View CommentsSonic Subcriptions Disappear From Archie Web Store

Death knell or simple mistake?

The Sonic comic has had a rough time in the last few years, most of it laid at the feet of people like Ken Penders and Scott Fulop, who have seemingly been on a crusade to sink the book for their own personal gains. From last-second edits to increasingly more concrete reboots to shed legally-troubled cast members, if you’ve been a fan of this book, you’ve been putting up with a fair amount of confusion as multiple storylines have been forcibly wiped away without clear resolutions in order to side step increasingly frustrating legal issues.

Those days may finally be coming to an end, and possibly not on the best terms. Bleeding Cool reports that the option to subscribe to Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog comic has disappeared from their online storefront. If that doesn’t send a chill down the spines of comic fans, the next part will: in addition to no longer being able to subscribe to Archie’s Sonic book, Archie has replaced this year’s Free Comic Book Day issue of Sonic the Hedgehog with a Riverdale book meant to cross-promote the upcoming Archie television series of the same name. It will be the first time in 9 years that Sonic will miss Free Comic Book Day.

Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the longest-running licensed comic books in the history of this industry, second only to Conan the Barbarian. However, even Conan’s initial 23-year run eventually ended at issue #275, wherein the book changed publishers (to Marvel Comics and eventually to Dark Horse) and various other Conan the Barbarian books continue to be published to this very day. Sonic the Hedgehog, on the other hand, is the longest single-publisher run a licensed character has ever had, with issue #291 releasing in January 2017, marking a 24 year legacy spanning almost a dozen mini-series and six spin-off books. Due to inroads Archie Comics made in selling their all-ages Sonic books in supermarkets and convenience stores, at one point Sonic the Hedgehog was allegedly one of the best-selling comics in the entire comic book industry.

In 2010, former Archie Sonic writer Ken Penders filed lawsuits against Archie Comics and related parties for their use of characters he was claiming ownership of. Penders had created many characters during his decade-long run on Sonic, and utilizing an uncommon loophole with Archie’s contracts (or apparent lack thereof), began asserting ownership over these characters with the intent on publishing his own books, continuing the “stories” he began while at Archie. Penders has since announced additional plans for more than just graphic novels, including film and animation despite showing absolutely no development or progress in his grandiose claims.

Since then, Penders has turned his quest to claim ownership of his Archie characters in to what’s beginning to look like a personal vendetta, alerting other writers of this loophole and helping them launch similar lawsuits against the publisher.

Rumors have swirled around the future of the Sonic series in the wake of these events. Archie appears to be in a bit of financial trouble themselves, launching (and then canceling) a Kickstarter intended to raise more funds to help publish all of their books. Since prematurely ending that Kickstarter, multiple series have been canceled or gone on permanent hiatus, including the critically acclaimed Mega Man comic series.

Further developments coming.