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 m ...

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic the Comic'' ( Fleetway, UK) 1993–2002 * ''Sonic the Comic Online'' (a continuation of ''Sonic the Comic'') * ''Sonic Adventures'' ( La Sirène, France) 1994 * '' Knuckles the Echidna'' (

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic X'' (

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic Universe'' (

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Sonic Boom'' (

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 m ...

'' (

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 re ...

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

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

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), 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 Gamebooks'' 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 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) 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 ...

'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 ...

. The manga was written by Kenji Terada 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 si ...

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, Ohshi ...

.

''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

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 ...

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, shōnen manga. Several of its properties, like ''Doraemon'' and ...

'', 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 n ...

, nor in any language other than Japanese. ''Dash & Spins volumes contain several short stories, including omake (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 cate ...

. 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 ...

. ''Dash & Spin'' includes many

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 m ...

characters, including

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 m ...

,

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 si ...

, Knuckles the Echidna,

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 Do ...

,

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 app ...

, 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, Ohshi ...

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

Novels

* ''Stay Sonic'' by Mike Pattenden 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 and Marc Gascoigne, 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. * 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 Gr ...

: * ''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 Pallace'' – Charlotte Fullerton 2006 * ''Desperately Seeking Sonic'' – Charlotte Fullerton 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 depicti ...

''/''

Where's Waldo? ''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 depicti ...

'' 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 o ...

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 * Satt ...

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 were published in 1991 and 1992 by Grandreams Limited. These featured

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

comics normally involving Sonic foiling Dr Robotnik's plans (but included one Shinobi comic),

Sega is a Japanese 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, respectively. Its division ...

game reviews and other novelty Sonic and Sega-related features such as an "interview with Sonic". * Two 32-page softback books featuring early strips from '' Sonic the Comic'' 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

Comic books

Gamebooks

Manga

''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (1992)

''Dash & Spin: Super Fast Sonic''

Novels

Others

References

External links