Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

has been the subject of many different spin-offs across printed media.

Comic books

Several comic books have been released, each establishing a different storyline focused around Sonic. * ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (promotional comic book released in 1991 and featured in Disney Adventures, Electronic Monthly and Sega Visions magazines) * ''

'' (

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic the Comic ''Sonic the Comic'' was a British children's comic published by Fleetway Editions between 1993 and 2002. It was the UK's Sega comic, featuring stories about its mascot Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters, as well as comic strips based ...

'' (

Fleetway Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that merg ...

, UK) 1993–2002 * ''Sonic the Comic Online'' (a continuation of ''Sonic the Comic'') * ''Sonic Adventures'' (

La Sirène Mami Wata (Mammy Water), or La Sirene, is a water spirit venerated in West, Central, and Southern Africa and in the African diaspora in the Americas. Mami Wata spirits are usually female but are sometimes male., p. 1. Attributes Appearance T ...

, France) 1994 * ''

Knuckles the Echidna is a fictional character in Sega's '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. He is a red anthropomorphic short-beaked echidna who is Sonic's best friend and former rival. Determined and serious, but sometimes gullible, he has the ability to punch enem ...

'' (

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic X is a Japanese anime television series based on Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game series. Produced by TMS Entertainment under partnership with Sega and Sonic Team, and directed by Hajime Kamegaki, ''Sonic X'' initially ran for 52 epis ...

'' (

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic Universe ''Sonic Universe'' was an American comic book series published by Archie Comics in association with Sega, based on the latter's ''Sonic the Hedgehog''. It is a spin-off of the comic book series of the '' same name'', and shared continuity with th ...

'' (

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic Boom A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to t ...

'' (

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

'' (

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

, US) 2018–present In the UK, there was also a short-lived Sunday

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

and a series of Christmas annuals. Whilst there were some slight connections (both projects occasionally featured the work of regular ''Sonic the Comic'' artist

Richard Elson Richard Elson (born 1962) is a British people, British comic book artist best known for his work on ''Sonic the Comic'', ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' and ''Thor (Marvel comics), Thor''. Biography Richard Elson is a fine art graduate with over ...

), the projects were largely separate from one another, with the Sunday comic and annuals preferring self-contained gag strips over ''Sonic the Comics continuing plot lines and maturer stance.

Gamebooks

A series of six ''Sonic the Hedgehog Adventure

Gamebook A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not ...

s'' were published in the UK between 1993 and 1996 by Puffin under the Fantail label. * Book 1 – ''Metal City Mayhem'', James Wallis () * Book 2 – ''Zone Rangers'', James Wallis () * Book 3 – ''Sonic v Zonik'', Nigel Gross and Jon Sutherland () * Book 4 – ''The Zone Zapper'', Nigel Gross and Jon Sutherland () * Book 5 – ''Theme Park Panic'',

Marc Gascoigne Marc Gascoigne (born 5 July 1962 at Temple Ewell with River, near Dover, Kent) is a British author and editor. He is the editor, author or co-author of more than fifty books and gaming related titles, notably various ''Fighting Fantasy'' books, ...

and Jonathan Green () * Book 6 – ''Stormin' Sonic'', Marc Gascoigne and Jonathan Green ()

Manga

Several ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' manga series have been published in Japan. In addition, Sonic fan-made ''

dōjinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created ...

'' made by a variety of artists (including

Kōshi Rikudō is a Japanese manga artist. Rikdo is a graduate of Kyushu Sangyo University and lives in Dazaifu, Fukuoka. His most popular work is ''Excel Saga'', a manga which he describes as a work dealing with the everyday aspects of living in Japan. The ...

) have also been released.

''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (1992)

In 1992,

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

's ''Shogaku Yonensei'' published the eponymous ''Sonic the Hedgehog''

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

. The manga was written by

Kenji Terada is a Japanese scenario writer, anime director, series organizer and novelist. His more notable works include writing the first three games of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. He also worked on '' Batman: Dark Tomorrow'', created the concept for the ...

and it was illustrated by . The manga details the story of a hedgehog boy named Nicky who can turn into the superhero Sonic the Hedgehog. It also featured

Miles "Tails" Prower , better known by his nickname , is a fictional character in Sega's '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. Tails also appears in his own spin-off series, comic books, cartoons, and films. He is the second character to consistently appear by Sonic's sid ...

and

Dr. Eggman Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is the main antagonist of Sega's '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. Eggman was created and designed by Naoto Ohshima as part of many design choices for Sega's new mascot. After the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog, Oh ...

''Dash & Spin: Super Fast Sonic''

''Dash & Spin: Super Fast Sonic'' (ダッシュ&スピン超速ソニック ''Dasshu ando Supin: Chōsoku Sonikku'') is a 2-part published manga illustrated by Santa Harukaze (春風邪三太 ''Harukaze Santa''). It was printed via the Japanese

magazine ''

CoroCoro Comic is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Shogakukan, established on May 15, 1977. Its main target is elementary school-aged boys, younger than the readers of shōnen manga. Several of its properties, like ''Doraemon'' and the '' Poké ...

'', who is famous for publishing many manga adaptations of video games (including adaptations of Super Mario Bros. and Rockman.EXE ( MegaMan NT Warrior). ''Dash & Spin'' was never published outside

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, nor in any language other than

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. ''Dash & Spins volumes contain several short stories, including

omake ''Omake'' (, usually written ) means ''extra'' in Japanese language, Japanese. Its primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga term to mean "extra or bonus." In the United States, the term is most often used in ...

(extra) koma stories, published as an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

. The stories are often very

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

. ''Dash & Spin'' includes many

characters, including

Amy Rose The '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game franchise began in 1991 with the game '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the Sega Genesis, which pitted a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic against a rotund male human villain named Doctor Eggman (or ...

Shadow the Hedgehog is a fictional character appearing in Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. Shadow was created by Takashi Iizuka and Shiro Maekawa, and first made his debut in ''Sonic Adventure 2'' (2001). Although this was intended to be his only appearan ...

, and

. ''Dash & Spin'' finished publishing Volume 2 in February 2005.

Novels

* ''Stay Sonic'' by

Mike Pattenden Mike Pattenden is a freelance journalist and writer. He began his career in the entertainment games industry including a period at Commodore User before moving into music journalism. He was formerly Reviews Editor at ''VOX'' magazine then musi ...

developed the "Kintobor origin", first introduced in the Sonic the Hedgehog promotional comic book, in much greater detail. This background was used as the basis of most subsequent UK Sonic stories, including ''Sonic the Comic''. The book is partly fiction and partly reference, with tips for all the levels and badniks of both the Genesis/Megadrive and GameGear/Master System Sonic 2. The book also features some interviews with then-contemporary British celebrities (including singers Cathy Dennis, Richard Fairbrass from Right Said Fred, Zac Foley from EMF, Tom Hingley from Inspiral Carpets and Richie James from Manic Street Preachers). There are also blueprints for the Egg-O-Matic piloted by Dr Robotnik and a fictional interview with Sonic himself. James Wallis,

Carl Sargent Carl Lynwood Sargent (11 December 1952 – 12 September 2018) was a British parapsychologist and author of several roleplaying game-based products and novels, who used the pen name Keith Martin to write ''Fighting Fantasy'' gamebooks. Early life ...

and

, under the collective pseudonym "Martin Adams", wrote four Sonic the Hedgehog novels based on the origin established in ''Stay Sonic''. They were published in the UK by

Virgin Publishing Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm ...

. * Book 1 – ''Sonic the Hedgehog in Robotnik's Laboratory'' 1993 (by Sargent) – Sonic attempts to rescue his friends from the eponymous lab. * Book 2 – ''Sonic the Hedgehog in the Fourth Dimension'' 1993 (by Wallis) – 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 The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

. * Book 3 – ''Sonic the Hedgehog and the Silicon Warriors'' 1993 (by Wallis) – 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 breachings of the fourth wall, with Sonic directly talking to the reader on several occasions. * Book 4 – ''Sonic the Hedgehog in Castle Robotnik'' 1994 (by Sargent) – 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's series of Sonic novels published 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 Xtreme'' 1996 * ''Sonic Activity Book'' 1995 ''Sonic X'' novels published by

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin Gro ...

: * ''Meteor Shower Messenger'' – Paul Ruditis 2005 * ''Spaceship Blue Typhoon'' – Diana Gallagher 2005 * ''Aqua Planet'' –

Charlotte Fullerton Charlotte Louise Fullerton (born March 20) is an American writer of television, novels, comic books and video games. Biography Fullerton graduated with a BA in cinema-television/production from the University of Southern California, and starte ...

2006 * ''Dr. Eggman Goes to War'' –

2006 * ''Battle at Ice Pallace'' –

2006 * ''Desperately Seeking Sonic'' –

2007 The pocket-sized novelizations of the Sonic the Hedgehog live-action films, by Kiel Phegley, published by Penguin Young Readers Group: * ''Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Movie Novelization'' 2020 * ''Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Novelization'' 2022

Others

* ''Where's Sonic?'' and ''Where's Sonic Now?'' were two books using a similar idea to the ''

Where's Wally? ''Where's Wally?'' (called ''Where's Waldo?'' in North America) is a British series of children's puzzle books created by English illustrator Martin Handford. The books consist of a series of detailed double-page spread illustrations depictin ...

''/'' Where's Waldo?'' series, each page presenting the reader with a different puzzle inspired by a level from the Sonic games. Published by

Ladybird Books Ladybird Books is a London-based publishing company, trading as a stand-alone imprint within the Penguin Group of companies. The Ladybird imprint publishes mass-market children's books. It is an imprint of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of ...

Ltd. * ''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

SatAM Satam or Sattam (Arabic: سطام) is an Arabic male given name. It may refer to: People First name *Satam al-Suqami (1976–2001), Saudi Arabian terrorist * Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1941–2013), Saudi Arabian politician and governor * Sat ...

storyline, but in locations from Sonic games on the

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

. () * A series of other children's books were written by Ladybird. These include two puzzle books, a coloring book and the picture books ''Robotnik's Oil'' and ''The Invisible Robotnik''. ''Sonic the Story'' was a book explaining Sonic's transformation from brown to blue. * A series of children's picture books were published by Golden Books, featuring the art of Art Mawhinney. Titles include ''Up Against a Wall'', ''The Secret Admirer'' and ''Sonic's Shoes Blues''. By 1994, the series had sold 550,000 copies, including 250,000 copies of ''Sonic's Shoes Blues'' and 300,000 copies of ''Sonic's Secret Admirer''. * In the UK, two Sonic The Hedgehog

yearbooks A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...

were published in 1991 and 1992 by Grandreams Limited. These featured one-shot comics normally involving Sonic foiling Dr Robotnik's plans (but included one

Shinobi A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 21� ...

comic),

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

game reviews and other novelty Sonic and Sega-related features such as an "interview with Sonic". * Two 32-page

softback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, lea ...

books featuring early strips from ''

Sonic the Comic ''Sonic the Comic'' was a British children's comic published by Fleetway Editions between 1993 and 2002. It was the UK's Sega comic, featuring stories about its mascot Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters, as well as comic strips based ...

'' were published in the UK in 1994, titled "Sonic The Hedgehog Beats The Badniks" and "Sonic The Hedgehog Spin Attack".

References

External links

Sonic the Hedgehog Info Page on Sonic Books
{{Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog