[html]<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="article_headline"></span><br><a target="_blank" title=" http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/comics/article/47161-archie-comics-launches-new-sonic-graphic-novel-series.html" href="" http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/comics/article/47161-archie-comics-launches-new-sonic-graphic-novel-series.html">Archi e" Comics Launches New 'Sonic' Graphic Novel Series</a><span id="ReadumExtensionFF"><br></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="article_headline"></span><span id="ReadumExtensionFF"><img src="" "><br><br>Archie"
Comics is looking to expand the audience for Sonic the Hedgehog, the
Sega videogame franchise character, with three new graphic novel series,
including two in a new, larger format that are designed to appeal to
teenagers and older readers. All three series will collect material
previously published as monthly comics, and all are designed with
bookstores and comics shops in mind.</span><p class="article">
</p>
<p class="article"><span id="ReadumExtensionFF">Plans include a new series of full-size graphic novel collections of the <i>Sonic Universe</i> series, an extra-thick, full-sized collection of older material titled <i>Sonic Legacy,</i> and a <i>Knuckles Archive</i> series, marking the first time the <i>Knuckles</i> comic has been collected into a graphic novel.</span>
The blue hedgehog was originally created by Sega as the main character
in their Sonic the Hedgehog game, which launched in 1991. Archie
currently has two Sonic monthly comics, <i>Sonic the Hedgehog</i> and <i>Sonic Universe.</i>
</p>
<div><div class="embed_table_right" style="width: 200px;"><img src="" "><br></div>Volume" 1 of the <i>Sonic Universe </i>graphic
novel due out in late summer, will be the first Sonic graphic novel to
be published at full comic book size, "in order to be competitive in a
Marvel/DC graphic novel market," said editor Paul Kaminski. The book
will have some deluxe touches, such as spot varnish on the cover, and is
designed to look good on the shelf next to the Marvel and DC books.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>All three books—<i>Sonic Universe, Sonic Legacy,</i> and <i>Knuckles Archive</i>—are
volume 1's, Kaminski said, and the second volumes will be out sometime
in 2012. They will be available in the children's section and the
graphic novel section of Barnes &amp; Noble, as well as in comics shops
and digitally via the Archie iPad and Nook Color apps.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The graphic novel collections are a departure from Archie’s usual format: The ongoing <i>Sonic Archives</i> are published in a much smaller, 5" x 7" digest size, while the <i>Sonic Select</i>
collections are 6" x 9", slightly larger but still smaller than a
standard comic. Archie will continue to release new volumes in these
series as well, with vol. 16 of <i>Sonic Archives</i> and vol. 4 of <i>Sonic Select </i>due out later this year.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>"While the <i>Sonic Archives</i> are our most successful graphic novel title, they are targeted at younger audiences," Kaminski said. "With <i>Sonic Universe, </i>we
are going to try to target the teenage audience more, the comics buying
audience." The first volume will collect the saga of Shadow the
Hedgehog.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><div class="embed_table_left" style="width: 200px;"><img src="" "><br></div><i>Sonic" Legacy</i>
will also be full size, but it will have a black and white interior
and, at 512 pages for $14.95, considerably more content as well. "<i>Sonic Legacy</i>
collects a lot of the older stuff and hard-to-get material, from back
when Sonic was a little more silly," Kaminski said. While the original
comics were in color, Kaminski said, "This is along the line of the DC
Showcase and Marvel Essentials titles, where they are able to compile
larger groups of stories and keep the cost down because it's in black
and white."</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>"It's like a phonebook size," said Archie marketing director Alex
Segura, adding, "The audience for Sonic is very much in tune with the DC
and Marvel audience."</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The <i>Knuckles Archive</i> collects the old <i>Knuckles</i> series, which started in 1996 and ran for 32 issues. "What's cool about the <i>Knuckles Archive</i> is it fills a lot of the gaps between <i>Sonic Archive</i> and <i>Sonic Select,</i>"
Kaminski said, "so in order to get the full story, you really should be
picking these up. You have this one long-running story, and all of them
interact with each other in these titles, Knuckles is the last piece of
that." The Knuckles comics have never been reprinted before, he said.</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Knuckles the Echidna originally appeared in a series titled Sonic's
Friendly Nemesis. "He &nbsp;is kind of like the antihero," said Kaminski.
"He is a little roguish; all the kids think he's super cool. He is
definitely an antihero in the Sonic universe, and antiheroes are always
popular."</div>
</blockquote><br>So basically,<br><br>-Sonic Universe GN for their arcs with a more prettified covers to grab an older deomgraphic<br>-Same deal with Sonic Legacy, except it will be reprinting old material in a giant sized black in white/monochrome/Marvel Essentials/manga style<br>-Knuckles Archives officially announced<br>[/html]