View CommentsIDW: Sonic The Hedgehog Annual

IDW has partnered with SEGA America to release Sonic The Hedgehog Annual 2019, an oversize comic featuring the classic video game character and friends.

The annual — which weighs in at 48 pages — features a sprawling crew of creators, including four newcomers to the property. James Kochalka (Johnny Boo), Cavan Scott (Star Wars Adventures), Jack Lawrence (Transformers: Lost Light), and Gigi Dutrieux will have their first Sonic work featured in the annual. Ian Flynn, Evan Stanley, Caleb Goellner, Jonathan Gray, Jennifer Hernandez, and Diana Skelly will return from other Sonic issues to contribute to the massive book.

Sonic The Hedgehog Annual 2019 will feature three covers, including one from Sonic franchise icon Yuji Uekawa, best known as the visionary behind the “modern” look of Sonic.

“I am really happy to draw IDW’s original characters altogether with Sonic and his friends, as I had never imagined that I would draw these characters as official artwork,” Uekawa said in a release. “As with many IDW Sonic series fans, I personally love Tangle and Whisper, and I am very much looking forward to seeing their further adventures with Sonic, as well as seeing original characters in future issues!”Uekawa has been with Sonic Team since the late 1990s, serving as the lead behind the game’s character designs since 1998’s Sonic Adventure.

Other variant artists for the issue include Hernandez and Nathalie Fourdaine.

IDW announced last year, in conjunction with the official Sonic Twitter page, that they would be launching a new series in the wake of Archie Comics’ cancellation of a series with the same name. Fast forward to this year and IDW launched their Sonic ongoing series in April from Ian Flynn and a rotating cast of artists.

“It’s been thrilling to be part of IDW’s run-away hit Sonic The Hedgehog,” Flynn said in the release. “And I’m super-excited to spend more time with the brand-new fan favorites Tangle and Whisper!”