Sonic the Hedgehog may be best known as a video game icon, but the long-running Sonic comic book series published by Archie Comics has played no small part in the fast blue hero’s expansive history. Running for 290 issues – significantly more if you include spin-off series – the series was an entirely different take on Sonic than video game fans were used to. It started in 1993 as just a silly cartoon comic, but quickly blossomed into a more serious, cohesive story with focus on character development and world building. In the massive world of Mobius, where the series took place, characters familiar to fans of the games like Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow were alive and well, but fresh new faces like the tough chipmunk princess Sally Acorn and Sonic’s evil counterpart from another dimension Scourge the Hedgehog, often got the spotlight as well. Some nine years after the series came to a sadly underwhelming close, which is speculated to be a result of former series writer Ken Penders’ controversial lawsuits, most of the characters and ideas from the comics still have yet to see new life elsewhere. However, given just how important the series is in Sonic’s history, the current tone of the games, and just how interesting its cast of characters are, it’s time for Sega to finally acknowledge Archie’s beloved comic book series.
Like was stated before, Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog comics have had a major impact on the Sonic franchise as a whole. The series ran for 24 years – most of Sonic’s entire history – and broke the 2008 Guinness World Record for the longest running video game-inspired comic book series ever produced. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. This series was the first time Sonic really took storytelling seriously, as the series cared about developing its characters and world over many years. Subsequent Sonic media such as the Sonic Adventure games and even Paramount’s blockbuster Sonic the Hedgehog movie series have become more known for their narrative strength, but they wouldn’t be the same if Archie’s comic series hadn’t paved the way. With that much historical significance, the series deserves to be celebrated and represented in other media, just as the original Sega Genesis Sonic games were in Sonic Mania and the Sonic games from the early 2000s – including the often-hated 2006 Sonic game – were in the recent Shadow Generations. In recent games like Sonic Frontiers, writers have been working to make the series more cohesive, with tie-ins and references to past stories giving the series a more consistent canon. But even things outside of the games like the TV series Sonic Boom & Sonic Prime and the current Sonic comic series published by IDW have been acknowledged in recent games. In that case, now is the perfect time for Archie Sonic to be acknowledged as well. In fact much of the series’ lore has already inspired the games – from Knuckles’ deep roots that were explored in Sonic Adventure to chilli dogs being Sonic’s favourite food. Even in the Sonic movies, the idea of rings opening portals was inspired by the original comics.
But the franchise’s recent respect for its roots is not the only reason why now is specifically a perfect time to acknowledge Archie Sonic. The current games and comics are all written by experienced Sonic writer Ian Flynn, who got his start writing for Archie’s comic series, and in turn vastly improved its tone and pacing during his time as writer. Starting his career with the 160th issue of Archie Sonic in 2006, Flynn quickly gained notoriety for his focus on developing characters, balancing absurd, over-the-top action with genuine character drama, and respecting established continuity, and the positive reception of his work among fans allowed him to be the head writer of the series until its end and become the head writer of IDW’s subsequent Sonic comics. Now, his talents from the comics that were highly praised by fans have made their way into the games. The more consistent continuity of the current games mentioned before is largely thanks to Flynn. But that’s not the only talent of his that is now seen in the games. Much like he did in the Archie comics, Flynn has fleshed out the series’ cast and even added a surprising amount of drama. For example, during one cutscene in Sonic Frontiers, Tails tells Sonic that he is tired of being a burden to him and wants to be a more independent hero, then Sonic comforts Tails by reminding him of all of the times he has already helped out. Not only did this cutscene give Tails an arc after many years of him being sidelined, it also proved that Ian Flynn’s writing style from the Archie comics was alive and well. But that scene isn’t the only scene that has proved that. In fact, the entire game Shadow Generations, which showed the events of the classic 3D Sonic game Sonic Generations from the perspective of Shadow the Hedgehog, feels in its entirety like a storyline from Sonic Universe, Archie’s Sonic spin-off series that brought focus to the series’ supporting cast. Those are just two examples of how Ian Flynn has given the Sonic games a tone closer to that of the comics that he helped write, which proves that the series now has a more suited tone than ever to bring back characters and concepts from the old comics. After all, Flynn himself has expressed interest in giving the comic characters he is experienced with writing a second life.
The final reason why specifically the characters from the comics deserve to be acknowledged is for the simple reason that they are such interesting, likeable characters that could appeal to many different kinds of people. Much like the cast of the games, the cast of the comics had many creative characters who were as visually appealing as they were emotionally resonant. The difference, however, is that this was the original Sonic cast. Before Sonic had supporting characters like Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow, he had the Freedom Fighters, a group of rebels that fought to take back the kingdom of Mobotropolis from Dr. Eggman, who took over the kingdom and turned most of its inhabitants into robots. Among the hundreds of Sonic characters who have appeared in video games, comics, TV shows, and movies, the Freedom Fighters definitely stand out. For example, Princess Sally Acorn, who was the team’s leader and Sonic’s main love interest, was a smart, supportive, and physically strong chipmunk whose personality was defined by her passion for preserving the ideal of freedom – a theme that has always been integral to the Sonic franchise. Even later down the line when most of the cast of the games made their way into the comics, original characters like Sally still stood out and remained beloved among fans. The lore of the comics differed from the games quite a bit, so if Sally and the other Freedom Fighters – Nicole the Holo-Lynx, Rotor the Walrus, Antoine D’Coolette the coyote, and Bunnie Rabbot the cyborg rabbit – did eventually make their way into the games, they would need to be changed, but luckily, there is a solution hidden in plain sight. In 2013, a few years before the comic series ended, it was forced to be rebooted due to writer Ken Penders winning a lawsuit that made him own dozens of the comics’ characters that he created. In this new continuity, which was canonically caused by a wave of energy created by Dr. Eggman, the events of the games happened in the past, but the Freedom Fighters and most of the other comic characters that Sega still owned were alive and well. Cleverly, the comic-original characters were given new backstories that were made to better fit the game continuity. Aside from an adaptation of the canon game Sonic Unleashed, the lore of Archie’s reboot would fit snugly into the established continuity of the games with minimal changes.
Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog remains a beloved comic book series among fans of the franchise due to its ambitious, innovative focus on storytelling and colourful cast of characters. With that being said, it deserves to be acknowledged in the games or IDW’s Sonic comics because of its historical significance, the preservation of writer Ian Flynn’s talents that are rooted in the old comics, and just how interesting and likeable the cast of characters really are. With how much the Sonic franchise has been surprising fans this decade – from releasing Hollywood’s first critically and commercially successful video game-inspired movie trilogy to crossing over with SpongeBob SquarePants – fans should remain cautiously optimistic about seeing their favourite comic book characters return. While nothing involving characters original to Archie’s Sonic comics has surfaced yet, it is not entirely impossible that Sega could eventually have something in store for fans of the world’s longest running (and most way past cool!) video game-inspired comic book series.