Welp, it’s official.
If you haven’t heard the news, as of today (July 17th) it’s official that Sega has terminated their partnership with Archie Comics, meaning that after over 500 issues, this incarnation of the Sonic comics has come to an end
I figure I should say something since I run this sporadically updated blog about the franchise, huh
This is sad news. I don’t think it’s hitting me as hard as a sudden cancellation would be, though, just because the writing’s kind of been on the wall for the last few months. The comics have been on indefinite hiatus, and the creative team has been looking for work elsewhere. And while this is an abrupt end with no closure for the story, these comics lasted several hundred issues longer than anyone could’ve ever imagined. Seriously, comics based on video games just don’t last this long. It’s a miracle that we had a continuous run of Sonic comics from one publisher for 25 years. But it’s still a shame that such a legendary series had to go out like this
While I’m still nowhere near caught up on the comics, they meant a lot to me personally. They helped me get into video games as a kid, and had a huge impact on my art and writing at that age. It’s hard to pinpoint a chain of cause and effect like that, but who knows? Maybe I wouldn’t be here making a video game about gay anthropomorphic animals today if it weren’t for the furry melodrama of the Archie Sonic comics
My heart goes out to the creative team laid off due to Archie’s poor business practices. While the comics certainly had a rocky history, they’d found a passionate and incredibly talented creative team that gave us some really wonderful comic books. I hope that they can find work elsewhere–maybe even on Sonic comics for a new publisher like IDW or Boom, if Sega takes Sonic elsewhere
Even if that doesn’t happen, I wish them luck with their future endeavors. I’m sure they’ll make great things
RIP Archie Sonic, 1992 - 2017
