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Archie Comics Not Talking About Cancellation Of Sonic The Hedgehog… Yet (UPDATE)

Published Tue, 09 May 2017 10:00:03 -0500

Last updated Wed, 10 May 2017 04:43:30 -0500

Recently, Bleeding Cool looked at what appeared to be the cancellation of the Sonic The Hedgehog line from Archie Comics.

The books were dropped from subscription, the Free Comic Book Day title was replaced, solicited titles were cancelled and new comics were no longer solicited – but Archie Comics themselves weren't saying anything.

These titles have now been officially cancelled by the publisher.

NOV161172 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #291 CVR A REG SPAZIANTE 4
NOV161173 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #291 CVR B VAR MATT HERMS 4
FEB171222 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #294 CVR A TYSON HESSE 4
FEB171223 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #294 CVR B JENNIFER HERNANDEZ 4
DEC161283 SONIC UNIVERSE #95 CVR A REG JAMAL PEPPERS 2
DEC161284 SONIC UNIVERSE #95 CVR B VAR LAMAR WELLS 2
JAN171340 SONIC UNIVERSE #96 CVR A JAMAL PEPPERS 2
JAN171341 SONIC UNIVERSE #96 CVR B EVAN STANLEY 2
FEB171224 SONIC UNIVERSE #97 CVR A JAMAL PEPPERS 2
FEB171225 SONIC UNIVERSE #97 CVR B TYSON HESSE 2

While other titles have also been removed from Diamond's website – such as Sonic #292 (Google cache here)

Sonic Universe #95 and subsequent issues are still on the site, promised for April 12th, though it never arrived,

Posters on the Archie/Sonic The Hedgehog messageboards report that the reason for the silence was that Archie and Sega were trying to reach a new deal together, that Archie CEO Jon Goldwater wants to "get away from Sonic" because it's "not really Archie" and Sega were asking for more money.

The relationship is likely to have been strained by the lawsuits from Ken Penders and others regarding the rights that Archie and Sega held over originally created characters appearing in both the comics and the games.

It has been pointed out that Sonic The Hedgehog is no longer listed on freelancer and longstanding Sonic comics creator Ian Flynn's upcoming projects. And that Vincent Lovallo's Twitter profile no longer makes mention of being Sonic's editor.

There is concern expressed regarding subscribers getting refunds, annoyance about what was seen as a profitable publishing line being dropped, and – for what it's worth – the abandonment of a comic book that was months short of celebrating its 300th issue… quite the rarity in modern day comic books.

But I understand that not all is yet lost. Keep watching to find how this gets resolved, one way or another.

UPDATE: Hang about! No sooner had we published than an Archie Comics spokesperson told us "We are aware of the questions regarding Sonic. Archie and SEGA are in communication and we hope to have some news soon. We thank the fans for their patience."

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