Sonic Comics - Initial Thoughts

I thought I would kick off the Sonic comic... comments by expressing what I know and my initial impressions and thoughts on everything Sonic comics. Cause when I was gathering and figuring out what was what, I saw some things; I heard some things; and I read some things.

Like I said in a previous post, my knowledge is very limited. Never grew up reading them, even though I could have - yadda, yadda, yadda. It is only in recent years that I've started to pay attention to that world.

I already knew about the Archie ones since they were the ones that existed during my childhood. I even remember some of the comics having that Sonic symbol at the page numbers. I know this cause when I saw it again, it was as if a deep forgotten memory had unlocked. And Naugus? I am pretty sure I have seen him at some point, whether on the television or at a store in a comic. He is too damn unique looking to forget, and when you are a kid who had nightmares on things remotely creepy looking? Kind of hard to forget. 

Fast forward to last year (2021). As I was going through what I needed to really immerse myself into the Sonic comic world, I discovered many things:

• Archie had many spinoffs.
• Archie and Sonic had parted ways, and IDW took over as being the Sonic comic publisher.
• There weren't just Archie ones which absolutely shook me - manga (which I had expected on some level), one from France, and another from the UK. 

Overwhelming, eh? 😅

In the Archie ones, I know about many of the different characters - Sally Acorn, Bunnie, Antoine, and others. I know about the Freedom Fighters and some events, although I don't know exact details of those said events. The slap was hard not to encounter, but again, not the details. I know Tails and Sonic have some pretty major conflict, which I think Tails gets an upper hand on. Basically, all these arcs and stories I got the sense of what was happening without knowing much of details. And to be honest, some of them I think are going to be cringey.

Now - keep in mind initial impressions here - I think I'm going to probably scream at Sally Acorn. Granted, that could be the fruit of being a Sonamy shipper. I make no apologies for that cause the games is all I really know. But that being said, I cannot help but think that Sally is just overrated and kinda awful. (Sorry, Sally fans...) I mean, the slap alone sent alarm bells in my head. Whatever gave her reason to do that? It will be interesting to see what my final verdict is on her, but she's going to have to really redeem herself in my eyes. But if she isn't exactly loyal in the the relationship with Sonic, then not off to a good start, Sally.

Again, I have like over two hundred comics to change my mind on that.

 

Bunnie seems pretty cool though, and Antoine gives me mixed signals though I've heard that you don't want to back him into a corner. Amy seems to be thrown off to the side in favour of Sally, and the result seems to be cringey arcs for the pink hedgehog. I mean, she is the personification of a fangirl and that will create some - we'll call them - interesting stories and scenes. But my impression is that Archie kind of just placed her there just cause and then tried so hard in forcing Sally and Sonic together.

And while on the subject of Sally again - the whole future saga with her and Sonic as Queen and King? My goodness. I have a feeling that might be a chore to get through.

I don't have nearly as much thoughts on IDW's compared to Archie's. I know that there have been some spinoffs. I know about the metal virus, albeit not the details. Amy seems to actually have been given a decent role, perhaps a Sally-like role. We encounter Shadow early on which makes sense since when Archie started Shadow didn't even exist. I actually like the idea of not starting right from the beginning and instead jump right into things. I have heard about their celebration of 30 years of Sonic comic. Again, not the details. So, really, I can't say much about it.

As for the other ones - the manga ones I only really know that Sonic is portrayed in the fashion of Clark Kent/Superman which I find incredibly amusing. But I'm not entirely sure if that is for one or if it is like that throughout them all. I only can read English interpretations of them, so I really am in the dark when it comes to Sonic manga. France's I'm not too sure if that was the one where Sonic was a brown hedgehog and then through some sort of accident becomes blue and fast. I do know the UK's version took that said concept and ran with it. Amy in the UK one is classic-looking Amy and even wields a bow and arrow! (I like bows and arrows.) 

The UK one is an interesting one: along with the Sonic comic, they had pretty in depth gaming tips for different SEGA games. It also had other comic strips to go along with Sonic's, sometimes crossing over into the Sonic world. The UK version definitely built a vastly different Sonic world compared to Archie's. I believe it is still going on today but online and by fans, so this one may be one of the difficult ones to really write about. We shall see.

I know I didn't really pinpoint exact in depth feelings, just general gesturing; but it will be very interesting to see if I will feel the same vibes once I read all of these comics. I think what I'm the most curious about is whether or not I am justified in my Sally impression and how Archie treated Amy. Everything else is merely a bonus ride.

Stay tuned for more! My goal is once a week on this, but sometimes life can get in the way.

Till then, gotta go fast! 💨

(Comments for this post will be off since this is me going off my initial thoughts. Comments will be on as I write posts whenever I get a chance on reading the comics.)