Sonic the Hedgehog

I may not know much about Sonic The Hedgehog, but there's one interesting little piece of trivia about the comics that I am absolutely fascinated by. Despite the fact that DC has recently returned Action Comics and Detective Comics to their original numbering, placing them somewhere in the mid-900s, the core Sonic the Hedgehog comic stands at 285 issues and counting as the longest-running monthly American comic book that has not been rebooted,renumbered, or otherwise restarted. It's been on the stands every month since 1993! Throw in all the spin-off titles, and that means that there's a lot of Sonic content out there. So much so, in fact, that with Sonic Universe hitting #89 next week, there's enough Sonic content out there that the reprint-focused Sonic Super Digest is on its 17th issue. So why not celebrate the continued reign of a blue hedgehog who runs fast with a preview of both titles?

The last time we talked about Sonic the Hedgehog, when the current "Panic in the Sky" storyline was just getting started, I mentioned my almost total unfamiliarity with the franchise. But as a potential new reader, one thing I can definitely appreciate is that even here, in the second part of a four-part story, they're still giving everyone identifying captions so that I can at least sort out the characters by name. Fortunately, it doesn't take a deep knowledge to get the basics: There's an attack by an evil army and Sonic's crew of good guys are falling out of the sky --- and someone's very upset that their computer's not working. Check out a preview!

The current Sonic The Hedgehog title by Ian Flynn, Aleah Baker and a host of amazing artists --- plus John Workman on letters! --- is one of the most fun all-ages titles on the stands right now and Archie has provided us with an exclusive preview of the third volume, "Waves of Change," which sees Sonic and the gang travelling the world looking for the mysterious Gaia Temples.

I've been pretty up front about the fact that I know very little about the world of Sonic the Hedgehog, but I do know that it can be pretty shockingly complicated. I know, for instance, that Sonic likes to run fast and is always ready to party, but when it comes to figuring out how the world he lives in was shattered by a global cataclysm, or why he's hanging out with cyborgs and a sentient AI who takes the form of a holographic lynx, I'm a little more hazy. But if you're in the same boat, good news. The next issue of Archie's long-running Sonic the Hedgehog starts off with a series of quick captions to explain everything --- and a More Than Meets The Eye/Arrested Development party to celebrate something that they actually have not accomplished yet. But will the answers themselves become more questions? Decide for yourself with the preview below!

Courtesy of Archie Comics, ComicsAlliance brings you an advance look at new periodical comic books, collected editions, and graphic novels going on sale in October 2016 from the publisher’s Archie Action line featuring Sonic the Hedgehog. This fall Sonic is taking things to the Next Level, and not just metaphorically. It's the name of this November's extra-sized one-shot picking up right where Mega Drive left off. You can say a lot of things about the Blue Blur, but you can't ever say the dude slows down for one second.

I am what you could charitably call very skeptical of Sonic the Hedgehog in all of his various forms. I wasn't a Sega kid, so I never got into the games when I was young, and despite the fact that he's been a constant presence in the world of comics since 1993, that's a vast swath of storytelling that I've never engaged with. Now, however, it might finally be time to take the plunge. For the past two weeks, there's been a massive collection of Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics available at Humble Bundle, allowing readers to pay what they want for a new starting point and support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. It might be the tipping point, but while I remain a little reluctant, I've given Sonic editor Vincent Lovallo the chance to convince me once and for all to read these comics.

One day, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Amy, Sally, Knuckles and the rest of the gang are going to have a nice vacation. There won't be any more Eggman troubles to deal with, and the world will finally be at peace. Nothing but clear skies, chill music, high fives, and frosty beverages for everyone. Unfortunately for them, that day has not yet arrived, and the troubles continue to mount for the Freedom Fighters. It's nice to think that eventually things will work out for the heroes in this universe. That just hasn't been the case as of late. But perhaps that day is closer than we thought. In Sonic the Hedgehog #283, the Freedom Fighters finally have everything they need to bring some hope into the world. With Eggman still lurking in the shadows however, can anything possibly go as planned. Guess it depends on how many of the world's heroes come to Sonic's aid when he needs them the most.

Courtesy of Archie Comics, ComicsAlliance brings you an advance look at new periodical comic books, collected editions, and graphic novels going on sale in September 2016 from the publisher’s Archie Action line featuring Sonic the Hedgehog. Super Sonic arrives just in time for the conclusion of the Shattered World Saga, and it's not a moment too soon. The gilded version of our favorite hedgehog hero must be strong enough to fend off Dark Gaia, otherwise the Freedom Fighters won't stand a chance. It's not easy to constantly have the fate of the world resting on your shoulders, but Sonic's proven time and again that he's up to the task.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our years on the Internet, it’s that there’s no aspect of comics that can’t be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of five or ten. And since there’s no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we’re taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Five lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics. Comic fans and video game fans are two groups that share an awful lot of overlap, and webcomics like Penny Arcade and artists like Zac Gorman, have made all kinds of comics about video games for the internet, but what about actual comic books? In a previous video, we told you about five video games that deserved comics, but this week, it’s all about some of the very best video games that have made the leap from consoles to comic pages.

If you thought the first year of Lego Dimensions brought together more characters and franchises than you thought humanly possible, wait until you get a load of what TT Games has in store for 2016. The first official trailer for Lego Dimensions: Year Two (my titling, not theirs) arrived today and with it came a wealth of unexpected surprises. Yes, Batman, Gandalf and Wyldstyle are back again, but the portal has opened in new worlds featuring Harry Potter, Teen Titans Go!, Adventure Time, the A-Team, Goonies, Gremlins, the Powerpuff Girls and like a bajillion others. Lego is not playing around. What's more, every single new set is 100% compatible with everything that's already been released. You know what that means? You can have BA Baracus drive the Mystery Machine. You can have the Joker and Voldemort fight over who has a pastier complexion. You can have Beast Boy and Mowgli take down Beetlejuice. Dogs and cats living together; mass hysteria!