The latest issue of Comic Shop News contains a rather large article on the upcoming tenth anniversary of the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Comic. Featured in the article is a long interview with writer Karl Bollers. The article talks about Bollers’ experience writing for the comic and contains some spoilers for issues #124-129.
In addition, the article contained a better colored version of the cover for Sonic #125.
Click below for the full-text of the article.Sonic Boom
Comics inspired by other media are short lived, right? Liscened properties simply have trouble finding long term success in the comics field – a couple of years success is about all they can hope for.
Don’t tell that to the folks at Archie Comics, where Sonic The Hedgehog is reaching its 125th issue, marking more than ten years as a liscened success – meaning they’ve run continously longer than G.I. Joe, longer than Transformers, longer than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, longer than Micronauts.
Archie Comics’ Paul Castiglia understands why Sonic has remained popular for so long. “Fans respond to the noble character of Sonic – like Spider-Man, he is forever learning that with great power comes great responsibility. Also, the series has one of the greatest female role model/heroines ever to appear in a comic – Princess Sally.”
Writer Karl Bollers has his own theory to explain the success of the li’l hedgehog that could. “Sonic carries a message of hope that many of todays comics have forgotten. It seems that in a lot of comics, the stories jst keep getting darker and darker from issue to issue, and the situations that the characters find themselves in just gets worse and worse. There’s never any light at the end of the tunnel to break up the gloom. Don’t get me wrong, Sonic isn’t all sunshine. Don’t let the blue spines and the red sneakers fool you. It has its fair share of tragedy, but we tend to balance that with humorous moments and a series of wins to equal the heroes losses.”
“I think younger readers, in particular, need to see both sides of the coin as they develop a view of the world around them without being talked down to. The world can be a pretty bad place, but amidst the badness there are happy moments that we can cherish with those we love. Even if they have two tails.”
Bollers may not be a superstar comics writer, but he regularly reaches more readers with his Sonic stories than do the writers of almost every superhero comic title on the stands. And he has a great time doing it. “I enjoy producing stories for all-age readers because ittests my skills as a writer, If I were only writing for adults, my range would be far more limited. the challenges are very difficult on Sonic, and I feel like it’s a tug of war between appealing to the younger readers as well as the older ones. As far as I know, the youngest fan of the Sonic comics is in pre-kindergarten, while the oldest one is over fifty years. I’ve seen a Sonic message board visited by teens and tenty-somethings that gets at least thirty new posts daily, and has a flamewar once or twice a week.”
“At times it can be tempting to tell the story in a way that appeals to the older readers, but then I have to consider whether younger readers will understand. It’s only fair. They’re buying the book too. Or at least thier parents are! I’ve been criticized by older readers for not writing Sonic as if it were Watership Down. I tend to keep a balance, and every so often I’ll do something that goes over younger readers’ head without making them lose track of whats going on. Sort of the way you noticed all these things in Bugs Bunny cartoons now, that you didn’t as a kid.”
“Yuji Naka and Sonic Team over in Japan have created such a rich world filled with colorful characters for the Sonic video games (I also heard through the electronic grapevine that a new Sonic animated TV show is slated to air in the U.S. this fall), it makes it easy to come up with surreal and exciting storylines and situations for the characters to find themselves in month after month.”
Sonic The Hedgehog #125, the tenth anniversary issue, “reveals the true history of Sonic’s planet, Mobius,” Bollers said. “Fans of the Sonic comic have long believed that Mobius has always been a world where anthropomorphic animals were the dominant species and humans (who are referred to as Overlanders) were the minority. #125 reveals otherwise when an alien race, known as the Xorda, pay a visit to Sonic’s world, intent on destroying it. Furthermore – the Xorda are reffering to Mobius as ‘Earth’!”
“Did they take a wrong turn at Alpha-Centauri and end up picking a fight with the wrong planet, or do the Xorda know something Sonic and his team of freedom fighters don’t? It becomes an all out struggle for planetary preservation when Sonic and the heroes (and villians) of Mobius must team up to defeat a giant cosmic foe. The story is so big it kicks off in Sonic #124, featuring art by Steven Butler & J. Axer.”
Steven Butler is known for his action-adventure work on Badger, Spider-Man, and other series and has had a great time working on the all-ages Sonic. “It was great hearing from Steven after he’d finished pencilling the issue, telling me that it reminded him of Crisis on Infinite Earths. That was nice. Crisis was one of the series that inspired me to pursue comics as a career. And J. Axer, who besides pencilling Sonic does videogame design, is a hot new talent to keep a close eye on.”
Sonic #125 features the work of even more artists, as six illustrators supply the visuals for this anniversary issue. Was it tough for Bollers, constructing a story in such a way as to play up the talents of each creator? “It was tough, but in this instance, my previous working relationship with most of the pencils made the task that much easier. Of the six artists working on the issue – Steven Butler, Ron Lim, Art Mawhinney, J. Axer, Dave manak, and newcomer Dawn Best – I had worked with all but the last two. However, I’d been itching to do so and this was the perfect opportunity. I basically mapped out the story in terms of pacing, then broke it up into chapters and determined which penciller was best suited to drawing what chapter. It was fun!”
Since Sonic appeals to readers of all ages, Bollers likes to offer a mix of stories structured to appeal to each group. “We’re doing both kinds – single-issue and multi-issue stories now. We’ve taken the single-issue approach in order to appeal to more casual Sonic readers who might want to only buy one issue, or for whom getting the book month after month is difficult. The stand-alone issue also hooks younger readers who are just starting to grasp the concepts behind the story. To give them a beginning, a middle, and an end in one package only helps to advance that understanding. The multi-issues are geared towards the older Sonic readers who desire a slower pace.”
Bollers dropped a few tidbits regarding upcoming storylines. “Sonic The Hedgehog #s 126-129 feature a four part story arc titled “Tossed In Space”, which sees Sonic stranded in a distant galaxy after the events of Sonic #125. Separated from his family and his friends, the heroic hedgehog must now find a way home.Along the journey, he’ll have to face his darkest inner demons, witness the birth of an alien world where evolution takes place at an advanced rate, learn that he’s responsible for the destruction of countless planets, and take on an alien government!
After that, the fastest thing alive returns to Mobius, but things aren’t quite the way he left them…”
While he wouldnt reveal any more specifics, Bollers did ask the leading question, “Any Arthur C. Clarke fans out there?…”
Early issues of the series remain hard to find; while you don’t see them highlighted in various price guides, collectors soon discover that its much tougher to track down a missing Sonic than it is to find a few-year-old superhero books from one of the Big Four. To offer readers a chance to enjoy some of those hard to find early tales without spending time and money tracking down the original comics, Archie is offering its first Sonic The Hedgehog trade paperback in early July. (I guess this means that they aren’t technically counting Sonic Firsts since it was originally a Super Special… – WB) This ninety-six page volume will reprint the original miniseries Sonic #s 0-3, featuring the first appearance of Tails, Princess Sally, Antione, Rotor, Unlce Chuck and Muttski. A week later, Sonic #125 is scheduled for release.
Source: Comic Shop News