Sonic the Hedgehog (promotional comic)

Sonic the Hedgehog is a 14-page promotional comic produced by Sega of America to publicize the release of the original Sonic the Hedgehog video game in 1991. It features most of the characters, Zones, badniks from that game. It was written and drawn by Francis Mao.

The promotional comic was the first Sonic comic released anywhere in the world, and derived much of its backstory from the internal Sonic bible, particularly regarding the Kintobor origin of Doctor Robotnik.

The comic was published in the autumn of 1991 as a standalone comic under the name Sonic the Hedgehog Number 1, and sold for $1.50 in the US and $1.95 in Canada. Pages were also included in various magazines, including Disney Adventures, issue 8 of Sega Visions (May/June 1992), the October 1991 issue of Electronic Monthly, Superman #62, and others.

Synopsis
The story begins in the Green Hill Zone with Sonic the Hedgehog being chased by Doctor Ivo Robotnik (in his wrecking ball Egg-O-Matic) and a horde of badniks. Sonic evades Robotnik (whose Egg-O-Matic crashes) and then destroys the badniks, releasing his animal friends (Sally Acorn, Johnny Lightfoot and Chirps) who were trapped inside. His friends say that they should get Doctor Ovi Kintobor's help to fight Robotnik, but Sonic reveals that they can't, because Kintobor is Robotnik.

Sonic then explains how he was once a brown hedgehog who discovered Kintobor's secret lab. Kintobor sought to rid planet Mobius of evil by storing it in six Chaos Emeralds by means of a machine called the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor (ROCC). Sonic and Kintobor become friends. Kintobor allows Sonic to train on his experimental supersonic treadmill, but it explodes when he runs faster than the speed of sound. The explosion fuses Sonic's spines and turns him blue, which Kintobor refers to as the "cobalt effect". The explosion also shreds his tattered sneakers, so Kintobor gives him a pair of red-and-white frictionless shoes to wear instead.

One lunchtime, Kintobor asks Sonic to fetch him a soda and a boiled egg - which Sonic does, even before Kintobor has finished asking the question. Sonic asks what Kintobor is doing, leading Kintobor to explain that he is forced to stabilise the Emeralds within the ROCC (until he can find a Grey Emerald that neutralises evil). However, he becomes distracted and spills his soda on the ROCC's controls. The ROCC explodes, scattering its containment rings everywhere and zapping Kintobor with "over 10,000 volts of pure evil energy", transforming him into Doctor Robotnik. As Sonic concludes the story, he explains he has been collecting the lost rings so as to put the ROCC back together. He then rushes off to face Robotnik.

Some time later, Sonic comes face to face with Robotnik, but is surrounded by Newtrons and Buzz Bombers. He rushes off towards a distant mountain, knowing that there's a giant loop on the other side of a mountain. However, deciding there is no time to go around it, Sonic uses his Spin Attack to tunnel straight through the base of the mountain and out the other side, where he runs around the loop. He then spots a Warp Ring and leaps through it, and is sent to the Warp of Confusion (Special Stage). The Warp of Confusion is a bizarre place full of rings, but there is no concept of "up" or "down" and Sonic feels like he will be sick until he manages to find a Chaos Emerald, which warps him back to Mobius.

However, Sonic reappears in the Labyrinth Zone, and is plunged under water. He cannot surface for fear of flamethrowers above, and underwater he is chased by Jaws badniks. Fortunately, a current pulls him into a tunnel opening and deposits him outside the Labyrinth. When he gets to the shore, two more friends (Tux and Joe Sushi) say that Robotnik has been dumping toxic sewage into the lake. Sonic once again spots Robotnik and races after him. (Robotnik intends to lure Sonic into a trap to recover the Chaos Emerald.)

Sonic chases Robotnik through the Starlight Zone (which is identified as an amusement park), avoiding the traps, and then bounces on a spring that sends him into Robotnik's secret lab. He finds that Porker Lewis has been trapped to a conveyor belt and is about to be sawed in half, but before Sonic can save him Robotnik jumps on him from above, making him drop the Chaos Emerald. Sonic is forced to choose between saving Porker or recovering the Emerald, and Sonic chooses to save Porker. Robotnik steals the Emerald and escapes in his Egg-O-Matic. He destroys Robotnik's badnik transforming machine, releasing Sally Acorn, Johnny Lightfoot, Tux and Flicky, who had been trapped inside. Sonic tells his friends to stay out of Robotnik's way, because he's going to deal with the evil doctor once and for all.

The comic ends by telling readers to continue the adventure by playing Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis.

Appearances

 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Doctor Ivo Robotnik
 * Doctor Ovi Kintobor
 * Animal friends:
 * Chirps
 * Flicky
 * Joe Sushi
 * Johnny Lightfoot
 * Porker Lewis
 * Sally Acorn
 * Tux
 * Badniks:
 * Bat Brain
 * Buzz Bombers
 * Caterkiller
 * Crabmeat
 * Jaws
 * Motobug
 * Newtrons
 * Orbinauts

Trivia

 * Kintobor refers to Sonic as an Erinaceus Europaeus, which a footnote claims is Latin for hedgehog. Specifically, this is the Latin taxonomical name for the European Hedgehog species.
 * Kintobor mentions to "Eggstein's theory of mass versus velocity". This is a reference to Albert Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity (commonly simplified to E=mc2). In this comic, Kintobor was loosely modelled on Einstein.
 * The "cobalt effect" mentioned by Kintobor is a reference to the metal cobalt. Compounds of cobalt are used to provide a deep blue colour to glass, ceramics, inks, paints and varnishes.
 * In this comic, Sonic is shown as being able to swim when he is dropped in the Labyrinth Zone.
 * The Star Light Zone is incorrectly spelled as the "Starlight Zone".
 * The comic seems to cover most of the events of the game, but claims that "the adventure continues" in the Sonic the Hedgehog game.