Outside of the games and the recent movie, one of the most popular sources of Sonic the Hedgehog content has long been the various comic books starring Sega’s spiky mascot, and the current publisher of Sonic’s printed adventures, IDW Publishing, has announced that the series will be shaking things up.

Since it launched in 2018, writing duties for the comic have been handled by Ian Flynn, a longtime writer on previous Sonic comics. But today IDW confirmed that series illustrator Evan Stanley will be taking over writing the main title from Flynn with issue #33. Stanley will follow up the current story arc, an eerily timely story about Sonic and friends trying to stop Dr. Eggman from spreading a virus across the globe, with what IDW calls “an action-packed, friendship fueled new arc.”

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Fans of Flynn won’t have to worry, though, as he will be teaming with artist Jack Lawrence to produce a four-issue miniseries called Sonic the Hedgehog: Bad Guys. Like the name suggests, this will focus on the comic’s villains, and specifically on comic-original bad guy Dr. Starline in the aftermath of the main title’s current arc.

sonic the hedgehog idw comic 33
sonic the hedgehog bad guys idw comic

The biggest question now is when these new Sonic the Hedgehog comics will be released. With the coronavirus situation being what it is, multiple publishers have had to halt their release schedules throughout the spring and summer. This includes IDW and its Sonic comics, so it’s likely a release window won’t be set until the pandemic starts blowing over.

Sonic the Hedgehog is available in comic book retailers and online.

MORE: 10 Amazing Pieces Of Sonic Fan Art That Speed Up Our Hearts

Source: ComicBook