Archie Sonic Retrospective: The Penders-Bollers Era

Sonic! He's a cool dude with attitude. It's hard not to recognize him, whether or not you like his games. This hedgehog's face has been a lot of places, and one of the most prominent places has been the world of comic books. Various companies have produced long running series about the fastest thing alive, but by far the most famous (or infamous) has been Archie Comic's record-breaking run of Sonic the Hedgehog.
I decided to read through the series a few months ago, and to say it was a massive undertaking would be a massive understatement. Creators ran wild with the freedom they were given, creating a truly unique mythos. It's too large a topic to cover in one video, so for the first time, welcome to a Part 1 video! I cover the first 160 issues of Archie Sonic, as well as some of the behind-the-scenes history. And if you'd believe it, this is as short a retelling as I could get it!
Once again, thanks to all the new subscribers we've had joining the channel recently. Seeing the response to the Will Wood video has been fantastic, and before Part 2 of Archie Sonic comes out, I've got a video on the Normal Album planned. Stay tuned for that!
CREDITS I FORGOT OOPS:
soup-with-a-blog on Tumble for the “he was forced to be microwaved” knuckles meme
CHAPTERS
0:00 - Introduction
2:49 - Origins
6:11 - The First 50
10:13 - Endgame
15:44 - Knuckles
21:28 - The Return
26:15 - Strange Times
33:55 - The Timeskip
41:23 - End of an Era
45:33 - Conclusion

[@ravsucks]

more video essays kzbin.info/aero/PLTDI2Ca2o6Ahia5On4F0j4CZOc3UT35IU&si=60eBF5YLIcA-qb3V

[@loona2n]

It brings me such joy to see more people actually discuss Archie Sonic and what made it special instead of saying the same regurgitated "Ken Penders bad" rhetoric. I will be there for Part 2!

[@ravsucks]

@@loona2n Thank you! Archie deserves more love, from beginning to end.

[@fromationart5371]

The Archie Sonic comics will always have a special place in my heart. They were the first comics I ever started to read and collected. Plus I think it's the coolest iteration of the Sonic character

[@ravsucks]

@@fromationart5371 agreed, there’s so few series where the main character is my favorite but sonic himself is so entertaining

[@ironpiyepic2666]

I love archie sonic and have seen so many videos like this so I probably won't finish it, but I'm glad more people are trying to talk about it... just please be respectful. The archie sonic fans are constantly mocked

[@ravsucks]

I’m critical of some parts, but Archie Sonic is still my favorite rendition of the hedgehog. Absolutely love it and hope others can get into it from this vid.

[@ashesGeek]

Tell me about it, I grew up with Underground and grew to love Fleetway comics few years ago, the fans of the first thing are mocked just because how can they possibly be fans of this garbage and the entire Sonic fanbase acts like Fleetway comics never existed or just complain that "British Sonic is a dick"

[@ravsucks]

@@ashesGeek I haven’t got around to it, but I do want to do a read through of Fleetway! I like the idea of giving all the little animal creatures designs and roles, as well as Kintobor and Super Sonic.

[@ashesGeek]

@ravsucks I really recommend you checking out the entire run, its main writer Nigel Kitching is one of the most underrated Sonic writers ever. I'd dare to say Fleetway has most development and world-building level of Classic Sonic you'd never expected from this era compared to the games, unlike Archie they were trying to keep the world in tone with the games up until adapting Sonic Adventure story. Too bad they didn't have an opportunity to work with characters like Honey the Cat, Heavy and Bomb, or the rest of Team Hooligan except Fang.

[@ironpiyepic2666]

@@ashesGeek dude... I own every single graphic novel. I know. I was just saying to be more respectful as archie fans are constantly treated like crap

[@ScatterbrainPete]

One thing to note about the comics is each issue's release dates, which were technically three months earlier than what it says on the cover, which is what we call a "cover date". In reality, issue #1 of the regular series didn't come out in July 1993 but rather April, while issue #0 of the original miniseries didn't come out in February 1993, but in November 1992, which coincidentally was also when Sonic 2 came out. Fun fact: SatAM was originally planned to air on ABC in fall of 1992 to coincide with "Sonic 2sday", but because DiC wanted to produce an extra package of 65 episodes meant for syndication (much like the Real Ghostbusters cartoon), the ABC network pulled out of the deal until they were promised that the syndicated package would become its own separate show which people would not mistake for the one airing on ABC, and thus "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" was born, while SatAM was put back into production and also compared to its pilot "Heads or Tails" (which at one point was going to be a Springtime special, before being held over until Thanksgiving when the show went back into production), redesigned to be darker and more dramatic, so people would not mistake it for the silly bright syndicated show.

[@ravsucks]

@@ScatterbrainPete While researching dates, I had seen it listed separately as Cover Date and Release Date - I believe I went with Cover Date for the video. I was wondering about that though! Also, I had never heard of the SatAM split that resulted in AoSTH - that’s really interesting! In fact, I’m even tempted to include that in Part 2… could I include your comment if I do?

[@ScatterbrainPete]

@@ravsucks Sure! Go ahead. btw, while you're at it. Check out the SatAM Historian on Twitter (aka Good Ol' Groovy Jake on KZbin). That guy has access to some pretty interesting and definitely eye-opening stuff about 90s Sonic media. Most of the info from my previous comment actually comes from him.

[@ravsucks]

@@ScatterbrainPete radical, i’ll do that. thanks a ton!

[@saint-juste]

This video slapped. Keep up the good work. Archie Sonic is fuckin' wild.

[@ravsucks]

@@saint-juste Glad you liked it! Part 2 is in the works…

[@bowserbreaker2515]

Archie Sonic is unironically my favorite story ever written. I don't like most of the reboot, and there are multiple pre-reboot stories I don't like, but overall; it's a great comic that I love, and I would hardly change a thing about it. I'm glad that since the beginning of last year, the comic has gotten more attention. Considering how long it lasted, and the number of countries it was published in, it does have a lot of fans, regardless of what some people want you to believe.

[@ravsucks]

@@bowserbreaker2515 No surprise it’s your favorite story “ArchieSonicFan” lol, but I totally agree! Even through its rough spots the only things I’d change would be the expulsion of the Penders characters. Still, I loved the post reboot designs, and I’m a fan of Archie Mega Man too, so Worlds Collide was cool.

[@bowserbreaker2515]

@@ravsucks If the Penders characters were removed, the comic would be completely different. I like Julie-Su a lot, Geoffrey had a great story under Flynn and a decent one under Bollers, and the echidna lore is interesting, it was just presented poorly. The comic is so interesting and unique, and that is something I'll always treasure.

[@ravsucks]

@@bowserbreaker2515 Oh no, sorry I misworded it. I meant the comic would be better if they hadn’t been expelled! I love them a lot.

[@bowserbreaker2515]

@@ravsucks Penders had great ideas, he just wasn't a good writer. But I did genuinely enjoy some of his stories.

[@ravsucks]

@@bowserbreaker2515 Mobius: 25 Years Later, the Dark Legion, the Robo-Robotnik reveal… it wouldn’t be the same without them. I can’t deny I love Ian Flynn’s renditions of a lot of Penders characters, but I also can’t say Penders didn’t have some good ideas.

[@FormalFilmsProductions]

Awesome video

[@ravsucks]

@@FormalFilmsProductions Thanks!!

[@FormalFilmsProductions]

@@ravsucks Of course. Keep up thre great work

[@vadim_65rus]

28:01 [Min Amongus]

[@ravsucks]

i wish i had thought of this

[@sugarsmile7852]

Curious question after you finish your archie sonic retrospective are you going to after IDW or Fleetway? Also is it weird that were 2 sonic comics that was made at the same time which is something you don't see often these days

[@ravsucks]

@@sugarsmile7852 hmm, i wasn’t thinking of doing them at first, but after some other comments i’m thinking of doing fleetway! I love IDW but as it’s still ongoing, it’s hard to look back on it as a full story like I will Archie. Especially because my main talking point would be about SEGA’s restrictions on it and how it compares to Archie and Fleetway’s creative freedom. But maybe!

[@MukulLabana]

Bro please make more music dives ... 🙏🍻💦💦

[@ravsucks]

coming up next i’ve got a video on another will wood album!

[@makairyu]

Can you do The Crane Wives Next???

[@ravsucks]

never heard of them, but i’ll give them a look!

[@docjackson8165]

When more music video essays?

[@ravsucks]

soon, kitten

[@ironpiyepic2666]

Hey uh, quick comment, there are a lot of small things that aren't exactly true and you used a image of rotor from ASO instead of a actual photo. You also seem nice to geoffry but mock the echidnas. The logic here doesn't make full sense. I am glad you are staying positive but you leave out a lot, especially how the sally miniseries was kinda really awful to sally. I won't be watching anymore but if you need any help fact checking for the next video, i most definitely would be willing to help

[@ravsucks]

Ah, I knew something looked fishy about that Rotor image. My bad. Also, I’ll get into Geoffrey more in Part 2. The Echidna jokes are just light teasing, I promise… the KTE series is just the source of a lot of memes and stranger elements. I’m still a huge fan of Julie Su, Jani-Ca, Lien-Da, Enerjak, etc.

[@espurrseyes42]

Geoffrey isn't an NFT before NFTs were a thing. At least he's an original design.

[@mallowkai8702]

laaame gatekeeper

[@ironpiyepic2666]

@@mallowkai8702 I litterally offered to help?

[@ironpiyepic2666]

@espurrseyes42 I like Geoffry... just later in the comic. Plus you realize characters have more nuance than just how they look

[@conradojavier7547]

I wonder if M & A.D.A.M. were the Inspiration for Sage?

[@ravsucks]

@@conradojavier7547 Ian Flynn wrote Frontiers, so it’s entirely possible…

[@sugarsmile7852]

Oh i got the joke it's Madam

[@conradojavier7547]

​@@ravsucksalso The Mobile Games Merge Mina Mongoose & Amy Rose, into Popstar Amy.

[@Miju001]

​@@ravsucks I don't think Sage was his idea though