Ian Flynn

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Ian Flynn, also known by his Internet brand, the BumbleKing, is an American comic writer. He is currently the head writer for the IDW Publishing Sonic the Hedgehog comic series.^[1][2]

Flynn was previously the chief writer for the Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its various spin-offs. His tenure began in 2006 with Sonic the Hedgehog #160, and lasted until the comics' cancellation in 2017. He has also written a couple of episodes for the second season of Sonic Boom, and a number of stories for the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series and its spin-offs.

History

Flynn obtained the writing position on Archie Comics by sending in unsolicited proposals, after a long participation in unofficial creation of comics about Sonic. He is notable for being a rare case of making a transition from active amateur to pro.^[3][4]

He has not only been active with the fan community since his hiring at Archie Comics, but even prior to that with the now defunct site TSIC (The Sonic Info Center). He gained initial recognition for a fan comic known as Other M. His stories contain heavy usage of prior continuity and returning characters. One of his focuses seems to be guiding the comic to better fit in with Sega's games while still retaining the best elements of the comic's original material.

Bibliography

Ian Flynn was the head writer for two of Archie's comics: Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe. He was also the main writer for Sonic Boom and every issue of Archie's Mega Man comic series, the latter of which had two crossovers with Archie's Sonic titles.^[5][6] He also writes for Dark Circle Comics' New Crusaders and is currently writing for Cosmo, the revival of Archie's Cosmo the Merry Martian character.^[7][8] He has also contributed to the comics within Archie's mainline comic series, including co-writing the final two issues of the third Jughead series.

Before IDW Publishing acquired the Sonic license, Ian had also provided writing duties for the publisher's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic series.

Credits

Writing

Archie Comics

• Sonic Boom:
  • #1-#4
  • #6-#10
• Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • #160-#161 ("Birthday Bash!")
  • #162-#165
  • #166 ("The Chaotix Connection"; dialogue)
  • #166-#167 (Mobius 25 Years Later)
  • #168-#169
  • #170 ("Comings & Goings")
  • #171-#184
  • #185 ("Mogul Rising Part One: Needful Things")
  • #186-#231
  • #232 ("Dark Tidings")
  • #233-#263
  • #264-#265 (Control)
  • #266-#293
• Sonic the Hedgehog Free Comic Book Day:
  • 2007
  • 2009-2016
• Sonic X:
  • #16-#20
  • #22-#23
  • #25-#27
  • #30-#32
  • #34-#35
  • #37-#40
• Sonic Universe:
  • #1-#32
  • #37-#54
  • #59-#70
  • #71-#74 ("Spark of Life"; plot)
  • #96

IDW Publishing

• Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • #1-#4 ("Fallout")
  • #5-#6 ("The Fate of Dr. Eggman")
  • #7 ("Meet the New Boss")
  • #8 ("Silent Support")
  • #9-#11 ("The Battle for Angel Island")
  • #12 ("The Cost of the Battle for Angel Island")
  • #13 ("Calling Card")
  • #14 ("Misdirection")
  • #15 ("Patient Zero")
  • #16 ("Infection")
  • #17 ("Plague")
  • #18 ("Victims")
  • #19-#20 ("Crisis City")
  • #21 ("The Last Minute Part One")
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Annual 2019 ("Bonds of Friendship")
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle & Whisper:
  • #0 ("Tangle & Whisper Exclusive Preview!")
  • #1 (story one)
  • #2 ("Ambush")
  • #3 ("Betrayal")
  • #4

Miscellaneous

• Sonic Boom (TV series):
  • "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Worse-er"^[9]
  • "Og Man Out"
• Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (prologue comic)
• Sonic the Hedgehog series:
  • Sonic and the Secret Rings ("Sand, Spirit and Sonic Speed")
  • Sonic Forces digital comic
    • Sonic Forces: Moment of Truth ("Moment of Truth")
    • Sonic Forces: Stress Test ("Stress Test")
    • Sonic Forces: Looming Shadow ("Looming Shadow")
    • Sonic Forces: Rise of Infinite ("Rise of Infinite")

Trivia

• On Lost Hedgehog Tales, Ian Flynn revealed a number of concepts he had planned to implent into the Archie comic series, before the effects of the lawsuit from Ken Penders became apparent, As a result, Ian Flynn was forced to abandon his original long-term plans for the series, plans that reportedly stretched as far as the Sonic the Hedgehog comic's 300th issue. it was known that certain planned stories had to be shifted to accommodate the inclusion of the Worlds Collide crossover storyline^[10]:
  • The original storyline would have lasted fifty issues, from Sonic the Hedgehog #225 to Sonic the Hedgehog #275. The intent was to have the Freedom Fighters suffer a devastating loss that they could not easily bounce back from.
  • Originally, Sonic the Hedgehog #225 was planned to conclude with Sally's roboticization, before it was decided to create the "Genesis" saga in celebration of Sonic's 20th anniversary.
  • Flynn had, in fact, considered the possibility of Antoine D'Coolette dying after his sacrifice. After the overwhelming fan response to Sally's supposed death at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog #225, as well as the reaction to Ant's actual sacrifice, it was unanimously decided to have him survive.
  • An earlier draft of the "Loyalty" story arc (Sonic the Hedgehog #237-#238), had Team Fighters encountering the previously presumed-to-be-dead Hershey St. John, whom had since gone undercover as a Dark Egg Legionairre. Hershey would have revealed that she never got the chance to let Geoffrey know that she was alive, but when told of his betrayal, she would have ended her duplicity and returned to New Mobotropolis.
  • These changes came about primarily due to Sega's request that the "Olympic Trials" story in Sonic the Hedgehog #242 be created:
    • The "Heroes" story arc (Sonic the Hedgehog #239-#240) was originally planned to be a three-parter: the first two parts would have focused on Team's Fighters and Freedom in their respective battles as normal. The third part, however (intended for Sonic the Hedgehog #241) would have revolved around the newly-founded Secret Freedom Fighters and how they secretly helped to turn the tide for Team Freedom in their previous battle. In the end, the moments with the Secret Freedom Fighters were merely reworked and included in part two itself.
    • Sonic the Hedgehog #241's "Unravelling" was first planned as a series of backup stories. Additionally, the story originally ended with Naugus merely tricking Geoffrey St. John. When it was decided that that was not a satisfying enough ending, the idea of Naugus possessing Geoffrey was made.
    • Team Fighters battle against the Krudzu was initially intended as a story all to itself, sharing space with the "Olympic Trials" story in Sonic the Hedgehog #241. When the latter ended up being longer than originally intended, however, the battle was reworked and shown in "Unravelling" instead.
• Flynn and Tracy Yardley joined Archie Comics at the same time, that being Sonic the Hedgehog #160.
• In an interview in Sonic Super Special Magazine #1, Flynn stated that his influences as a writer are "Shakespeare, Stephen Crane, Kurt Vonnegut, E. E. Cummings, Chris Claremont, Robert Kirkman, Brian M. Bendis, Mark Miller, Dr. Seuss, Jeff Smith, Don Rosa and so many more."
• Flynn is married to Aleah Baker.
• According to an interview with Sonic Fan Games HQ, his favorite Dr. Eggman quote stems from his dialog with Lien-Da in Sonic the Hedgehog #220.^[11]

References

External links

• Ian Flynn at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

• Ian Flynn on Twitter
• Bumbleking Comics Forum Ian Flynn's personal message board