Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics)

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog No. 0 (February 1993)
Publication information
Publisher	Archie Comics Sega of America
Schedule	Monthly
Genre	Action-adventure Comedy-drama Romance Science fantasy superhero
Publication date	November 22, 1992 – December 28, 2016
No. of issues	290
Creative team
Written by	Ian Flynn Ken Penders Michael Gallagher Karl Bollers Scott Fulop
Penciller(s)	Tracy Yardley Matt Herms Adam Bryce Thomas Steven Butler Jamal Peppers Ben Bates Manny Galan Evan Stanley Jennifer Hernandez Patrick "Spaz" Spaziante Dawn Best Tyson Hesse Art Mawhinney
Inker(s)	Jim Amash Terry Austin
Letterer(s)	John Workman Teresa Davidson Phil Felix
Colorist(s)	Gabriel Cassata Matt Herms Josh Ray Ray Dillon Jason Jenson Stephanie Vozzo (Cofell)
Editor(s)	Mike Pellerito (managing editor) Scott Fulop Richard Goldwater Paul Kaminski (asst editor) Victor Gorelick (editor-in-chief)

Sonic the Hedgehog was an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, in partnership with Sega. The series was based on Sega's video game franchise, as well as on the 1993 animated series of the same name. After initially beginning with a four-issue miniseries from February to May 1993 (with issues appearing on newsstands three months earlier), the first full-length issue of the comic was published in July 1993. The series ran for 290 issues for over 20 years, earning a place in the 2008 Guinness World Records for being the "longest-running comic series based on a video game".^[1] It became the longest-running franchise-based comic series in 2015 (surpassing Marvel Comics' 275 issues of Conan the Barbarian) before it was confirmed cancelled in July 2017, following Sega and Archie Comics' decision to discontinue their business relationship.^[2][3] The series features a cast of hundreds of characters, consisting of both those derived from the Sonic games and those original to the comics, with stories focused on a crime-fighting organization called the Freedom Fighters, led by Sonic, as they face off against series antagonist Doctor Eggman alongside a variety of other villains.

While the series largely consists of its own continuity, certain issues implemented aspects of the Sonic video games into their plots and settings. Following a lawsuit in 2013 between Archie Comics and former writer Ken Penders, Archie rebooted the series, removing several characters from the comics' continuity and moving it closer to that of the games. Over its history, the series had a number of spin-off publications being created. These include Sonic Universe, which focuses on stories revolving around different side characters from the main series; Knuckles the Echidna, focusing on adventures involving Knuckles and his friends the Chaotix; Sonic X, a comic series based on the 2003 Japanese anime of the same name; and Sonic Boom, a comic series based on both the cartoon series and the video game series of the same name. In addition, the comic series had two crossovers with Archie's Mega Man comic-book series, based on the Mega Man video games from Capcom.

A succeeding series of Sonic comics by IDW Publishing began serialization from April 2018, following IDW's acquisition of the Sonic license. Ian Flynn, who formerly worked on the Archie series, was recruited by IDW to help with producing stories for the new series.^[4][5][6]