If you're British and grew up on Sonic, there's a good chance you remember Sonic the Comic. Published by Fleetway, the comic was running for 224 issues between 1993 and 2002 every fortnight. It eventually died out when the company publishing the comic decided to reprint old stories, believing that the audience it once had grew up and left. The comic had a big part in Sonic's popularity in the UK in the early 90's and featured many great stories based on the games, as well as stories based on other Sega games like Streets of rage, Decap Attack, Golden Axe, Wonder Boy, Ecco and more. The comic also doubled as a sort of Sega mini-magazine for kids, with news, reviews, cheats and the weekly sales charts for Sega's many consoles.
More after the jump..
I personally still have my collection sitting in the loft that is about 96% complete (just some reprint issues missing), and there used to be a huge website with downloads of every single issue, but it appears to have vanished, which has deeply saddened me. For now, the most I can find online about Sonic the Comic is at the website Sonic HQ, and some downloads of what could be considered the key stories at Knuckles Chaotix.info, which is something. I intend to write up some articles about this comic soon, as to be honest there isn't enough about it online, especially compared to how much there is about the American Sonic comics by Archie.
But who would of thunk it? A collection of fans decided to continue the comic from where it left off. If you haven't seen the fan created Sonic the Comic online yet, you're missing out. The issues aren't released as frequently as the original (because they don't get paid to do this), and the artists change with every new story, but they've done a fine job at contuinuing from where the comic was left off. The comic even has a new Megadroid who appears to take the shape of a Gamecube, of all things! It's been running for four years now, and currently has 23 issues under it's belt. The latest issue has a great interview with one of the original comic's main artists, Richard Elson. Anyone who read STC knows that Elson was there for the entire comic's lifespan, and had a lot of input in not just the artwork, but a lot of the original characters, and along side writer Nigel Kitching gave the comic it's best stories. Featured are some pieces of concept art from the interview:
Richard Elson, currently working on strips for 2000AD, was one of my favorite comic artists as a kid and inspired me to draw more myself. I would draw my own little Sonic comics, with his artwork as a reference. I would love to meet this guy, shake his hand, pat him on the back and order him a drink. He rocks.