Clutch the Opossum: the godfather of the Sonic IDW comics

Clutch the Opossum is a crime boss and arms dealer created for IDW Publishing’s Sonic the Hedgehog comics, where he appears for the first time in issue 33, released on 14 October 2020. A fallen champion of the White Park Chao races and then the founder of Clean Sweep Inc., he exists in no Sega game.

Who is Clutch the Opossum?

Clutch the Opossum is an elderly male anthropomorphic opossum with light green and dark green fur, a pale peach muzzle, a pointed pink nose and white eyes ringed with black. His silhouette is instantly recognisable by his white tuxedo jacket, his black waistcoat, his diamond cufflinks, his white loafers and his white and yellow bucket hat, completed by a gold earring in his left ear and a long pale pink tail.

This character exists only in the IDW comics: created for IDW Publishing’s Sonic the Hedgehog series, he appears in no Sega game, nor at Archie, nor in the animated series, nor in Sonic Prime. His only appearances outside those comics are a photograph in the TailsTube #14 episode “Bonus Lap” (26 February 2026) and a cameo in the crossover DC X Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Legion #1, published by DC Comics on 6 May 2026.

His profile is nothing like that of a classic supervillain. Clutch is a former crime boss and arms dealer from an earlier generation, with no super speed, no supernatural power and not a single Chaos Emerald. His real weapons are money, connections, intelligence and an icy politeness: he almost always has others act in his place.

👗 White tuxedo jacket, black waistcoat, white loafers: Clutch takes care of his look right down to the cufflinks. On the night you're the one who has to dress to the nines, one of our Sonic dresses makes just the same impression, minus the diamonds.

Sonic the Hedgehog #33: the entrance

Clutch makes his first appearance in IDW Publishing’s Sonic the Hedgehog #33, in the story “Chao Races and Badnik Bases, Part 1”. The issue carries a cover date of September 2020, but it reached shops on 14 October 2020: the two dates are not to be confused, and his run does not stop at that year, since it extends at least to 2025.

The issue is written and drawn by Evan Stanley, who makes her writing debut on the main series there, with Reggie Graham on colors and Shawn Lee on lettering. The character’s model sheet is credited to Adam Bryce Thomas. His official Japanese name is クラッチ・ザ・オポッサム, and he has never been given a localised name in French, Spanish, German or Dutch.

The “Chao Races and Badnik Bases” arc covers issues 33 to 36 and advances two plots in parallel: the White Park Chao races on one side, the Badnik bases on the other. Clutch belongs to the first. From that simple editorial proximity it should not be concluded that he teams up with the antagonists of the second.

White Park, the Chao racing champion

Retired from business and fallen into obscurity, Clutch rebuilt a presentable reputation by becoming reigning champion of the White Park Chao Racing Circuit. He occupies a penthouse suite in the White Park Grand Chateau, where treasures, riches and technology pile up, while keeping a stubborn underworld reputation for discreet black-market deals.

In issue 33 he spots Cheese, sees through Rouge the Bat disguised under the identity of “Facet” and offers her any item from his collection if Cheese wins the race — on condition that she hand Cheese over to him in exchange. The setting, for its part, does not come from IDW’s imagination: White Park Zone is a location taken from the game Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II and reused by the comic, whereas Clutch remains a one hundred per cent original creation.

The façade collapses when his cage with several padlocks is discovered: Clutch is only good to his Chao when they win, and he locks up those that lose or disappoint him, even after a single failure. Amy, Cream, Rouge, Shadow, E-123 Omega and Gemerl stand up to him across issues 33 to 35.

Knocked out by Shadow, he then falls back on a reflex highly characteristic of his species: he feigns unconsciousness, to the point of fooling Gemerl’s sensors. He escapes, fires a warning shot at Amy with his cane, sets off his guard Badniks using his cufflinks and leaves the heroes behind. The affair costs him White Park and a large part of his possessions, which are confiscated.

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Clean Sweep Inc., the arms dealer’s front

Ruined, Clutch goes back to his real trade. Issue 48, “Hit the Pavement”, released on 23 February 2022, finds him in a warehouse on the Central City docks, where he has weapons and Badnik parts moved through the sewers thanks to the services of Rough & Tumble. Captured by Espio, he watches Vector sink his entire collection into the sea, then slips away by dropping smoke bombs he had pickpocketed from Espio — this is where he inherits the nickname “Gramps”.

He then founds Clean Sweep Inc. in issue 62, presented as a company that collects the Eggtech abandoned after the clashes between Sonic and Eggman. The shopfront is polished, but the business in fact serves as cover for his arms trafficking and, in his own words, opens up to him places that are off limits to others. His direct competition is the Restoration, which carries out exactly the same collection free of charge.

The manoeuvre continues in issue 66: he pays the Babylon Rogues to steal a relic on Angel Island, for the sole purpose of keeping Team Chaotix busy during their investigation. Jet, Wave and Storm are not his minions but subcontractors paid by the job. In that same issue, he seals with Jewel the Beetle the official partnership between Clean Sweep Inc. and the Restoration.

His pawns: recruiting rather than fighting

Clutch’s method comes down to a single rule: never face a hero head-on. He plants spies, pays henchmen, buys intelligence and saves his dirty tricks for desperate situations. His Gun Cane, a walking stick concealing an energy weapon, only comes out for surprise attacks and warning shots.

His most consequential recruitment is that of Mimic, in issue 62: he tasks the shape-shifting octopus with infiltrating the Restoration in order to sabotage it from within. Mimic hesitates until Clutch slips him one precise piece of information — Tangle and Whisper are part of the new vanguard, the Diamond Cutters. That argument is enough to convince him, and Mimic settles into the Restoration under the identity of “Duo the Cat”.

In issue 67, Clutch sends Rough, Tumble and his robots to raze Starline Base Sigma. The operation falls apart: Surge and Kit tear the squad to pieces, and it is only after that failure that the old opossum shows himself, reveals that Dr. Starline was among his clients — a retrospective mention, the scientist having died in issue 50 — and recruits them in exchange for everything he knows about them.

His personal talents remain those of an old hand of the underworld: a formidable pickpocket, a good shot, a renowned Chao trainer, able to feign unconsciousness at will. His weakness lies elsewhere: his age and his open contempt for the new generation make him lose his composure at the worst possible moment.

25 cm plush

Sonic Plush - Whisper The Wolf - 25cm

A 25 cm plush in the likeness of Whisper the Wolf, and not of Clutch: it is precisely the she-wolf’s membership of the Diamond Cutters that the old opossum traded on to convince Mimic to infiltrate the Restoration.

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Clean Sweepstakes: the fall, then servitude

The Clean Sweepstakes arc, which runs from issues 69 to 75, stages an Extreme Gear race co-organized by the Restoration and Clean Sweep Inc. All of the event’s security staff are employed by Clutch, an argument he throws back at Jewel in issue 73 when she strips him of his administrative rights and tries to have him escorted out.

Issue 74 tips everything over: Charmy brings back a USB stick that Nite the Owl plugs into the database, broadcasting Clutch’s crimes publicly in front of the event’s audience. Jewel immediately ends the partnership, and Clutch retaliates by sending the shuttle on a collision course with Central City.

Issue 75, released on 18 December 2024, closes the file. Sonic intercepts the shuttle, Clutch’s guards resign, Surge and Kit remind him that they have left his service, and a massive electric discharge from Surge knocks him out. In that same issue, it is he who blows his own spy’s cover by calling “Duo” by his real name over the radio in front of Lanolin, Tangle and Whisper, blowing the team apart. Eggman, at the controls of the Eggstreme Gear, then carries off his unconscious body, declaring that it is just business.

In issue 77, released on 19 March 2025, Sonic and the Chaotix find him again at the White Park Chateau, which he has signed over to Rough and Tumble, now his “bosses”. He claims to have escaped from Eggman; once alone, he takes off his hat and reveals a small Eggtech device fixed to his skull, then reports to the doctor, who now uses Clean Sweep Inc. to fund and expand the Eggman Empire. Clutch is neither dead nor imprisoned: he is ruined, enslaved and still active, and no appearance is documented beyond this issue.

🧢 In issue 77, Clutch's hat was hiding a small Eggtech device fixed to his skull. Under our Sonic caps, the only thing you're hiding is your hair.

Summary

Frequently asked questions

• In which comic does Clutch the Opossum appear for the first time?
  In IDW Publishing’s Sonic the Hedgehog #33, in the story “Chao Races and Badnik Bases, Part 1”, which reached shops on 14 October 2020 for a cover date of September 2020. The issue is written and drawn by Evan Stanley.
• Does Clutch appear in a Sonic game?
  No. He is a character created for the IDW comics, absent from every Sega game as well as from the animated series and from Sonic Prime. Outside the IDW comics, he is limited to a photograph in TailsTube #14 (26 February 2026) and a cameo in DC X Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Legion #1 (6 May 2026).
• What is his connection with Tangle, Whisper and the Diamond Cutters?
  An indirect but decisive one. He fights none of them in single combat: he tells Mimic that Tangle and Whisper are part of the team, which convinces the octopus to infiltrate the Restoration in issue 62, then he blows his own spy’s cover in issue 75 by calling him “Duo” over the radio in front of everyone.
• Should he be confused with Mimic or Dr. Starline?
  No, these are three distinct villains. Mimic is a shape-shifting octopus employed by Clutch from issue 62 onwards and killed in issue 79. Starline is a platypus scientist, who died in issue 50 and is simply presented in issue 67 as a former client of Clutch.
• Does Clutch die at the end of his run?
  No, he is neither dead nor imprisoned. Publicly exposed in issue 74, beaten and captured by Eggman in issue 75, he reappears in issue 77 ruined, an Eggtech device fixed to his skull under his hat, running Clean Sweep Inc. for the benefit of the Eggman Empire. No appearance is documented after this issue.