Think you know Sonic? THINK AGAIN!

The Never Turn Back Zine - A Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) fanzine celebrating the game and its many branching paths. This zine will include illustrations, comic art, and writing. carrd info -All proceeds will be donated to ISTSS

[neverturnbackzine]

We've raised $1900 for the ISTSS!

The final donation has been sent, and we've raised a total of $1900 for the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies! We couldn't have done it without all of you.

Thank you for all your support. We did it!!!

[tiliqi]

silly things i made for @neverturnbackzine last year and forgot to post orz

the idea for the first one is that the president (badly) photoshopped the famous img himself bc timeline wise it makes NO SENSE for sonic and shadow to be buddy buddy enough to pose in front of the white house at any time before shth

the second one is the moment metal copies shadow's biodata

[imsonicberry]

This piece is part of the -"Never Turn Back" a Shadow the Hedgehog Zine - (@neverturnbackzine )

which came out a while ago and I can finally share my part of this incredible collab!!!

I take inspiration from the part of "Last Story" when Black Doom is finally defeated.

Hope you like it!!!! Im very proud since this was my first zine entry ✨️✨️ 🦔🦔🦔❤🖤❤🖤

[onshrike]

my full comic from @neverturnbackzine

my core pitch for the zine was a comic focusing on shadow's uncertain identity and the power of suggestion.

"If he says he knows the truth about who I am...then like it or not, I have to believe him."

with this comic i wanted to explore how the semi-dark route feels like a storyline where shadow gets manipulated by black doom (of course, the pure dark route also carries this feeling, but semi-dark feels a bit heavier to me personally). he's fed just enough information to keep him following along and open up his mind to black doom's ideals, but he still retains the ability to question things... until he doesn't.

"That's right. This will remind you what the humans did to you. Never forget that horrifying image!"

in the end, shadow's story ends the way black doom wants it to.

--

the majority of the dialogue in my comic is comprised of quotes from the game (cutscenes & level dialogue) either directly or altered. it's been a few months so i wasn't able to track down all of them again (most are general sentiments across multiple routes anyway), but here are a few i could find in order of appearance in the comic. used or altered lines are in bold:

Page 1

SHADOW: Who are you? BLACK DOOM: You don't remember anything, do you? But you will... In time. But now, there's no time to waste here.

Page 2

SHADOW: ("Shadow the Hedgehog"... Why does that name haunt me? It's the only thing I can remember. And that gruesome image...)

Page 3

BLACK DOOM: Those vile soldiers are still defiling our precious home.

BLACK DOOM: What a pathetic sight. Shadow, follow them. Make sure they understand their situation.

MARIA: Don't worry, Grandfather. Shadow and I will protect this planet. Right, Shadow?

Page 4

SHADOW: ("Shadow the Hedgehog"... Why does that name haunt me? It's the only thing I can remember. And that gruesome image...)

--

there's one line of level dialogue i wrote down that i originally wanted to open the comic with if i had been assigned to the Neutral route. it's "Are you awake, Shadow?". i don't know why it stuck in my head so badly. there's just something so... heavy about it. Black Doom's level dialogue in Glyphic Canyon was the main influence for the tone of my comic. once i started paying really close attention to what BD was saying, i couldn't un-hear the ill intent i got out of it.

[fernsnailz]

my comic from the @neverturnbackzine! truly one of my favorite zines i've been a part of :]

some extra insight/fun facts about the process of this piece below the cut 💥💥💥

posting pieces from collaborative zines is always something i struggle with because i look back and think of how i would do things differently now, but i learned a lot working on this comic and even developed some style techniques that i still use!

Fun Fact 1: the panel where shadow Fucking Disintegrates That Guy is technically traditionally drawn! i couldn't get it right in clip studio so i just started frantically scribbling in a notebook and got it eventually lol

highly highly recommend scribbling stuff out in a notebook, scanning it on your phone, and then dropping it into a canvas to edit later if you ever have trouble sketching something.

Fun Fact 2: a lot of the overlay/background effects were made in Kid Pix Deluxe 3D. i created a whole collection of various textures/abstract effects for this comic that i've been using in my art since last year. you can even find them scattered through my team dark zine lol. here's a few of them:

similarly, the background at the bottom of page 2 is actually a warped photo i took of a bunch of headphone wires. this is the original:

Fun Fact 3: i made this comic during a very busy and wild period of time last year so this is what the final panel looked like for a while before i fully finished it LMAO

ok yay thanks for reading bye

[kingprinceleo]

my piece for the @neverturnbackzine ! as a mod i did a piece to introduce the zine and its paths !

[tiliqi]

had the pleasure to make a super experimental comic for @neverturnbackzine! We raised a really stunning amount of money for the ISTSS; Thanks again to everyone involved in the project and everyone who bought a copy of the zine!

My comic depicts Shadow's emotional journey towards his new future as protector of the ARK in the semi-hero ending, through flashbacks to the things he found out about his past (or didn't. some memories are uncertain). The deeper he goes, the more uncertain things get, but he keeps going and he eventually finds his place, his determination for his future. He is the chosen one, for better or for worse. The song just fit really well and I tried to incorporate it into a dialogue-less comic... I'm proud of how it turned out ^_^ even when now a year later im like oh fuck i have like 50 ideas on how to improve this

[chacolachao]

A small comic of the True Ending of Shadow The Hedgehog (2005) originally for the @neverturnbackzine last year :D They made their final donation and now I can finally post this! Thank you to everyone who participated, moderated, and bought this zine to support ISTSS ~This was literally just me redrawing what happened at this moment in the game with a little extra flavor~

[bugbartdeactivated]

I can finally share my piece for @neverturnbackzine (+ bonus shadow doodle) thank you to everyone who supported the project!

[zeezu-ix-deactivated20250129]

my piece for @neverturnbackzine !!! :]

[neverturnbackzine]

so I visited the website and it claims that the zine is no longer available, is there another location where I can download it?

Nope, sorry! the full zine will not be available to download again

[vladim-3d]

The artwork piece I made for @neverturnbackzine! Shout out to all people who worked on the zine :)

[shingansoul]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog & Vector the Crocodile Characters: Shadow the Hedgehog, Vector the Crocodile, Black Doom (Sonic the Hedgehog) Additional Tags: For A Zine, follows the semi hero ending to the game, Game: Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), hypothetical post canon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship Series: For Zines Summary:

Following the events of Shadow isolating himself on the ark after black doom was defeated, but it seemed with the unlikely friend he made on that path there might still be a small part of him able to live and enjoy life outside his vigil in space. Even if the company is a bit loud for his tastes.

((Made for @neverturnbackzine !))

[andva-ri]

☆ can finally post my comic for the @neverturnbackzine ☆

I really loved how Shadow worked through his memories in the semi and pure hero tracks and tried to capture the feeling.

[also I'm a sucker for the sonic/maria parallelism]

♡ so much talented people worked on this zine! thank you for having me! ♡

[neverturnbackzine]

Hello! I doubt you're still actively moderating this blog but I just wanted to ask, when I initially heard about this zine I was in an incredibly poor place financially but I managed to recover to a point that I was looking to buy it, but it seems to have closed for purchase - which is understandable considering the need to coordinate a charitable donation, but I was just wondering if there'd ever be a channel to get the zine again. Sorry to bother!

(I checked the caard FAQ for this and couldn't find any information, sorry if this has been explained before!)

Hi! We have no plan to reopen the zine for purchase, but eventually contributors will be allowed to post their pieces to their socials!

[neverturnbackzine]

The Never Turn Back Zine is now closed!

Thank you everyone for your contributions and support. The Never Turn Back Zine has raised over $1000 for the ISTSS. We could have never done it without all of you!

Within the next few weeks, we'll make the final donation and share the recipt on both social media pages. Again, we cannot thank you guys enough :)

[neverturnbackzine]

⚠️1 WEEK LEFT!⚠️

Last chance to get a copy of the Never Turn Back Zine! The zine will no longer be available after January 15th!

More Info Here! Get a Copy Here!

(art by @kingprinceleo)

[neverturnbackzine]

⚠️LAST DAY TODAY!⚠️