Unlike past comic iterations of the series, the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog comics are considered canon to the mainline Sonic games according to writers Ian Flynn and Chris Hernandez, and take place after the events of Sonic Forces. On top of this, original characters in the IDW comics, including Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf, have been mentioned or made guest appearances in multiple games after the turn of the 2020s. While the comics do largely stay in line with the game series' timeline, the events of Team Sonic Racing and Sonic Frontiers serve as notable exceptions. Flynn originally claimed that the events of Team Sonic Racing took place at some point after Issue #32 and before Issue #43, but Sega has since released an official timeline placing Team Sonic Racing between the events of Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces. Meanwhile, it was believed that issue #84 would be the first comic set after the events of Sonic Frontiers, as it marked the first appearance of Sage in the comics. However, writer Evan Stanley would later reveal that the game takes place sometime before the events of issue #68, with efforts to clarify the change being removed while reviewing issue #84's script.