Evan Stanley Confirms Where Sonic Frontiers Fits in the IDW Sonic Timeline

A recent clarification from Evan Stanley has officially settled ongoing confusion surrounding the timeline placement of Sonic Frontiers within the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog comic continuity.

The explanation came via Stanley’s Tumblr after a fan asked how Sonic Frontiers could logically take place after Issue 83. At the moment in the comics, a mysterious villain is actively collecting the Chaos Emeralds, which led some readers to wonder whether the Emeralds were meant to disappear for the events of Frontiers on the Starfall Islands and then scatter again afterward, forcing the villain to restart their hunt before Issue 100.

Stanley directly addressed that assumption and made it clear that it is incorrect.

According to her response, Sonic Frontiers does not occur after Issue 83 at all. Instead, Issue 84 marks Sage’s first appearance in the IDW series, which already establishes a post-Frontiers status quo. Because the Chaos Emeralds are so tightly tied to Frontiers’ story, Stanley explained that the game can only reasonably fit earlier in the timeline, specifically shortly before Issue 68. While she acknowledged that this placement is not perfectly seamless, it avoids much larger continuity problems that would arise if the game were set later.

She also added that readers should assume Dr. Eggman kept Sage with him for a period of time following the events on the Starfall Islands. This allowed Sage to recover fully before her proper introduction in the comics, helping bridge the gap between the game and the IDW storyline.

Stanley further revealed that Issue 84 was originally meant to include a short line of dialogue and an editor’s note to clarify the timeline placement. Those elements were ultimately removed during script revisions to keep the pacing lighter. She admitted that both she and Ian Flynn knew this decision would likely cause confusion for longtime readers, but the clarification did not make it into the final published issue.

This confirmation firmly places Sonic Frontiers earlier in the IDW timeline than many fans had assumed and explains why the game’s major story developments have not yet been directly referenced in the current comic arc.

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