My other Sonic the Comic blog post has been popular, so I’ll be putting all the covers up and doing a little comment on them, nice and simple blog fodder. It would take far too much time and space to do every comic page (we’re talking thousands). They’re also a bit of a 1990’s time capsule, for lovers of video games, arcades, mohawks, nihilism, ninjas, bandanas, counter-culture attitude and the need to put the word Mega in front of everything. Visit for more information Jj Game
Let me know if you like this kind of awesome retro shit. Cheers, and enjoy the trip down memory lane!
Credit to all the amazing artists, writers, letterers and editors who worked on this comic. I do not own the rights to any of these.
I see these going on eBay for upwards of £100 and climbing. I’ve got two! Humble brag. Gonna be honest, even after 223 issues this is one of my favourite covers. It just jumps right out at your face, Sonic thundering right towards us like a freight train. It was instant love for 10yo me. His pupils look a little thin here, making him look a bit unhinged, but its part of the appeal I think – I wouldn’t ‘fix’ it. Besides, Sonic is unhinged.
The text is just screaming its head off at us, isn’t it? This was their big debut – got to make some noise on a crowded newsagent shelf. SHARPER THAN A CYBER RAZOR CUT, sounds well painful mate.
And it goes without saying, but 95p was an absolute, total steal. Nowadays this would be like £12.99 in Smiths.
Ahh that difficult second cover. I’m not massively big on this one, weird angle and pose all round and Sonic has never looked more portly. Still miles better than any Sonic I could draw, obv.
And it was still an exciting cover, screaming its wares at us. FREE! NEW! PLUS! I’m a mad fan of this kind of graphic design: The ticker tapes on the top and bottom, the squares, circles and shouty boxes. The clash of blues and oranges and different fonts.
Got a free badge on there too, GET IN. They often used sellotape, so you’ll see some scuffs and tears on the other issues as we go along. You won’t see most of the free gifts included I’m afraid, as ten-year old me tore that shit off as soon as I could in the car. This one is intact because it too, is my second copy, one I got from eBay. My original issue 2 was falling to bits.
We already had Shinobi and Golden Axe comic strips, but this was the issue they brought Wonder Boy into the fold. Wonder Boy was kind of Zelda vibes. You’ll see him on issue 9’s cover.
Inside the comic, Tails becomes a brainwashed cyborg for a while and tries to kill Sonic. Oh yeah, we’re going there already! BFF betrayal.
I LOVE this but…Sonic famously can’t swim, hahaha. Unless he’s sort of deciding to slide along the ocean floor like a penguin, whilst doing a Superman, or is sort of falling downhill. Other than that small detail, this is just as good as #1.
Robot pirahnas are one of Sonic’s most natural enemies, aquatically challenged as he is. If you’re gonna kill him, that’s probably a good direction to go in. Robo fesh. These ones are called Choppers, or Mashers? Or Jaws? Or Jaws II, or Chop Chop, I forget. All the different robo fesh kind of blur together.
Inside is Casanovas’ first work (excellent artist). There aren’t loads of Casanovas strips, but they were always really vibrantly coloured and packed with environment detail.
GREAT cover! Looks like one from the mainstream superhero comics. Ninjas kill people with very sharp things, but they can still be marketed at kids! The Turtles prove this. I didn’t properly read Shinobi until years later, but it was as good as its amazing artwork indicated.
Inside was Nigel Kitching’s first story. Kitching’s a beloved writer in the fan base who guided the main story until its demise. The beginning of a long and beloved stint, this.
Golden Axe was a fantasy fighting epic of its day, with its main characters Bloke, Woman, and Dwarf, I think. I don’t think I ever read this comic strip. I was mainly here for the talking animals, mate. But I always appreciated it was there! I liked playing Golden Axe I and II, but nothing about it made me desire more context. Never needed to know Bloke’s motivations. The second Sonic the Comic cover with shiny bladed weapons of murder, didn’t expect that eh?
Kind of amazing they were able to turn these comics out every fortnight at such good quality. Cranking them out. It ain’t easy. On STC Online we averaged at two a decade. But then, it wasn’t our paid careers and a lot of us were studying, didn’t have to turn a profit or have the whole thing shuttered. We weren’t really ‘managed’ either from a business point of view, just a gaggle of creatives doing what they loved. I don’t have a doubt that it was released as often as it could be released.
This artist is Carl Flint, who’ll be sticking around – I think he might even do more covers than any other artist, possibly. Another attention grabber of a cover, you can practically hear the smash! Sonic looks a bit like a giant inflatable parade balloon here.
Ferran Rodriguez’s first comic strip is inside, and acts as a nice addendum to Sonic 2. Rodriguez’s art is amazing, very much looked like the game sprites brought to life on the page. Made it feel very faithful as a game adaptation, specifically Sonic 2.
I’ve ONLY JUST NOW noticed the static TV effect behind Sonic. It’s funny what your eye is or isn’t drawn to, innit?
Lots going on this issue! My #7 is in tatters, like its been ravaged by a demonic yellow hedgehog making his debut. Golden Axe and Shinobi’s runs had finished, and it was time for two new contenders. Kid Chameleon is an obscure game by today’s standards, but the art and story were top tier. The comic was really taking not very much from old games and massively enhancing it in these adaptations. Kid, unfortunately never got a cover.
Streets of Rage though! Ahh, it was amazing. A dark, pulpy, hard-boiled action thriller about crime and gangs and kung-fu and sleaze. A legendary strip for a legendary game series. I always thought the art looked a bit like street art or graffiti, maybe that sort of pop art style? Really suited it.
Also inside, beloved mainstay Sonic artist Richard Elson makes his debut, along with the yellow-gold, psychopathic Super Sonic with his mad swirly eyes.
Another iconic Carl Flint, and the first cover that was a bit more minimalist with text. The comic addressed the key questions quite early on about Sonic’s and Robotnik’s origin, and it’s always good to see Sonic as his younger, more hedgehoglike form. This is probably the story where Kitching and Elson’s main plot really kicked into gear, with Porker and Johnny Lightfoot (pig and rabbit) making their debut, alongside the Omni-Viewer.
But do your laces up Sonic mate. You’ll go arse over tit. Is this part of his nihilist 90’s attitude? Tying shoes is for geeks, bud. Live dangerously.
‘Monsters and boys with blue hair’, sounds like your typical emo gig. Wonder Boy, as promised, and a busy cover. It was his series finale, due to be replaced by Decap next ish. Wonder Boy’s another one I wasn’t really reading, but looking at this it was gnarly as hell. You can see a sort of Saturday morning cartoon vibe of the era, same as Golden Axe. These would all have made great cartoons, and probably would all have had incredible rock theme songs with earworm vocals that you still remember thirty years on. Like Gummi Bears.
Wonder Boyyyyyy! Monsters and boys with blue hair…
It says Robotnik Rules over the Sonic banner here because Robotnik takes over the planet in this pivotal issue. You could say the real fight begins here!
Looking back, there was a lot of Sega Mega CD marketing push going on in the comic, with competitions and previews and the adaptation that occurred in the #20s.
Decap Attack was the obscurest little game that no-one knew about, but Nigel Kitching took to both the art and writing duties for an adaptation as, we assume, it offered a big creative freedom he was looking for, with a spooky appeal. A mostly blank canvass to work with. The result was a hilarious story about monsters and mad scientists, and Nigel’s art was as good as the writing that accompanied it. It’s aged really well too. I was surprised to go round my cousins and find that he actually had this game, so I got to play the inspiration for a bit. It was nails tough.
Cover-wise, this is another big attention grabber, hitting us in the face with a demented skull head, crackles of lightning and the castle looming in the background. Fun, interesting and vibrant, we were all in on the ground floor with Decap. Good purple and white-yellow scheme going on here. Probably one of my top-tier all-timer covers.
A little interlude from the comics to show you a bit of a treat – two rare collected editions. This one gave you the Sonic strips from the first four issues in a set, and obviously used the unlikely swimming Sonic from #3 as the cover.
This one reprinted STC 6, 8, 9 and 10. Why they missed out on the seminal issue 7, no-one knows. Obviously the front is issue 1, but with a big Dutch tilt going on.
And Streets of Rage got a collected edition as well, including the first saga. An incredibly 90s image, in a good way, you can almost hear the beatbox. Come on Max, it’s cold out, put your nips away bruv. I like Axel’s arm motion here, really brings the pose to life.
Ah, a very clean and iconic Ferran Rodriguez cover, unlike my photography here. Tilt your head a bit. Always loved this one. The cover is amazing but doesn’t have much to do with the story inside, where Sonic runs around the planet in five seconds to stop a death satellite laser. Like a good The Flash story it explored the upper limits of his speed. Good layout, although it’s a little jarring that the word Sonic is displayed three times on top of the other. SONIC SONIC SONIC
It was Halloween 1993, so time for a special Decap cover! Head is looking a bit like Ray Liotta from that scene in Hannibal here. Very nostalgic for just about all of Nigel’s art – the tombstone teeth, the different zany eye pupils, the crazy bats, the sharp cheek bones.
Look how fuckin’ cool this is.
AI art could never.
Ecco the Dolphin was so lovely and serene and melancholic (and also a bit creepy), and has been lost to time a little bit. He died with the Dreamcast. He was a major Sega mascot, I think. Is Ecco a he? This is probably the only time these two characters have ever been seen together – I think they would get along. They both are trying to save their planets. I’d be open to a crossover.
I did indeed, wear the belt clip. But the price of the comic went up to £1.10, boooo! But for Ecco, you’d gladly cough up the new 15p.
Sorry for the torn bit there, wait why am I apologising for something I did when I was ten. You could have Sonic as your Christmas fairy with this free gift, something which I think I forced on my family, as I’m sure many did.
Very easy, very simple cover that was clearly one of the more quickly made ones, but it actually still really pops.
LOVE this, yep yep. An all-time cover. Rodriguez is back for a representation of the Sky Chase Zone from Sonic 2, and as before it looked very much like official Sega art from the games with an bit of an Eastern anime feel to it. Good action shot as well – top tier cover as usual from Ferran.
Once more they were flogging Mega CDs from the back of a van. Please take one!!
There’s something about the words ‘Britain’s Only Official Sega Comic’ that makes me a little misty. This, as an era is long, long past. A publication of Japanese-American originated properties, being made in Fleet, Hampshire. My home county!
A Christmas Carl Flint. Obviously there’s no story context to this cover – it’s symbolism, mate. Its about defiance in the face of fascism, and capitalism, and the aggressive commercialisation of Christmas as well, with Robotnik as an all-encompassing symbol of oppression putting the financial squeeze on the little guy. This is the final – and only cover with Classic Robotnik as he’s soon to get a makeover in issue 21. Say good bye to those deep black abyssal eyes. Is this Porker’s first cover?
I always really liked Sonic’s expression here. “How fucking dare you”. He’s so ready to pop.
Oh yeah, the weird one. ‘What if Sonic was a human?’ I think this and the strip inside is all a Carl Flint joint, correct me if I’m wrong. I believe it was all a hallucinogenic torture dream or something. In such a long-running comic, it’s good to get the weird ones out in little one-offs. STC was occasionally eccentric and imaginative like this and never a dull moment.
Sonic the Human looks a bit cursed on this cover with his tank-top, fingerless gloves, Dreamworks face and little belly midriff, but is presented a lot better in the issue itself I think. He’s a little Keanu Reeves duder.
An adorable Tails cover as he was way into his spin-off run (it was excellent and really built the world out a little bit). It had a great little kid moral story going on about telling lies and having to deal with the consequences, and took us to a very different environment.
Issue 18 and 19 were the Sonic Casino Night two-parter, which introduced the Marxio Bros, an inspired fusion of the Marx Bros and the Mario Bros. You eccentric genius, Nigel.
STC gets its own X-Men! In the form of Eternal Champions, which was a Sega beat ’em up like Street Fighter. Lots of interesting superpowered characters, tons of potential, and something about this excellently kinetic layout feels very classic Marvel comics, it’s good stuff. Also, with a new Shinobi run starting up, the cute animals were out and the grim edgy humans were in! A great cover that you wouldn’t expect from a Sonic the Hedgehog comic.
Oof, showing our age now – you don’t get videos any more (they were VHS’s of the Saturday morning cartoons).
I never got these sword puns originally. How stupid of me. It’s clear as day now. Again, I was 11.
This is the best Shinobi cover I think – so fuckin’ awesome. It’s alive, mate. I look at it and I can see its movement, hear his heroic ninja cry. SHING!
The Sonic story was a Rodriguez special set in Hill Top, and saw Super Sonic return in the belly of volcano.
Sonic the Poster Mag #6
If you have any and want them to go to a good home, I’ll take ’em off your hands or you can send me a nice image of it and I’ll credit you. But for now, I only have #6. Very dynamic action scenes on the cover, the strip and the poster, with that huge, hench, piano-faced drill robot.
The Sonic the Hedgehog Yearbook:
Here is a hardback annual, and it’s ALMOST nothing to do with Sonic the Comic. What it does have is the cover and two strips inside were drawn by Richard Elson, and were his first work with Sonic. His early work is really amazing, and you only have to look at this awesome cover to see how much life, charisma and detail his work has. I like to include this along with the rest of my STC stuff. Feels right. Like STC, this annual was a blend of videogame stuff and comics.
And once again, you can win a Mega-CD. “Hey buddy, we’ll pay YOU to take some! Or they’re all going in a ditch in Nevada”
SONIC DER COMIC! I picked this up on holiday, but not to Germany. I was in Spain I’ve got no explanation for that, but this miniature, alternate Euro equivalent is really funny to me. It’s kind of a packed magazine, a hundred pages with movie and sports news and all kinds of features. There’s an interview with Tom Cruise in one. It’s sort of media and lifestyle-focused, with the occasional Sonic appearance (if you’re lucky).
What’s really funny about this issue, is there’s NO Sonic comics inside, instead there’s about four MR T (from the A-Team) comics, called T-FORCE. I don’t know what’s going on because I did French for my GCSE’s, but Mr T is doing all kinds of James Bond shit. It’s called Sonic Der Comic sure, but you actually get wall-to-wall Mr T as a sort of Trojan horse.
There’s also a big boxing and wrestling push going on in there. I included the back cover above, but its simply STC cover #26. It’s pretty much the only Sonic content in the book!
I love it so much.
This is another special thing I’ve thrown in. STC didn’t have many competitors in the video game comic magazine market, but at least one tried to get in on that. Max Overload took four legendary games of the era, and did some sublime comics with them which were about as good (and hot take; arguably better) than what we had with STC. These comics were really witty and funny, and seemed slightly older-skewed. They even shared some DNA with STC, with artist Woodrow Phoenix doing the Toejam and Earl strip (he did Sonic STC #5 ‘Lost in Labyrinth).
It was also a beefy magazine with loads of videogame features, BUT it never made it past the second issue release. Lord knows what happened to this one, but they shut it down with nary a word. It remains as a beautiful, wierd unicorn that no-one but me seems to remember. I’ll keep your spirit alive, Max Overload.
But if you ask me, STC fans owe it to themselves to know about it, so you’re welcome. Feast your eyes.
The Lemmings strip was RAD.
Enough for now. Ready for the next twenty?