Even before it hit comic shelves this week, people went crazy for a leaked image of Batman and Shadow’s first encounter in the pages of DC x Sonic #1. For good reason: it’s wonderful in the best way a crossover can be, utterly absurd and yet at the same time completely sincere in its conviction. But the best part of their brief dynamic in the issue is what comes after.
The overall premise of DC x Sonic #1, by Ian Flynn, Adam Bryce Thomas, Matt Herms, and Becca Carey, is par for the crossover course. Darkseid’s shown up in Sonic’s world a little planetoid-sized version of his own face, seeking the the Chaos Emeralds as a way to divining power beyond even the Anti-Life Equation itself, and immediately starts flinging parademons about the place. Suddenly, Sonic and all his pals find themselves fighting back with new allies in the form of the Justice League of America.
The pairings are similarly obvious, but still fun: Knuckles and Superman bond over their belief in their respective duties; Cyborg and Tails geek out over tech; Sonic and Flash, naturally, are cocky hotheads who try to one up each other as the fastest being alive, man or hedgehog. And then of course, like two emo kids beelining for the same corner at a party, Shadow and Batman gravitate toward each other. Well, more accurately, they gravitate toward not wanting to be part of a large group.
This is where the now-viral moment comes from in the issue, when Shadow, already sick at the prospect of a team up at the best of times, walks away from the thought of having to cooperate with all these new heroes. And of course, Batman absolutely nails the reason as to why, exploring the kinship between the Dark Knight and the Ultimate Life Form in a way that is both empathetic, but also tactical, ensuring that he makes it clear he sees Shadow for who he is, and that there are places for people like them at this broader table.
It is a great moment, even beyond the inherent absurdity of “Batman and Shadow the Hedgehog talk about the Wayne and Maria and it’s some form of comic book canon.” Like I said, good crossover stories relish in the fannish absurdity of moments like this but do so by delivering them with sincerity—and that’s exactly what this moment is. It’s not a joke over how similarly brooding Shadow and Batman are, it’s not a joke to mention the parallels between Bruce losing his parents and Shadow losing Maria, like fans clapping for her to get got in Sonic 3. This is just these two people sizing each other up, recognizing their strengths, and figuring out a way to navigate that recognition.
So yes! It’s great. But it’s not the best Batman/Shadow moment in DC x Sonic #1. There’s one brief, tiny bit shortly after that’s even better.
Once Shadow’s convinced by Bruce it’s worth playing nice with the rest of the League to stop Darkseid, Sonic, his allies, and the Justice League start pairing off and going off on their separate missions. We get a really fun set of panels as we see Team Sonic and the League really start bonding—and they’re talky panels, filled with back-and-forth dialogue as each side of the crossover starts to find friendship and commonality with each other. And then you get to the last panel of the page, Batman and Shadow zooming away on bikes. And it’s silent. The only noise is to communication the rumble of their bikes’ engines.
It’s the perfect encapsulation of them as a pair, and why they are so different to their respective allies. It’s such a fun contrast to the rest of the bouncy, breezy dialogue across the page prior, to be hit with this panel of almost-nothing, but it speaks to how Bruce and Shadow alike don’t need the bonding or the pleasantries: they already got their estimations of each other sorted, they have a job to do, and they’re doing it. What else needs to be said?
It’s the moment that really gets who they are, and who they would be to each other, that again is that perfect crossover mix of funny and yet spot-on in its sincerity. All the gags and charm in DC x Sonic are great, but it’s little moments like this that are already making it click as a fantastic crossover.
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