significant strides as of late to put a renewed focus on Dr. Eggman's rival. Dr. Starline (along with the Deadly Six) recently starred in the Sonic spin-off series Bad Guys, during which the evil scientist finally comes to the realization that Dr. Eggman isn't as great as he originally thought and that he shouldn't try to follow him, but instead should surpass him. Dr. Starline's loyalty begins to waver when he first witnesses how Dr. Eggman's hatred for Sonic causes him to act rashly during the Metal Virus saga, a concern his evil hero brushes aside. It doesn't take long before Dr. Starline's attempts to secretly help the defiant Dr. Eggman in Bad Guys evolves into something much more devious, leading him to his latest treacherous exploits in Imposter Syndrome.
Created by longtime Sonic writer Ian Flynn and artist Thomas Rothlisberger of Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Special, Imposter Syndrome will serve as one part of a much larger story, the other half of which will transpire in the main Sonic series. The two publications will therefore alternate monthly whereby the first issue of Imposter Syndrome will debut in November, followed by Sonic #47 in December, and so on before ending with Sonic #50. The miniseries follows on the heels of Dr. Starline's latest attempt to replace Dr. Eggman as their world's greatest evil genius by capturing Belle the Tinkerer, a wooden robot created by Eggman's good alter ego Mr. Tinker. “I’m especially excited about this story since it’s building upon the core fundamentals that led to Dr. Starline’s creation as a character,” says Flynn about Imposter Syndrome.
While most likely unintentional, Imposter Syndrome shares some similarities from a storyline in Archie Comics' discontinued Sonic the Hedgehog comic book. In that series, one of the many alternate worlds in Sonic's massive multiverse is Moebius, the backwards version of Sonic's planet, Mobius, where evil versions of the Blue Blur and his friends reside. Undoubtedly, the most famous of these evil twins is Scourge. Tails may also have an evil version of himself, but a more intriguing character that even surpasses Scourge in terms of sheer awesomeness is Amy Rose's worse half, Rosy the Rascal, a demented hedgehog who sings eerie songs about how she will murder her victims.
Of course, Dr. Starline won't open a portal to another world like Moebius, but will instead construct Sonic and Tails' doppelgängers himself as IDW's Imposter Syndrome press release implies, which could explain why he kidnaps Belle. That said, IDW would greatly benefit from expanding Sonic's universe beyond Blaze's world, which the series hasn't even really explored except when Sonic became afflicted with amnesia. The introduction of an evil Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails would add an extra dose of complexity and layering to a universe many fans care about.