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.
In the 90’s Sega were keen to market Sonic as “The hedgehog
with attitude” and any publication dealing with the character was delivered an
incredibly condescending bible of guidelines for handling the character. This
bible lead to the majority of UK Sonic books being borderline unreadable as
they tried desperately to push Sonic as the cool dude.
STC took the bold move of throwing the Bible in the trash
and doing their own thing. STC’s Sonic had attitude, but he also had flaws. He
was cocky, he was rude, picking on his friends, giving them annoying nicknames.
He was a hero and he was cool, but sometimes, well, he was a bit of a dick.
This version of the character polarises a lot of fans, many
simply can’t get on board with his rudeness, feeling that occasionally it goes
to far. Those fans that like it however, realise that STC offers perhaps the
most developed and believable version of the character across the entire Sonic
multiverse.
STC took the established Sonic series and adapted it very
liberally. While the majority of game tropes feature in the comic, for the most
part, they are radically different from their game counterparts. The
adaptations of the games themselves, were almost unrecognisable. Sonic 3D went
from a simple “save the animals” game, to a story arc that took place over the
course of two years involving interdimensional travel and Roman
empire style gladiatorial combat.
Later adaptations, like the Sonic Adventure saga took little
to nothing from the games but that’s what was so great about it. They took the
stories and changed them to fit perfectly with the new world they had
established.
STC was a hit in all aspects, the writing was spot on and
the artwork (especially the work of Richard Elson and Nigel Dobbyn) was epic. Characters were
well thought out and believable and the new characters created exclusively for
the comic were original and interesting, even the reader interaction through
the comic’s mascot Megadroid was enjoyable.
Not everything was perfect of course, any long running
series working with multiple talents is going to be hit and miss. There were
some cringe worthy stories, some bad art every now and then and reading it now, a lot of the references to British pop culture feel very dated, but for the
most part, the hit rate was positive and the majority of strips were great.
From issue 133 the book started to run reprint strips at the
back of the comic and sadly, this was the start of the series decline.
Eventually one reprint became two, then three and eventually, from issue 185
all four strips were replaced and the book became a full reprint with no new
content whatsoever. Even long time readers struggled to accept this change and
sales dropped until eventually the series came to an end at issue 223 with
nothing more than a brief article by Nigel Kitching on the final page to let
readers know the series wouldn’t be continuing.
STC remained popular with its fanbase however, Kitching and
Elson are still hounded by fans and the unofficial follow up Sonic The Comic
Online gives fans the chance to continue the adventures of the STC cast.
STC was a great comic, it treated the Sonic series with
respect and a lot of love. Those who read the book were privy to some of the
best characterisation and story telling that Sonic has ever had. That we’re
still talking about it twenty years down the line proves the quality of the
book. For sonic fans, it will always be held up as a benchmark of quality for
the series and will be loved for another twenty years to come.
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
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