Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie comic)

The cover of Sonic the Hedgehog #1, published by Archie Comics

Sonic the Hedgehog is an ongoing series of American comic books published by Archie Comics, featuring Sega's mascot video game character Sonic. Spin-off publications from the comic include a series starring Knuckles the Echidna which ran for 32 issues; fifteen 48-page "Super Specials"; a number of single special issues; and several short three-issue miniseries, each starring a character from the series. On September 21, 2005, Archie started a new series based on the TV show Sonic X. Except for the Sonic X series, all of Archie's Sonic-related series, miniseries and specials take place in the same fictional universe. This universe features a mixture of characters, settings and situations from the SatAM cartoon, the Sonic video games by Sega, and various other incarnations of Sonic. It also includes many elements unique to the comic universe. The comic is not to be confused with Sonic the Comic, which ran in the UK and published more issues despite running for a shorter time (due to the fact that U.K. comics are made on a more frequent schedule than U.S. comics).

Stories, Settings, and Characters

The comic's main focus is the adventure stories of the title character, the world-famous hero Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic loves adventure and chili dogs and he is always willing to fight to protect the people he cares about from any threat. Sonic is in some ways different from his game counterpart - in the comics, he is displayed as having a rather strong sense of humour, as well as important familial ties with his family and friends; characteristics absent from most other incarnations. He is also portrayed as having a deeper sense of duty - in the games Sonic treats his ongoing conflict with Eggman as just an opportunity to have a fun time, whereas in the comic series he understands it as a responsibility to protect his world from a terrible menace. Sonic's age is left intentionally ambiguous due to relativity resulting from his recent space travel. It is likely that Sonic's actual biological age is somewhere between sixteen and eighteen, whereas in the games his is nearly always referred to as fifteen. The comic occasionally implies that "Sonic" is just a nickname. According to former writer Ken Penders, Sonic's true first name in the Archie Comics continuity is Olgilive.^[1] However, this was never mentioned in any story and is not considered canon. Current writer Ian Flynn has stated that he won't be revisiting the topic and is content with simply calling the hero "Sonic." In any case, his middle name has been stated as Maurice and his actual last name is Hedgehog.

The cover of Sonic the Hedgehog #113, published by Archie Comics

In the comics, Sonic lives on Planet Mobius in Knothole City. Over time, the political status quo of Mobius has changed, which has caused Sonic's goals and adventures to likewise change. Originally, Sonic belonged to a band of Freedom Fighters who fought the evil dictator Dr. Robotnik, who had usurped the throne a decade earlier and enslaved most of the planet. However, in the comic's fiftieth issue, Robotnik was defeated and killed. After this, the comic dealt with the aftermath of Robotnik's regime. Sonic and friends reestablished their lost kingdom and dealt with various underlings to Robotnik, as well as unrelated villains such as Ixis Naugus and Mammoth Mogul. In the comic's seventy-fifth issue, an alternate universe version of Robotnik known as Robo-Robotnik came to Mobius Prime (the Mobius of the comics) and took over the original Robotnik's position. Over time, Robo-Robotnik has come to be known as just Robotnik or Eggman. The current status quo of the comic deals with a full-scale war between the Eggman Empire, ruled by Robotnik, and Knothole Kingdom (formerly known as the Kingdom of Acorn), currently ruled by King Elias Acorn.

The Sonic comic is known for its very large cast of characters. Major characters from the games include Miles "Tails" Prower, who has been given the title of "Chosen One," Shadow the Hedgehog, who seeks the truth about his past, Knuckles the Echidna, who guards the Master Emerald, and Amy Rose, who like her video game counterpart, deals with an unrequited crush on Sonic. The comic also includes characters from the SatAM cartoon, such as love interest Sally Acorn, Sonic's Uncle Chuck, and the freedom fighters Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine D'Coolette, and Rotor Walrus. The comic also has its own original characters, such as Mina Mongoose, Elias Acorn, Tommy Turtle and Fiona Fox, characters whose inclusion often cause controversy among fans.

The comic has also had its fair share of villains over the years, ranging from characters from the video games such as Dr. Eggman, Chaos, and Metal Sonic; characters from the SatAM cartoons such as Snively Kintobor and Ixis Naugus, and original villains like Mammoth Mogul and the Dark Legion. Most recently, A.D.A.M. - a sentient computer virus, allegedly unwittingly created by Dr. Eggman - was revealed to be Anonymous, a mysterious villain who had been plaguing both the Freedom Fighters and Eggman for months. A.D.A.M.'s motivations, intentions, and true origins all remain a mystery, but he has sworn to destroy both Sonic and Eggman.

The Archie Sonic comic typically runs original storylines based around characters from various Sonic media, but it has also made a number of adaptations. For instance, it has adapted a couple epsiodes of SatAM, as well as complete or partial adaptations of the following video games:
Sonic Spinball (#6)
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (#13)
Sonic & Knuckles (Sonic & Knuckles Special)
Sonic CD (#25)
Sonic Triple Trouble (Sonic Triple Trouble Special)
Knuckles' Chaotix (Knuckles' Chaotix Special)
Sonic 3D Blast, (Sonic Blast Special)
Sonic Adventure (Super Special #13)
Sonic Shuffle (#92)
Sonic Adventure 2 (#98)
Sonic Rush (#160 & #161)
Sonic Riders (#163 & #164)

The comic details not only Sonic's present, but also his past and future. Great attention has been given to his back story, including the lives of his relatives and friends during Robotnik's regime and the Great War that preceded it. Also, the comic ran a series of stories called "Mobius: 25 Years Later", showing Sonic's possible future as King of Mobius. In these stories, we learn that King Sonic has become a recluse and has severed ties with most of his former friends, except for his continuitng, strained relationship with Knuckles. The story will soon be continued with a story detailing the events after King Sonic's time travel causes another possible future in which Shadow is king.

The comic's mythology surrounding the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald is quite different from what is seen in the games. According to the comic, the Chaos Emeralds are the result of alien radiation reacting with beryl deposits thousands of years ago. While in the games there are only seven of these emeralds, there are hundreds in the comic continuity, with seven "Super Emeralds." In addition, the Master Emerald was created by Tails, who used the chaos syphon on several emeralds to unify them. In the games, however, the Master Emerald is thousands of years older than Tails.

Specials, Miniseries, and Knuckles Series

In addition to the main Sonic series, Archie published various special issues. Longer than typical issues of the comic, these specials feature stories involving Sonic and other related characters. Several miniseries have also been published, featuring characters such as Sally, Tails and Knuckles.

Because of the popularity of the specials and Miniseries featuring Knuckles, in 1997 Knuckles the Echidna became an ongoing series. Knuckles's stories featured its own cast of Characters, including the Chaotix and Knuckles's romantic interest, Julie-Su. Like the Sonic comic, Knuckles's comic is filled with background information about Knuckles's family history. Knuckles's family has split into two factions: the Brotherhood of Guardians and the Dark Legion. Knuckles is a member of the former, and Julie-Su used to be a member of the latter. Much of the conflict of the comic surrounds the relations between these two warring factions.

In 1999, the series was cancelled, but the stories were continued in the pages of Sonic the Hedgehog. After Knuckles's cancellation and until issue 125, a typical issue of Sonic included a Sonic story and a Knuckles story, sometimes even including a third story. This led to each story getting considerably less space than it previously had. Recently, Knuckles's appearances have been infrequent but his story continues within Sonic's stories.

The creators also have a comic strip like a newspaper comic at the end of some issues called Off-Panel. Off-Panel was in every issue for a long time and continues infrequently in the comic series. These strips parody the comic characters as they walk around the office of their comic book creators and interact in various humorous ways.

Movie Aspirations

In the early 2000's, wind was caught of lead writer Ken Penders' attempt to get an animated feature film centered around Knuckles the Echidna into development, the key studio of choice being Dreamworks SKG. His proposals were rejected not out of disinterest (according to Mr. Penders), but due to severe legal complications regarding the copyrights to any Sonic characters developed in connection to the license by any party, which are said to essentially render the story thus far created through the intertwining roles of Japanese and American-conceived characters and concepts entirely limited to the media in which they first appeared--in this case, the Archie comic book series. (It is believed that this same snaggle is the reason for Sonic's suspiciously unnamed home planet featured in Sonic X.) To this day, it is supposed that, due to these complications, Sonic and his friends will never grace the big screen in any form not sanctioned by Sega of Japan in whatever form they choose, and the odds that elements originating from the pages of Archie, including such central elements as the Dark Legion in this case, are extremely slim due to the same set of circumstances.

In a self-published article, Mr. Penders mentioned that the film proposed would have been an animated feature, though whether the animation would have been traditional or computer-generated is unknown. In recent years, a small number of fans have expressed enthusiasm over the supposition that a Sonic movie (epecially one based mostly on the Archie comic) should be presented, if financially viable, in live-action using advanced motion-capture techniques as a means of preserving (or furthering) the darker tone of the American canon.

Current Progression

Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog continuity is currently comprised of the following comics:
* Sonic the Hedgehog #1-#165 (ongoing) (Published monthly from July 1993 to December 2000, published thirteen times a year thereafter)
* Knuckles the Echidna #1-32 (Published monthly from April 1997 to February 2000)
* Sonic the Hedgehog Miniseries #0-3 (Published monthly from February to May 1993)
* Princess Sally Acorn Miniseries #1-3 (Published monthly from April to June 1995)
* Tails Miniseries #1-3 (Published monthly from December 1995 to February 1996)
* Knuckles Miniseries #1-3 (Published monthly from July to September 1996)
* SonicQuest: The Death Egg Saga Miniseries #1-3 (Published monthly from December 1996 to February 1997)
* Sonic Specials (Eight individual issues, published quarterly from 1995 to 1997)
** Sonic: In Your Face! (Winter 1995)
** Sonic & Knuckles (Summer 1995)
** Sonic Triple Trouble (Fall 1995)
** Knuckles' Chaotix (Winter 1996)
** Super Sonic vs. Hyper Knuckles (Spring 1996)
** Mecha Madness (Fall 1996)
** Sonic Live! (Winter 1997)
** Sonic Blast (Spring 1997)
* Super Sonic Specials #1-15 (Published quarterly from 1997 to 2001)
** #1: Battle Royal (Summer 1997)
** #2: Brave New World (Fall 1997)
** #3: Sonic Firsts (Winter 1998)
** #4: Return of the King (Spring 1998)
** #5: Sonic Kids (Summer 1998)
** #6: Sonic #50: Director's Cut (Fall 1998)
** #7: Sonic/Image Crossover (Winter 1999)
** #8: Sally Moon (Spring 1999)
** #9: Sonic Kids 2 (Summer 1999)
** #10: Crossover Chaos (Fall 1999)
** #11: Girls Rule! (Winter 2000)
** #12: Turnabout Heroes (Spring 2000)
** #13: Sonic Adventure (Summer 2000)
** #14: Sonic Stew (Fall 2000)
** #15: Naugus Games (Winter 2001)

Trade Paperbacks have also been released, typically collecting older, hard-to-find issues and compiling them in a single volume. These include:
* Sonic Firsts (1998) (Includes the first appearances of Sonic the Hedgehog, Bunnie Rabbot, Super Sonic, and Knuckles the Echidna, taking stories from issue #0 of the original Sonic Miniseries, and issues #3, #4, and #13 of the regular series.)
*Sonic: The Beginning (2003) (A reprint of the original Sonic Miniseries, with a foreword by their author Michael Gallagher)
*Sonic Archives #1 (November 2006) (A reprint of issues #1-4 of the regular series)
*Sonic Archives #2 (December 2006) (A reprint of issues #5-8 of the regular series)

Sonic has also appeared in issue #28 of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, a two-part crossover which concluded in Sonic Super Special #10: Crossover Chaos.

Archie also publishes a comic called Sonic X, based on the Sonic X cartoon series:
* Sonic X #1-11 (ongoing) (Published ten times a year from November 2005 onwards)