There’s nothing quite as fascinating as early Sonic the Hedgehog lore. Throughout the nearly 30 year run of the famous hedgehog’s career, fans across generations have dug into every nook and cranny possible to isolate anything from merchandise to early prototypes of classic games.
One such treasure is a “continuity bible,” a document that is given to anyone responsible for creating official media based off a particular intellectual property. Today, we’ve unearthed what might be a goldmine.
Here's something for the SONIC fans. I didn't receive a copy of the SatAM series bible until I was working on ENDGAME. Had I received this BEFORE I wrote my 1st story, it's easy to envision myself taking a different approach from the path I did. pic.twitter.com/j8arlw72CG
— Ken Penders (@KenPenders) April 19, 2020
Sonic fans may recognize Ken Penders as one of the major writers for the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic series before he left to pursue his personal endeavors. He’s graciously shared a few scanned pages from what looks to be the final edition of the Sonic Saturday Morning (known as Sonic SatAM by fans) continuity bible.
While much of the content has been available to fans via Fans United for SatAM for a while, it’s become apparent that the version hosted on their site is one of many drafts, and not the final one. In general, what sets this particular document apart from other bibles is how it’s narrated by Sonic himself, rather than a formal exposition of the series’ lore. It certainly makes for some interesting (if a little… alright, very cheesy) light reading!
Unfortunately, Penders has not shared the entirety of the document as of yet, instead drip-feeding content over a longer period of time. When the entire SatAM Continuity Bible is available, we will be back to compile and report any new information we can gleam from it! Stay tuned!
via Twitter
Oh…it’s PENDERS.
Eww Penders.
Drip-feeding content over a longer period of time in an effort to remain relevant within the Sonic community, even in a tiny capacity, despite being gross and pretty universally disliked.
Not to mention his crude statements regarding the “behind the scenes” sexual relationship between Geoffrey St. John and Sally Acorn, as well as saying that Mobians occasionally eat their young. He’s insane. He recently uploaded the “finalized” cover for the Lara-Su Chronicles, which features traced art from the cover of STH #131.
That was painful to read. I forgot how terrible DiC’s writers were at writing ‘cool’ characters with ‘tude.
Sonic SatAM is the best Sonic cartoon, though.
…if you only count the DiC cartoons, that is. The OVA and Sonic X had far better characterizations and writing, and actually felt like Sonic cartoons.
I didn’t care for Sonic’s characterization in the majority of X. He was way too reactive. Other than the boat episode or the one where he helps out the girl in the wheelchair, episodes like those, Sonic slept or was pretty distant from everyone else most of the time. He wasn’t fun to watch. And in the OVA, he was a jerk.
DIC!Sonic may have had his own problems, but I at least enjoyed watching him and could empathize him.
How in the hell did Penders get this? I think we need to go to his house find the bible and burn it since it has his dirty hands all over it.
He got it by being the lead writer on the Archie comics. As for burning it, why? It doesn’t matter who has it, it’s still a major contemporary reference of Sonic lore, and as such must be preserved along with all the other lore bibles created over the years.