The Sonic writers appreciation thread

I've hung out with Greg Hahn and Alan Denton on multiple occasions and they are a couple of swell guys. Those are my memories and they are fond.

 

This is a bit broader and not really a specific commentary on writing, but I came to the realisation recently that I can credit my lifelong love for drawing to Ian Flynn, Tracy Yardley and Spaz - specifically their work on Sonic X #23. I think I must've been about seven years old at the time and my family was moving back to the UK from abroad. At the airport, I was allowed to pick a magazine for the plane ride and this issue is what I had settled on. I'm not really sure why, because as best I can recall I had no idea what Sonic was, or at most I didn't know a whole lot, but that issue became my first piece of Sonic media. I think it must've left an impression on me because, once we were living in the UK again, I really got into The Beano (which might best be characterised to those across the pond as kind of a cross between Archie and Peanuts). I saw the letters section showcasing readers' fanart, decided I wanted to be featured and that desire then grew into me wanting to become a cartoonist for the comic.

Granted, that goal would mature as I did and ultimately I've ended up going down a different career path, but I still have a strong desire to grow as an artist and hopefully leave my own little mark on the franchise someday, be that with art for the socials that's recently been commissioned from the likes of Korn, or a cover or something similar for the IDW book. At any rate, it's wild to think about how a chance purchase at an airport shop has shaped so much of my life, so thanks, Sonic comics!

 

I loved the Adventure games as a kid a lot. They were so fricking cool. They still hold up well today, dodgy acting aside.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog's Buddy Tails is genuinely one of the funniest comic books I have ever read. Mike Gallagher's comedic timing is sheer perfection.

 

This made me realize that the first time I ever saw Sonic was with the UK Sonic Comic. I think it was issue 102, which was released a few months before I was born. My brother told me he got it from a store in the hospital, I guess hospitals used to sell comics? lol.

It was a cool little comic, it was funny to see a version of Sonic which was so undeniably British.

Not to sound like an old boomer but I miss physical print media for comics like this, I wonder if kids today even read comics anymore. Do they even know where to find them?

 

In the US, not since the switch to direct market. It's not easily accessible to kids anymore. You use to be able to buy them at any grocery, drugstore or newsstands. Kids can only get them at Comic Stores. Good luck having one of those in your area that a kid can walk into.

 

Loved Alan's work on the Boom cartoons.

I'll always be grateful for the OGs of the games. I probably wouldn't have stuck with the series so long if not for them...
But every Sonic writer (even the ones I or other people don't prefer) has so much weight to deal with, it's hard to not give them all a shout out.

 

They actually stock Amazing Spider-Man in my local Asda - I’d probably buy it if the writing wasn’t so trash right now. That’s very much an exception likely due to the marketing juggernaut that is Spider-Man. Otherwise you won’t find that stuff outside specific comic shops or “nerd” shops like HMV, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen an issue of Sonic out in the wild here in the UK. I used to order from Disposable Heroes, but they had a blip a while back and I’ve just been getting digital from Amazon ever since.

 

Pontac and Graff, I just want you to know that I find "Baldy McNosehair" funny.

 

(I'm with you man, I'm with you)

 

Akinori Nishiyama is my top choice.

The story of Sonic Adventure juggled a lot of themes and ideas. It had to reintroduce the characters and set them on new journeys. Perhaps the greatest challenge was revealing the answers to the mystery set up in Sonic 3/S&K: What happened to the echidna civilization?

Writers sometimes fall into the trap of revealing either too much or too little.

However, Nishiyama managed to strike a balance, showing what happened while still leaving enough mysteries that could either remain or be explored later.

 

I always found it amusing how they first came up with the gem that is "Baldy Nosehair" in Colors but thought that something was missing, something was stopping it from transcending to the next level, so they updated it to "Baldy McNosehair" in Lost World, so now it's perfection

 

Shiro Maekawa. Not because he wrote SA2, Heroes, or Black Knight, but because he admitted that Shadow stared at Rouge's chest during '06. Most realistic thing a Sonic character has and ever will do.

 

Want to bet Rouge has that framed somewhere?
"You know they're good when even the Ultimate Lifeform can't resist a peek."

Anyway, on topic: Ian Flynn is a great writer. While I have issue with several things he's done, such as Sonic Origins, 90% of his work is excellent and should not be discredited due to the bad 8% (the remaining 2% is neutral stuff). I enjoy his ability to tie together earlier plot threads into a proper bow and make good use of them.

He might have his flaws, such as the Iron Dominion and Zombot arcs going on too long, I will admit the references in Sonic Frontiers got a bit much but that's a minor thing, Sonic Origins, but who doesn't have flaws? He otherwise excellently cut through the disarray left behind by his predecessors in Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) started strong and has remained strong thanks to both him and Evan Stanley, plus other writers, and Sonic Frontiers' story was great, the characters felt actually close to one another like Sonic and Knuckles bantering on like actually friendly rivals.

While you might see me complain about the state of things around the forum, like the whole thing with G.U.N. funding Shadow in Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings, but honestly I'm not sure if that's him or mandates: we don't know how his hands are tied, and like I said, 8% bad things are negligible next to 90% good.

 

When did he say this?

 

Oh, if we're allowed to nominate writers for perverted thoughts, whoever wrote the part of the 06 script that says Blaze is self-conscious about her breasts. Somebody had to consider her art, notice her bust size, decide that's important, come up with her opinion on it, and put it to paper instead of just keeping it to themselves.

 

Is that a perverse thing? It seems like an extremely common trope applied to teen girls in anime.

Also, I don't recall that being part of the "script"...