New Sonic editor Paul Kaminski sits down for two interviews.

One's coming from a Ric's comics.

If you need it, here's a transcipt of it thanks to Teowli of the BumbleKing forums!

I: Hello, Everybody! This is Rick’s Comics, and this is Rick (*) Today, my special guest is Paul Kaminski! How you doin’, Paul?

P: Great, how’re you doin’?

I: Alright! Well, Paul, I understand that you’re workin’ over at Archie comics.

P: I am, indeed. I am there as we speak.

I: Okay. What’s your job over there?

P: I am editor on Sonic the Hedgehog titles, which is Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe. And I also do system editorial duties on Archie and Friends. Special projects, some upcoming stuff I’m working on with the (Family) project we’re doing, bunch of stuff, really. Rather a large commune of artistic goodwill over here in Archieland.

I: Okay, now, you mentioned Sonic, which so happens to be the main subject of this show. We’d like to give the listeners a little history on who Sonic is.

P: Ah, sure thing. Sonic the Hedgehog, a very iconic video game character. Created in the very early nineties and possibly later eighties, I’m not really sure of the exact age. (*) Sonic team as a counter to the Mario, the very successful Nintendo Mario Bros. franchise, and sort of very quickly caught on as equally if not more so iconic. With the release of Sonic 1, 2, 3, etc., and a very extending cast of characters, universe, stuff like that. So when it got to American shores, a lot of different licensing, and other such adventures going on with the character, one of which being the Saturday morning cartoon show and the daily, or was is weekly? A little lighter in tone. And the very cool SATAM series, which I am a very large fan of, and I am also very large, so, whattaya gonna do? Anyway, so Archie wanted to procure a license to do a comic book series based on the SATAM, or weekly series, which had a similar theme. You know, there was Freedom Fighters, Mobius, Robotnik, who was Americanized for the show, definitely. As opposed to the Ivo-Eggman Robotnik who we know today in the Sonic games, which is sort of based more on the original Japanese (version). So anyway, Archie manages to get this license and the series started out as a sort of comedy series; quickly moved on to drama, action-adventure, all that good stuff, and has managed to change with the times over the years, and the character, in all his various incarnations whilst sticking to one main story, which is: Sonic and the FF battling to save the planet Mobius. It’s a tough sort of battle to fight on occasion because there’s been a lot of games that diverge (*) drastically from one another in tone, plot, etc. Archie always tries to incorporate the new in to the continuity, and we’ve done a pretty successful job of it, I think, in the past seventeen years, and hopefully we’ll do more.

I: Now, is it, was Archie the first one to do the comic on Sonic, or…?

P: Well, there’s been two Sonic comics over the years. There’s a Fleetway series over in England, which also had quite a following, although it did wind up going the way of the Dodo, and we were the last ones standing.

I: Okay. When you started describing and (*) what little bit I know, it kind of reminds me a little bit of the Japanese manga stuff. Is that on purpose?

P: Yeah, of course. A little bit. I mean, it’s a Japanese property. You’re gonna have influences. Our comic, at least, is very Americanized. I would never consider, ever ever ever consider it a manga. But fans of manga would definitely appreciate it, I would say that much. It’s almost a traditional American-styled comicbook; and a scary word like “traditional” does not mean it is any less exciting or any of that awesome manga being without the (*). But we have a lot of talents in the American comic book industry; we have Terry Austin, legendary inker. Steve Butler, penciled Spiderman and countless other stuff. James Fry, Marvel guy. Jim Amash. I’m forgetting a bunch of people, I’m sure, but we have a very talented and experienced comic book professional staff doing the book.

I: Now, Sonic is more aimed for the younger…is if preteen, or teens, or what?

P: Yeah, I’d say it’s about 8-10. 8-10 sticks around, which is the main part. Y’know, a lot of these properties like Power Rangers, Pokemon; a lot of it’s popularity tends to wane with age, and so those properties find themselves in a position where they need new fans to continue with. But Sonic does too, to an extent, but I’m new to the fandom. I have been a fan, but I am new to the fandom, and the Sonic fandom is composed of the most eclectic mix of people, demographic, that I have ever seen. From the very young, to the old. *laughs* People grew up with this series as opposed to people who just started watching Sonic X. Boys/girls, pretty equal there; a lot of positive male and female role models in the property and in the comic book.

I: Well, what are some the characters in the Sonic Universe?

P: You have your main Cast of Freedom Fighters, which is Sonic, Tails, his sidekick, although don’t call him that, heh…he’s been coming into his own over the years. Amy Rose, Sally Acorn…Princess Sally, I think, of all of the non-game canon characters is definitely the most recognizable. We get a LOT of Princess Sally mail. She had her own miniseries in the early nineties, er, the mid-nineties, rather, which was excellent. I’d like to see come out in the (trade) to be honest. We have Bunnie Rabbot, a cybernetically-enhanced mobian. She was being robotocized by Robotnik was saved, subsequently, and was only half-roboticized. And we have Antoine, her husband. They got married in issue #174, and Antoine most defining characteristic is FRENCH, I believe. *laughs* A lot of these characters you recognize from the old SATAM series, which is what they were based on originally, but obviously with exceptions, like Amy Rose and some other SegaSonic characters. And last but not least of the Freedom Fighters, BOOMER Walrus, Boomer’s my boy. He’s kind of a Beast-like character, kind of a technical genius and a large lug with big tusks. He’s ready to kick some butt. Aaaand, yeah, Beyond that, they have a large cast of villains. The most recognizable obviously, is Eggman and his nephew Snively, which is also from the cartoon. And uuuuummm…there’s too many to name in one sitting, I’m afraid.

I: Now, what it sounds like, is there a continuity going on?

P: Yeah, definitely. It can be the book’s greatest strengths at times because while, while…You’ll get sucked in pretty fast, definitely. I did. *laughs* ‘Cause while I was not new to the characters and the property and the games particularly, or the cartoon, I had never really known the comics that well, until I started working at Archie. I took to it so fast, partly because of the continuity. You feel like you’re a part of the story. You feel like you’re participating when you’re remembering stuff, when things are being referenced, when characters come back that haven’t seen for awhile…it’s an interactive, very much American way of telling the Sonic story. It can be confusing at times, but only if you’re not reading it. If you pick up one issue of Sonic the Hedgehog, you will have all you need to know and you will be along for the ride

I: So it wouldn’t matter what issue somebody picked up, they won’t be confused? I’m gonna (move) a story, y’know, what’s goin’ on-type?

P: Well, you know we do the roll call, the recaps of every issue, in Sonic Universe, and we do the little text-box to let you know where the characters are, and our writer Ian is a maniacal genius and he sits in Castle Doom writing his Sonic scripts, stroking his beard and petting his kitten. He’s very, very good at making sure that everyone knows what’s going on. Readers, new readers especially, that’s our mantra you know, Neeew Readeeers, if they haven’t read a Sonic comic book before they HAVE to know what’s going on. And you pick it up fast.

I: Who are some of the creators on there now?

P: Well, as I said, Ian Flynn, writer of both Sonic and Sonic Universe. Tracy Yardley, penciller on Sonic Universe and was the pencils on Sonic for quite some time, cover artist…The guy who’s style we stick to in the book now, Tracy Yardley. Steven Butler, very, very talented penciller on Marvel. He did many other projects over the years. He’s been on the book almost as long as Jim Amash, who is the inker on Sonic Universe and (*) Sonic for heaven knows how long. Jim, would you like to enlighten us? He can’t hear us. (*) fourteen years, I think? Terry Austin, legendary X-Men inker, Marvel guy, can make anyone’s pencils look spectacular…Patrick Spaziante, “Spaz” as he’s known in the fan community, still does covers for us and has been doing work on Sonic books. (*) in terms of art, actual art, issue #31? His covers are breathtaking, consistently breathtaking. (He didn’t fix) the covers now, he’s done the interiors a couple of times, who knows when he will again, wink wink? We have a very talented colorist, Matt Herms, Jason Jenson…the new pencillers, Rae DeLiz, I’m sorry, Ben Bates, a very, very talented young man (as usual). Jamal Peppers….if I’m forgetting anyone, I feel terrible…John Workman, Phil Felix, both very, very talented and previous comic veterans. If I’m forgetting anyone else, I feel terrible.

I: It sounds like you’ve got a whole houseful of people working on Sonic, there.

P: Yeah, and I’m in the middle with the top hat and the hoop, the ringleader. *laughs*

I: Now, one of the things I always find a little difficult, with the Archie comics is where to find them. Because, unfortunately a lot of comic shops-

P: WAIT WAIT WAIT, I forgot (Veteran Vecker?), who is in the…navy..? And Renae DeLiz’s husband, who is an insanely talented colorist. Sorry. Go ahead.

I: Alright, unfortunately a lot of comic shops don’t carry Archie comics and stuff. I do know that some of the grocery stores do have the Digest, and every once in a while you might find a spinner-rack. Now, can you order subscriptions from Archie, or…?

P: I won’t name the numbers of all of people who are not stocking Archie comics in their comic book stores. *laughs* You can always go online, Archiecomics.com has, pretty literally, everything Archie that you could ever want to buy. There are the back issues, we have these handy-dandy collector sets which collect back issues by the year, bundle them up, and send them on their merry way to the hands of you fans. But yeah, Archiecomics.com, that’s where to go.

I: Is Sonic available in the trade paperbacks?

P: Yeah, we have the Sonic Archives series, which collects every issue since the very, very beginning. Sonic actually started as a miniseries and that is collected as the Volume #0, or “Sonic: The Beginning”, depending on how long you’ve been a fan. We’re up to...Archives #13 just came out and is going strong…We have spinoff titles from the nineties with the Sonic Super Specials, and those are collected in to the Sonic Select Graphic Novels. There’ll be a lot of exciting graphic novel projects coming up in the future but I’m afraid I can’t say any more.

I: Did they ever come out and do the Digests, like the Archie comics? Like Archie Pals and Gals, stuff like that?

P: No, no…Sonic is here at Archie, but it’s not…sort of not like any other book that we put out. It’s not collected in the Digest. I mean, the archives are a little bigger than the digests, which are sort of pocket-sized. No, the Sonic comics exist pretty much exclusively on the monthly sales and in the graphic novels…But we are getting into Toys-R-Us! Coming up with issue #216, I believe, and we’re expanding our circulation. And y’know, people who need to get the comic, fans of the comic, can usually find one. If they’re having trouble, give us a call, and we’ll take care of business.

I: Is there anything exciting comic up in Sonic that you might want to mention?

P: Yeah, we’ve got a couple of projects. We’ve got Sonic Colors, which is the new game from Sega coming out this year, we’re gonna have a tie-in, and Sonic #219, which is due out this late November or early December…I think it’s late November…and that’s really cool because we’ve (*) something really hard from the game and it. is. incredible. I really can’t speak highly enough about the work on the Sonic game. The look of those games is really cool. And in terms of other comic stuff, next year is Sonic’s 20th anniversary and we’ve got some big things coming up for that, which I can’t go too much into detail about, but it culminates with issue #225. On our anniversary, and we try to do anniversaries every 25 issues, we try to do something special that you don’t see in the regular month-to-month stuff. And we have got a good main story for #225. It’s probably the biggest, I’d say it’s the biggest event…bigger than EndGame, for all you Sonic (*). It’s quite a big event for us, and it’s gonna have a long-lasting impact on things to come. And that is all to sort of tie in to the 20th anniversary, and we’re working with doing some more stuff that will tie in with any anniversary potential project, things like that. We really don’t have many specifics, but we’re in the process of working that stuff out. Um, yeah, Archives #13 just came out, everybody go run out and buy it, they’re very reasonably priced, $7.95, and I’m holding one in my hand as we speak, and that covers our sort of first, major epic, REALLY epic crossover. There were other big stories, but the EndGame was the biggest at the time, and that’s covered in Archives #13 with a brand-new, sparkling awesome cover by Spaz. Aaaand, what else? There’s a lot going on, man, it’s hard for me to keep up with all this stuff.

I: Okay, well, sounds like it’ll all be pretty interesting. I’ve got some grandkids that’d be just about the right age for ‘em.

P: Oh, yeah? Yeah, that’s great.

I: I’ve got one thats gonna be a boy turning six, and a girl, she’s nine, so…

P: Aw, that’s great! Yeah, well, girls tend to really love the character Amy Rose and Princess Sally, and they love boys, and they love…there’s so many positive role models, and in fact, we’re gonna be doing a…it’s not really girl-centric, but it’s (*)…believe me when I say it’s not girl-exclusive, really, really funny awesome action. That’s coming up in Sonic Universe #21-#24, Treasure Team Tango, is what it’s called, which is quickly followed by the SILVER SAGA, and it’s gonna be awe~sooome~.

I: Is there anything else you kinda want to hype before we close it up?

P: Hype? Everybody go run and pick up Sonic #215-#216, the new two-parter. Rotor’s got a battle suit, and he’s beating up Silver with it. It’s really awesome. *laughs* Oh, and the Tails fanart contest, we have been buried under stacks and stacks of mail…we normally get a lot of Sonic mail here, but I have never seen mail come in like this before. We’re holding a Tails fanart contest where fans can draw a funny, creative, insightful, awesome Tails drawing and submit it. The grand prize is a full page showcase of their drawing in Sonic Universe #20, which is the finale of the Tails Adventure. They also get a Sonic t-shirt, a pin set, and a plushie backpack, which are all courtesy of Sega, which is cool. And the runners-up, there’ll be two runners-up, and they’ll be featured in that issue as well and get a Sonic pin set, too. If you guys want to send your stuff in, you can send it- just make sure you write “Tails Fanart Contest” on your envelope. It doesn’t have to be on your drawing, but on your envelope. Send it over to Archie Comics Publications, you can get the address from our website.

I: Anything they need to know, just go to the website, right?

P: Yeah, anything you need to know, just go to the website where the Sonic Blogs are updated twice daily by the maniacal IAN FLYNN. There’s all kinds of stuff up there, interactive Sonic stuff, you’ve got to hang out and enjoy it. Details on the contest are there as well.

I: Well, I wanna thank you for coming on the show, and lettin’ us know who Sonic is. You’ve got ME interested now.

P: *laughs* Mission accomplished, excellent.

I: Hey, now you’ve got a much older age group to start going on.

P: *laughs* We’ll take anything we can get.

And the other interview by Sonic Stadium.