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Sonic the Comic

From Sonic Retro

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Sonic the Comic
Publisher: Fleetway Editions
Country of origin: United Kingdom
First issue date: 1993-05-29
Last issue date: 2002-01-09
Number of issues: 223
Frequency: Fortnightly
Price: 95p-£1.50

Sonic the Comic (STC) was a Sega and Sonic the Hedgehog-themed comic published by Fleetway Editions in the United Kingdom. Beginning at the height of Sega's popularity in 1993, it continued fortnightly until early 2002, spanning 223 editions and a number of specials.

Sonic the Comic is an entirely separate publication from the Archie comics series.

History

Sonic Retro emblem.svg Main article: Sonic the Comic/Development

Sonic the Comic debuted in May 1993 under the guise as the "UK's official Sega comic", capitalising primarily on the success of the Sega Mega Drive, Sonic the Hedgehog (and its sequels), and the vibrant Sega culture that had swept across the UK at the time. It was originally priced at 95p, with the price rising to £1.35 before the final issue.

The idea of Sonic the Comic was that an issue would typically host four Sega themed comics (occasionally just one split into four, such as in issue #100), interspersed by regular editorial segments. In the early days STC doubled up as a Sega-themed magazine, providing video game news, reviews and tips, but over time these segments were dropped, usually leaving just "Control Zone" (an overview of the issue), "Speedlines" (a response to fan letters) and "Graphic Zone" (a showcase for Sega/Sonic fan art).

Robotnik's first form, before adopting a design akin to Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

The face of the comic was "Megadroid", a cartoon robot built out of Mega Drive parts, who answered letters and acted as a liaison between the readers and the 'humes who think they're in charge'.

As well as covering Sonic, early editions of the comic also featured segments for Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Kid Chameleon, Eternal Champions, Golden Axe and Decap Attack. Of all these, only Decap Attack survived into the latter half of the 1990s due to its unexpected popularity, however it too was later pulled, with the slots instead devoted to Sonic (and friends).

The Chaotix.

A declining audience towards the end of the decade saw significant cutbacks in STC. Executives at Egmont/Fleetway, believing that the audience would be refreshed every five years, forced the comic to repeat earlier stories, which in turn led to a further shedding of customers. This practise began as just one of the four segments, then two, then three, and, after issue #184, all the comic's content, besides the cover art, advertising and editorials, were lifted from earlier editions. Sonic the Comic was officially discontinued in early 2002, after 223 issues. For most of its lifespan the frontrunner of the comic was Nigel Kitching.

Less successful variants of Sonic the Comic were produced for other parts of Europe; Sonic Mag: B.D. & Jeux-Video! in France, Sonic der Comic in Germany, Sonic Videogame & Fumetti in Italy and Sonic Magazine in the Netherlands.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Comic's adaptation of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise was the dominant force behind the comic from the beginning and was supported with new stories for 184 of the 223 issues. It is primarily based on the approved Western story of Sonic, seen in the US as a promotional comic in the second half of 1991.

Super Sonic kills people in STC. Or at least tries to.

The series was placed after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, with a triumphant Sonic and his buddy Miles "Tails" Prower assuming nemesis Dr. Ivo Robotnik has been defeated. Having accidentally been trapped in the Special Zone for six months, Robotnik takes control of the planet Mobius, begins to turn the population into badniks, and the hedgehog and his motley crew of freedom fighters are tasked with unseating the evil dictator and restoring peace to the planet.

Captain Plunder became a fan favourite.

Unlike its American counterpart, Sonic the Comic is said to have kept closer to Sega's original Westernised ideas for the franchise, though still deviated from any official canon at the get go. Though much of the plot was original, STC adapted many of Sonic's games of the 1990s, including Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic CD, Chaotix, Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island and Sonic Adventure, attempting to keep the stories as true to the games as possible.

The comic did add some characters of its own, however, including key characters such as Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis, based on the rabbit and pig animal buddies respectively. Early on the comic introduced Captain Plunder and his Mystic Cave pirates, with the genius Tekno the Canary later being introduced, along with Shortfuse the Cybernik. A number of original enemies were also created for the comic, chief among those including the pathologically loyal Grimer, who stayed at Robotnik's side, and the Drakon Empire.

Metallix goes rogue.

Significant deviations from the official canon include the Chaotix Crew, consisting not only of Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon and Charmy Bee ("Charmee" in this context), but also of Mighty the Armadillo (who is but a "traveller" in the Japanese version) and originally, Nack the Weasel. Under stress, Sonic would transform into Super Sonic, a destructive creature made of pure chaos energy. The Metal Sonic design, named here as "Metallix", would go rogue and create the Brotherhood of Metallix, threatening both Sonic and Robotnik, and the Chaos story is almost entirely different from what is witnessed in Sonic Adventure.

Future

Sonic the Comic remains a popular comic among Sonic fans, to the point where following cancellation, an online continuation (appropriately titled "Sonic the Comic Online") with the backing of Nigel Kitching was launched, and continues to this day. While building on STC as a base, the online edition attempts to bridge gaps between this fictional universe and those seen in more recent Sonic games, starting with Sonic Adventure 2.

Back issues

Main series

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Issue 001
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Issue 002
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Issue 003
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Issue 004
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Issue 005
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Issue 006
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Issue 007
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Issue 008
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Issue 009
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Issue 010
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Issue 011
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Issue 012
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Issue 013
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Issue 014
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Issue 015
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Issue 016
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Issue 017
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Issue 018
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Issue 019
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Issue 020
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Issue 021
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Issue 022
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Issue 023
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Issue 024
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Issue 027
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Issue 028
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Issue 029
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Issue 032
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Issue 033
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Issue 035
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Issue 037
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Issue 039
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Issue 040
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Issue 041
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Issue 042
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Issue 043
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Issue 044
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Issue 045
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Issue 046
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Issue 047
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Issue 048
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Issue 049
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Issue 052
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Issue 053
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Issue 055
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Issue 058
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Issue 059
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Issue 060
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Issue 061
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Issue 062
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Issue 063
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Issue 064
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Issue 065
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Issue 066
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Issue 067
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Issue 068
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Issue 069
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Issue 070
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Issue 071
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Issue 072
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Issue 073
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Issue 074
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Issue 075
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Issue 076
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Issue 077
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Issue 078
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Issue 079
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Issue 080
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Issue 081
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Issue 082
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Issue 083
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Issue 084
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Issue 085
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Issue 086
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Issue 087
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Issue 088
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Issue 089
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Issue 090
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Issue 091
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Issue 092
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Issue 093
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Issue 094
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Issue 095
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Issue 096
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Issue 097
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Issue 098
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Issue 099
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Issue 100
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Issue 101
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Issue 102
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Issue 103
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Issue 104
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Issue 105
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Issue 106
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Issue 107
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Issue 108
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Issue 109
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Issue 110
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Issue 111
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Issue 112
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Issue 113
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Issue 114
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Issue 115
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Issue 116
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Issue 117
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Issue 118
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Issue 119
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Issue 120
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Issue 121
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Issue 122
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Issue 123
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Issue 124
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Issue 125
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Issue 126
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Issue 127
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Issue 128
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Issue 129
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Issue 130
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Issue 131
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Issue 132
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Issue 133
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Issue 134
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Issue 135
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Issue 136
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Issue 137
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Issue 138
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Issue 139
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Issue 140
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Issue 141
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Issue 142
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Issue 143
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Issue 144
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Issue 145
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Issue 146
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Issue 147
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Issue 148
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Issue 149
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Issue 150
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Issue 151
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Issue 152
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Issue 153
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Issue 154
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Issue 155
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Issue 156
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Issue 157
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Issue 158
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Issue 159
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Issue 160
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Issue 161
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Issue 162
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Issue 163
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Issue 164
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Issue 165
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Issue 166
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Issue 167
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Issue 168
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Issue 169
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Issue 170
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Issue 171
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Issue 172
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Issue 173
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Issue 174
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Issue 175
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Issue 176
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Issue 177
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Issue 178
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Issue 179
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Issue 180
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Issue 181
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Issue 182
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Issue 183
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Issue 184
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Issue 185
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Issue 186
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Issue 187
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Issue 188
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Issue 189
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Issue 190
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Issue 191
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Issue 192
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Issue 193
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Issue 194
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Issue 195
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Issue 196
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Issue 197
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Issue 198
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Issue 199
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Issue 200
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Issue 201
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Issue 202
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Issue 203
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Issue 204
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Issue 205
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Issue 206
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Issue 207
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Issue 208
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Issue 209
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Issue 210
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Issue 211
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Issue 212
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Issue 213
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Issue 214
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Issue 215
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Issue 216
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Issue 217
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Issue 218
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Issue 219
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Issue 220
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Issue 221
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Issue 222
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Issue 223


Sonic the Poster Mag

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Issue 1
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Issue 2
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Issue 3
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Issue 4
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Issue 5
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Issue 6
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Issue 7
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Issue 8
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Issue 9


Specials

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Knuckles Knock-Out Special
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Sonic Holiday Special (1995)
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Sonic Holiday Special (1996)
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Sonic the Summer Special
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Total Sonic Special


External links

References


Sonic the Comic
1993 001 | 002 | 003 | 004 | 005 | 006 | 007 | 008 | 009 | 010 | 011 | 012 | 013 | 014 | 015 | 016
1994 017 | 018 | 019 | 020 | 021 | 022 | 023 | 024 | 025 | 026 | 027 | 028 | 029 | 030 | 031 | 032 | 033 | 034 | 035 | 036 | 037 | 038 | 039 | 040 | 041 | 042
1995 043 | 044 | 045 | 046 | 047 | 048 | 049 | 050 | 051 | 052 | 053 | 054 | 055 | 056 | 057 | 058 | 059 | 060 | 061 | 062 | 063 | 064 | 065 | 066 | 067 | 068
1996 069 | 070 | 071 | 072 | 073 | 074 | 075 | 076 | 077 | 078 | 079 | 080 | 081 | 082 | 083 | 084 | 085 | 086 | 087 | 088 | 089 | 090 | 091 | 092 | 093 | 094
1997 095 | 096 | 097 | 098 | 099 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120
1998 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146
1999 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | 167 | 168 | 169 | 170 | 171
2000 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 | 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 181 | 182 | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 | 196 | 197
2001 198 | 199 | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 | 216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | 220 | 221 | 222 | 223
Sonic the Poster Mag
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Specials
Sonic the Summer Special | Sonic Holiday Special (1995) | Sonic Holiday Special (1996) | Knuckles Knock-Out Special | Total Sonic Special
Miscellaneous
Book 1: Sonic Beats the Badniks | Book 2: Sonic Spin Attack