Saturday 1 June 2013

20 Years of Sonic The Comic: A Tribute



Sonic The Comic
20 Years of Sonic The Comic: A Tribute

Britain’s fortnightly Sonic The Comic turns twenty this year. Published by Egmont Fleetway, the series, which ran from 1993 to 2002, was originally conceived as more of a Sega comic. The book featuring a lead strip featuring Sonic but also backup strips featuring other Sega titles like Golden Axe, Shinobi, Wonder Boy and Streets of Rage. Over time, the focus shifted further in the direction of Sonic eventually dropping all other strips entirely (with the notable exception of Decap Attack, a strip initially used to advertise a now little known game but which evolved into something of a pet project for writer and artist Nigel Kitching).

STC was my first introduction to comics, I first picked it up at issue 101, just missing out on the issue widely considered to be the best in the series….*sigh*. Nonetheless, I was hooked and bought every issue from then on up until the series’ cancellation. I have many fond memories of the series, of taking my copies to school and reading them on my lunch break, re-enacting scenes with m friends and of my first tastes of freedom as a child when I was allowed to go into town by myself to buy it from the newsagent. The series has been with me my whole life and means a lot to me. But my love of STC is not only nostalgia talking, it was a genuinely great comic.