The Sonic series loves its tie-in media. There have been various tchotchkes featuring the blue hedgehog since his mega debut on the Genesis in 1991. The most famous have been the Archie Comics. They lasted from 1992 all the way up to 2017, going from a light-hearted, funny tale about Sonic and friends fighting Dr Robotnik, to a source of considerable embarrassment with its convoluted storylines and echidna OCs.
It did get its groove back to some degree in its later years. However, there was an alternative series produced across the pond in the UK. Published by Fleetway, the company behind 2000AD and Judge Dredd, Sonic the Comic started in 1993 and ended in 2002. Yet its brief time in the sun has remained memorable to new and old fans alike. Here are eight reasons why.
8 Britishisms
Europe never really got Archie Comics and their varied series. Not directly anyway. Thus, Sonic the Comic filled that gap. It worked from the ‘Sonic Bible’ a creative handbook that the Archie comics and cartoon series used. As such, it shares a few characters, backstories and the premise. I.e. It’s still about Sonic and friends fighting off Dr Robotnik.
He just has different friends, a different version of Planet Mobius, and everyone sounds more British. Sometimes it comes in the slang, like Sonic saying he has to ‘leg it’ instead of ‘run away’. Other times, it’s in the UK-only pop culture references. Like Dr Robotnik saying he’d rather ‘watch Eldorado’ (a failed Anglo-Spanish soap opera) than deal with Sonic and Tails, or a dog scolding Sonic by quoting a Harry Enfield & Chums’ sketch.
7 Sega All-Stars
Admittedly, the series doesn’t make the strongest first impression. Story-wise, it’s Sonic taunting Robotnik before foiling his plans one way or another. That was fine enough. Except the artwork was rough and obviously traced in places. It wouldn't get better for another couple of issues once Richard Elson and Nigel Dobbyn got involved. Luckily, the comic had strips for other Sega franchises, which surprisingly had better drawings than their main lead.
Shinobi, Streets of Rage, and Decap Attack among others got some nice strips across the comic’s run. Sega was less strict with them than their main series, so the Fleetway crew could use more mature themes, art styles, and racy jokes. Especially Decap Attack with its horror gags about monsters and dismemberment.
6 Mark Millar’s Lesser-Known Work
Everyone has to start somewhere. Before he made his name with Superman: Red Son and Wolverine: Old Man Logan, Mark Millar did work for various UK publishers. For Fleetway, he wrote for Judge Dredd, Crisis, and Sonic the Comic. He would write many of the first Sonic strips, and the first story for the Streets of Rage series.
He admitted his Sonic work was for the money than artistic merit. Yet it’s funny to imagine the man behind Wanted and Kick-Ass was making chili dog and Eldorado gags for Sonic. The really keen comic buffs could even point out his work by the tone of his dialogue. It’s not his only Sonic connection either. His first big series, Saviour, featured art from Sonic the Comic head writer Nigel Kitching.
5 Nintendopes
While Nintendo was the top dog in the US and Japan way back when they were actually lagging behind Sega in Europe. For a while anyway. People actually played the Master System there, and while the SNES did sell like hot cakes, the Mega Drive (Genesis) had more momentum. So, if Sega didn't need to punch up to get ahead in Europe, maybe their adverts were less aggressive towards the big N there.
Ha, nope! Once Sonic the Comic covered Sonic 3 & Knuckles, they would introduce its Carnival Night Zone as a theme park built by Dr Robotnik's forces. It was run and maintained by three comedy villains called the Marxio Brothers: Grouchio, Chicio, and Harpio. Not the Mario Bros. They were plumbers, and the Marxios were electricians. It's just a coincidence that the Marxios would also have video games in the comics. Boring ones that Sonic didn't enjoy playing.
4 Unique Characters
The Marxio Brothers aside, Sonic the Comic did feature less pointed new characters. Some were taken from the ‘Sonic Bible’, like the rabbit Johnny Lightfoot, and the wimpy pig Porker Lewis. It directly adapts the Sonic Bible's Robotnik backstory, with the rotund scientist originally being a good guy called Dr Ovi Kintobor. Sally Acorn even showed up briefly before being left solely to the Archie series.
Then the writing team got to make their own characters. There was the Omni-Viewer, an intimidating Zordon-esque that was responsible for all the games' Special Stages. Shortfuse the Cybernik was essentially a furry version of Iron Man; a converted badnik that kept his old memory. When he wasn’t helping Sonic out, he’d be with Tekno the Canary, a technological know-it-all who’d try to help his condition.
3 Intimidating Villains
Dr Robotnik started off making Wile E. Coyote-like schemes that Sonic would stop like a more quippy Road Runner. Eventually, he became more like his Sonic SatAM version, sending hordes of robots to take over Mobius. For every place Sonic and friends would liberate, there'd be another under Robotnik's thrall, filled with badniks, chemical plants, and other such pollutants
He wasn't the only villain around either. Metal Sonic became Metallix, the leader of a Borg-like race of robot duplicates. Super Sonic wasn’t a Super Saiyan-esque power up, but an evil alternate persona caused by Sonic’s exposure to the Chaos Emeralds. Dr Zachary was an evil echidna that tried to destroy Mobius and required the revival of another villain to stop. The only bad guy-related levity came from Captain Plunder, a pirate who ended up getting his own strip after his debut.
2 The Cast Mature Over Time
Just as the villains got more threatening, the lead characters got more complex. Well, as complex as a children’s adventure comic could get. Fleetway Sonic, despite being notorious online for being a jerk to his friends, would grow to trust and rely on them more. Likewise, they’d develop in turn, with Tails getting his own adventures in a Zelda-like fantasy land.
Amy Rose’s development was particularly notable, as she learned to stand up for herself and fight alongside Sonic (with a crossbow!). Compared to her co-dependent and occasionally worrying behavior in the games, Fleetway Amy was a breath of fresh air. Some villains try to go straight, like the Marxios. While some good guys made bad decisions and worked alongside villains. So, when readers see Sonic ripping into the likes of Porker Lewis, chances are he has his reasons.
1 Serious Storytelling
Sonic the Comic started off being all fun and games. Then the writers started branching out with their characters and seeing what they could do with them. They never got as deep as Watchmen or IDW’s Transformers. However, their turns and twists tended to feel more natural and dramatic compared to Archie's Sonic comics. For example, in Sonic Adventure, Dr Robotnik unleashes the dreaded water monster god Chaos in a bid to destroy the city, so he could build ‘Robotnikland’.
In Sonic the Comic’s last original storyline, Dr Robotnik unleashes Chaos because he’s finally cracked. Years of Sonic foiling scheme after scheme have driven him to the edge, and now he’ll let Chaos destroy everything just so he can get one win over the hedgehog. Sonic and co are left on their own to take it down, and they do, but not without losing friends along the way. The comic would reprint its old stories until its cancellation, which is a shame. It makes one wonder what Kitching and his team could’ve done with Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, or even Sonic ’06.