Review by Ian Keogh

Evan Stanley’s lively action art has been a continuing feature of IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog series, and for Chao Races & Badnick Bases she takes on the writing as well, continuing into Test Run.

Omega was left in need of repair at the end of Out of the Blue, and genius he may be, but even Tails needs some help if the job is going to be done properly, so Sonic and the crew go searching for spare parts and missing code. It seems for a fair while that Sonic is relegated to secondary status as his friends take over, Rouge suggesting the best place to start regarding spare parts is a legendarily shady dealer who’s very fond of the chao races. Could Cream enter Cheese?

Stanley’s art is proven quality, and she draws most of the story, with Adam Bryce Thomas filling in for a single chapter, but not in a way that greatly disturbs the artistic flow, although there are a few panel to panel storytelling glitches. He draws the cast more wide-eyed, but Reggie Graham’s colouring helps with the consistency. Because much is shady activity Graham keeps scenes gloomy, but for the chao races it’s brightness all the way.

Considering this is her first time on writing duties for a longer story, Stanley hits all the right spots. She includes a good number of the cast, introduces a helpful new character, surprises with the villain, and keeps the action going. She also picks up on older stories, manages to echo gameplay by having certain tasks that need to be completed, and ends with a mystery. Sonic fans should have very little to complain about here.