Sonic the Hedgehog has been the subject of many spin-offs in printed media, such as books, comics and manga.
Comic books[]
Several comic books have been released, each establishing a different storyline about Sonic.
- Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic (Mega Drive Fan, Japan) 1991
- Sonic the Hedgehog promotional comic (Various, US) 1991
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Shogakukan, Japan) 1992-1993
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics, US) 1993-2017
- Sonic the Comic (Fleetway Editions, UK) 1993- 2002
- Knuckles the Echidna (Archie Comics, US) 1997-1999
- Sonic X (Archie Comics, US) 2005-2008
- Dash & Spin Super Fast Sonic (Coro Coro Comics, Japan) 2005
- Sonic Universe (Archie Comics, US) 2009-2017
- Sonic Boom (Archie Comics, US) 2014-2015
- Sonic Comic (Sonic Channel, Japan) 2016
- Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Publishing, US) 2018-present
- The Jet Black Hedgehog: Shadow the Hedgehog (Coro Coro Comics, Japan) 2024
Novels[]
- Stay Sonic by Mike Pattenden (Fantail, UK) developed the "Kintobor origin", first introduced in the Sonic promotional comic, in much greater detail. This background was used as the basis of most subsequent UK Sonic stories, including Sonic the Comic.[1]
James Wallis, Carl Sargent and Marc Gascoigne (writing under the pseudonym Martin Adams) wrote four Sonic the Hedgehog novels based on his origin established in Stay Sonic. They were published in the UK by Virgin Books.
- Sonic the Hedgehog in Robotnik's Laboratory 1993 - Sonic tries to rescue his friends from the eponymous lab.
- Sonic the Hedgehog in the Fourth Dimension 1993 - Sonic and Tails try to prevent Robotnik from altering history, encountering the Organisers - human scientists who maintain the laws of Time and Space - and helping them against the mythos creatures, paramilitary mythological creatures who are trying to exist in reality. Sonic briefly altered history so Robotnik was never formed, but had to change it back to stop the mythos creatures altering the Big Bang.
- Sonic the Hedgehog and the Silicon Warriors 1993 - Robotnik imprisons Mobians inside a vast computer system, forcing Sonic and Tails to battle thinly-veiled versions of other computer game characters (Road Warriors II). It featured many puns and frequent breaching of the fourth wall, with Sonic directly talking to the reader on several occasions.
- Sonic the Hedgehog in Castle Robotnik 1994 - Robotnik creates a robotic duplicate of Sonic and situates himself in a classic horror movie villain castle, protected by likewise common horror movie creatures.
Michael Teitelbaum wrote a series of Sonic novels based on the backstory of the Sonic the Hedgehog television series (SatAM) and the Archie Comics continuity. They were published in the US by Troll Associates.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 1993
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Robotnik's Revenge 1994
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Fortress of Fear 1995
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Friend or Foe? 1995
- Sonic & Knuckles 1995
- Sonic X-Treme 1996
A series of Sonic X novels were published by Grosset & Dunlap.
- Meteor Shower Messenger, Paul Ruditis 2005
- Spaceship Blue Typhoon, Diana Gallagher 2005
- Aqua Planet, Charlotte Fullerton 2006
- Dr. Eggman Goes to War, Charlotte Fullerton 2006
- Battle at Ice Palace, Charlotte Fullerton 2006
- Desperately Seeking Sonic, Charlotte Fullerton 2007
Picture books[]
Ladybird published a series of picture books in the UK in 1994.
- Sonic the Story - a re-telling of the Kintobor origin, narrated by Tails
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Robotnik's Oil
- Sonic the Hedgehog: The Invisible Robotnik
In the US, the first Troll Associates book by Michael Teitenbaum was adapted into a picture book published by Watermill Press. The picture book was written by by Judy Nayer and illustrated by Ron Zalme.
Three books, written by John Michlig and illustrated by Art Mawhinney, were published by Golden Books Entertainment under their "Look Look Books" banner. Originally available through Scholastic book clubs, these books have sold a combined total of over half a million copies worldwide. While the two who worked on the books never met, Michlig later praised the way Mawhinney drew out his scripts.[2]
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Sonic's Shoes Blues
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Secret Admirer
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Up Against the Wall
Golden Books published another book under their "Big Golden Book" banner, this time written by Parker Smith and illustrated by Penry Creative.
Gamebooks[]
A series of six Sonic Adventure Gamebooks were published in the UK between 1993 and 1996 by Penguin Books under the Fantail label.
- Metal City Mayhem, James Wallis
- Zone Rangers, James Wallis
- Sonic v. Zonik, Nigel Gross and Jon Sutherland
- The Zone Zapper, Nigel Gross and Jon Sutherland
- Theme Park Panic, Marc Gascoigne and Jonathan Green
- Stormin' Sonic, Marc Gascoigne and Jonathan Green
Another series, also called the Sonic the Hedgehog Adventure Gamebooks but published by Ladybird, were released in the UK in 1994.
- Sonic the Hedgehog Adventure Gamebook 1
- Sonic the Hedgehog Adventure Gamebook 2
- Sonic the Hedgehog Adventure Gamebook 3
- Sonic the Hedgehog Adventure Gamebook 4
Other[]
Other books published by Ladybird include:
- Where's Sonic? - A puzzle book in the style of the Where's Wally? books, each page presented the reader with a different puzzle, each one inspired by a different level from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the Sega Mega Drive.
- Where's Sonic Now?
- Sonic the Hedgehog Puzzle Book 1
- Sonic the Hedgehog Puzzle Book 2
- Sonic the Hedgehog Colouring Poster Book
- Sonic the Hedgehog Joke Book
Other books published by Troll Associates include:
- Sonic Activity Book, Michael Teitelbaum (Troll Associates, US) 1995
- How to Draw Sonic the Hedgehog & the Gang, Michael Teitelbaum
Two yearbooks were published by Grandreams Limited. These featured one-shot comics normally involving Sonic foiling Dr Robotnik's plans (but included one Shinobi comic), Sega game reviews and other novelty Sonic and Sega-related features such as an "interview with Sonic".
Other books featuring Sonic include:
- Look and Find Sonic the Hedgehog - Another book similar to Where's Waldo; each page is a puzzle with hidden objects and characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog television seris (SatAM) storyline, but in locations from Sonic games on the Sega Mega Drive.
- Sonic the Hedgehog Paint 'n' Marker Book (Golden Books)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Book, (JP)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Play-a-Sound), Raymond MacKemp
- The History of Sonic the Hedgehog - History and art book
- Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Art Book - History and art book
- Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia - Encyclopedia and art book
References[]
- ↑ "Re: knuckles color in the first strip" - Post by Nigel Kitching to the Sonic the Comic Yahoo! Group.
- ↑ http://www.fullyarticulated.com/publishedwork.html